morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2005-05-09
From: Spence Field Shelter

To: Clingmans Dome
Miles today: 16.4

Our first goal was originally Clingmans Dome. 6,643' makes it the highest elevation in the southern Appalacians. We made that accomplishment today. We woke up at 6am ish, and headed on up. It was a tough day with lots of ups and downs, but we were determined to make it. We stopped Silers Bald shelter with Rain and Dance and Lucky Dog. Rain and Dance had our aspiration of trying to get to Clingmans Dome. At the last shelter (Double Spring Gap Shelter) we saw Ben, who has had a bad ankle which will probably take him off the trail. He said he would go home and heal and maybe just be a section hiker this year when he gets better. We tried to filter some water and it took us almost 10 minutes to get out 2 liters. We were later told that there is a lot of fine sand or silt that gets in the filter and kills it. We were pretty annoyed at it taking so long and we were ready to toss it off the cliff. We made it up to Clingmans Dome at 6pm. It was another 4 miles to the next shelter and we were determined to get to Gattlinberg. We heard it was a touristy area and many through hikers try to avoid it as it may deter them from finishing the trail. Some people get there, and never get back on the trail. There was a lookout at the top of the mountain which we were happy to go up and take some pictures. Even at 6pm there were still lots of tourists and several of them were asking us questions about the Appalachian trail. We quickly got a ride into Gattlinberg which was a blessing. We had the intention of going to "The Happy Hiker" in town, but when we got there, it was closed..... figures.... We went accross the street and founf a nice room with 2 queen size beds and a gas fire place. We had the best night sleep ever after having a fabulous 7oz steak with a huge salad, fries, and onion rings at Calhouns. Spike also had 2 enormous chocolate milkshakes.
Date: 2005-05-10
From: Gatlinburg

To: Gatlinburg
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: moderate rain

Stayed in Gatlinburg. It is a tourists paradise. There is Dolleywood, a Hard Rock Cafe, Aquarium, Ripleys Believe it or not Museum, Haunted house, you name it. It also has endless fudge, corn dog, and funnel cake stores.   Spike had some pain in his shoulder this morning, a pinched nerve, that was bothering him. When we were at Fontana, Spike was throwing around the footie, and he thinks thats when his arm started to feel aggravated. We went to the outfitters and made sure Spike's pack fits OK, and isn't putting too much strain on his arm. We also were having a problem with our MSR dragonfly stove - it still functioned OK, but one of the metal bits had broken. MSR was happy to replace the stove. The outfitters didn't have a Dragonfly, so we had the option of the Whisperlite International. A little quieter which is nice, easier to clean, not quite so efficient but pretty close. We replaced a part in our water filter as well as it seems that the fine sand in the Smokies has been too much of a strain on it. We spent the rest of the day looking for a masseur and hairdresser.   It was nearly impossible to find anything as businesses open and close regularly and nobody knows who's still around. We finally found a massuer to come to our hotel room. Spike was teaching the masseur what to do as Spike is a qualified myotherapist, and has done a lot of rehabilitation in his day. The masseur thanked us with $10 off the massage in exchange for the new information he had learned.
Date: 2005-05-11
From: Gatlinburg

To: Gatlinburg
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: few clouds

Moved over to the hiker hotel, the Grand Prix. This place is a little cheaper, and much more interesting. The morning we got there, a fight broke out in the back room and a guy was given a black eye. The police were called and were there when we arrived. The previous day, one of the girls who worked there was given a black eye by her boyfriend, and was sent to jail. Never a dull moment... We immediately ran into Kentucky in the back room playing on the internet. We all spent the day lazing aroud and playing on the internet. Went out to a brewery with Kentucky at 4pm, and had a long night of drinking. after the brewery, we went to play mini golf, bumpercars, air hockey, and the arcade. We REALLY wanted to play laser tag, but there weren't enough people.
Date: 2005-05-12
From: Gatlinburg

To: Gatlinburg
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

Woke up late and stayed around the pool all day. It reached 88F today, hot. KFC for dinner and an early night. Planning to go to trail days tomorrow with Kentucky. It is a festival for hikers that happens once a year, about 5,000 hikers come up each year. Looking forward to it!
Date: 2005-05-16
From: Gatlinburg

To: Icewater Springs
Miles today: 10.9

Had a crazy weekend at trail days. Picked up Lucky and Lamby and Drove with Kentucky to Damascus after 5 days of rest in Gatlinberg due to Spike's injury. Great party, but now back to the trail.Left Gatlinberg at 7:15am, Slick Rock offered to drive us the 22 miles back up to the trail. We had beautiful views of the mountains with low clouds. We can see why they are called the Smokies. After a few pictures we headed off at 8:30am on the trail with Kentucky. We walked a few miles down to Indian Rd, where Spike was feeling uncomfortable. Both his arm and leg were bothering him. We decided that we would walk another 1.7 miles and somehow find him a ride to Hot Springs (a several hours drive north). Kentucky and I would keep walking and meet him there in 6 days or so. The whole 1.7 miles we were trying to figure out what was the best way to go, it was 30 miles or so back to Gatlinberg, then a few hours over to Hot Springs. As we approached Newfound Gap, we saw a sign that read "Free food, drink and shuttle for all AT through hikers". How is that for a miracle. A 2004 thru-hiker was coming back to share some trail magic for all thru-hikers. He had some moon pies, juice, coke, dips and vegetables, and bananas. Spike was then shuttled off to Hot Springs.Kentucky and I moved on and were instantly greeted by Peaches. We walked with Peaches to Icewater Springs Shelter. It had a gorgeous view of the mountains, and yes, icy cold fresh water. Kentucky, Peaches and Beckham started a fire at about 4pm and worked on that fire for 5 hours. There were 9 of us in that shelter all gathering wood. We found out that chocolate cheesecake mountainhouse meals are disgusting. peaches then made some cornbread in the fire for everyone which was excellent. We met "Silent Nomad" who is deaf and is one day planning to hike the whole trail.
Date: 2005-05-17
From: Tri-Corner Knob

To: Tri-Corner Knob
Miles today: 12.6
Weather: scattered clouds

Woke up and Kentucky and I made Mountainhouse eggs and ham. Disgusting. These mountainhouse meals are known for their "just add hot water" ease. We had some pre-cooked bacon, oatmeal and then headed off. We stopped at Charlies Bunion, one of the best views so far I have seen. Peaches sat there for 1 1/2 hours and drew a picture of the mountain view. This feature got its name on a hike in 1929, when Charlie Connor and Horace Kephart (AT pioneers and conservationists) discovered this spot, which had recently been created by a landslide after a disasterous rainstorm. When they reached the summit, the two decided that the rocky outcropping stuck out like a bunion on Charlies foot. There were panoramic views all today as we were walking along the ridgeline (1 foot in Tennessee, 1 foot in North Carolina). Stopped at a rocky ledge for lunch with Peaches and Silent Nomad. We then headed on to Tri-Corner Knob Shelter.The Smokies are really rocky. The Conifers are being eaten by the Woolyadglid's, a beetle that has moved into the area due to global warming. You can see dying drees from every view accross the ridgeline. The acid rain is apparently taking its toll on the trees as well. Tri-Corner weas full of horse shit. From a mile before the shelter it was everywhere, and at the shelter it was everywhere. There was a permeating stench. There were the flies to match the horse shit as well. This is the first time i've seen a shetler in this state. We started a fire as soon as we got to Tri-Corner Knob shelter. Kentucky cooked us some creamy parmesan hamburger helper with chicken. Yummy. A section hiker, Section 8, gave Peaches and myself some really good green tea. Just the 4 of us tonight. Kentucky was possessed by the fire again, and passing around vodka shots. The nice sound of the stream at the front of the shelter is putting me to sleep tonight. Bed time at 8:45pm.
Date: 2005-05-18
From: Tri-Corner Knob

To: Davenport Gap Shelter/
Miles today: 14.8
Weather: broken clouds

Left the shelter at 8:15am. Section 8 left earlier and told us it was the best night in a shelter he had had so far. awwwwwwww. The shelter was at 5,800', we had a quick climb this morning up to 6,360', then a huge descent to 2,700' at Davenport Gap Shelter (nicknamed the "Smoky Mountain Sheraton"). I'm not sure why this shelter is nicknamed "the Sheraton" because it is nothing special. It still has a bear cage. Walked with Peaches and kentucky today. Kentucky hit the shelter and went straight to building a fire. Peaches has gone an extra 5 miles down to Mountain Mammas to get some food - hot dogs, a loaf of bread, caramel popcorn, peppermint sticks and marshmellows. Kentucky did his biggest walk ever today, 14.8 miles, so we were proud. We celebrated by finishing off the vodka and preparing a feast. We heard from previous hikers that there was a snake that lived in the shelter, but we didn't see him.
Date: 2005-05-19
From: Davenport Gap Shelter/

To: Deep Gap/Groundhog Creek Shelter
Miles today: 10.5
Weather: overcast clouds

The three of us slept on the top bunk, didn't want to tempt the snake that supposedly lived under the bottom bunk. The fire still had coals so we made toast with mustard and ketchup for breakfast. Kentucky even made a snickers and marshmellow toasted sandwich for breakfast. Left at 8:15am and walked 2 1/2 miles with Kentucky and Peaches to Standing Bear Farm. We officially out of the Smokies today. Walked by some sensational waterfalls. 76 degrees was tempting us all to jump in the water. Beckham went straight for a shower, and did some laundry at the farm. Curtis is the owner of standing bear farm. He's had the place for about 5 years, and has been running the hostel for about 4. He is in the middle of building a trout farm so that eventually the hikers can catch and cook their own trout. It will also be a dipping pool for hikers to cool off in. He also apparently has 4 different flavours of moonshine. I only tried the strawberry one which tasted like gasoline. We played some Pink Floyd and Greatful Dead and some Allman Brothers and sat in the sun all afternoon. We were there from 10 - 1:15. There was cold sodas and fantastic pizza so we were content.We then had to go to our walk. 1,400' up to 4,263' (brutal). kentucky saw a bear cub on this stretch. It's not nearly as pretty as the smokies. Immediately the conifers have been replaced by Maple. Weird. We went to camp at Groundhog creek shelter. We could hear the thunder in the backround as we got into camp. We lit a fire and are cooking marshmellows. Peaches wants me to check out a band called Bright Eyes.
Date: 2005-05-20
From: Deep Gap/Groundhog Creek Shelter

To: Roaring Fork Shelter
Miles today: 9.4
Weather: moderate rain

Full moon last night. I had to crawl out of my sleeping bag early this morning when it was still dark just to look at the bright moon, throw some more wood on the still burning fire, and just sit there in complete silence. It was great.Woke up to rain. Didn't get out till 10:30am. It luckily cleared after about an hour or so of walking. Peaches decided to take a zero day and just lie in the shelter. We walked through Rhodedendron forests today. No sign of Pine left. Today our data book was wrong. It said there was a shelter that didn't exist. Apparently the AT group was in the process of building a brand new shelter when a law began to be enforced that states that all Federal buildings must have handicap ramps. How rediculous is that in the middle of the woods. The shelter hasn't been built obviously, thousands of tax dollars have been wasted in the litigation process, and no new shelters will be built until the issue has been resolved. So today, instead of eating lunch in a cosy dry shelter, we ate lunch in the rain.Went over Max Patch today. There were 360 degree mountain views. It was gorgeous. Kentucky and I took a few pictures. We then set off to Roaring Fork Shelter. Kentucky lit another fire and nearly smoked us out of the shelter. I went to bed almost immediately (without even eating dinner), and had a dream about someone stealing my hiking poles. Thats when I know I've been out here too long.
Date: 2005-05-21
From: Roaring Fork Shelter

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

Mileage off, fix laterKentucky woke me up saying, "Get up Beckham, its 3:30am", then he fell back to sleep.   I had been wanting to do a night hike which he had veto'd. When I got up it wasn't 3:30am, but it was 6:30am. I made some breakfast and tried to wake up Kentucky, he rolled over and said, "Is that a coyote?" still half asleep. He's paranoid about animals out here. We left camp at 7am and headed into Hos Springs to meet Spike. About 2 miles from Hot Springs we saw Spike coming up to meet us. He had thrown on a light pack for a test run. We all walked in together and went to the diner for $2 cheeseburgers which were fantastic. Spike had been staying at Elmers hostel and was now almost part of the furniture. People thought he worked there. It was the nicest hostel I've seen so far. It is a bed and breakfast that gets used as a hiker hostel during the thru hike season. Elmer is an organic chef and cooks great organic meals for his guests. We went into town and went to the local pub where there was a decent bluegrass band playing. We ran into the whitewater rafting crew, some of which we had met back at the NOC. They invited us for a free rafting trip the following day. Woo-Hoo!
Date: 2005-05-22
From: Hot Springs

To: Hot Springs
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Whitewater rafting today on the French Broad river in Hot Springs. It was Awesome. Adam organised it for us and Brandon came in on his day of to guide our raft. The group leader also gave us some extra special trail magic. We went down for $2 burgers at the diner, then over to the whitewater rafting crew's cabins for a bit of a party. Got home late.
Date: 2005-05-23
From: Hot Springs

To: Spring Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 11.0
Weather: broken clouds

Sent home just over 10 lbs today. Beckham left this morning carrying 40lbs, Spike carrying 20lbs to test whether he could hike. Walked with Peaches, Glory Bound, Kentucky, and Old School. We unexpectedly ran into a beautiful dam which we had to stop at for a few minutes to take it all in. It was in the middle of nowhere. Stayed at Spring Mountain Shelter with Peaches, Glory Bound, Roof, Kentucky, Old School, Grandpa Bob and his sidekick, and Jimmy a section hiker. Half of the crew saw a bear and 2 bear cubs about a mile before the shelter, some of them even had pictures. Lit a huge fire again, Kentucky was the fire master.
Date: 2005-05-24
From: Spring Mountain Shelter

To: Spring Camp Creek Bald
Miles today: 11.6

 Camped after approximately 11 miles at the top of a mountain where there was a spring on one side and a creek on the other. Kentucky built a fire again, and no matter how hard we tried, it wouldn't burn well as all the wood was damp. Went to bed relatively early as we planned to get up early to meet kentucky's grandparents the following day.
Date: 2005-05-25
From: Spring Camp Creek Bald

To: Devils Fork Gap
Miles today: 12.4

Got up late, of course. Didn't leave till after 9am. Had to high-tail it to Devils fork gap as we were supposed to meet Kentucky's grandparents at 4pm. We started singing along the way to keep us occupied. "I believe I can Fly" was one song we started making up our own words to. We got to Devils Fork Gap at about 3:30 and Kentucky's grandparents got there at exactly 3:55pm. Went into Erwin to eat at a mexican restaurant and ate lots of burritos. We got many stories of the AT as Grandpa Rottgering, or trail name "Trail Boss" had hiked the Appalachian Trail. We then went to the supermarket and purchases $80 worth of food (for 3 days...)The shower was fantastic in the hotel. Kentucky's grandparents brought us home grown strawberries which were fantastic.
Date: 2005-05-26
From: Devils Fork Gap

To: Low Gap Campground
Miles today: 12.2

Knock on the door at 6:30 am for breakfast. We didn't want to get up at all as we had a beautiful sleep. Kentucky lovingly carried the 4 lbs of leftover burritos for 3 hours uphill which were going to be our lunch. Stayed at Low Gap Campground and again had a fabulous fire. We stayed there with Long Haul, Kentucky and the 3 preachers.
Date: 2005-05-27
From: Low Gap Campground

To: No Business Shelter
Miles today: 13.5
Weather: scattered clouds

Kentucky woke us up with a coffee/hot chocolate combination and a bagel with cream cheese, and cinnamon toast crunch with hot cocoa mix. Yum! Stopped at Bald Mountain Shelter for lunch then headed on to No Business Shelter for the night. Stayed with Kentucky, the 2 preachers and Goat, Long Haul, and a Southbounder. Had a big Fire again thanks to Kentucky.
Date: 2005-05-28
From: No Business Shelter

To: Erwin TN, Ms. Janet's House
Miles today: 6.3

Early start before 8am so that we could get into Ms Janet's to do some washing, shopping and make some phone calls. After many attempts to get beckham up by both Kentucky and Spike we finally started on our merry way. Hitched a ride while it was raining in the back of a pickup truck. Ran straight to Sonic for a burger, fries and milkshake. We tried to find a phone card as well to call Stu to wish him a happy birthday, but to no avail. We had planned to take a day off tomorrow, but were offered a chance to "slack pack" 19 miles. Slack packing is just taking food and water and coming back to Miss Janets to sleep after the miles. We snapped up that option immediately.
Date: 2005-05-29
From: Iron Mountain Gap

To: Nolichucky River
Miles today: 19.2

Woke up to breakfast burritos cooked by Ms. Janet. 19 hikers stayed here last night, and 19 hungry hikers for breakfast. We were shuttled off to Iron Mountain Gap and started slack packing at 11:30am. Goat and one of the preachers as well as Kentucky were doing this walk with us today. The beginning was really steep and our calves were screaming. We were thankful we didn't have our full pack weight. The top of the first big mountain was a pretty pine forest where we stopped to have lunch, peanut butter and jelly bagels (Spike's first PB&J), power bars, peanut butter oreos, and peanut butter crackers. The rest of the walk wasn't too bad, but it still was 19.2 miles out of the way. We were tired by the end and took a $2 shuttle back to Ms. Janet's house. We made the shuttle stop in at a convenience store for a phone card, so we will have to make a few phone calls now! We ran again to fast food, Sonic drive through for a burger, fries and a milk shake. Spent the night again on the internet finishing these journal entries and sending some e-mails. Ms Janet is fantastic and we sincerely recommend anyone to stay here!
Date: 2004-02-18
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

One year from today, I will leave the US Air Force after 32 years of service (4 at Zoomie school and 28 active duty). I actually will officially retire on 1 Jun 2005, but have some accumulated days off. I am so excited to finally take a few months to de-stress my life by hiking the AT, beginning in Feb of next year. When I visited the Vancouver World's Fair in 1986, the theme was about motion or movement. I remember one country's display that featured a speaker relating a story of life with the central theme being, "The ability to move and freedom are as one". It will be such an adventure being free to move up the AT! I have hiked a few trails which are recorded on Trail Journals and am fortunate to have one of my photos (of Lake Tahoe) on this site's web banner rotation, in fact, it is up there right now. I can't think of a better way to culminate my 50th year of living than this trek to Katahdin.
Date: 2004-02-20
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

A year from today I will fly from McCarron Las Vegas International to Hartsfield Atlanta International. I have enjoyed the journals of so many AT hikers these last few years. I have always been amazed at how many folks read them, literally thousands of hits on their journal entries. One of my primary hiking goals for this trek will be to pare my pack weight to below 40 pounds. Almost every hike I have ever done has been water-centric due to the absence of reliable water sources. Not having to carry a lot of water should help considerably. I hope my biggest problem for my February start will be keeping the water unfrozen!
Date: 2004-02-21
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

One year from today, I should begin the trek north from Springer. If all goes according to plan, the friendly folks at Hiker Hostel will have put me up overnight and shuttled me over to Springer by now. Have to remember to pick up my Georgia stone!! Have to remember to get a picture of me at the Springer bronze or at least my cap and hiker poles (my standard when alone). Taking a look at the 2005 AT journals, there are already 20 folks up and running their ledgers. I know it will be a change for me as almost everyone of my long hikes (over 100 miles) have been solo with very few fellow backpackers. When I hiked the San Diego Sea-to-Sea Trail last October, I didn't see even one other backpacker on any segment, which was ditto for my hike on the Tahoe Rim Trail (Sep 2001), except for one leg north from Tahoe City.
Date: 2004-02-22
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

My hike is dedicated to those who have gone before and who's journals I've read. I'd like to thank Arctic Sven, Model T, Flying Brian Robinson (still can hardly believe how far North he got in March), Karen Berger (just bought your Backpacker Everyday Wisdom today), Sweeper, Comer & Jean, Bluevist, Bluebearee, Skyscraper, Two Scoops, GoodGulf, Blue Water Dave, ?Yossarian, Chief, Rocket & Bono, Flyin' Scotsman (If its not S its c..), A-Train, Dimples, Roni, and certainly not least Yogi, Leif and Zipdrive.Just went out today to Sports Chalet and bought a Thermarest Prolite 3 to replace my Ridgerest. This should make my evenings a little more comfortable. Really struggling with the best jacket to get and best pants. Have all the gear I'll ever need now, just trying to optimize and minimize weight (but I'm not gonna cut my toothbrush!!)
Date: 2004-04-22
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Last weekend, an REI store (Recreational Equipment Inc) opened here in Las Vegas. Located in the SE part of the valley, at Green Valley Station's shopping area, "The District." I shopped on their opening Saturday morning, which was a pretty busy day for the store. I made several purchases for my hike: a pair of REI Alpine Lakes Full-Zip Rain Pants, a pair of REI Expedition-weight Polartec fleece base layer pants, a pair of Mountain Hardware Nut Shell Gaiters, and a package of Katadyn Micropur MP 1 water treatments tablets. A few weeks ago I picked up two pairs of Seirus gloves: an All-Weather and an Ultra Sport All Weather. Both of these gloves are amazing! Supple and waterproof, designed for active sports.Now, I'm down to a decision on a rain/wind jacket between the Marmot PreCip and the Columbia Thunderscout. Both now are priced pretty low, so hopefully I can decide soon.Need to start making different alcohol stoves to test out on my summer hikes. Also, need to get a pair of snowshoes for the Smokies (also for our winter camping on Mt Charleston). It's been an unusually bizarre year for AT trail journals this year. Lots of opinionated and fevered dialogues on the forums as well.   I just hope to drag my 50-year body around the path without much controversy!!The ability to move and freedom are as one