morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2003-04-29
From: state line branch

To: Max patch
Miles today: 14.9

Woke up at about 7 am today, i was on a roll. This new morning hiking was a real interesting experience, one that could revolutionize hiking as we know it! The day started out with a long climb through a poison ivy patch. Somehow I didn't get any which was good because i have ivy issues like the time i got it on my face and couldn't go out for a week because i looked like quasimoto. Poison ivy out here could be a real problem for me and i was amazed to escape unscathed. Climbed up Snowbird Mtn which would have been nice if not for the large piece of FAA equipment on the top which scarred the otherwise nice view. Descended for lunch and water at a shelter. Checked the shelter register (each shelter has a register that hikers sign each day when they go through and write down experiences, observations and words of wisdom) which by the way said from the night before that you should never sleep in a shelter with a person who tells you they have night terrors. Anyway i was looking for my friend strider who was with us yesterday but we didn't know where he went. Apparently he had just hiked a 27 mile day! nuts. He wrote that he had to hang around for a while that morning to let the pain medication kick in. From there was a long seven mile climb to the top of max patch. Max Patch was an enormous grassy bald that towered above all the surrounding landscape. This was the destination for the day since we had heard that was where the UFO's land and there were crop circles you just had to look. Well i don't know about any of that but it was one of my favorite spots on the trail, a huge mountain of grass. On top you were treated to 360 degree views of large mountains and valleys for miles around. At night we were treated to a lightning show as a storm rolled over a far off ridge. What an amazing place to camp crop cirles or no.
Date: 2003-04-30
From: Max patch

To: Hot Springs, NC
Miles today: 19.8
Weather: few clouds

Started off the day with a long descent. The storms we had seen the night before didn't touch us. Everything was going good and i finally caught Bucky for lunch at a shelter after about 8 miles. Then we heard thunder and it started to rain. Good thing we were in a shelter. It stopped being a good thing after about an hour and we realized that we couldn't wait the storm out. The only thing to do was to throw the old rain cover on and move along. It was kind of cool to walk along in the pouring rain with thunder rumbling overhead. It was also kind of cool to see deadly lightning striking all around as i marched along. I went into a kind of hysterical state where i just started laughing maniacally and daring the storm to get worse. Bad call. Well I got to the shelter where i was planning to stay which was about 3 miles out of town, soaking wet to find that pretty much everyone i knew was at town. Well it didn't take much convincing for me to hike the remaining 3 miles down into town. On the outskirts i changed into my drier and slightly less smelly clothes and walked straight to the pub and waiting friends. Well after we were kicked out at 10 (crazy small town ways)i set my tent up outside a cabin my friend had rented, happy to be in Hot Springs.
Date: 2003-05-01
From: Hot Springs, NC

To: Hot Springs,NC
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Woke up. Got a hotel that turned out to be pretty poor. No phone, the cable was supposedly out, i asked the owner when it might be back on he gave a very vague response ranging from an hour to days. Then when i was asking at the laundry place about when the cable in the community might be back on and when it went off and she said well the owner died in 2000 and it has been off since then. Basically i found out that to get tv you needed a satellite dish. Then i asked the owner if i could use the one phone in the whole place to make a call and he said no i have to keep that line open for my grandchildren. what a jerk! NEVER stay at the Alpine Court motel in Hot Springs, NC. Didn't do much else this day. Was fun to watch people come walking into town as the trail goes right down the middle.
Date: 2003-05-02
From: Hot Springs,NC

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

Today was another planned 0 mile day in Hot Springs. I used the library to catch my journal a little ways up, it took two hours and I couldn't even catch up halfway through the smokies. Today i moved into the local campground for 5$ a night. The place was cool, right next to the river and there were lots of chickens running around. I met a ton of new people. The thing is that tons of people come down into town each day and each day less go out. It seems that there is a vortex over town that sucks people in for days on end. I met this one guy mover, who had been in town for a week and was sleeping under the bridge. Fancy digs. The crazy thing about this town is that there is absolutely nothing to do. There is a pub, there are hot springs that cost money, there is internet access in a couple spots but really its got nothing. People just kind of laze the day away. Some slackpack which is paying someone to drop you off like 20 miles from town and you walk back without your pack. Then drop you off back down the line the next day. I don't really see the point in it but as everyone enjoys saying out here "hike your own hike", although often the same people are ones quick to criticize your style. At the end of the day I realized that i still had several errands to run like go to Post Office, get fuel, etc. and I wanted to leave tomorrow, oops. The best part about today that i was looking forward to all day was an olde tyme jam at the pub. Basically it was an amazing hours long music jam session with 4 banjos, 4 guitars, stand up bass, several fiddles, someone was even playing the spoons. It was awesome, this is something that doesn't exist where i come from, an amazing sight. A few other funny things i saw in this town that don't exist where i come from are a large loud pickup truck that was painted in camo green and had the words fire department on it i swear...and another car that had spray painted writing on it about how jesus was coming with the hellfire and plagues and everyone will burn soon, not in those words but those words were in it. Very grim stuff.
Date: 2003-05-03
From: Hot Springs, NC

To: Hot Springs, NC
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Got up late. Sat around. Went to post office, went to diner. Then i realized how much i wanted out of this town, i needed to get out of this town, the vortex was too strong. I went back to camp and slowly began breaking my stuff down, washing my dishes, organizing and throwing things away. The day grew later and later. I was still far from being able to leave. One by one my friends and hiking partners began to break away and filter off into the woods. My pace was frantic, cleaned gear, got fuel, made food, still not ready to go. I was starting to get disgusted with myself and to hate the town of hot springs. Then darkness fell. I was stuck, all day i was swearing to people that i was going to go, today was the day. I was finally prepared to go by 9 or 10 at night. great. To top it all off some old friends had rolled into town and there was a great blues band playing at the pub. I went to listen and talk and still swore i was leaving that night "As long as I'm a mile up by midnight". Went back to the campground saw some other friends there who were making food. I was never going to leave, I lived here now, I was starting to develop a drawl. What time is it i asked. 11:45. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
Date: 2003-05-04
From: Hot Springs, NC

To: Little Laurel Shelter
Miles today: 19.6
Weather: broken clouds

Technically a zero day is when you hike no miles in that calendar day but what about when you hike out at 1:00 AM. That's right I left Hot Springs that night after all but just after midnight when the vortex is at it's weakest. (sorry about all the vortex talk but this town is wierd, everyone talks about energy and spiritual concepts) My old friend wide load told me that what i was trying to do was unprecedented and that it couldn't be done. He said i was going to blow off of the lovers leap one mile up and that this was going to be circus's funeral. People quickly started claiming my gear and i made a promise to meet everone at the bottom of the lovers leap in the morning. Well that clearly never happened but i did peer off the edge into the hot springs nighttime, thank god i was out. I was tired but i kept putting one foot infront of the other. I passed Bucky and Wigglestick's tents at about 5 and stood with my lamp on thier tents for a second when they burst into laughter. "I told you i was leaving". I told them that i was going to do a twenty since that day was already shot anyway and plodded on. At a certain point i realized that i didn't need my headlamp anymore and it was daytime, i had made it through the night. I walked into the next shelter a few miles down the trail to catch Wingin It, Bearable, Yonder, and Strider for breakfast. They were confused to see me and i explained what i had done. I was incredibly tired so i saw them all off and took another hour break. The next ten miles was the slowest that i will ever do, by the end my feet were only moving inches forward each step. I finally made it to my goal and had barely the strength to set up my tent and crawl into it with no pad or sleeping bag. I woke up a few hours later to meet some coming in for lunch, then passed out to wake up to meet everyone who was staying there. I was a hero for my little stunt and everyone was excited to ask me about it. I told heroic tales of vortex escape and was told i wrote some rediculous things at the last shelter log in my delerium. I went to bed listening to incredibly strong winds shake the trees and my tent.
Date: 2003-05-05
From: Little Laurel Shelter

To: Jerry's cabin shelter
Miles today: 7.7
Weather: light rain

When I woke up it was raining heavily. I had awaken several times that night to intense wind and rain. I had never heard wind even close to this loudly. The rain kept up and i had no desire to leave my tent so i didn't. I got out a couple times to see others packing up and then to see some others coming in from the last shelter and planning on staying. One that had a radio said that there were heavy rains and tornados predicted. The wind was a result of fierce tornados that had apparently flattened parts of Missouri. I had to go some miles and the next shelter was a little over seven miles so I took advantage of a short break in the rain in early afternoon to pack my tent up, which is the only way to keep the inside dry, and leave. I reached a firetower a couple miles away with Wigglestick and we went to go see if we could check out the wind. Unfortunately the tower wasn't very high and it was locked at the top of the stairs. We climbed to where we could and got the effect we were looking for. I can't even describe the strength and feeling of the wind on that tower, it is sufficient to say that it was making me move. I had to check out a small side trail with a sign that said cliffs since i was out to see the sights. I enjoyed them from a slight distance and plodded on. This rain was horrible it was soaking. I got to the shelter and realized that i already was jam packed full and i was destined to tent. I took advantage of a slightly lighter rain to set up my tent and try to cook food. I was soaked and my boot had a leak in it. I went to bed in a pretty miserable state.
Date: 2003-05-06
From: Jerry's cabin shelter

To: hogback ridge shelter
Miles today: 14.7
Weather: moderate rain

Woke up to the sounds of constant rain again today. Its hard to get out of your sleeping bag, get packed up all while still in your tent, then pack up the tent all while its raining. I kind of made up my mind that i would never break my tent down in the rain so that i would never be forced to have a wet sleeping area. When it rains shelter space is at a premium and the shelters here generally were smaller than before. Everyone else got up and left while I hid in my tent. I even heard some people come through for lunch and leave. I got out and sat in the shelter. The rain was still drenching and showing no signs of leaving or even letting up. At about 2 in the afternoon i was fed up with waiting for a break and took advantage of light rain to unstake my tent and rush it into the shelter. I was able to keep mostly dry and headed out for a fresh round of pounding rain. I went across a bald area named big butt (i swear) and it was cool to see the clouds swirling down and through as we walked. The wind was still strong and there was a lot of fresh debris on the trail. Half of it had to have come down in the last couple days and made for a lot of scrambling and climbing around freshly fallen limbs. As it got later the wind died down and the rain stopped. Amazing because i thought it was supposed to last for days. Thank god because i was wet and my spirits low. I decided to night hike to make up some miles that i lost cowering in my tent so i walked into the twilight and until about 11:00 when i set up my tent under a few stars between breaking clouds, outside the shelter.
Date: 2003-05-07
From: hogback ridge shelter

To: campsite
Miles today: 18.7
Weather: moderate rain

Woke up in time to see the last few people off at the shelter. Some people i was seeing for the first time in a couple days and they said "when did you get here". Things were shaping up for a night hike since i left my tent set up to dry out completely and didn't leave until afternoon again. It was partly sunny and it was a drastic weather difference from the last couple days that made for pleasant walking. Late in the day I summitted big bald which was a good climb up to 5500 feet. It was an entirely grassy summit and we could still see clouds filling the valleys below and some blowing up the slope and dissipating. It is never going to get old seeing cloud formations from above, it is always a beautiful sight. Three of us pulled into bald mountain shelter for dinner. The gnats are starting to come out and here must be where they breed from. I was being eaten alive. Its funny to yell at them and swipe your hand at them because to the outside observer I am screaming and swinging at nothing. I gave that up and just tied a bandanna over my entire face. I could see just enough to cook while i laughed maniacally at the bugs i could barely see still trying to fly into my eyeballs. Bucky, Wigglestick and I pulled out of there at twilight to do another ten or so miles in the dark. It was a nice, easy hike and pulled into a campsite at about 1 AM. Decided to stay since there wasn't many good campsites around because everything was too steep or rocky.
Date: 2003-05-08
From: campsite

To: Erwin. Tenn
Miles today: 8.3
Weather: scattered clouds

Today was a race to get into town for me. I knew that i had no cash and i needed to catch my mom before 1 to get some in the bank so i slept until about 10:00 which was about the latest possible and still be able to make it. I got up packed in the quickest time i had ever done and started racing into town. I must have done that 8 miles in a little over 2.5 hours, at times i was practically running. Luckily it was mostly downhill. I made it to a phone with about 20 minutes to spare. I wasn't planning on staying in town, but a nice 10 dollar hostel right on the trail changed that plan. A bunch of people i know decided to stay the night to do the usual, shower, laundry, Post office, phone. We got a ride in to town to go to the grocery store to buy hamburgers to grill out. We all had an awesome bar-b-que right there and ate burgers and hot dogs till we felt sick. Its funny to see what everyone buys in towns when they have the chance. One person wanted celery, one wanted pickles, one just wanted mayo i thought they were going to eat it with a spoon. I bought some potatoes and onions to cut up and cook. I left them on the charcoals for about four hours in water and oil and when they came off they were about the best thing ever I even decided to carry some of the extras into the woods the next day to cook up again. This was kind of stupid since they were so heavy but i kind of have a reputation for not being afraid to carry extra weight to punish myself. If i survived a twenty pound food drop before the smokies i can carry anything.
Date: 2003-05-09
From: Erwin. Tenn

To: Curley Maple Gap shelter
Miles today: 4.2
Weather: broken clouds

Today we all got up to get out of town. I skipped the shuttle to town in the morning since I was trying to clean up my gear and organize food. Unfortunately that meant i had to wait until about 2 PM to get the next one. I still needed to send off a mothers day card since i still want to recieve food in the mail and live somewhere when i finish the trail, as well as go to the library to work on my journal. By the time i got there i only had two hours to work and that only got me to about hot springs in my journal. Oops its hard to catch up, my personal journal is still about two weeks behind as well. I wish i had the ability to do something on time just once. When i was in town it became apparent that the only way i could get back to where i was staying was to walk the four miles. I got lost in a not so nice section of Erwin. I kept asking people how to get back to the hostel and each would point in a different direction. It was getting to be twilight as i neared the hostel, NOT AGAIN! I had to get out of town so i ate something made a quick call and left town again under the cover of darkness. No twenty miles this time i needed to get back on a day schedule so i just hiked up to a shelter four miles out of town and pitched my tent without having to take any zero days, just what wingin it calls nero days since we dont really consider four miles a real hiking day. Still i had gotten out of town.
Date: 2003-05-10
From: Curley Maple Gap shelter

To: USFS 230
Miles today: 8.5

In the morning I heard the shelter residents stirring and trying to figure out who had come in at midnight. I chose to ignore them for several hours and sleep. When I woke up it was about 2 PM and once again people were in for lunch. I did not want to leave that late. I packed up and left. I hiked through a burned out section of trail and crossed a road. I was kind of mad at myself for getting up so late and was moving slow. Shortly after i reached the road I stopped to check the mileage and time. It was after 5PM and i had done around five miles. I was disgusted with myself and didn't want to get back into the night hike cycle which messes everything up. I just sat down for an hour feeling disgusted with myself. I decided to only go another couple miles camp, cook while it was still light out and go to sleep like a normal person. I camped at the base of a mountain with a girl named Double A who promised to try and wake me up at 6:30. I explained that i had a sleeping disorder and that it would be no easy task and just to keep yelling at my tent despite the curses that might come from inside, I would make a lot of miles tommorrow, I would get up AND hike in the AM.
Date: 2003-05-11
From: USFS 230

To: Roan High Knob Shelter
Miles today: 18.8
Weather: moderate rain

Well I didn't quite get up at 6:30. 9:00 to be exact but i had to be realistic. Double A did her part alerting me every ten or fifteen minutes what time it was. I would move around a little bit and say something like I was going to get out but I had no intention of leaving my sleeping bag. I was up about an hour after she last tried to roust me. I got out of my tent and began to pack up slowly. It then began to sprinkle and i went turbo mode and was able to get my stuff all packed up before it really rained. It was thundering all the way up a climb called Unaka Mountain. It was really nice at the top with tall spruce trees covered in moss. Too bad the weather was so nasty. I moved along pretty good all day knowing that the day would end with a three mile and 2500 foot climb. I caught Double A thanking her for her efforts and apologizing for anything i might have said. I am like Jeckyl and Hyde when it comes to sleepy time and waking. The rain fortunately stopped and the sun tried to poke through. I hit the gap before the climb and started heading up. It was a long hard climb. I just tried to zone out and keep pace. It was a hard climb but i made it to the top for a nice sunset and the shelter shortly thereafter. This shelter is the highest on the AT at 6285 feet. This was the last time i would be over 6000 feet until New Hampshire if i could make it that far. It was also probably the coldest i would be until New Hampshire. What a freezing night, i felt sorry for all the people who sent their cold weather gear home in Hot Springs. If i didn't have my long underwear i would have frozen to death and no one would have known since they would have thought i was sleeping in again.
Date: 2003-05-12
From: Roan High Knob Shelter

To: Campsite
Miles today: 17.9
Weather: scattered clouds

Today I managed to get up in the morning and head out just after most of the rest of the shelter. God it was cold, i could see my breath. Today was the day that i wanted to try and be at the post office in Elk Park, NC to get my last food before Virginia. Unfortunately it was about 15 miles and the post office closed at 4:30, it was going to be another race like the one into Erwin. I took my time in the morning going over a couple nice balds after coming down off the high mountain. I love the balds, it really amazing to see a mountain that is just covered with grass and some patches of rock or a tree here and there. Always good views. I was making about the time i needed to. I had to stop and go .3 off the trail to check out a shelter called Overmountain, which was an old red barn. No joke this shelter could sleep 50, i could pitch my tent inside it. The view from there was great out over a meadow and valley. It has a reputation for being the prettiest shelter on the trail, too bad i didn't sleep there, so I had to settle for lunch. After a quick picture I headed back out. It was going to be hard to get to town especially since i had to get to the road and then hitch a ride. In my way were two more spectacular mountains, hump and little hump mountains. These must have been the prettiest balds yet. The terrain was just so foriegn i felt like i was in the highlands somewhere. The climb up hump mountain was especially hard since the wind was blowing very hard. It was enough to turn around several day hikers even though it was nice otherwise. The winds were blowing me around. I had to struggle to walk at some points and at others i just stopped and hunched down. At one point i was leaning to compensate for the wind so much that when it suddenly died down i almost fell over. I had never felt winds like these. I couldn't even plant my trekking poles. I struggled up and over and from there it was five and a half miles all downhill to town and it was after two. I flew down, almost running at times. I made it to the road a little after 3:30. I had made the 15 miles in a little over 6 hours. I had done my part but now it was out of my hands. I stood by the side of the road with my thumb out watching car after car pass me by. I was starting to get nervous when a truck finally pulled over and drove me to the post office just in time. I had done it. I celebrated with a burger at the times square diner. Elk Park was a very small town, almost comical. Part of the fun part of the trail for me is getting all the culture. I got a ride back to the trail after about a minute on the way back. In and out of town in two hours, it is a record that may stand for some time. I walked a couple more miles and camped with a bunch of people i had just met who had bought a bunch of hot dogs in town and gave me some. i ate good that night and made new friends.