morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2006-11-09
From: Fontana Dam Shelter

To: Cable Gap Shelter
Miles today: 8.1
Weather: clear sky

Day 161 (Thursday)Up @ 8am - breakfast muesli w/ chocolate pudding. On trail @ 9am, feeling much better. Reached NC 28 around 9:45 & went to the marina to get a shuttle into Fontana Village (I needed to pick up 1 dinner to make the NOC). Waited about 20 minutes for the shuttle & then walked back to the marina where the guy said they (the outfitter at fontana village) couldn't run a shuttle b/c there was only 1 guy working @ the outfitter & he couldn't shut down. Walked most of the way to Fontana Village (1.5 mi), catching a ride the last 150 yds from a worker from the dam. Got a lipton chicken & rice from the outfitter & watched a 20 min video on the building of Fontana Dam (interesting). Fontana Village was built to house Dam construction workers & is now operated by the Nat'l Park Service as a vacation resort, btw. Ate lunch @ the restaurant in the lodge($20 for a sandwich, iced tea, chocolate cake & milk), checked out the museum & general store, & mailed off a book I had finished after picking it up in Hot Springs (Culture Jam by Kalle Lasn). Met EZ, Cowsie & Link coming into the Village as I wsa on my way out (they had zeroed in the rain yesterday & walked 16 mi that am). Walked 1/2 way back to trail before catching a ride from a woman who works at Fontana Village, but used to run the visitor center @ Amicola Falls State Park (the start of the approach trail to the S. end of the AT). Hiked 6 mi S. to Cable Gap shelter & cooked dinner (chicken & rice) before Link, Easy & Cowsie showed up. (Shelter was supposedly used in the opening scene of the Beverly Hillbillies; I took a picture for that reason). I had planned to night hike to Brown Fork Gap Shelter, 6 mi S, but I couldn't find the trail from the shelter in the dark, & ended up spending the night. In bed 9pm.
Date: 2006-11-10
From: Cable Gap Shelter

To: Nantahala Outdoor Center
Miles today: 22.1
Weather: clear sky

Day 162 (Friday)Up @ 7:30. Breakfast Muesli w/ chocolate pudding. Played some hackey sack w/ Link & Easy Rider before getting on trail @ 9am, behind Cowsie. Got passed by Link & Easy before reaching Brownfork Gap shelter at 11am, just as Easy was leaving it & stopped for lunch. Beautiful day; spent a bit of time hanging out there before dropping into Stecoah Gap & climbing 1500' to Cheoah Bald, arriving around 5pm. Reached Sassafras Gap Shelter around 5:30 & found 3 section hikers there. Read the register & chatted for a few minutes before hiking on, passing 2 more section hikers about 10 minutes later, (1st night hiking section hikers I'd ever seen) who claimed to be with the group of 3 at the shelter & that they were probably waiting on them to show up to cook dinner, since they had the only water filter in the group. Hiked on, descending into the NOC, taking advantage of 1st good cell svc in a long time to make a few calls along the way. (was actually talking to my dad when I encountered a tree down across the trail, requiring both hands to negotiate). Arrived @ the NOC around 9:15pm to find everything closed. Went to base camp & met a few people in for some mountain biking before looking all over the complex for after-hours check in. Called the emergency # & was told that they couldn't help me unless I had a reservation, so I went back to base camp & cooked dinner in the kitchen (Enertia trailfoods Max Patch mac & cheese followed by some apple cinnamon oatmeal - both good), talked to a mountain biker who grew up near the AT in Luray, VA & asked me how I liked my Jetboil (see gear section for my opinion). Slept on a dining room table around midnight (nice & warm, but restless due to concern about being hassled for sleeping there).
Date: 2006-11-11
From: Nantahala Outdoor Center

To: Rufus Morgan Shelter
Miles today: 0.8
Weather: moderate rain

Day 163 (Saturday)Up @ 6:30 am to ensure nobody caught me sleeping on the dining room table. Breakfast - 3 oatmeals (maple & brown sugar), 1 package muesli (killing my foodbag since I was about to pick up 7 days of food). Walked out to the outfitter where I found Easy, Link, & Cowsie, who had slept on a porch of 1 of the buildings. Did all-you-can-eat breakfast @ the River's End restaurant & inquired about kayaking options (was told no lessons w/o reservation & couldn't find any guides w/ gear to freelance guide me). Signed up for 1pm rafting trip w/ hopes of paddling my own boat. Picked up my mail drop @ the outfittter, checked out the gear & caught up on my journal before lunch @ the River's End around 11:30 (white bean chicken chili "sherpa" (brown rice, barley & lentils)- very good) & headed over to the rafting est to get outfitted @ 12:30. Was told I could paddle a duck (an inflatible, open kayak) for an extra $5 ($43 total) & jumped at the chance. 4 paddlers besides the guide (& me) all in 1 raft & me in the duck. Got outfitted w/ farmer John wwetsuit, booties & 2 waterproof tops & pfd & wore my base top, neoprene socks & gore-tex mittens as well (day was grey & drizzly). Ran the class 1 & 2 rapids w/ ease (boat was pretty idiot-proof) & had a nice clean run of the class 3 Nantahala falls (over very quickly). Back in at 3pm. Had dinner @ the River's end (AYCE chili, potato & salad bar), & hiked out at 5pm. Got to the Rufus Morgan shelter 0.8 mi S of the NOC & crawled into bed, suddenly feeling very ill from the 4 hr old AYCE buffet chili. In bed @ 6pm. (Picked up some headlamp batteries @ the outfitter before leaving, btw.)
Date: 2006-11-12
From: Rufus Morgan Shelter

To: Wayah Bald
Miles today: 16.8
Weather: clear sky

Day 164 (Sunday)Up @ 7am - breakfast oatmeal. Met a jogger running past the shelter @ 7:30 in a slightly misguided attempt to jog up the AT (I redirected her). Passed her & another jogger (on their way back) after getting on trail @ 8am. Climbed past a rock outcropping called the jump off (great views) before reaching Wesser bald around 11am, where I met a couple of local day hikers. There was ice all over the trees & the observation tower @ Wesser Bald. Passed 2 more groups of dayhikers on the way down to Tellico Gap. Met 2 section hikers from between Atlanta & Chatanooga on Rocky Bald, who took my picture for me. Reached Wayah Bald around 5:30pm & decided to spend the night & catch the sunrise there, even though I had planned to go another 6mi to Siler Bald (made for a 17 mi day instead of 23). Slept inside the base of a stone observation tower in my tent. Dinner- beef stroganoof. Hung my foodbag off the tower. In bed 8pm. (Windy out).
Date: 2006-11-13
From: Wayah Bald

To: Rock Gap Shelter
Miles today: 14.5
Weather: clear sky

Day 165 (Monday)Up @ 6:30 to catch a decent sunrise; overninght temp 40 deg & very windy. Got on trail at 8am after oatmeal breakfast & passed a "No Camping" sign 25ft down the trail (oops!), bringing my total # of illegal camping nights this trip to 5 - no hassles, tho. Ran into a Mtn Hardwear Basecamp Geodesic dome tent set up for trail magic by trail angels Apples & George & had a root beer & some water. Reached Siler Bald around 11:30 & took a side hike to the top, leaving my pack @ the trail junction (great views - beautiful clear day). Took the 1 mi Siler Bald Shelter loop (adds 1/2 mi vs the AT) & caught a journal entry from Gentleman Jack announcing his intention to summit Springer tomorrow (11/14 - written 11/9) placing me exactly 4 days behind him - the same # of days I took off @ Hot Springs. Met 4 women section hiking N. who asked about camping @ Wine Spring (2 mi S. of Wayah Bald) & I told them about the Geodesic Dome. Crossed US 64 (a road I used to live off of in TN) @ Winding Stair Gap, after an easy descent. dumped trash & got some very good piped springwater before crossing Rocky Cove Knob & descending into Wallace & Rock Gaps where I took a 0.5 mi side trail to see the Wasilik Poplar (2nd largest poplar in the US - 26' circumference - impressive, but dead looking), & broke my camera attempting to take a self prtrait in front of it when it fell off the rock I had it propped up on. Reached Rock Gap Shelter & met an out of season NOBO thru hiker, "Throwback" off to a slow start after throwing his back out (carrying a 60lb pack full of winter gear & planning to reach Katahdin around June; also a concert violist from MI who used to work as a DJ at a strip club in Vegas & explained to me all that is wrong w/ NAFTA; very nice guy, btw). Dinner - adventure foods ziti - very good. Had to cook in 2 rounds due to size. Decided to stay w/ Throwback for the company after 2 solo nights, abandoning plan to night hike to Big Spring Shelter, making a 14 mi day instead of 19 (hiking slow in attempt to prevent trip from coming to an end). In bed 8:30pm.P.S. Throwback also mentioned having met Gentleman Jack.
Date: 2006-11-14
From: Rock Gap Shelter

To: Muskrat Creek Shelter
Miles today: 24.6
Weather: broken clouds

Day 166 (Tuesday)Up @ 6:30 am - breakfast oatmeal (overnight low 37 deg f). On trail @ 7:30 for a 24 mi day. Passed Big Spring shelter @ 10:30 & climbed firetower @ Albert Mtn for a great view into Franklin, NC. Heard a few dayhikers, but didn't see them. Reached Carter Gap Shelter at 2pm & noted entry from "Snowman" requesting infor of the # of campsites on Standing Indian Mtn for an online AT databook (I counted 8). Reached Standing Indian Mtn at 5pm & had some great views before getting to the shelter @ 5:45. Cooked dinner (oriental beef) before night hiking to Muskrat Creek Shelter, arriving 9pm (didn't want to stay @ Standing Indian Shelter alone due to reports of recent bear sightings). Felt good & thought about going further to Bly Gap to camp on the NC/GA state line, but decided against it due to forecast rain. Noted register entry from Gentleman Jack declaring NC to be the greatest state in the union & replied w/ some Petey Pablo lyrics (come on & raise up, tke your shirt off, twist it 'round your head, spin it like a helicopter). In bed 9:30 pm.
Date: 2006-11-15
From: Muskrat Creek Shelter

To: Tray Mtn Shelter
Miles today: 22.2
Weather: moderate rain

Day 167 (Wednesday)Up @ 8am to a cloudy, windy drizzly, 40 deg day. Laid in bed reading for a while, hoping the weather might improve (it didn't) before having breakfast (10 grain) & hitting the trail @ 10:30. Crossed into GA @ Bly Gap & lamented my lack of a working camera to document the occasion (the sign wasn't that good). Reached Plumorchard Gap Shelter & took a quick break before venturing back out into the weather (hiking in full raingear & base top). Reached Deep Gap shelter around 4:30 pm (15 mi) & met 2 engineers for GE lighting in Cleveland, OH (1st human contact in 33 hrs - trip record) on a 10 day section hike from Springer who reported having seen Degoba on their 1st day out, 7 days ago. Ate some lunch & hiked on at 5:30 in what became a thick fog w/ 5ft visibility after dark, hiking w/ my headlamp strapped to my hipbelt to reduce backscatter (improvised foglight - worked well). Reached Tray Mtn shelter @ 9pm & met Birdnut & "Dorothy" (m), a member of the Bear Mafia (c) (a group of 4 SOBOs who passed me while I was off in Hot Springs) who doesn't like to hike in the rain (The Cleveland guys mentioned he would be there & also having passed a guy matching Birdnut's description who they predicted would be further S.) Turns out Birdnut did 14 mi by noon & got cold & crawled into his sleeping bag (he's hiking w/o a tent or stove). Dinner - chicken w/ stuffing - good, but jetboil prevented proper mixing of ingredients, leaving potatoes all on the bottom & flavor all on top. Saw a mouse running around my gear & thwacked it w/ the back of my spoon & it fell down motionless. I threw a few rocks on it to make sure it was dead & not suffering, at which point it got up & ran away (oops). Found out Dorothy was so-called due to the resemblance of his red crocs to ruby slippers & the Bear Mafia (c) is a reference to 1 of their ideas for making $ on trail by dressing up in a bear costume to scare hikers into dropping their packs & then selling their gear on ebay. In bed 10:30pm w/ wind blowing a wet mist directly into the shelter (miserable). Slept in wet clothes figuring body heat would dry them out & prevent having to put on cold, wet clothes in the AM.
Date: 2006-11-16
From: Tray Mtn Shelter

To: Neel's Gap/Walasa Yi Hostel
Miles today: 25.5

Day 168 (Thursday)Up @ 7:30am, planning a 26 mi day into Neels Gap to make a saturday summit of Springer. Talked Birdnut into joining me after he realized his only other options were to hike 15 mi (too short) or go 1.2mi off trail to Whitley Gap Shelter. (Dorothy planning to catch the Bear Mafia (c) further south). Breakfast - oatmeal (I had wanted to do cold breakfast to save time, but oatmeal packets were soaked & I figured I'd better use them before they disintegrated. Morning weather still foggy & windy, but no rain. Temp dropped to 37 deg before I hit trail @ 9:15 behind Dorothy & Bridnut (hard to pack efficinetly w/ numb fingers). Started hiking wearing Montbell Thermawrap under raingear until I warmed up in about 1 mi. Passed Unicoi Gap & declined an offer of a ride before hiking to Blue Mtn Shelter for lunch @ 1pm. Easy ridgewalk for the next 7 mi to Low Gap Shelter, although I stopped a few times along the way to try & repair some clogged erosion control bars. Reached Low Gap shelter @ 4pm. Crossed Rt 348 @ Hogan & Tesnatee Gaps @ 5:30 & 6pm. Climbed Levelland Mtn & descended into Neel's Gap, arriving @ Walasa-Yi @ 8:30pm, where the trail goes through the building. Looked around for the hostel after using the (mercifully) heated restroom & couldn't find it, when a woman came out & asked me if I was Book (I am). She introduced herself as Cats of the Bear Mafia (c) & directed me inside to the hostel where I met the other 2 members of the Bear Mafia (c), Dr. Rudder & Jimilegs (f). (I never got the story on any of their names.) Boots & Kansas were also there. Dorothy asked if Birdnut was behind me (I hadn't seen him since that AM) & I found out Easy, Link & Cowsie were camped on Blood Mtn, 2.5 mi S. Hostel had a TV/VCR & the Bear Mafia (c) had watched St. Elmo's fire earlier. Dinner, B.P. Chicken Curry (very good) & some extra peanut butter from the hiker box. In bed 10:30 pm (debated doing laundry but decided against it, since I only had 2 days to go).
Date: 2005-09-11
To: The very beginning
Miles today: 0.0

So, why do I want to do this?It's hard to answer that question in any other way than to just describe how I feel. I have that excited smile-on-my-face, electricity-up-my-spine, jumping-in-my-skin feeling right now as I think about it. I feel the same thing every time I look at a map or pick up a backpaking handbook or personal account story.I was in Baxter State Park at the beginning of August. Half way accross the Knife Edge between Pamola and Baxter peaks my partner and I ran into Zoot. I asked where he was coming from, expecting to hear what site in Baxter he'd stayed at the night before. Instead, he just said, "back there," indicating Baxter peak, the top of Katahdin. When asked where he'd been before that, he said he guessed he'd been in Georgia. After putting up with our excited congratulation, hand shakes, and pats on the back, he said he didn't know what to feel, what to think, or where he was supposed to go next. I had to know what that was like. And sooner than later.I'll get there.boulder
Date: 2005-09-12
To: The next day
Miles today: 0.0

My thoughts of the trail did not start with meeting Zoot, far from it. It¢s been there for a long time, just a desire, a notion, but never even a thought that it might be possible. I grew up in Massachusetts. The trail crosses over the Mass Turnpike out in western Mass near Lee. We used to cross under it on family vacations. When I found out what it was, it held my imagination. I felt very adventurous just knowing that this wild thing passed through my state. In the following years, whenever I was on any wooded trail, I would imagine what it would be like to be outdoors, on the move, for weeks on end. My stays under the trees were never more that overnights when I was a camper and then summer camp counselor. I remember meeting trip leaders, always dressed in shorts with bandanas on their heads, the men all with rough, scruffy faces, the women all with bandanas holding back their hair. They were always oiling their boots and talking about showering in truck stops. I remember thinking, when I was 9 or 10, that there were the most fascinating, elite, and just plain lucky people I¢d ever met.Skipping ahead about twenty-five years, I started developing an adventurous spirit again. I¢d quit an eighteen-year smoking habit and was ravenous to make up for all the missed time when I couldn¢t even climb a hill without getting winded. I started running. I used trails in the large state park behind my building in northeast Connecticut, the only good thing about living in that miserable state. I decided to take up bouldering and rock climbing, all on my own, based solely on what I¢d read in books. I was not deterred after breaking my leg and being laid up for six months. I started using guide books to local trails in my area and doing a bit of exploring. Then I met Andrew. (More about him later. He gets and entry all on his own.) So, with a new fire under my ass, I started saying that I wanted to hike the trail before turning forty. Well, I¢ll be 39 in April, and hopefully I¢ll be somewhere in North Carolina or Tennessee.
Date: 2005-09-13
To: A good story
Miles today: 0.0

As promised, the Andrew entry:Andrew and I have been together for three years this month. Our first date was a hike in the White Mountains. We did a good 7 mile loop hike on South Baldface in Evans Notch, NH. The few days before the hike were a scramble for me. Andrew was a seasoned hiker having done both NOLS and Outward Bound along with putting on plenty of miles on his own. I was just a wannabe dying to stretch my legs in the outdoors. So, I was running around trying to find the right boots, clothes and daypack for a short day hike. I was still limping on my now mended leg, broken six months before. I didn¢t make my last purchase until Kittery Trading Post (Kittery, ME) the day before the hike. Andrew leant me some stuff as well: the right shirt, water bottle, etc. Cotton kills¢¦ a new mantra. Stunning, stunning day for a fall hike. Windy with a surprise storm rolling in over the peak. Love the surprises of New England weather. The vertical climb up the bald face of Baldface, nimble dog scrambling ahead of us, was thrilling. I turned around to look at the views and was hooked. And¢¦ I was hooked on Andrew. When I was a kid on long car trip vacations, I looked up at the Whites with admiration for the people who spent their recreation time up there, a life I knew nothing about. We were the family that drove up Mount Washington and every other New England peak with an access road. ¢This car climbed Mount Washington¢ BFD.So when I decided to do this trip a few weeks ago, Andrew¢s opinion was the only one that mattered. I¢d have to quit my job, sell my car, and return in six months with uncertain prospects. We were sitting in Norms on Congress St. in Portland, ME. Home. When I told him my plan, he just said that I had to do it and that I have his full support. I was speechless with excitement, sitting there quivering, knees knocking the bottom of the table. I¢d said it out loud. Now I¢m going to make it happen, and there is no way to do it without Andrew. Thanks babe.
Date: 2005-09-19
To: What else is new?
Miles today: 0.0

In my first entry I talked about why I¢m doing this. Here¢s a little bit about why now.I¢m a librarian at a little college in Massachusetts. I have been trying for the past two years to find a job within and hour of Portland. It¢s tough getting a library job up here because Maine is such a sparsely populated state. There are colleges and universities with libraries are few and far between. We decided at the beginning of the summer, that if I didn¢t have a job by December, I was quitting and moving to Maine anyway. After hiking in Baxter this summer and getting a serious case of the Trail bug, I decided to wait it out until the end of January and get on with my hike. After all, no one is going to hire me for 6 months, let me take off in March and return to work in September. So, the decision¢s made. I¢ll start looking for work when I get home. Anything will do for a while. I¢ll be living off the high anyway.By now I¢ve told all friends and family about my plans. Reactions range from excited to skeptical to totally confused. Depending on what day you ask, I have all of those reactions myself. I¢ll let work know sometime around Thanksgiving. That should be an interesting reaction too. They all know I hike, climb, run, etc. They may not be too surprised. Next time I¢ll talk a little about my preparation: chasing gear, getting in shape, the usual. Lots of these pre-hike entries have a similar formula, don¢t they? I¢ve picked up more that a few tips so far.
Date: 2005-09-20
To: A long metaphor
Miles today: 0.0

I¢ve been reading lots of journals and books. It¢s encouraging that lots of people start with heavy packs and too much gear and little trail experience. They make it to Maine and learn all their lessons on the way. I¢ve been trying to understand the mindset that gets you to the end of the trail. I have to put it in the context of a marathon. I run. I¢m not fast, but I¢m pretty dedicated. I¢ve only been at it for five years, and the first couple I didn¢t enjoy it. The satisfaction was in the discipline and the challenge. Any race, especially a marathon, was out of the question. Eventually I ran a 5k, and then another. I liked it. I liked starting out in a pack and watching it stretch out into a line and then watching runners out front break away. For the past several years there has been a group at the college where I work who, start training after Christmas to run the Boston Marathon in April. My second year there I decided, what the hell, and went the pre-holiday meeting. I was hooked. I started running longer distances and putting in more miles. We did long runs together every Sunday. Each one was a personal best as I ran longer and longer distances. Somewhere along the way, I started to like it, then love it. Several weeks before the race we did out longest run billed as the dress rehearsal. We stood on the real starting line and ran twenty-one mikes from Hopkinton to Boston College, five miles from the actual finish in Copley Square. I confirmed a few things. You appreciate everyone out there on the road with you, but ultimately you are doing by yourself. You¢re glad to share the miles as some move ahead and others fall behind. Some never finish. Every mile is a mile farther than you¢ve run before. You take the hills one by one and don¢t think about the next until you¢re on it. You¢re pretty high. With a couple miles to go, you¢re tired and you hurt, and you wonder why the hell anyone would ever do this on purpose. The last two miles SUCK. But you see the end, and people you know watch you come in. They laugh as you stiffen and can¢t climb into the van. Oh and, they stink and so do you. You all did it and you¢re glad for the company. Good as the company is, you know you did it alone.This isn¢t ¢chicken soup for the hiker¢s soul¢. I¢m just trying to understand what it might be like out there. I can conjure up a marathon in my imagination, but that¢s as close as I can get. 2000 miles and six months on the trail is hell of a lot more than a marathon. I know how I felt the first time I crossed the finish line in Copley Square. Touching the sign on Katahdin must be¢¦ damn.