morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2003-04-08
From: Carter Gap Shelter

To: Rainbow Springs Campground
Miles today: 12.8
Weather: overcast clouds

Day 13: Last night was nice, I got a spot in the old shelter because my ground cloth was so wet I couldn't really use it. We managed to start a pretty nice campfire even though everything was wet. It rained all day again today. It is supposed to rain tomorrow and the next day. I have a blister the size of a nickel on my left foot. We reached the 100 mile point today. There isn't really anything there so we didn't notice until we got to Glassmine Gap at 101.5 miles. We climbed Albert Mtn. and when we got to the summit it started to thunderstorm and Dave had just gone up the fire tower to see the view or lack thereof because you could only see about 20 feet due to the fog. He got down pretty quick, but his trail name is now High Voltage. Thank god I am staying in the bunkhouse at the Rainbow Springs shelter, but there is a hole the roof right above my bed. At least I'm not on the wet ground.
Date: 2003-04-09
From: Rainbow Springs Campground

To: Campsite North of Wayah Bald
Miles today: 13.5

Day 14: I left Rainbow Springs this morning reluctantly. The forecast was rain today, tommorrow and the next day and I was already a little wet. It is also getting a little colder so that doesn't help the situation. As it turned out, it didn't actually rain that much during the day. I hiked the whole way alone, which was nice. I like to hike alone because I can go at my own pace, which usually turns out to be faster than when I am with other people. I've finally left Stargazer (Erica) and Boilerplate behind. I love hiking with them, but I'm faster and I was always waiting on them.It was extremely foggy all day, I was basically walking in a cloud. I'm giving my tarp another try tonight and with a few pointers from Ez-does-it, I think I might stay relatively dry tonight. That¢s what I thought last time though so we'll see. There isn't any flat ground anywhere so its hard to get the tarp set up so the rain doesn't come in. I'm meeting so many great people out here, I can't believe it. Today, White Lightning gave me a harmonica! He said he had another one in a mail drop he's getting at Fontana Dam so he just gave the one he had to me! Everyone out here is incredibly generous and helpful.
Date: 2003-04-10
From: Campsite North of Wayah Bald

To: Nantahala Outdoor Center
Miles today: 16.8
Weather: moderate rain

Day 15: It was sleeting, snowing, and raining all day today. It just depended on elevation. I would hike down into a gap into the rain and then up a mountain into the snow. I gave up my Marmot Precip jacket because I was soaked after about 2 minutes. I practically slid down Wesser Bald in the mud. It was very cold and I was wearing everything I had. I really hauled the whole 17 miles without a break to get to a warm, dry bed. I did 12 miles by noon and then basically ran the rest of the way. I hiked all day alone again today and I've decided I like it much better.There are so many cool people here! About 15 hikers all ate dinner together and it was great. I plan on doing some whitewater rafting on the Nantahala River tommorrow and I'm so excited!
Date: 2003-04-11
From: Nantahala Outdoor Center

To: Nantahala Outdoor Center
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Day 16: Another awesome zero day! The wether forecast is looking good and I can't wait to start hiking again. Today we went whitewater rafting on the Nantahala River in small two-person rafts, without guides. I went with Iron Chef and we wiped out on the last rapid. We got the "Crash and Burn" picture special where you get four pictures for the price of two if you wipe out! We all ate pints of Ben and Jerry¢s and tore apart our packs to strip down any possible weight. I took off the top pocket of my pack and cut off a few straps. I think I saved about 5 or 6 ounces at least on that. I'm also getting better and taking the exact amount of food and water I need and drinking a lot before I hit the trail so I'm only carrying the bare minimum. I think my pack weight is down to about 27 or 28 pounds now, but that¢s only with 3 days of food. It looks like the climb out of the NOC tomorrow morning is going to be pretty tough. I guess its just one more mountain though!
Date: 2003-04-12
From: Nantahala Outdoor Center

To: Cheoah Bald
Miles today: 8.2

Day 17: Wow, what a climb! Today I climbed from 1750' to 5062'. It was up all day, but definitely worth it because this bald is awesome! There are about 15 of us up here and we are about to watch the sunset. One whole side of the mountain is grass so we have a wide open view. I ate so much today! I can't stop eating! For breakfast I had half a sandwich leftover from last night, two snickers bars, a banana a 20 ounce Pepsi, and another snickers bar. Then I was hungry again about 15 minutes later. My new thing is adding extra butter and extra cheese to everything. If its breakfast, then its extra peanut butter instead. I think I need to go eat again now... Later in the evening...We watched the sunset and it was beautiful. I think I got some really great pictures. We had a campfire and we were all happy that the weather is finally tolerable.
Date: 2003-04-13
From: Cheoah Bald

To: Cable Gap Shelter
Miles today: 14.0
Weather: clear sky

Day 18: Mileages and distance are starting to change. I used to think about every single mile, but now I'm starting to think in terms of 4,5 or 6 mile sections. Sometimes 4 or 5 miles can just fly by and then I just do 3 or 4 of those and I've done a 15+ mile day. Today was hot and the terrain was a little tougher than I expected. I waited for Iron Chef and Pipes (formerly Stargazer) to catch up for 3 hours at Brown Fork Gap because I got tired of hiking alone.Later in the evening...I need to carry more food. I was really dragging because I didn't eat enough. I always think I have too much when I pack it up but my appetite is out of control. I get hungry every half hour. We are all trying to figure out foods with the best calorie to weight ratio. Tonight we all made our meals and shared them so it was a little like a potluck. Tomorrow its on to Fontana Dam to pick up my maildrop. I'll need to pick up some butter or olive oil to supplement my food for the Smokies. I'm staying here tonight with Pipes, Play, Iron Chef Connecticut, the Blues Brothers, and Noodlehat.
Date: 2003-04-14
From: Cable Gap Shelter

To: Fontana Dam
Miles today: 5.5
Weather: few clouds

Day 19: Stopped in at Fontana Village to do landry and pick up my maildrop before heading into the Smokies. I got the last squeeze butter in the store and added about 10 candy bars and a block of cheese to my maildrop food. It feels like my food weighs a ton but I'm still worried that I don't have enough! I'm looking forward to seeing the views in the Smokies becuase the weather looks good for the first few days at least. It was awesome to get my first maildrop today and the letters. Its so nice to hear from people and get mail! Thanks to anyone who sent me something!
Date: 2003-04-15
From: Fontana Dam

To: Mollies Ridge Shelter
Miles today: 12.4
Weather: scattered clouds

Day 20: D$%&*! That climb was a killer! Today was hot and I'm outside in my tarp right now. I left earlier than Pipes and Iron Chef so I hope they catch up. I just realized I left my fleece jacket at the hotel so I am officially in the Smokey Mountains without any cold weather gear. Thats not good. I also just realized my fuel bottle is leaking so I'll have to sacrifice my extra water bottle to hold my fuel. Overall, not the greatest day. I'm tired and the bugs are terrible.**Note from Windtalker's transcriber, Mr Wizard GA->ME '02. Today's mileage calculation was from my 2002 AT Data Book**
Date: 2003-04-16
From: Mollies Ridge Shelter

To: Derrick Knob Shelter
Miles today: 11.7
Weather: overcast clouds

Day 21: Well, the medical operation is over. Its too soon to tell if it was a success. When I woke up this morning, the blister on my heel was twice as big, red and sore. I have no idea how it got infected overnight, especially since I never tried to drain it. Anyway, I had to take care of it because I could barely walk, even without my boots on. I set up my makeshift operating room underneath my tarp and ¢attempted¢ to sterilize everything. It was pretty disgusting, but I think I may have it under control now. Its already late in the morning (probably 9am or so). Normally I'd be long gone by now, but I've decided to wait for Iron Chef and Pipes, hoping against all odds that they might have picked up my fleece jacket after I left it in our hotel room last night. Its supposed to thunderstorm tomorrow and get colder so I'm not excited about the idea that I don't have my warm layer. Its starting to look like I will have to get off the trail at Newfound Gap and hitch into Gatlinburg to buy a replacement and call the hotel to have mine shipped back to me (if they have it). This sucks because I decided I wanted to stay out here until after the Smokies and I'm carrying 6 days of food to do it. I don't want to go into Gatlinburg because that means I lugged all this food around for nothing because I could have just re-supplied there. Anyways, I'll wait until they show up and see what happens. I'm expecting to have to wait for a while because they usually get a pretty late start and they are almost 6 miles behind me now.Written the next morning...Last night we did our first night hike! It was a full moon and it was unbelievable. We left around 7 pm from Spence Field Shelter after dinner and hiked about halfway up Rocky Top to watch the sunset. I got some beautiful pictures. Then we started hiking and we hiked up and over Rocky Top and Thunderhead Mountain. The moon was so bright we didn't even use our headlamps the whole time. We had to hike pretty slow though, just to be careful so the 6 miles we hiked seemed to take forever. We got in around 1am and Play and I tried to set up the tarp. It was so windy in the first spot that there was no hope of getting it up. We finally set it up on the west side of the shelter but it was still very windy there. I'm glad I did the night hike but now I'm really tired and it is about to thunderstorm. We are going to try and take it easy in the rain today.
Date: 2003-04-17
From: Derrick Knob Shelter

To: Silers Bald Shelter
Miles today: 5.5
Weather: light rain

Day 22: Almost everyone took a short day today. It was cold and raining the whole day. My blisters are a little out of control so the short day was good for that too. Nobody wanted to go up and over Clingmans Dome in a thunderstorm so we all crashed here. We have so many people crammed in this shelter! There are 13 of us just on the bottom level and another 10+ on the top. Its nice because the people create a lot of warmth. I listened to music with Iron Chef for a while and then everyone wanted to use my MP3 player. Listening to music helps me so much when I hike. Tomorrow I'll hit the 200 mile mark!
Date: 2003-04-18
From: Silers Bald Shelter

To: Newfound Gap, Gatlinburg TN
Miles today: 12.5
Weather: light rain

Day 23: I've walked over 200 miles! We are halfway through the Smokies, but we had to stop in at Gatlinburg to get some extra food and I had to call about getting my fleece jacket returned. The rain finally stopped this morning but it was extremely foggy so there was absolutely no view on Clingmans Dome (the higest point on the AT, 6643') I was a little dissapointed becuase that was the only major part of the Smokies I hadn't seen before this trip and I was looking forward to it. Anyway, we were the lucky recipients of some Trail Magic when we showed up at Newfound Gap. We expected to have to hitch, but Wendy (Heather, Find Me's mom) drove up with bags of easter candy and drove us into town. We will crash here tongiht then set out early tommorrow morning. Oh yeah, Play and Pipes started dreading my hair!! I have half a head of dreadlocks!! Yay!
Date: 2003-04-19
From: Newfound Gap, Gatlinburg TN

To: Peck's Corner Shelter
Miles today: 10.4
Weather: few clouds

Day 24: We got a late start today getting out of town (of course). We ate breakfast at a Pancake House and got a ride back to the trailhead from Wendy again. Last night we stayed at the Grand Prix Motel with Sassy, Kodiak, Play, Crazy Talk, Pipes, Two Dog Night, and Iron Chef Conneticut. I was totally overwhelmed by the people and tourism of Gatlinburg. I've been there a few times, but its strange how being away from all of that stuff for a while can change your point of view. I also really started to notice the difference between the thru-hikers and the tourists. We are getting very strong and we just fly by the day hikers even though we have full packs. It was hilarious because Newfound Gap was packed with people, its Easter Weekend so there were tons of people. The funny part was that people drove here from all over the country, but almost none of them even bothered to hike in on the trail! At the gap, everyone was checking out the views, but we hiked in and after about 2 minutes! We saw almost no people!Today the views were awesome. It was true ridgewalking so we had great views on both sides the whole time. Charlies Bunion was great too, we spent a long time there and took some nice photos. I'm camped out in my tarp right now, the shelter is full and there are also quite a few tents. We met a bunch of new people today. I think most of our group that didn't stop into town got a little ahead of us.
Date: 2003-04-20
From: Peck's Corner Shelter

To: Cosby Knob Shelter
Miles today: 12.9
Weather: broken clouds

Day 25: Today was a tough day becuase I was extremely tired. I haven't slept well for the last three days and it finally caught up with me. When I started to hike, my arms felt like jello and I had absolutely NO energy. I took a long break at Tri-Corner Shelter (about 5.5 miles in) and that seemed to help a little. Tommorrow we still have to hike about 10 miles to get to to Standing Bear Farm and then get a ride to Mountain Moma's to pick up our maildrops/bounce boxes. The shelter was full when we showed up so I'm outside under my tarp again. The forecast is for rain tonight so I set up the tarp using every single tip and trick to keep out the rain. I hope it holds up!
Date: 2003-04-21
From: Cosby Knob Shelter

To: Standing Bear Farm
Miles today: 10.4
Weather: moderate rain

Day 26: Today started off very wet. It was pouring and extremely windy. I booked it the whole way with the thought of a dry bed in my mind. I got here around noon after hiking 10 miles! Curtis owns this farm and its awesome!! Everything is so beautiful and this place is very hospitable. He even drove us over to Mountain Moma's to pick up our maildrop packages and bounce boxes but mine wasn't there! It sucks becuase they can't send mail out from there so it looks like I may not see the box for a while. I'm here tonight with Play, Paul, Sharon, Sparky, Auntie Em, Capt'n Ben, Two Dog Night, Iron Chef, Pat, and Pipes. I'm going to try and get an early start tomorrow morning because I have to make it to the pub in Hot Springs by Wednesday night and that¢s 33 miles away! I want to watch the sunset or sunrise on Max Patch (its a bald with 360 degree view!) but that would mean I have to do a 20 mile day to get in to Hot Springs. Mr. Wizard had a great idea to tell all of my jounral readers a little about some of the people I'm hiking with. Pipes (Erica) has been hiking with me pretty much the whole time. She's from Boston and a grad of Carnegie Mellon University in fine arts and German. Two Dog Night is hiking with her two dogs, Cade and Dylan (very well behaved!), and is from San Jose, California. Iron Chef Conneticut is obviously from Conneticut and he was a film major at Emerson College in Boston. He's the Iron Chef becuase he spent 4 whole weeks prior to his hike just cooking and dehydrating all of these elaborate meals for the hike. Spice Bag (also called Ultreya) is from Quebec and he's the one who gave me my trailname. He's 60 yrs old and has done all kinds of awesome things, like biking across Canada and he is the first recorded person to have hiked the trail from Canterbury to Rome in Europe. He's a few days ahead of us now. Boilerplate (Evan) hiked with us the whole time from Neels Gap to the NOC but now he is ahead of us. He's from New Jersey. Paul and Sharon are hiking with Bela, their dog and they are most recently from Maryland. Auntie Em and Capt'n Ben are from Queens, NY. Play (Mike)is from Manchester, New Hampshire and he's Play because he always has tons of energy and is climbing trees and running around all time, even after hiking all day! Michelle and her brother Crazy Talk are from Florida and another sibling pair are the Blues Brothers from upstate New York. I know thats not everybody, but these are just a few of the people I run into on the trail all the time.
Date: 2003-04-22
To: Roaring Fork Shelter
Miles today: 18.5
Weather: light rain

Day 27: Where to start...today was a LONG day. This morning I called Mountain Moma's again to see if they found my bounce box. They didn't have it so I called the NOC where I sent it from to get the tracking number. I looked up the tracking number and found out that the owner of Mountain Moma's signed for the package on April 15th! I called them again but they still had no idea where it was. My digital camera battery charger was in the box along with my extra fleece, which I needed because I left my other one in Fontana Dam! Meanwhile, while I was packing up this morning I also lost my tent stakes! Everything was going wrong! Luckily, this story gets better. Thru-hikers are awsome people and make up a great community. Paul and Sharon immediately offered to give me four of their tent stakes so that was taken care of. Then to my total surprise, when I got to Brown Fork Gap, there was a car parked near the trail on the dirt road and Hammock Hanger got out with a message for me. She told me that Mountain Moma's found my package! I guess Silver Lining and Hiker Biker Babe were there when they found it so they told Hammock Hanger (who just finished hiking the Bartram Trail and had a car) to give me the message. Thanks to everyone who blessed me with trail magic today!!! Unfortunately, Mountain Moma's is only a UPS reciever and can't sent my package to my next stop, Hot Springs, so they had to send it back to the NOC and have them send it to Hot Springs. I still may not see it for a while.The hiking today was hard. We had to climb up and out of Davenport Gap so we had a huge elevation gain over the first 5 miles or so. Then we came back down and then immediately back up to climb Max Patch. I've been looking forward to Max Patch for a while now because it has a 360 degree view since it is a bald. Unfortunately, it was so windy and cold when we got up there, it was litterally difficult to stand up. It was freezing so we didn't spend much time up there at all. I did try to take in a much of the view as possible peeking out from my jacket hood. The sun was breaking through the clouds in a few places which made the view awesome. We would have liked to camp right on Max Patch but it was much too windy so we had no choice but to move on. We were going to set up camp along the trail but we decided to push the extra 5 miles to get to the next shelter. Of course it was full, so I set up my tarp, ate dinner, and now I'm about to go to bed.
Date: 2003-04-23
From: Roaring Fork Shelter

To: Elmer's Sunnybank Inn and Hostel, Hot Springs, NC
Miles today: 14.9
Weather: clear sky

Day 28: The weather was gorgeous today! I was in heaven as I was hiking. I saw tons of wildflowers, especially as I was in the lower elevations close to town. The hostel is beautiful. It's an old Victorian style home and an organic farm. They serve home made organic vegetarian meals and all of the furnishings are antiques. There is a music room with a piano, guitars, banjo, various percussion instruments, and much more. They also have books, actually more like a library! The book selection is amazing! Old and new, and everything in between. I could spend days just looking around in this place. I thought I would be the only one from our group to make it into town because most people were planning on stopping at the shelter a few miles short. As it turns out, Two Dog hurt her shoulder so she got a ride in and Pipes, Iron Chef, Michelle and Crazy Talk all hiked in late last night! We all hung out at the Paddlers Pub for a while and then we got our own private tub at the Hot Springs! The town is VERY small, it only takes about 5 minutes to walk from one end to the other. They have a nice outfitter, but the selection of trail runners isn't very good. I was planning on switching to trail runners and ditching my boots, but I don't know if I will find a pair that I really like. We are all taking a zero day tomorrow. My blisters desperately need the time off to heal.
Date: 2003-04-24
From: Elmer's Sunnybank Inn and Hostel, Hot Springs, NC

To: Cody House Hostel, Hot Springs, NC
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Day 29: Today I finally switched to trail runners. I was a little dissapointed in the selection, but finally settled on a pair of Montrail Vitesse. I basically had no choice because my blisters were so bad that a few more days in those boots may have put me out of commission for a while. Believe it or not, the water was shut off in the WHOLE city of Hot Springs today for most of the day. The main reason most hikers even go into town is to take a shower and do laundry so this was not a good situation. When the laundry finally reopened the line was huge needless to say. There are so many hikers here that every motel and hostel is full and even the campground is closed. We were lucky enough to basically rent out the entire Cody House for our group becuase we woke up early and got there before most of the people hiking in today. I'm just going to take it easy today after I get all of my town chores done.
Date: 2003-04-25
From: Cody House Hostel, Hot Springs, NC

To: Elmer's Sunnybank Inn and Hostel, Hot Springs, NC
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Day 30: We all decided to take another zero day today. Yesterday didn't even seem like a rest because there are so many chores to do in town. I probably walked about 5 miles back and forth to the laundry and outfitters and phones and grocery store. Hopefully today will be a little more relaxing.Later this evening...I got the bad news today that my parents accidentally lost my digital camera memory card containing my first set of pictures. I was devastated because those pictures can never be replaced!! It was an accident though, and nothing can be done about it now. I also spent about 2 hours on the phone trying to track down my lost bounce box from Mountain Moma's. I FINALLY found out that it was actually returned to the NOC shipping and receiving center and they sent it here to Hot Springs. The only thing is, they sent it to the Post Office and that was closed by the time I found out. I'll have to go check on it tomorrow.The dinner here at Elmer¢s was amazing! Everything was home made and mostly grown on their organic farm. We had soup, bread, salad with a great sesame dressing, rice with vegetables, and banana cake with glaze and ice cream! Carolina Cruiser was there and he videotaped the meal for his documentary on the AT. He thru-hiked in 2001 and he is filming a documentary which he plans to possibly get on PBS or National Geographic. Elmer told us a little about the history of the house, which was built in the mid 1800's. Later, we went to the Paddler's Pub (the only place to go in town) for some live bluegrass music. Almost all the hikers were in town and it was great!