morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2011-04-06
From:  Fontana Dam

To: Mollies Ridge Shelter
Miles today: 12.5
Weather: clear sky

Today was the day we crossed into the Great Smokey Mountain National Park which also includes crossing into Tennessee. There was high level of joy this morning. This joy was partly because of the expectation of the next part of the journey. A new milestone with new experiences to come. The other thing was just the realization that I was living the dream. Lastly, but most importantly, despite all the difficulties that had happened in the last year, is the realization of how blessed I have been. As one journeys in life, one can allow all of the negative events to destroy their hopes and dreams. But the best way to deal with the negative events is to recognize that they were allowed for the purpose of growth. With growth comes new opportunities. It was these thoughts that were in my mind that have given me the joy that I experienced this morning. There were expectation of new adventures waiting. So the transition into new territory along with the thoughts about where life was going gave me this joy as I started this morning. "Thimble" and I took off this morning after mailing a few items at the post office. We got a ride to where we got off yesterday from a thru-hiker named "Rockefeller". He had hiked last year and was in the area helping this year's thru-hikers anyway he could as a way to give back to the hiking community. I really thought highly of this guy's heart. We plodded along up the long incline toward Mollies        Ridge. About halfway up, we stopped at the firetower on Shuckstack mountain. From there, one can get a great view of Fontana Lake along with the dam. "Thimble" had gotten a duck shaped bottle with soap in it with a loop to blow bubbles. This was on one of the care packages she received from a friend. So there we were, on the firetower, her blowing bubbles out the window of the firetower with me taking a picture of the whole event. That was quite a moment of silliness which made the jule fun. I had a little bit of an upset stomach from drinking too much coffee so we rested a while to allow my stomach settle out. The left knee started to act up toward the end of the day making me wonder if it would have been better to take another zero. I was able to make it to the shelter by 6 without too much more trouble. Rest and some vitamin-I should get it to feel better by morning. I think the source of the problem is that my shoes do not provide quite enough arch support. I'll have to look into that during the next town stop.
Date: 2011-04-07
From: Mollies Ridge Shelter

To: Derrick Knob Shelter
Miles today: 11.7
Weather: clear sky

Last night, everyone stayed in the shelter because the park requires us to do so if there is sufficient space. The purpose of this rule is to minimize damage to the surrounding vegetation. Tenting can cause the grass to be beaten down to the point where it no longer grows. Some of us would much rather stay in a tent because of the privacy and/or the reduced noise. Without the restriction, there would be a significant number tenting while there was space in the shelter. I figured out last night that the knee problems where being caused by right muscles in my shin. Massaging those muscles helped immensely with the knee. Combined with taking it easy as I hike and taking another zero in the next couple of days, it should clear up the pain. "Thimble" has had issues with her foot so we both have been going slow. Today's hike was a rough one. There were a couple of peaks that had steep grades, both uphill and downhill. For both of us, the downhills were the hardest on our injuries. But with those peaks came some interesting views. On top of a peak called Rocky Top, we could look back to the south and see Fontana Dam, the firetower on Shuckstack mountain and the mountains south of the Smokies. It was sort of a look back at what was accomplished over the last several days. The weather was pleasent all day with no clouds in the sky. We met a lot of new people. Most of these folks were hiking for a couple of days, trying to complete a section in the Smokies. We got to the shelter tired from a whole day of hiking. Basically, we started at 9 in the morning and finished at around 6. This is a much slower pace for me but I'm fine with it. After being on the trail for a couple of weeks, I realized that racing from place to place just wasn't a lot of fun. It puts a lot more stress on the body, one misses much of the beauty of the surrounding area and one doesn't tend to spend as much time with people. Getting to a shelter later in the day and spending time enjoying the experience is definitely worthwhile. Some have said that they can't slow down. This is really a sad state of affairs for that individual. Are they trying to prove something by going fast? What are they really emphasizing in their hike? Just seems to me to be all the wrong stuff. I wouldn't be surprised if a large majority of folks like that end up quiting their thru-hike. We got everything set up, dinner made and ate it beside the ready made camp fire. The guys who made the fire got here early. Maybe that's another reason to go a little slower? I'll leave that question to the philosophers.
Date: 2011-04-08
From: Derrick Knob Shelter

To: Double Springs
Miles today: 7.2
Weather: light rain

Since I decided to take an easy day today, there was no rush getting up this morning. "Thimble" tried tying her shoe with the laces not pressing on the sore spot on her foot which greatly relieved the pain she was experiencing. The knee issues for me are definitely improving. Massaging the front of my lower legs takes care of it. We took off for Double Springs later than normal in cloudy and cool conditions. It only sprinkled on us even though the forecast was for scattered thunderstorms. The cooler temperatures kept away the bugs and made hiking nice. The only downside was the loss of the views because of the clouds. The hike was generally uphill the whole way. We are approaching Clingmans Dome, the highest point on the trail. Today was full of thoughts about Dawn. Great memories about her went through my head yet sadness seems to prevail at times. I hope that in time the great memories will prevail. On the way to the shelter, we saw a deer just 15 yards away. It definitely wasn't worried about us. We made lots of noise getting cameras out and taking about it and it never really got startled. Ended up staying in the shelter since there was plenty of space for every one. Given the weather, it probably is better since we won't have to pack up wet tents. I just hope the noise level isn't too bad. Spent the evening just talking amongst ourselves. There was about 10 people staying at the shelter so it was a great time of fellowship amongst is hikers. We played a card game that I learned last week just before getting ready for bed. "Bumblebee" joined in for her first time and seemed to enjoy the game. Many thanks to "Thimble" for introducing it to me.
Date: 2011-04-09
From: Double Springs

To: Gatlinburg
Miles today: 10.8
Weather: light rain

The rain we expected never came but we got all of the clouds anyways. The temperature were in the 70's and the humidity was higher than what we have been seeing. I think it was the only day that I started out in shorts and a short sleeve shirt. "Bumblebee", "Moss" and "Millhouse" each got packed up and out of the shelter quickly. They were followed by "Hot Sauce" then "Thimble" and myself. Once again, it was tough to sleep because shelters are noisy. As a light sleeper, I didn't get the sleep that I really wanted because of this noise. If the park rules allowed it, I would be in my tent were there is much less noise. The day's hike was a little bit of a disappointment because most of the spectacular views were obscured by the fog. Clingman's dome is the highest mountain on the trail so one would hope to see these spectacular views. Fortunately, I was treated to good weather last August when "Morning Glory" and I hiked the Smokies. I really remember these breath taking views from that hike. The rest of the hike read fairly ordinary as we descended down to Newfound Gap except for nearly twisting my ankle. I wasn't paying attention as I was coming down a hill and stepped on a rock which caused my ankle to twist and me to come crashing down on the side of the trail. The pain was excruciating enough to make me think that it was seriously hurt. Fortunately, it was fine after working it a little. I got back on my feet and got going with much more care. "Thimble" was a little scared when she saw me laying on the trail but I reassured her that I was basically ok. So as I continued, she would remind me to slow down so I wouldn't get hurt again. When we finally got to Newfound Gap, "Millhouse" had called for a shuttle to the hotel. Simply got to the hotel, showered and met the crew for barbecue. Because I decided to take an extra day in Gatlinburg to allow my knee to rest a little more, there wasn't a strong need to run around after dinner and get all my resupply done. I had the entire next day to do that. Relaxation was all that I had on my mind.
Date: 2011-04-10
From: Gatlinburg

To: Gatlinburg day 2
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: few clouds

Stayed in Gatlinburg an extra day to rest the knee. Since it was Sunday, I decided it would be good to attend church somewhere even if it was a different denomination. "Thimble" ended up being the only one to join me. We walked to a Lutheran Church for a 10:30 service. Afterwards, we stopped in a pancake restaurant for a late breakfast. Shopping lists for resupply were made and we traveled bia the trolly over to the Food Lion on the otherside of town. The rest of the crew decided to get back on the trail late in the afternoon. The first shelter beyond Newfound Gap is about 3 miles from the gap so even a 2pm start is reasonable. Those who zeroed plan to catch up to them in a couple of days. The rest of the day was spent getting everything checked and packed for our early morning start the next day. We ate dinner at Sboney's and found the Ben and Jerry ice cream store for a real treat. Nice thing about hiking the AT is there is never a worry about gaining weight.
Date: 2011-04-11
From: Gatlinburg day 2

To: Peck's corner shelter
Miles today: 10.4
Weather: overcast clouds

"Jaywalker", "Thimble", "Graybeard", "Happy day" and myself caught an early shuttle to Newfound Gap and were on the trail by 9. Stopped at the first shelter to grab a quick snack then we were off to the first major scenic spot on the trail, Charlie's Bunion. The storm we were due to get had not started to appear so the views from the rock outcropping were clear for many miles. At the rock outcropping, there are steep dropoffs with mountain ranges rising up from the valley created by the steep dropoffs. Well in the distance, toward the north the terrain levels off. One can see cabins/houses, a rather large river as well as many other features. This spot on the trail has got to be my favorite of all of the scenic spots in the Smokies. Overall, the Smokies have always been a great area to hike. This is definitely a hike that I would do over and over. The destination shelter is called Peck's Corner. This is one of those shelters where there isn't a lot of tenting and with the approaching storm, it was important to get there early to get a spot. So after a lunch break at Charlie's Bunion, we took off and kept hiking until we arrived at the shelter. There were a lot of section hikers that I met both at the shelter and on the trail itself. The Smokies is a very popular place to hike. I don't know how many people hike in the Smokies every year but given the number of folks I've seen everytime I'm out here, it's got to be quite a lot. Two of the couples that I met were from the west coast which suggests that the park is very well known. Dinner preparations are getting to be very efficient and thus quick. I'm learning to be creative while maintaining the simplicity of the "boil and eat" technique.
Date: 2011-04-12
From: Peck's corner shelter

To: Tri-corner Shelter
Miles today: 5.2
Weather: moderate rain

It ended up raining all night making everyone who stayed in the shelter thankful that they didn't have to tent in the rain. The last weather report that I heard had the rain stopping mid morning. It seemed best to wait a little before starting to see if the rain would quit. At mid morning, the temperatures dropped enough for sleet to appear. At that point, we realized that the rain wasn't slowing down so we had breakfast, packed up and took off in the rain. By time we got to the last mountain before the shelter, there was snow on the ground with slush on the trail itself making end hike a little more tedious. By the time we got to Tri-corner Shelter, we had enough. Our hands were cold, socks were wet and everything in the pack was wet. We decided to make it a short day so that we can warm up and rest our injured joints. Also, with such a late start, it wasn't a good idea to try to make the next shelter anyways. The shelter was very packed. By the time everyone got here, we ended up with 5 folks sleeping on the ground in front of the platform itself. There is stuff everywhere. One has to really pay attention to their gear to keep it from getting mixed up with someone else's stuff. It was really hard to get warmed back up just because of how cold we had gotten. Most of the folks just crawled in their sleeping bags if they didn't have anything else to do. We're all looking forward to clear skies and warmer temperatures tomorrow.
Date: 2011-04-13
From: Tri-corner Shelter

To: Standing Bear Farm - Davenport Gap
Miles today: 18.2
Weather: broken clouds

We woke up to a frozen winter wonderland from yesterday's storm. Temperatures were just below 30 out seemed. By morning, my sleeping bag had dried out enough where I was warm. Down sleeping bags are wonderful in terms of weight and pack size but they loose their effective insulation when they get wet. We did the usual breakfast and pack up routine and took off for our next destination, Davenport Shelter. The sun came out and really started to warm things up a bit. Little by little, we began to peel off layers until out was t-shirts and shorts. That was quite a change from the previous day where we each had on all of our layers just to stay warm. When "Thimble" and I got to Cosby Shelter, we started thinking in terms of continuing on to Standing Bear Farm, the hostel near I-40. We decided to wait until we got closer to Davenport Shelter to decide to push on or not. Both of us have had our share of joint problems so we wanted to make sure that we felt good enough to go on. We got to Davenport Shelter, we realized that the distance to Standing Bear was less than expected and we both were feeling quite good, we pushed on. The scenery along the way was just amazing. The overlooks gave us views of mountain tops that frosted with ice. The trail was lined with trees full of ice crystals that were horizontal from the wind. It was an extremely beautiful. As the day wore on, we got to lower altitudes and the scene changed from ice and snow to trees with leaves on them and flowers along the side of the trail. It seems that we have seen both winter and spring in one day. Once we got to Standing Bear Farm, we caught up with "Millhouse", "Moss" and "Bumble bee". It was good to see them once again. It appears that the older couple that was with us decided to take a could of zeros while in Gatlinburg. It may be a while before we see them again.
Date: 2011-04-14
From: Standing Bear Farm - Davenport Gap

To: Brown Gap camping area
Miles today: 9.9

Today was intended to be a short day primarily because of the long day yesterday. The main part of the group took off early this morning. "Thimble" and I had to take care of laundry, resupply and other chores this morning because we got in so late yesterday. We finally got going at about 11. This was our first day of hiking after getting out of the Smokies. Yesterday, there was ice in the trees and today, it was sunny and warm. I was in shorts and a t-shirt very soon after starting because it was so warm. The first part of the trail we encountered was the 4.6 mile climb up to the top of Snowbird mountain. Once on top, we were treated to some great views. After resting and getting lunch, we headed for our destination, the camping area at Brown Gap. We arrived late of course and had to quickly get camp set up and dinner cooked. Because we are at a spot where there aren't any premade bear cables, we had to throw a rope over a tree limb to hang the food out of the reach of the bears. By the time a line was successfully hung, I had lost my rope because it got tangled up in a tree and ito took far longer than out should have. One would have thought that I had never hung food up in a tree before. This was the first time in a while that the knee was pain free. It was especially encouraging given the long distance covered yesterday especially considering that most of it was downhill. While that sounds odd, it is the downhill stretches that seem to irritate it the most because of the higher impact. I'm curious to see how well it holds up in the next few days.
Date: 2011-04-15
From: Brown Gap camping area

To: Walnut Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 10.3
Weather: broken clouds

Today, "Thimble" and I took off at about the same time as always. Even though I'm still not pushing the distance, this hike is a little tough because of the big climbs. The first one got us out of Brown Gap and the second one took us to the top of Max Patch. Max Patch is a knob that has a 360 degree view of the surrounding area. Because there was a storm moving in, the wind on top of the knob was very high. Several times, I was blown sideways enough where I had to catch myself. Needless to say, we didn't spend lot of time on top of the knob. We headed down the other side which got us out of the wind. We stopped at the next shelter for lunch and continued to out destination. When we got to the Walnut Mountain Shelter, we noticed that the wind was blowing into the shelter. Given t the approaching storm, we knew the rain would be blown into the shelter, getting everything wet. Tenting was the only option but the normal tenting area was also very windy. We ended up in a field that was down the hill from the shelter. This provided somewhat of a shield to the wind but not the gusts that blew through the valley. "Thimble" had set up her tent only to see it picked up by the wind and blown down the valley. We ended up placing rocks on top of the tent stakes to help keep them in the ground. The wind blew all night making it difficult to sleep at times. Fortunately, the rain waited until dinner was over. Both of us looked forward to being in town, to showers, clean clothes and a hot meal.
Date: 2011-04-16
From: Walnut Mountain Shelter

To:  Hot Springs town stop
Miles today: 12.7
Weather: few clouds

Woke up to a wet tent but was fairly dry inside. Still having trouble with rain blowing into the tent when it's windy and rainy out. Given the conditions, I feel blessed about how dry everything was. This morning, I was really getting to the point of being at peace with where I wanted to take my life. Much has been accomplished with healing process, much more than I would have expected at this point. Many questions that        I had on my mind have been answered fairly well. I'm certain that more is to be done but I'm happy with what has been accomplished so far. "Thimble"and I packed up our stuff and went to the shelter up the hill to eat breakfast. The strategy was to pack up quickly, then move to the shelter, get our food bags, eat then properly put stuff in our backpacks. This was done to get us under a roof just in case it started to rain while we were packing up. Today's hike was relatively easy because it was generally downhill with two major climbs. The weather turned out to be great. After hiking for about an hour, out became obvious that it wasn't going to rain any more. The temperature was cool but warm enough to be in t-shirts and shorts. I had been hoping to see at least one bear before we got to Hot Springs but I never one. I guess they're simple not very active at this point. We made it to Hot Springs just as the trail festival was coming to an end. Finally have caught up to the gang who had pushed a little to get to town at a reasonable time. Accommodations were hard to find because of all the people that were there for the festival. I had reservations so I didn't have to worry about beating the crowds to get a room. We had a great dinner, got to see folks we hadn't seen in a while and got all of our resupply done at the same time. We also got more gear that was either lost put damaged along the way. There is a great outfitter in town with all of the stuff a thru-hiker would need.
Date: 2011-04-17
From:  Hot Springs town stop

To: Rich Mountain camping area
Miles today: 8.7

"Thimble" and I went to church this morning at a presbyterian church near the downtown area before getting her resupply and hitting the trail. We have been trying to be consistent with our attendence while on the trail. This church had a breakfast fellowship after the service. Free food? Always a hit with a hiker. It's been fun to go to various churches while in town. We've met some great people doing this and get a chance to be in fellowship. We wandered down to the outfitters after church so that "Thimble" could get a few more breakfast items. By the time we got all of our food in our food bags, we ended up with some very heavy packs. We needed a lot of food because thete isn't a good resupply place between Hot Springs and Erwin. My pack was about 38 pounds after getting everything back in. This is about 4 lbs heavier than what it weighed when I started. The hard part about this is that there is steep hull to be climbed when leaving Hot Springs. So carrying extra weight at this point just doesn't seem to be exciting for some reason. The hike was fairly easy in length. We didn't think we could get a lot of miles in today given the late start so the distance was limited to under nine. The only view that was spectacular during the hike was the view of Hot Springs from the top of the mountain as we climbed out. The rest of the hike did not offer a lot of good views and seemed to be ordinary. At our camping area, there is the fire tower on top of the mountain that provide spectacular views of the Greenville, TN area as well as the mountains from which we came. The trees in this area are starting to get their leaves. Soon the forest will be transformed from the almost lifeless look of winter to the vibrant green that is spring. This is our annual reminder that that which seems lifeless can be renewed. Anything that is stagnant, can have growth again. Dinner was a packet of creamy potato soup that "Thimble" and I split. We had bought a block of hand churned butter while in town to take with us. We added this to the soup for the extra calories but it also made the soup tastier.