morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2004-03-17
To: View Entry
Miles today: 16.4

Long day today. Got a late start because of the cold. Ran into Apple. He has a dome tent out in the middle of nowhere. He had all kinds of free food. I ate 3 hotdogs and he gave me a pack of reece's cups. Finally made it to A. Rufus Morgan shelter. Only a mile into NOC tomorrow where I'm going to zero to let my blisters heal.
Date: 2004-03-20
To: View Entry
Miles today: 12.4

My legs feel good but the blisters are still bothering me. I did 12+ miles today. Can't wait to get to Fontana Dam. The "Slackers" left their truck in one of the gaps. They had a cooler in the back for thru hikers. I grabbed an orange and a soda. Anxious to see what I've gotten in the mail in Fontana.
Date: 2004-03-21
To: View Entry
Miles today: 5.5

Easy day today into Fontana. Took the shuttle into town. Stayed at their inn with a couple of other hikers. Met several other hikers here. I met a girl from Colorado doing as much of the trail before May. I rescued a balloon from the vaulted ceiling for her, for which she was eternally grateful I'm sure. This is the life of Kung Fu: wandering the land helping people.
Date: 2004-03-22
To: View Entry
Miles today: 13.6

Got down to the post office at 7:30. They opened it a half an hour early for me. Excited to get my package. Thanks Lara for the rooster towel, I wasn't sure exactly why I needed a candle though. Got a shuttle down to the dam. The dam was incredible. Hiked into the smokies. So far a very nice hike. I could see my breath almost all day. It's supposed to dip down to single digits tonight.
Date: 2004-03-23
To: View Entry
Miles today: 22.7

At the beginning of the day I felt a little discouraged. I didn't feel like I had the energy. After a few breaks and some more food I felt better. I went all the way to Mt Collins shelter. I got there after dark. I got to see Clingman's Dome at sunset. It was breathtaking. No one else was there so I didn't have anyone to share the experience with.
Date: 2004-03-24
To: View Entry
Miles today: 20.1

Beautiful day for a hike. No rain in the smokies so far. Passed Newfound gap. Loaded with tourists. I felt like a sideshow. All kinds of people kept coming up to see the grungy looking thru-hiker in the kilt. It was nice conversation though. I heard later that the next day people were handing out sandwhiches and chili. I have been listening to my radio a lot lately. It's always my luck that as soon as a station plays something I like it fades out to John Mellencamp or some country station. Country and Hip Hop seem to be the strongest signals. Stangely the song that got me moving the most was "Hey Mama" by the Black Eyed Peas: "Get out on the floor and move your booty mama.....shake your bomb bomber!" I wondered to myself: "Did the whos down in whoville shake THEIR bomb bombers?" I don't know.
Date: 2004-03-25
To: View Entry
Miles today: 15.7

Best day yet for hiking. My legs felt great, the weather was great, the views were great. I stayed at Tricorner Knob shelter last night. This morning I'm on my way to Mountain Mamas. I was warned by some NOBO that the accomodations were horrible and the food would make you sick. I was hungry for a burger and wanted to sleep indoors so I decided to ignore the warning. I didn't get sick from the burger but he was right about the housing. I was afraid I'd get some skin disease from the mattresses. He said the dog would get a little too friendly but it never got as friendly as he suggested. After a few "Shoos", "Begones" and a couple "Go elsewheres" it would retreat to it's home under my bunkhouse. There's a nice cat that would cuddle in my lap when I was on the payphone. It sneezed something horrible on my leg so that ended that special moment.
Date: 2004-03-26
From: Rainbow Springs Campground

To: View Entry
Miles today: 16.0

Up here on Snowbird Mt. Awesome view. It's a giant bare spot on top of this Mt. There are posts with blazes ever 50 yards or less. It's actually kind of eerie. It feels like the forbidden zone on planet of the apes. There's a large white capsule on top. I'm afraid some monkeys on horses might jump out of the surrounding trees and try to wrangle me. When I walked by the capsule a flock of crows flew away. Probably the corpse of some space pilot inside. I didn't look. Damn dirty apes!I was walking through the woods on my way up here listening to my radio. I was flipping through the channels and came to a station with very clear reception. It was silent at first, then it broke into this beautiful German opera. It was a glorious moment. I was hoping it was the "Magic Flute" by Mozart but alas it was not! It was Bach and he's just as good. The gnats flying around my head became an angelic host singing praises to God. All my pain subsided and I walked with renewed energy. Then one of the angelic host bit me. Damn dirty gnats!
Date: 2004-03-27
To: View Entry
Miles today: 19.6

I ran into Shot again today. I had originally seen them at Neels. They bypassed the smokies because they don't allow dogs. Shot has a dog named Governor. Next I hiked up ot Max Patch. It was beautiful. One of the guys I was hiking with said the planets were going to be the brightest in 30 years. We stayed up just after sunset and saw them. They were quite beautiful. Max Patch has a 360 degree view of all the surrouding moutains.
Date: 2004-03-29
To: View Entry
Miles today: 19.6

Hiked to Little Laurel Shelter. Had to leave Hot Springs. The mice in this shelter are horrible. They were rummaging through my bags which were right next to me so I put them in my pack which was haning. Then I could hear them on my pack. I shined a light on my pack and saw that the mouse was in there. I stood up and tapped on the pack. The mouse came out to say "Hi!" so I unleashed my Kung Fu vengeance on him and swatted him about 20 feet into the cold dark night. Ha Ha! Do not mess with Kung Fu.
Date: 2004-03-30
To: View Entry
Miles today: 21.3

Hiked over some cool exposed ridges. It was foggy but still very cool. Got a little worried as I was ending the day. The elevation profile said an up and then a down and I'd be at the shelter. It seemed to drag on and on. I almost set up my tent thinking I was past the shelter. I kept walking and finally made it there. Every one esle said they had the same experience. Stupid elevation profiles need to be updated.
Date: 2004-04-01
To: View Entry
Miles today: 6.0

Hiked into Erwin today. Yesterday was interesting. There was snow on the ground when we woke up. Double Nickels, Crayola, Boo's Goose and I all left the shelter near the same time. Up on Big Bald there was several inches of snow. Up to a foot in some areas. The fog was horrible and it kept snowing. With the snow you couldn't see the trail so we had to follow the blazes. On the bald you couldn't see at all where to go unless the posts were placed close enough. Crayola would have to go out into the fog and give a whistle when he found the next post. I parted ways with DN, Crayola and Boo's Goose. I went to No Business Shelter. This morning I made it here to a hostel after 6 miles of hiking in the rain. I decided to try to slack pack 20 miles from Iron Mt gap. The "Slackers" were here and they gave me a ride up there but the snow was horrible. They didn't want me to go out into it alone so they took me all the way to Roan Mt to pick up my mail. I may zero here tomorrow if the weather stays bad. Didn't like hiking in that snow.
Date: 2004-04-02
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Zeroing in Erwin. Still rainy and cold. I guess there is still lots of snow up high. I'm going to leave here tomorrow morning. Hopefully the weather will be more accomodating. All I can think about is how I'm in here growing weak....growing soft, while charlie's out there, in the bush, growning stronger, watching, waiting.
Date: 2004-04-03
To: View Entry
Miles today: 16.4

A good friend of mine, whom I have named "Rabbi" came to visit me. To others he is most commonly known as Chief John. We left the hiker hostel in Erwin and set out for Cherry gap shelter. The snow made the hike very difficult. At first we thought it was beautiful addition to the views from the trail but soon it was bogging us down. This particular section between Erwin and US19E is very high elevation with a lot of climbs.
Date: 2004-04-04
To: View Entry
Miles today: 30.2

Rabbi and I hiked to Iron Mt. Gap. He had had enough of the snow so he hitched a ride back to his car in Erwin and agreed to meet me at US19E which was 30 miles away. I set out to do this without my pack but didn't anticipate the snow slowing me down as much as it did. It was grueling trudging through the stuff. I had to climb Roan Mt. which has the highest shelter on the trail. It was cold all day long. There were many places that had over a foot of snow. I made it to Roan Mt at 3:30 and still had 15 miles to go. I considered hitching a ride from carvers gap but decided against it. I made it to the last big mountain that had a huge bald. There were several balds this day. Each one had horrible wind and cold. The last one had winds of 50+ mph. It almost knocked me over. The views were spectacular but I couldn't enjoy it because I couldn't feel my fingers and the sun was going down. (I felt like I was in the south pole.) I hiked the last couple of hours in the dark. The moon had come up so there was just enough light to see the trail. I finally reached Rabbi's car at 9:30.
Date: 2004-04-05
To: View Entry
Miles today: 10.0

Rabbi slack packed me from Walnut Rd. We found the closest road so I hiked from there back south to US19E without my pack. It was a beautiful day for hiking. This section had a nice river that the trail followed for a while, some water falls and a lot of livestock pastures with great views of the mountains. The best part was that there wasn't a bit of snow. It really lifted my spirits to be able to hike without slipping at every step. Now I should be able to make it to Damascus in 3 or 4 days.
Date: 2004-04-06
To: View Entry
Miles today: 14.1

Rabbi dropped me off at Walnut road. I intended on going 20 miles to Pond Flats but I came to Laurel Falls and couldn't resist. Beautiful waterfall with a nice fat stream. About a hundred yards after the fall there is a campsite nestled in this gorge. Steep rock wall on one side that goes up over a hundred feet on one side and the stream on the other. Only saw two hikers today. Double Nickles and Crayola. Going to be nice to fall asleep tonight to the sound of rushing water.
Date: 2004-04-10
To: View Entry
Miles today: 23.7

Set out to go to Thomas Knob shelter. Made it there by 4:30 and decided to go to Wise shelter. It was worth it. The weather was decent. Saw a snake on the trail. Came across wild ponies which the girl I was hiking with fed packets of oatmeal. Ran into Grongor the Destroyer and his girlfriend at the shelter.
Date: 2004-04-15
To: View Entry
Miles today: 23.6

Picked up my mail drop in Bastian. I've decided so far that this is the least "hiker-friendly" town on the trail. No one would give me a ride. I had to hike into town the entire way as a few dozen cars passed by. Either scowling at my outstretched thumb, waving, or ignoring me all together. The best part of the hike into and out of town was when I came across a rooster. It was sitting in some deep grass next to the road. I wanted to take him with me. Stick him in my pack and let him become my sidekick or something. Poor thing needed to escape the scowl-wearing people of this town. Ain't no love here for Kung Fu and his rooster!
Date: 2004-04-23
To: View Entry
Miles today: 5.0

Left Daleville after having lunch with the Lost Boys. At at the "Three Little Pigs" BBQ. Only hiked 5 miles to the first shelter. Met Yin or Yang today, he gave me a ride to the post office. He hiked the trail in '02. I love former thru hikers. They're so sympathetic to our way of life. First thing he asked when I met him at the gas station was if I needed a ride.
Date: 2004-04-24
To: View Entry
Miles today: 23.1

Hiked to VA614. It was a pretty easy hike. The trail was fairly evenly graded. There's a big trout stream interesecting the road here and some really nice campsites. It's all pine trees here so I've had some difficulty hanging my bear bag. I tried to string it between two trees. Got a speck of bark in my eye attempting that. Then I had to just tie it on to a broken nub of a branch. The first try the stick I was using to throw the rope with came off and hit my foot. My foot had a little cut on it. My first major injuries on the trail are from hangning a stupid bear bag.
Date: 2004-04-27
To: View Entry
Miles today: 24.9

Hiked to Cow Camp shelter. I arrived at the previous shelter and the weather was fine. Between the shelters was a 4000 ft mountain. When I got to the top I could see black clouds hurrying towards me. They were bent on my destruction. When they hit the mountain it sounded like trains were shooting by in front of and behind me. Then a second wall of eerily yellow clouds hit. It began to snow and hail. Soon I couldn't feel my fingers and my glasses were fogged up. After about 20 minutes of snow and hail the sun popped out of the clouds and shortly the sky was clear and it was as it had just been before. It was amazing watching all of this from the top of the mountain.
Date: 2004-05-09
To: View Entry
Miles today: 16.9

Getting close to Harpers Ferry. I hiked to Keyes Gap and had to stop and have a BLT at the local restaraunt there. Finally hiked to within 4 miles of Harpers Ferry and camped. There are inch worms everywhere. They're crawling over all of my stuff and all over me. People warned about the mosquitos, black flies and gnats but no one ever said anything about the inch worms. The mosquitos did come out later while I was trying to sleep of course. The nights are much warmer now and it's aggravating to have to decide which is worse: Sweating in my 20 degree bag but safe from the mosquitos or cool and comfortable but being eaten alive.
Date: 2004-05-10
To: View Entry
Miles today: 10.0

As I was packing up my tent this morning Grasshopper came walking by. A New Yorker who's hiked the trail before. Being that both our names find their origin in the television show from the 70s we had an instant comraderie. We both went to the ATC headquarters in Harpers Ferry which is where i am now. I picked up my mail and had my picture taken in front of the headquarters. There's a trail angel here who will give rides and he let me take a shower and do laundry at his house. Now I must decide if I want to rest the remainder of the day or move on. This trail angel's neighbor allows hikers to camp in his back yard which would be free so it is tempting. My other option is to hike 5 miles out of town to the next shelter. I was offered a nice meatloaf dinner as well so it may be difficult to leave.
Date: 2004-05-14
To: View Entry
Miles today: 19.2

It's hard swatting at biting flies while trying to hold on to a poorly fashioned tortilla wrap of tuna and potato chips.I've been listening to the thunder for the past hour. The rain finally came. Hold on for your lives bugs! Instant karma's gonna get ya!One of the highlights of today was crossing the streams on the bouncy foot bridges. Here's an idea for the trail maintainers: Why not use monkey bars for stream crossings? Just mix them in every once in a while to keep things exciting.
Date: 2004-05-15
To: View Entry
Miles today: 29.5

Hiked into Duncannon today. I was going to just go to the last shelter but I decided I had enough time to make it here. It's a very friendly town. They're very aware of the trail and the hikers. I talked to Sedentary Steve at the Doyle hotel for a while upon arriving. He had a book of hiker's pictures and interviews. He had a picture of my friend Gravy and an interview with him from '02. Sunshine was here as well as Double Nickels, Endorphine and Clown. It was good to catch up with them. I also met "trailangel Mary." She takes care of hikers while they stay in town.
Date: 2004-05-16
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

I decided to zero here for the day. The Doyle is a nice hotel. It's almost 100 years old. It has a lot of character. Trailangel Mary made brunch for Lance, Clown and I. This evening she made dinner for John (son of Green Hornet), Princess, her husband and I. I also had a chance to shower, do laundry and make some phone calls. Several other hikers came into town as well. I also had a chance to meet with some hikers who were familiar with all of the hikers behind me and where they were. It was interesting to here about all of the hikers coming up behind me.
Date: 2004-05-24
To: View Entry
Miles today: 10.5

Hiked with Clown and Mystic Onion today out of Delaware Water Gap. Around lunch time we came upon Sunfish pond. It's a glacial pond that is too acidic for most fish except sunfish, thus the name. Clown and I sat for some lunch. I put my feet in the water and a couple of curious sunfish appeared, wanting to nibble on my toes no doubt. So I shared some of my bagel with them. Soon there were twenty or thirty sunfish all swarming about trying to get food. After lunch we hiked to the Mohican Outdoor Center. They had some cabins, a small store and some tent-sites. They treated us to some left over salad. We all ate about three bowls a piece. The weather this day was perfect for swimming so we camped in their group campsite and did some swimming at their beach.
Date: 2004-05-25
To: View Entry
Miles today: 20.9

Hiked to the Gren Andersen shelter. The register in the shelter had many entries of hikers saying there was a resident bear that had climbed into the shelter several nights in a row while the hikers were sleeping. Around 7pm I saw the beast about 20 yds away. It was sniffing the bear box. I made some noises to get it's attention so I could take a picture. It looked at me indifferently and moved on. It took me a while to get to sleep that night. You can be sure my headlamp scanned the woods a few times before I fell asleep.
Date: 2004-05-29
To: View Entry
Miles today: 15.2

Hiked through Bear Mountain, New York today. Being Memorial Day weekend the park was packed. The trail winds through a park and then crosses a long bridge.   Throughout the park everyone was out grilling food and running around making noise. I recieved several bewildered stares from people. I think I was the only guy walking through the park with a backpack and a kilt. I bought a cheeseburger and a soda from the concession stand and did some people watching. The trail wound it's way through a section of the local zoo. I got to see the bear exhibit (this bear was healthier than the one I saw), an otter exhibit and a bunch of boring tree exhibits. I suppose if you're from NYC trees are a rare beauty. For me it's all day long with the trees.The most interesting part of the day was trying to cross the Bear Mt bridge over the Hudson river and retain my dignity at the same time. The day was incredibly gusty and a very high bridge over a very wide river seems to have a lot of updraft. Imagine the result when one wears a kilt while crossing said bridge.
Date: 2004-06-05
To: View Entry
Miles today: 24.4

Hiked across the CT/MA border today. Right before the border is the highest point in CT. It is marked with a large square pile of stones and a smooth stone with inscriptions that could barely be read. I could pick out "highest point" but the rest was too faded so I moved on. Up until this point when asked what the most beautiful part of the trail has been I have had no answer. 'It's all very beautiful' had been my only reply. Today that changed. Shortly after the CT/MA border I entered Sage's Ravine. The trail runs parallel to a stream as it descends through the ravine. The stream was marked by waterfall after waterfall. The falls were spilling into deep pools of water perfect for swimming in. At some points the pools of water would be hedged in by high rock walls. At one point there was water falling from a stream that crossed the trail and the water did a freefall for about 20 feet down into the larger stream. As I walked the stream became more and more beautiful. Unfortunately it was the early morning and still quite chilly otherwise I would've taken the opportunity to swim.
Date: 2004-06-07
To: View Entry
Miles today: 20.6

Stayed at Upper Goose Pond cabin last night. The cabin was great. It sat next to a lake and the AMC provided a canoe there for hikers to relax in. Experience another form of transportation I suppose.I hiked into Dalton today. Shortly after entering town I was greeted by Tom who was mentioned in Wingnut's book as providing lodging for hikers. He asked if I wanted some ice cream and so I politely accepted. He went inside and I chatted with the other two hikers who had been there already for part of the day. Tom returned with the ice cream. I thought he was going to just bring out a bowl of ice cream but he returned with a very large bowl of ice cream with whipped cream, sprinkles and oreos on the side. I did laundry and tried to 'freshen up' using their sink.
Date: 2004-06-08
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Ate at Duff & Dell's this morning. Great food, great people and a great price. I picked up my mail and made some phone calls as well. I called my friend Mark, whom I haven't seen in about 11 years and he came and picked me up. I used to work for Mark at a summer camp in Iowa. This is where I learned to start a fire. Mark and his family now live about 20 minutes away from the trail which is where I am currently. I've decided to take another zero day. The trail is getting a little more difficult, I'm not sure if it's more of a mental or physical difficulty. Perhaps a mix of the two. But now there is only slightly more than a quarter of the trail to finish. Today there are 619 miles to go to Katahdin.Oh yeah, I almost forgot. I saw my second bear yesterday. It was bumbling up a hill ahead of me. It stopped, looked around and finally took notice of me and then ran off directly. He was dark black, and probably 400+ lbs so if you see him tell him I said 'hi'.
Date: 2004-06-17
To: View Entry
Miles today: 22.4

Moose? Mt. Lion? Yeti? I could've claimed this was a space monkey descending from the heavens on a rainbow colored parachute and you'd still be looking at this terrible picture. This is the photo of the bear I saw at the Gren Anderson shelter. I suppose my chances of being a National Geographic photographer are shot. Today I hiked in to Hanover. Vermont has been beautiful. The blazes on the trail need some touching up but other than that it's been good. Over the last few days I've hiked with Boo's Goose, Hustler, Nightlite, Cowboy, and A-Ron.The day after zeroing in Dalton I slacked 23 miles north of Dalton and spent another night at the "Bird Cage". The owner was a very hospitable host. He got out his guitar and played some classic rock for about an hour. He took many requests and could play many songs. Boo's Goose arrived in Dalton with Hustler the day I slack packed back to Dalton. It was good to see BG and finally meet Hustler. Since then I've hiked on and off with them. I left Hustler at a road crossing. He was hitching in one direction to one town and I was going the opposite direction. We were directly across the road from each other trying to be the first to get a hitch. I won. Right now I'm in Hanover at the college library about to be locked inside. The campus is nice. I was hoping to meet Boo's Goose here but I think moved on. Right now I'm staying with the Tri-Kappa family. There's only two students in the house and their two mascots, a brown and a black dog both of which are too friendly. Hanover is in New Hampshire right across the border from Vermont. I am officially two states away from being finished. There is now 441 miles to go to Katahdin.