morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2011-03-11
To: Amicalola Falls Lodge
Miles today: 0.0

It's now Friday the 11th and I start my thru hike tomorrow. Cappello and I have registered as thru hikers with the destination being Mt. Katahdin, Maine. It seems so far away that it's impossible to even consider the fact we'll be hiking from this very location in Georgia all the way to Maine. We are staying at the Amicalola Falls State Park Lodge. It's a very nice place. We hiked the first little bit of the approach trail so I could show my mom the falls. There is a shelter after the visitors center just for thru hikers and it seemed that there were a bunch of hikers staying there tonight. This is the first time posting from my cell phone so bare with me on the spelling. We are waiting for my buddy Caleb and his friend Steven to arrive. Caleb will be hiking to Hot Springs with us and Steven will be doing the first 62 miles. Last night was the last time I'll see Laura until Hot Springs. It was great to spend some time with her before I left but it was very hard to say bye this morning. My mom drove Cappello and I to the Lodge this morning and will be saying bye from here tomorrow as we hit the trail. Emotions are running high to say the least. I'm ready to begin this journey! I didn't sleep at all last night as I Laura and I talked about everything possbile about the trail and I kept thinking about what was in my pack or what I'm going to forget. I'll post the next time I have service on the trail. I'll be keeping a written journal as well to make sure I write down everything I think/feel/see while on the trail. Thanks again to everyone for the support! It looks like we have a great week of weather ahead for hiking, so let the good times roll!Until next time,-Chris
Date: 2011-03-12
From: Amicalola Falls Lodge

To: Stover Creek Shelter
Miles today: 11.6
Weather: clear sky

Today was a great first day to begin hiking. We left the lodge around 8:30am after eating a good meal with my mom. I hiked the Approach Trail in October and it sucked just as much this time as it did the first. We made it to Springer around 1:30pm and celebrated the beginning of our hike with a shot of our friend Jack. We hiked another 2.8 miles to Stover Creek Shelter. The shelter was completely full, but we all prefer to camp anyways. We set up camp, filtered water, and made dinner. It's a great evening to be our first on the AT! No real pain yet but certainly missing everyone. Tomorrow it's onto Gooch Mountain Shelter for the night.
Date: 2011-03-13
From: Stover Creek Shelter

To: Gooch Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 12.3
Weather: few clouds

We got up around 8am and we were all on the trail by 9am. The trail was relatively smooth terrain compared to yesterday. The constant up and down pretty much killed me. I rolled my ankle two miles after we started. I wrapped it but took the wrap off a mile later as it was causing hot spots on my foot. I have two huge blisters on both ankles. Last night I had EZ Mac along with some chick and rice so tonight I went with Ramen Noodles and EZ Mac again. My body is very sore, but it feels good to know it's normal. We met a very cool guy named Coyote who has a buddy hiking the trail bare foot. Tomorrow the terrain looks to be all up hill so definitely not looking forward to that. We are heading for Woods Hole Shelter. I wouldn't have made the last 3 miles today without my ipod. I didn't sleep at all last night. I felt very tired and weak later in the day today. Today is only my second day but I'm counting them down as it gets closer to the time I get to see my mom and hopefully Laura. Even with all the pain I'm currently in, I wouldn't change a thing and love being on the AT! We will be at Neels Gap on our 4th day and it will be nice to take a shower and sleep in a bed.
Date: 2011-03-14
From: Gooch Mountain Shelter

To: Woods Hole Shelter
Miles today: 11.9
Weather: overcast clouds

It ended up being a muchj better day than I expected. I was on the trail by 8am and got to Woody Gap at 1pm where I got the chance to talk to a few people on the phone. The pain is definitely setting in. The rolled ankle is very sore, knees hurt, armpits and shoulders are sore, and I have blisters on both my ankles as well as pinky toes. I absolutely love it out here! Tonight we are camping on top of a mountain and the wind is blowing very hard. It looks like rain is moving in as well. We have a little over three miles to Neels Gap tomorrow so looking very forward to some real food, a nice place to sleep, and hopefully a beer! I miss everyone very much and hope it goes away within the next few weeks. I think it is normal to think what life would be like if I was at home; especially with certain people. There isn't a place I'd rather be then right here in the woods, camping at the spot we have, and writting in my journal. I'm pretty far from home, but it never feels that way on the trail. I'm definitely in great spirits tonight. Cappello is hiking much faster than I expected. He beats me to the destination for that day almost every time. Everyone is having a good time on the trail and we've met some awesome people!
Date: 2011-03-15
From: Woods Hole Shelter

To: Neels Gap/Blood Mountain Cabins
Miles today: 3.6
Weather: moderate rain

It was rainy and windy all night long. I was up by 6:30am and packed everything inside my tent by 7:30am dreading the climb up blood mountain. Everything I have is soaked by now from last night or this morning. I didn't eat anything this morning because I was wet and just wanted to get to Mountain Crossings at Neels Gap. We couldn't see anything from Blood Mountain because of the rain and fog. Decending Blood Mtn killed my ankle but when I saw Mounting Crossings I would smell food and was greeted with a burger cooked by a local church. I'm number 236 to sign in at Mtn Crossings. We all pitched in $15 for the cabin and I spent 35 on resupplies. We have our stuff drying all over the inside of the cabin. I have service here so I get to update my journal as well as talked to a few people. I looked out the window and say coyote was staying at the cabin next to us. I took a nice shower and let my body rest after. We've hung out in the cabin all day. Tomorrow we are leaving around 11am and hiking around 6 miles to the next shelter. We hear the weather is supposed to be good for about a week. The next time I have service will be in a few days around Helen, GA.
Date: 2011-03-16
From: Neels Gap/Blood Mountain Cabins

To: Hogpen Gap
Miles today: 6.5
Weather: overcast clouds

It was a great day. We left Neels Gap after another burger from a church. I got an extra burger and wrapped it up to eat for dinner. We ran into more trail magic later in the day when a man had soda and beer for hikers. He said he had seen 65 hikers just in one day. I got to meet Winton Porter when him and staff were trying to fix Cappello's bag. I also met Baltimore Jack. There was a Leki rep who showed a few of us how to use trekking poles correctly. The two girls from Maine who have had about the same pace as us gave Cappello the trail name Moose. We call Steven (Caleb's friend) Ghost because he hikes so fast we never see him. We have around 4 or so miles tomorrow to Low Gap shelter and we hear this is supposed to be hot dogs and beer there.
Date: 2011-03-17
From: Hogpen Gap

To: Low Gap Shelter
Miles today: 4.4
Weather: clear sky

Last night we ended up setting camp up around 1/4 from Hogpen Gap. After having a soda from a man at the gap, we figured it was a good place to call it a day. The two girls from Maine I believe go by the trail names Chickadee and Honeybee (if I spelt that right). They stayed at the same site we did last night and left about and hour or so before us. We had a great fire last night and plan to do the same tonight. The girls along with a bunch of others are here at Low Gap tonight. Coyote, Smoke, Caveman, and Dirt Nap are here as well. Dirt Nap is the man who hikes in bare feet. We only hiked 4.4 miles today and then hung out in the sun the rest of the day. We are waiting to see if the beer and hot dogs will really happen tonight. For now we are planning on going into Helen, GA tomorrow. We might hangout in town for a bit and have a few beers with Ghost before he gets back to his car at Dicks Creek Gap. The weather is perfect! Sunny and very warm. My body feels great today, so that is nice. I get to see my mom and hopefully Laura in either Franklin or Fontana so definitely looking forward to that. Days like today make me very glad to be on the AT and not sitting at a desk or sitting in class. Certainly taking it all in now as next year at this time I'll be sitting in a class room getting to go back to homework after the class. It's starting to become an everyday process of setting up camp, making dinner, and so on.
Date: 2011-03-18
From: Low Gap Shelter

To: Rocky Mountain Summit
Miles today: 10.7
Weather: few clouds

We ended up having a very fun night last night at the Low Gap Shelter. Some previous thru hikers packed in around 300 beers as well as about 150 hot dogs. We met so many interesting people as well as a few rather odd people. A guy named B-man gave us a lot of useful information and told us we better do some night hiking in the next two nights because of the super moon so we decided tonight would be perfect for that. When we asked how he got his trail name he said "A-man is too cocky, and who wants to be C-man." I left Low Gap Shelter around 8am and everyone else was an hour or two behind me; some hiking with hangovers. When I got to Unicoi Gap I laid out in the sun for three or four hours as we waited for the sun to go down so we can hike under the brightest moon is 75 years or so. Definitely the brightest moon of my lifetime so might as well hike under it while on the AT. We have a little over 17 miles to Hiawassee, GA where we will take our first zero day and will try to be there by tomorrow night. Ghost has to leave and go back to the "real world" by Sunday which sucks because he has become part of our group within the past week. Everyone knows us four on the trail; now there will be only three of us until Hot Springs. I have service here at the gap so I got to talk to my grandmother, dad, mom, Maverick, Grant, and of course Laura which always makes my day. Everyone is doing extremely better than we thought. I cannot explain in words what it feels like to be on the trail but it is a completely different world from what I had previously known. We are going to try and get in around three miles tonight under the moon so that would leave us around 15 or so for tomorrow. My body is certainly starting to adjust to the trail. Every day is different on that AT, and it's a great feeling. Tonight is going to be an experiance of a lifetime. I'm only worried about not being able to see small rocks and rolling my ankle, but I guess thats the chance I'm taking. I'm very much looking forward to seeing my mom when she visits me in Franklin or at the NOC and hopefully Laura if she can get off work. Night Hike:We only did 1.3 miles as it was hard on the feet and ankles. The moon is so bright we didn't need headlamps at any time. We left Unicoi Gap around 7pm after cooking a wonder Ramen Noodle dinner. It was 1,500ft straight up after the gap. Night hiking under the moon was one of the coolest thigns I've done in life. Never would I have done so before being on the AT. We have an unbelievable camp site on top of Rocky Mountain tonight with views of both Helen and Hiawassee, GA. Ghost, Moose, and Caleb are sleeping cowboy style tonight. I set up my tent to keep the dew off all my stuff and got crap for not cowboying it tonight. I'll save that for later this summer when it's nice and hot outside and the wind isn't gusting. It was a great night to say the lesat.
Date: 2011-03-19
From: Rocky Mountain Summit

To: Hiawassee, GA
Miles today: 15.4
Weather: clear sky

Today was the absolute longest day we have had yet. I left camp around 8:30am and hiked alone all day. I ran out of water for around two miles and started to feel very sick and dehydrated. The next water source I came across was .2 miles down a nice little cliff. I sat next to the spring for about an hour and had at least a liter of water while there. The spring was right the hill from Sassafras Gap. I had lunch at Addis Gap which couldn't have been a better place to do so because I was full on water, and now had a good amount of energy after feeling so week for the last ten miles. I saw a sign that said 5.4 miles to Dicks Creek Gap which seemed like nothing (I was very wrong). My lunch consist of rice, cheese, and vegitables which ended up being a good combination. Little did I know that after eating lunch I would begin to summit Everest. It was the longest uphill I've had yet by far and just seemed to never end. Today was very hot and I'm not burnt to a crisp but definitely got some red color today. I went through a little over 7 liters of water, which is more than double what I've been going through a day. I was the first to Dicks Creek Gap (off 76 which goes into Hiawassee). I watched street bikes fly by for a good hour until everyone else showed up. The last two gaps have had bikes riding by in numerious amounts, and it's killing me knowing I won't be riding this summer. Ghost had his car parked at Dicks Creek Gap so when everyone arrive, we all piled in with our gear including That One Guy who we gave a ride to the hiker hostel (which looked rather rough). We then stopped at a gas station and all got energy drinks and sat in the parking lot drinking them and certainly all felt like hikers! After that it was on to the "All You Can Eat Buffet" (which was not much). I felt sick I ate so much but that soon went away and I was hungry and hour later. I can feel the hiker hunger setting in. Ghost dropped us off at the Holiday Inn Express and then headed home. We're all worn out from the long day and the hour long shower felt better than ever. Tomorrow we will take our first zero day and hang out in town washing clothes, sitting in the hot tub, and maybe taking a swim in the lake across from our hotel if it gets hot enough. It's gong to be nice to take a break and let our bodies heal before heading back out on the trail Monday.
Date: 2011-03-20
From: Hiawassee, GA

To: Hiawassee, GA - ZERO
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

It was great to sleep in a hotel last night although I couldn't fall asleep as the bed felt so comfortable. I finally got to sleep around 1am or so. We were all up around 8:30am and had a nice free breakfast at the hotel which consist of eggs, bacon, biscuits and gravy, bagels, juice, and so on. We got in the hot tub a few hours after breakfast and relaxed for a while. It felt great on our sore bodies and feet. I had some time to update my journal as well. We laid around the room and watched Man vs. Wild on Discovery which got us pumped up to be on the AT. I talked with my mom for a bit and she has reserved a hotel in Franklin, NC for next weekend so it will be great to see her then. We plan to arrive in Franklin early Friday afternoon. We will be crossing into NC within the next day or so. We are around 100 miles from Fontana and 200 or so miles from Hot Springs. We are thinking it will take around three more weeks to arrive at Hot Springs give or take a few days. I put all our clothes in the washer, put in the four quarters, and left it for 30 minutes. I came back and the washer was broken with out close covered in soap and soaked. I told the lady at the front desk and the reply I got was "the mat opens at 9am and the guy who works on stuff is at chruch." To say the least I got my two dollars back that I spent on a broken washer and then spent an hour or so washing our clothes in the bath tub using the shower to rinse them off and get the soap out of them. We got resupplies at Ingles and I'm starting to be able to buy only what I need. My food bag is half the size it was when I started. I've lost 9lbs in the first week and my blood pressure is 140/69 with a heart rate of 83. Everything I needed to do on my zero day is done so no I'll be relaxing the rest of the day. We may head down to where Alex, Chickadee, and Honeybee are staying and go to the DQ next door. The next time I post in my journal will be in a week when I arrive in Franklin, NC.
Date: 2011-03-21
From: Hiawassee, GA - ZERO

To: Campsite past Blue Ridge Gap
Miles today: 6.6

We ended up leaving the hotel around 10:30am after another nice hot breakfast the was pretty much the same as yesterday mornings. We walked around two miles to the other side of town and a man asked "you boys needing a ride to the trail?" He said for a few dollars he would take us the 15 or so miles to the Dicks Creek Gap where the trail crossed the road. We gave him a five dollar bill and piled in his car which was cranking all kinds of old classic rock. It was a great way to leave town. The ride to the trail was certainly a memorable one as the guy said "I learned to drive on these mountain roads. If a trooper gets behind us, he'll never catch me!" After that I was counting down the miles till we arrived at the trail. When we arrived, a bunch of hikers were waiting to start hiking and relaxing in the sun a bit. We hiked about four miles to the next shelter when we met a older man called Storming Norman and his little dog. He was 72 years old and hiking around 170 miles from TN to Springer. After that, I saw my first bit of wildlife which was the biggest turkey I've ever seen. I guess the hot weather is starting to bring out some wildlife. I'm still waiting to see some big animals like deer, bear, and so on. It's hard leaving town because ones pack is so heavy after a resupply so after a few miles I brought out the ipod and listened to Journey for most of the day which put me in a great mood. Alex, Chickadee, and Honeybee are camping here with us tonight. We have around four miles to the GA/NC line tomorrow, and only 34 miles to Franklin, NC. Three 10 miles days and a short day on Friday will get us there by the weekend. My mom is planning to meet us in Franklin for a night or two. I got a lot of sun today and I'm feeling that tonight as I lay in my sleeping bag. I can't believe I'm almost out of my first state on the AT. My body feels great after our zero day yesterday. Looking forward to seeing my mom this coming weekend. It's only been around 2 weeks on the trail for me but it feels much longer. Laura cannot come to Franklin this weekend so the definitely sucks. I think I could live in the woods forever; it's great to be out here!
Date: 2011-03-22
From: Campsite past Blue Ridge Gap

To: Standing Indian Shelter
Miles today: 10.0
Weather: overcast clouds

I woke up around 6:30am and starting packing my stuff at 7am. We had eating, packed, and headed out on the trail around 9am. We heard from a few people passing by our campsite earlier this morning that a couple guys we know named Bobby and Jessie were night hiking in from town last night after waiting for a package to arrive and got in between a bear and its cub. They are staying here at the shelter tonight and it was a pretty funny story they told us about what happened. We crossed into NC today about 3 miles after we left camp and the state greeted us with two nice straight uphill climbs. Someone told us NC's peaks are about 1,000 feet higher than GA's peaks. We did ten miles today bit it felt like a good 25. I ended up drinking around six liters of water because I was so hot and I'm stilling drinking as I write this. We have 23 more miles till Franklin so we'll definitely be there by Friday. There are a bunch of fun young hikers camping here with us tonight along with two guys from Germany (the hiker bots). We all sat around the fire for a while before bed. Caleb and the girls are in the shelter with two others guys. Moose and I set up our tents on a small flat spot so close to each other our rain flies overlap. I got really sick today and lunch but thankfully it went away before bed. I'm not sure if it was bad food of maybe bad water. It's been two days since we left town but has been rather tough terrain. I'm already looking forward to being in Franklin this coming weekend.
Date: 2011-03-23
From: Standing Indian Shelter

To: Carter Gap Shelter (new)
Miles today: 7.6
Weather: overcast clouds

This morning we woke up to a very windy and foggy climate around the shelter. I filled up water, ate a rather small breakfast, and headed out on the trail as early as possible. It was a day for gloves and a hat since it was pretty cold with the fog and wind. The terrain was the easiest we've had since the start of our hike. The first 4.5 miles only took a little under two hours. I did the last 3.1 miles in less than 45 minutes and it was mostly uphill to the shelter. After a short break I saw that rain was starting to move in and I didn't want to wait around for it to start pouring so I took of and hiked as fast as possible. It's the coldest it has been since we've been on the trail tonight. The first week was in the high 60's to low 70's. We've only had one day of rain so we've gotten very lucky. Tonight it's absolutely pouring but I guess it needed to happen after close to two weeks of great weather. I would guess the temps are in the upper 40's to lower 50's tonight. I got to the shelter around 1pm and called it a day with the rain coming down and set up inside the shelter for my first night in a shelter. I have full service to my surprise so I got to talk to a few people while the rain is coming down. I got to hear all the details on what is going on in the world as well as back home in Asheville. We have a little over 16 miles to Franklin so we're going to do a 12 mile day tomorrow and 4 miles on Friday. I'm looking forward to being in town. A pizza and a couple beers sounds better than anything right now while watching this rain come down in a cold shelter. All of us have been talking about great hot food that is only found in town all night long. Another very fun night on the AT.