morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2013-03-14
From: Brown Fork Gap Shelter

To: Fontana Dam
Miles today: 11.5
Weather: clear sky

Took off this am for Fontana Dam,NC. Ann and I have actually vacationed there twice and we really enjoyed it. The hike was moderate with only a few climbs but mostly downhill. Hedgehog and I shared a room at the Fontana Lodge. What a nice hotel for $59 a night. Or, $30 after we split the cost. Two queens with four pillows each. Wow, what luxury! I have paid three times more for a hotel not nearly as nice. We had a wonderful meal too in the hotel restaurant. I had grilled salmon on a bed of collards and risotto. Hedgehog is a vegetarian and he had a variety of good stuff.Got caught a little short on my trail food and there was no place to buy anything except a small convenience store with ridiculous prices. Bought what I had to have and moved on. There is a nice general store in the village but it doesn't open until next week.
Date: 2013-03-15
From: Fontana Dam

To: Mollies Ridge Shelter
Miles today: 11.0
Weather: broken clouds

Left Fontana late this am. As usual, Hedgehog left ahead of me. The climb out of Fontana was a killer. Don't know how long it was but I know I climbed for two hours plus. Got to Mollies and met Punkin Pie, Mary, Robin and Larry Boy. I was fried and hit the bag before dark.
Date: 2013-03-16
From: Mollies Ridge Shelter

To: Double Spring Gap Shelter
Miles today: 19.2
Weather: clear sky

Set a new high in mileage today. The severity of the climbs was not that bad. Haven't seen that much snow the past two days. Haven't fallen in a few days either. What a beautiful day it has been. Seeing and hearing more birds each day. Thank you Lord.
Date: 2013-03-17
From: Double Spring Gap Shelter

To: Newfound Gap
Miles today: 10.8

This was my worst day of hiking thus far. The trail conditions were the worst! Clingman's Dome, at 6,643 ft is the highest mountain on the entire AT. The climb was tough until I got within 3 miles of the top. Then, it was a gradual climb and not that physically demanding. But, mentally, it was draining. There was snow, 2 ft in some places. There was ice! There was water with the trail becoming a stream in many places. And, there was mud! I had to place each step very precisely in order not to fall. But, I fell twice anyway, not hard falls but cold, wet falls. I summited Clingman's a little after 1 pm. The descent was as bad as the ascent because of the conditions.When I was 50-60 yards from the parking lot at Newfound Gap, this pretty little redheaded lady wearing a skirt an sweater, approached me and asked me if I was a through hiker and I said yes mam. She then told me she and her husband had trail magic for me in the parking lot. There is no news I could have heard that would have been better after such a horrid day on the trail. The lady was Mountain Momma and her husband was Godspeed. Mtn Momma, aka Wendy, made me a wonderful sandwich, gave me a soda, home made cookies, chips, deeelicious brownies and fresh fruit. Wendy was a Realtor and Mark, Godspeed, was a contractor. As we chatted, Punkin Pie,Larry Boy and Baker came off the mountain. They were ALL smiles when they realized what was going on. They were well fed as Too. That ain't all. All of us were planning on calling a shuttle to take us into Gatlinburg. It would have cost us $30 split 4 ways. Well, Godspeed and Mtn Momma told us to forget about the shuttle. They would take us to Gatlinburg and they drove us 16 miles into town and dropped us in the parking lot of our motel, The Grand Prix.These wonderful, generous, selfless people, known as Trail Angels, still amaze me. Also, Wendy and Mark do these good deeds every Saturday and Sunday during hiking season. May God bless them!!
Date: 2013-03-18
From: Newfound Gap

To:  Gatlinburg, Tn
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light snow

Gatlinburg is a tourist town. Some folks call it the Myrtle Beach of the mountains. There are many similarities. When on the AT, any town is a good town! And, G-burg is no exception. SweetTea, Hedgehog, Baker and myself took up residence at The Grand Prix. It wasn't a fancy place but very adequate and hiker friendly. The owner, Steve Koon, was a hard core Christian and we had several interesting conversations regarding Christianity,The Bible and the world today. Steve said he wished he could fill his motel with hikers every day because 99 percent of them are fine folks. We feel the same about you, Steve.The best things about coming to town are a warm bed, hot shower, great food, adult beverages and strong enough cell signals to make phone calls.Of course, Sweet Tea, Baker, Hedgehog and I enjoyed all the above!You've already met Hedgehog. So let me introduce you to Sweet Tea and Baker. Sweet Tea is 27 yrs old and he hails from Syracuse, NY. Obviously, he got his trail name because he is a big fan of sweet tea. Imagine that for a New Yorker!! Now, this one is even harder to believe. The dude also loves GRITS!!! Yes, a New Yorker. We had breakfast together and I witnessed him eating them. Being from North Myrtle Beach, I meet many folks from NY and NJ. Being a real estate broker, I also work with lots of folks from those states and I am impressed when they even know what grits are. One night in a restaurant, our waiter told Sweet Tea that they did not save tea at closing. So, if there was any left, he could have it. Well, there was a half gallon left and it was given to Sweet Tea. You would've thought he had won the lottery.Baker is 37 yrs old. He is from Madison, Wisconsin and now resides in the Washington DC area. He is a former Marine. Got his Bachelor's from Emory University. Then, went on to get his Phd in pharmicalogical science or something similar to that. Baker got his trail name because he likes to bake. One night, he made blueberry muffins on a home made oven made out of a number a #10 can and lots of other stuff. Needless to say, Baker and the muffins got rave reviews!And, so it goes on the AT...
Date: 2013-03-19
From:  Gatlinburg, Tn

To: Tri-Corner Knob Shelter
Miles today: 15.6
Weather: clear sky

Well, today is my bride's birthday and I won't tell you how old she is except that she is the same age as me now. Got up early so I could get packed, shower, eat, call Ann to wish her a Happy BD and get back to the trail. Called Ann around 7 and got no answer. So, I sang Happy Birthday into our voice recorder. Took care of the other things and I was ready to go. Tried Ann again to no avail. Got my gear and headed to NOC to catch the shuttle back to the trail head. We had a load, nine including myself. All of us had hiked together at one time or another on the AT. There was Flounder, Sweet Tea, Baker, Boo Boo, Trudger, Cheryl, Robin, Mary and me.At 10:38 am,we were taking off from Newfound Gap, 5,045 ft above sea level, and ascending to 6,034 ft in 2.7 miles. Not an earth shaking climb but enough to break a sweat. It was very icy and muddy with a considerable amount of snow in some places. Trudger and Cheryl were in front of me. Trudger slipped on an icy spot an went down. I was trying to help her up and I nearly went down. Mind you, we are doing this with 40 pound packs on our backs. So, we didn't look like graceful ballerinas in the process. But, Trudger regained her feet and we were off again. I felt good utoday and broke out of the pack. Not necessarily because I was faster than the rest. Trudger and Cheryl stopped at an overlook to check out the view. Baker and Sweet Tea were taking their time getting out of the parking lot, etc.I did 15.6 miles to Tri-Corner Knob Shelter and arrived at 7:25 pm. There were four young lads from Georgia Tech there an two section hikers. We prepared and ate our dinner and hit the bag.Sandman69 signing out for now.
Date: 2013-03-20
From: Tri-Corner Knob Shelter

To: Davenport Gap Shelter
Miles today: 15.0
Weather: clear sky

Arose around 6:30 and it was cold!! Everything was frozen so I decided to skip breakfast. I packed, had coffee and a Snicker bar and hit the trail about 8:00. The first few hours were fairly easy. I decided to stop in a gap and have a late breakfast. As I was finishing, a young couple came down the mountain. I greeted them, they greeted me and we began a conversation. I noticed that Ely, the guy, was wearing a yarmulke. He said he was from NY, but had been living in Israel for 7 yrs. he met Adina there and they married. Adina was born and raised in Israel. I told them that I very much wanted to visit Israel one day. Ely said it was a wonderful place to live. His family still lived in NY but he would return to Israel to live with Adina. They actually married about a year ago but were too busy for a honeymoon. So, their trip to the US and the AT is their honeymoon. Ely asked me if his pack was adjusted properly. I looked at it and it seemed ok. It looked very big and I asked him if I could lift it while still on his back. Ely said sure so, I did. "Ely, your pack is too heavy, my friend. It must weigh at least 50 lbs or more." He smiled and looked at Adina. Adina smiled and said, "my husband is so good to me. Feel my pack." I did and it probably weighed 20-25 lbs. They were very nice folks. I hope we meet again. The Ga Tech kids passed me three times today. I called them The Rambling Wreck from Georgia Tech. They could hike faster backwards than I could going forward. Two of them, Dirty Mike and Matt, were shooting for Maine. The other two were on Spring break and just came out for a few days to hike with their friends before returning to school. Dirty Mike and Matt took off for a semester for their adventure. They were all fine young men. When I would ask them something, each would respond with a "yes sir" or a "no sir". When they wanted to address me, they would say "hey sir". I thought that way of addressing your elders had become extinct. After several days, they loosened up enough to say "hey Sandman" and that suited me fine. They renewed my faith in our young adults.Sandman69 signing out for now
Date: 2013-03-21
From: Davenport Gap Shelter

To: Roaring Fork Gap
Miles today: 18.7
Weather: overcast clouds

Today was a very hard day of hiking. We hiked in snow, some as much as 6 inches deep for probably 60%of the day. Had a major climb from 1,411 ft. ASL to 4,263 ft. ASL. That grind was pure drudgery. After that, it was pretty much downhill into Hot Springs, NC. But, downhill hiking is tougher than climbing in many respects. In my opinion, I think downhill hiking is harder on the joints, causes most blisters and results in more falls. Uphill hiking takes more energy and effort.When I arrived at Roaring Fork, Justin, Joseph and Jake were already there. Justin, Joseph and I had hiked together before but we had not met Jake until this night. He had his nice huge tent set up in the shelter which I thought was a little odd. But, the other three of us had plenty of floor room in the remaining part of the shelter. Jake invited us to join him in his tent. In fact, he took all of his gear out of the tent so there would be sufficient room for us. It sounded like a good proposition to me...that is until he said he was going to build a wood fire inside his tent to cook on. I told Jake I was not going in a tent to sleep where there was a wood fire or any other kind of fire. I asked him to let me know when he had finished cooking and put out his fire and I would move into his tent. We never did though. And, it was soo cold. Could not have been over 15 or 16 degrees. I got out of my bag, got dressed and attempted to put my boots on. Not happening. Since we had hiked in snow most of the day, our boots had become saturated and they were frozen solid...like bricks. No flexibility at all. Finally, I unlaced them all the way, sprinkled baby powder all over my socks and inside my boots. Then, I wedged my foot in as far as I could and stomped as hard as I could 3 or 4 times and got each foot in. All our water was frozen solid. The creek was down a steep bank about a quarter of a mile away. So, I gathered snow, melted it in my large cup with my Pocket Rocket and made coffee and oatmeal. It was gooood too!!
Date: 2013-03-23
From: Hot Springs,NC

To: Hot Springs
Miles today: 0.0

Today is a zero day. I walked around town probably a mile or so but that doesn't count. No miles were recorded on The AT. Did my laundry. Went grocery shopping. Went to the outfitter's to buy a few items I needed. Made a few calls. Tried to get caught up on my email. Only had 565 em's. think I knocked out a few hundred of them. Had a few ball games that needed watching.Seem to feel guilty when I'm not working or walking. Guess I need to get over that. I will try hard to do so.Justin's dad came from Virginia Beach to spend the weekend with him. They came over and we chatted for an hour or so. Justin and I have both had problems with blisters. We were comparing notes in an effort to resolve the problems. Hope our tactics work. Justin and his dad are both fine folks.That's about it for today. Wishing all of you a great weekend. Also hope your team wins...unless they are playing my team...oh, Temple already beat my Wolfpack. We will return to our days of glory from1974 and 1983...maybe next year...we shall see.Sandman69 says ciao for now.
Date: 2013-03-24
From: Hot Springs

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

Today is a zero day. I walked around town probably a mile or so but that doesn't count. No miles were recorded on The AT. Did my laundry. Went grocery shopping. Went to the outfitter's to buy a few items I needed. Made a few calls. Tried to get caught up on my email. Only had 565 em's. think I knocked out a few hundred of them. Had a few ball games that needed watching.Seem to feel guilty when I'm not working or walking. Guess I need to get over that. I will try hard to do so.Justin's dad came from Virginia Beach to spend the weekend with him. They came over and we chatted for an hour or so. Justin and I have both had problems with blisters. We were comparing notes in an effort to resolve the problems. Hope our tactics work. Justin and his dad are both fine folks.That's about it for today. Wishing all of you a great weekend. Also hope your team wins...unless they are playing my team...oh, Temple already beat my Wolfpack. We will return to our days of glory from1974 and 1983...maybe next year...we shall see.Sandman69 says ciao for now.
Date: 2013-03-25
From: Hot Springs

To: Hemlock Hollow
Miles today: 19.7

Got up at 6:15 this am. Decided to go to The Smoky Mountain Diner for one more of their wonderful breakfasts. As I was leaving The Iron Horse Hotel, I noticed everything was dark and no guests or employees were stirring yet. When I went outside, the town was obviously still shut down too. Only one convenience store and The S. M. Diner were open. I entered the diner and two local patrons and two employees were there chatting. The weather forecast from Sunday night, 5-8 inches of snow, had not materialized, thank goodness. There was a trace on the ground with light flurries. The ladies working in the diner said school had already been canceled. I ordered a 3 egg cheddar and veggie omelet, pancakes, stewed apples, OJ and coffee. There wasn't a morsel left when I finished about 10 minutes later. As usual, it was delicious. When I went to pay my bill, the lady asked me if I was leaving today. I said yes. She thanked me for visiting Hot Springs and wished me well on The AT. I told her I had thoroughly enjoyed my stay and their great food and service and told her I hoped to return one day.Walked back to The Iron Horse, packed and left. It was still quiet and dark. Hiking out of town, the snow was picking up and the temp was 35. I crossed the bridge over The French Broad, stepped over the guard rail, went down the bank and was out of town in less than 10 minutes. I waltzed along the banks of The French Broad for a few hundred yards, passed Lover"s Leap, didn't jump and immediately started my first climb of the day. The climbing was fairly moderate. The snow began picking up and within an hour it was snowing pretty hard and the higher I went, the colder it got and quickly dropped below freezing, The snow came and went for several hours and then, it snowed hard for the rest of the day. I planned to spend the night at the Spring Mountain Shelter.. With the accumulating snow, the temp now in the 20's, in conjunction with torrid winds, I decided to hike another 5 miles to Hemlock Hollow Inn which was a hostel close to Greenville, Tn. No way was I going to spend the night outside under such conditions when I had a choice.Let's hope conditions improve overnight or I may be spending another night here. Wishing you all a good night and a warm one.Signing off for now. Sandman69
Date: 2013-03-27
From: Hemlock Hollow Inn

To: Hemlock Hollow Inn continued
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

When we arose the next morning, guess what, it was still snowing!! No way was I going out in that. I decided to stay and so did the other hikers. We all went to the kitchen/dining/store area for our made-to-order breakfast prepared by Hattie. Afterwards, I worked on updating my journal and catching up on email. Found it strange that I could email out and receive em, but could not call. It was a nice change of pace, staying warm and comfortable. As I told many of you before starting my AT oddyssey, my biggest fear was cold weather. Waking up at 2:00 in the am, high up on some mountain, freezing inside my bag, wearing all the dry clothes in my pack, is a very MISERABLE feeling, to say the least!! I have explained to many of my younger trail friends that AGE is a major factor in how we react to cold weather. I get cold and CANNOT get warm. A deep, insidious cold that penetrates to my bones. But, warm weather is on the way...I hope. If not, I may be on the way...HOME!Ciao for now,Sandman69
Date: 2013-03-29
From: Mother Marian's Hostel

To: No Business Knob Shelter
Miles today: 17.3
Weather: overcast clouds

My day started off well but got progressively worse. My plan was to hike all the way to Erwin, Tn. At about 15 miles into my day, the main right shoulder strap on my pack broke. I rigged it so that it would work...half way, and continued on. But, it became obvious that I would not make it to Erwin. My pack was out of balance and very difficult to hike with. It threw my body out of line. So, my secondary objective was No Business Knob Shelter. Darkness closed in on me before I made it to the shelter. I pitched my tent right on the trail because it was the only flat place suitable for tenting. Also, hikers with any sense, would not be hiking after 8:30 PM. Crawled in my bag and waited for the sandman to take me away from this bad day. He finally did after I took two Advil PM's.That's it for now.Sandman69
Date: 2013-03-30
From: No Business Knob Shelter

To:  Erwin, Tn.
Miles today: 5.8

Got up at 6:30 and hit the trail. After only about 100 yards, I came to the shelter and there were six hikers there, awake but still in their bags. Nickleodian, Car Jacker and others I had not met. We chatted for a few minutes and I was off again. It was a fairly easy hike, mostly downhill, to Uncle Charlie's Hostel. I stopped there and bought some butane gas for my pocket rocket and a bunch of Snicker Bars. Went outside and saw several hikers. Nomad, from Austin, Tx, got of an SUV that looked familiar. I hadn't seen Nomad for over two weeks. And, Bobby, from Mother Marian's was driving him. What a surprise. I asked Bobby if he could take me to the Super 8 Motel. He said he would be glad to and he did. He dropped Nomad off at the barber shop first. He wanted to get cleaned up and go to church on Easter Sunday. Sounded like a good idea but I planned to catch the sermon from my church, The Church of The Lost and Found, on the internet. My plan never materialized because the server had a problem at my church in North Myrtle Beach. I did not get a sermon on Easter but I thought a lot and prayed about the importance of what Easter means to Christians. After getting checked in at Super 8, I showered, put on clean clothes and walked a little over a mile to Food Lion, Walgreen's and McDonalds. Yes, life is good today.And so it goes on The AT...
Date: 2013-03-31
From:  Erwin, Tn.

To: Erwin, Tn.
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: moderate rain

Had a lazy day today. Decided to take a zero day because there was a 70% chance of rain forecast and it was raining when I got up. Also, I had two NCAA Sweet 16 ballgames that needed watching. My final chance for an ACC team, Duke, was badly beaten. Now, I'm picking Louisville to win it all even though their stud player, Ware, suffered an awful looking massive compound fracture and will be out for a year. It seemed to motivate Louisville in a big way.Hope you all have a safe and happy Easter.Wishing one of my six perfect grandchildren, Sarah, a Very Happy 15th Birthday, also!! Love you, Sarah. Sorry I couldn't make it to Mountain City, Tn to celebrate with you and your family. Planned to rent a car and drive over. Would you believe there is not ONE place in Erwin to rent a car???Sandman69 signing off for now.
Date: 2013-04-01
From: Erwin, Tn.

To: Cherry Gap Shelter
Miles today: 17.5
Weather: overcast clouds

Planning on hiking 30 miles today. Of course, that is a BIG April Fool's joke. Unless something unforseen arises, I hope to make it to Cherry Gap, 17 miles away. We shall see...Got up this am and had breakfast with Chase, a very experienced hiker with 9,000+ miles under his belt. Got a lot of good advice from him that a rookie like me needs. Thank you, Chase, and I hope we meet again. After Breakfast, I walked to the PO to see if my package came in from my wife. It did arrive. But, I forwarded it to Elk Park because it weighed over nine pounds and there is no way I would add that much weight to my 42 lb pack. I will eat most of my food by then so I can handle the weight. But, what a box full of goodies!! It seemed like Christmas! Thank you, hon.My objective was accomplished. After some challenging climbs, I arrived at Cherry Gap Shelter around 6pm. The shelter was full. Gummy Bear, Camaro, her wonderful dog, Chevy, Nickleodian, Smuggler, Trail Mover, Car Jacker, Trudger, Vegas and several others were there. So, I pitched my tent with about five or six other. Made Ore-Ida 3 cheese instant potatoes with Spam along with Swiss Miss Hot chocolate, ate and drank it all, crawled in my bag and said adios April Fool's day and went to sleep.All for now...
Date: 2013-04-02
From: Cherry Gap Shelter

To: Roan High Mountain
Miles today: 16.8

On the way I met Trail Mover. He is a little younger than me at 61. He impressed me as being in a bad mood. He said he was a loaner and didn't like staying in shelters with other hikers. Especially the young hikers. He felt like they didn't have much respect for anyone or anything. But, after we hiked a few miles, I learned that he was a good guy. He's from Roanoke and he's an experienced hiker with 9,000+ miles. He told me he had been a combat medic in Vietnam and he had seen too many people die. I thanked him for his service and welcomed him home. I understood immediately where he was coming from. Maybe a half hour later, I told him I had also seen too many Marines die, some very close friends. We may have spent two minutes discussing our military pasts and that was it. We changed the subject and Vietnam was never mentioned again. Our brief discussion seemed to clear the air. We got along well for the duration of our hike.This was a brutal day of hiking. Ice, snow and more ice and snow. It was nearly dark when we arrived about a half mile from the shelter and were met by a very steep climb on solid ice and snow. Trail Mover fell 5 times and I fell 3 times. We finally made it to the top and the shelter which is the highest shelter on the AT at an elevation of 6,194 Ft. One of the only a few 4 sided log cabin shelters with a door on the AT. A local man and his 3 kids were there. Gummy Bear, Trudger, Vegas and Lucky came in later. They slept in the loft. How glad I was that this hard, cold day was over.Good night to all of my family and friends.Sandman69