morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2009-05-17
From: Hot Springs, NC

To: Spring Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 11.0
Weather: light rain

The rain that started about 6:30 last night continued (often in torrents) until about 11:00 this morning. It was fun to hear it on the metal roof of the barn the bunk house is in (alone again), but not fun to contemplate heading out in a drizzly mess.Finally, I did start out about 12:00. I was immediately left walking in circles and scratching my head since the guide book said take a right as soon as you cross the river bridge. It made no sense. Finally I came to understand there were TWO river bridges and it was the second bridge the book was referring to.Once safely across the correct bridge and having made the "right" right, the trail headed up sharply to a "lovers leap" cliff. When I got there, it turned out there were a number of side trails and lookouts back down to the river and town. Somehow I got on a side trail and did not realize it. The trail seemed to get smaller and head sharply up a steep grade. I plowed on not realizing I had made a mistake. Soon the trail was nothing more than a scramble upward using trees, branches and rocks to pull myslef along. I should have gone back down, but it was too steep and wet for that so I continued upward. Finally, after about 50 feet of vertical gain, I came to a ridge with a path on it. Thinking I was back on the AT, I headed left. The trail soon came to an end ... not something that happens on the AT unless one has reached Maine. So I started back in the other direction. Finally, I saw a bright pack cover moving through the trees about 100 feet away and down about 25 feet from where I was. I called out and soon was on the right trail with Wing It, who I had met at Standing Bear farm, and the two guys she is hiking the AT with. Whew!!When I got to the shelter, it was already fairly late. The shelter only sleeps five so it was full and others had pitched tents nearly. I decided to sleep on the picnic table under the shelter overhang since it was nearly dark, but just then, a young thru-hiker showed up and announced that he was a couple of days behind his hiking buddy who had their tent ... therefore he needed those in the shelter to make room for him! Rather than let him freeze to death outside, I gave him the picnic table and set up my tent, but the culture out here is that you need to be able to take care of yourself on the trail and he was way out of line to be out there with no tent and to expect folks to care for him. It would have been a very different situation had his lack of a tent been of some other cause than his own ... for example if a bear had taken it.PhotosReplacement pack pad made from a sleeping pad I found in a hiker boxMixing up gorp for lunches on the trailAll dried out and nearly ready to go out in the rain againSpring Mountain Shelter, designed to sleep only 5
Date: 2009-05-18
From: Spring Mountain Shelter

To: Unnamed tent site
Miles today: 10.7

Today was grat weather and fairly easy hiking until the end of the day.At one point, about noon, as I was nearing a paved state road crossing mentioned in my guide book, the trail came out of the woods onto an unpaved Forest Service road. I could see that that road went right down to the paved state road about 200 yards away, so I assumed that was the right way to go, not realizing that the AT crossed the Forest Service road and continued back into the woods, coming out on the paved state road somewhere else. When I got to the paved road, I could not see any sign of the AT on the other side. It would have been even more confusing had I not come out exactly on the point on the road where the border betwen NC and TN was (I must have crossed the NC-TN border 20 times by not as it is still largely a ridge walk along that border). At least I knew where _I_ was, even if I did not know where the AT was!After scratching my head a bit, I decided to have take a break and have lunch in the shade of an abondonded building. A few minutes later a road maintenance vehicle came along and the fellow inside set me straight, telling me the AT crossing was about 150 yards down the road into TN.Later on in the afternoon, I came to Little Laurel Shelter and was surprised to find Kermitt taking a nap there. Kermitt is about my age and from Wales, but now lives in Boston. I had last seen her at the NOC 2-3 weeks ago with a bad ankle and assumed she had gotten off the trail. It seemed a bit early to stop hiking so we chatted a bit, I got some water from the nearby spring, and headed on to tackle a 1,000 foot climb before nightfall. It turned out to be a never-ending climb, straight up 1,000 feet over the next mile. I finally reached the top and then headed down for about 3/4 a mile to a nice site with tent spots, a fire pit and a nearby stream. By the time I got camp set up and dinner made, it was nearly dark.PhotosI tented next to Spring Mountain ShelterLow key advertising on the trailLittle Laurel Shelter where I stopped for waterCooking dinner at an nameless tent site
Date: 2009-05-19
From: Unnamed tent site

To: Flint Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 10.6
Weather: few clouds

I thought I had the worst of the climb behind me after the 1,000 foot late afternoon effort yesterday. Wrong! After a mile or two this morning, I came to a sign that said AT the the right, along an exposed ridge, and a "bad weather side trail" to the left. Since the weather was perfectly wonderful, sunny and in the 60s, I took the AT trail. This turned out to be the worst half mile of my hike so far. Yes, it was a ridge, but weather had little to do with it (other than had the weather been bad, the trail would have been downright dangerous). I spent the next 90 minutes climbing, descending, scrambling and slowly moving forward along a ridge of rocks with steep drop-offs, beautiful views, and tetter-tottering rocks, buzzing carpenter bees, and, when I stopped to take a break, ants! At one point I had to go backwards down an 8-foot ledge, feeling for the next step blindly with my feet. This all ended fine, but I was exhausted and think it far exceeded the so-called "Walk in the Woods" level of effort advertised by the AT folks.Later in the day I came to a large bald ... i.e. one of many grassy areas on the tops of mountains cleared, presumably, by early settlers for farming. At about this point I came to a place with a memorial stone telling that the ashes of a former AT hiker had been scattered there. I bit further on I came to the 300 mile point on the AT! And about a mile after that I came to four very old graves in a grassy clearing in the woods. So far I have seen about 8 such graves; the most recent burial having been about 1966! Slowly other signs of early settlers are showing up too ... a couple of tumbled down log cabins, some barbed wire fences in bad repair, a mattress spring in the middle of nowhere, etc.I finally came to the shelter and found a place to sleep. There were several others there but most of them were tenting for one reason or another. Among the others were three section hikers about my age who are out for about 60 miles of hiking. They have been doing sections of the AT together for several years and have now covered several hundred miles together. We all got busy and built a nice fire in the fire pit. There was also a great water source near this shelter so I was able to do some laundry in the woods, letting it dry overnight.During the day as I hiked along, somewhere, a towel I had pinned to the back of my pack had dropped off. While we were washing clothes, I mentioned this to MoKing, a thru-hiker my age who weighs 80 pounds less than I and is doing 20-mile days out here. MoKing said he had found it and brought it along since clearly someone had dropped it. He went to his tent and got it for me!PhotosDamage to my hiking pole by a mouse in search of saltTough trailRough trail300 miles!Another small graveyard seemingly in the middle of nowhereFlint Mountain Shelter
Date: 2009-05-20
From: Flint Mountain Shelter

To: Hogback Ridge Shelter
Miles today: 8.8
Weather: clear sky

Another great day for hiking!I have not mentioned the ups as much as I did in earlier journal entries. They are still out there, every day, in the range of 2,000-3,000 feet per day, and they still are a big chore, but they are becoming part of the daily routine, even if not fun. I am getting stronger, but still have a long way to go before the ups are not noticable. Today had an unending 1,600 foot up, along with several others. They say the AT is 90% mental and it is true. One needs to deal with these things and not let them get one down. I have developed some strategies to deal with the ups that work for me. I'll save discussing them for another day.There were more graves today, my first stile (there will be many more to come), and A FOX! I came over a rige and saw a beautiful red fox with a big bushy tail on the trail about 100 feet ahead. We stared at each other for about 2 seconds and then s/he was gone in a flash down the mountain side.I arrived in time to claim one of the 6 shelter slots, but others continued to arrive until there were 19 folks there for the night; 6 in the shelter and 13 in tents scattered everywhere. Many of these hikers were young folks I had met before. They had taken 3 to 7 days off to attend the annual "Trails Days" festival/bash in Damascus, VA, this past weekend. They are all now back on the trail catching up to me a second time.Once again we had a great fire, along with quite a spectacle as folks tried to throw ropes with rocks on them over tree limbs to hang their food away from bears. Luckily no one got hurt!PhotosStealth camperWhat would Robert Frost do here?Remains of an old cabinHogback Ridge Shelter
Date: 2009-05-21
From: Hogback Ridge Shelter

To: Sam's Gap, Erwin, TN
Miles today: 1.4
Weather: scattered clouds

I made a slight change of plans this morning. Since Monday will be a federal holiday, if I did not get to Erwin by noon on Saturday, I would be forced to wait until Tuesday morning to pick up my mail, losing three days! So I hiked 1.9 miles from the shelter to where it crossed a freeway that goes right through Erwin and hitchhiked into Erwin from there, sitting in the back of a pickup truck taking pictures as we drove along. I will hitchhike back to that point tomorrow and continue my hike from there, coming very close to Erwin again on about Sunday.When I got to Erwin, the first stop was McDonalds, followed by a walk up the street to a Super 8 motel. After a shower, I went to the post office to get my "bounce box" of routine resupply items, the replacement hiking pole (but it is still not here!!), and a wonderful surprise of a dozen different lightweight energy bars from friends Ron and Christy! Thanks guys!Next stop was the local library where I updated my journal, then back to the motel to wash clothes and get reorgnized.About 5:15 I was picked up for dinner by Ruth and Fred who I have gotten to know via email as I've hiked along. Ruth is a friend of a friend (Sharon) of a friend (Barbara) of mine. We went to a steak house, had a great dinner and conversation, and on the way home they took me to the local Walmart for trail food for the next leg of the journey ... the store was too far out of town for me to walk to. Finally, Ruth gave me several small packages of trail mix and other snacks she had made up for me to take along on the trail. It was a great change of pace ... Many thanks for a great evening, Ruth and Fred!PhotosHitch hiking into Erwin, Tennessee, to get my mailGreat view from the back of a pickup truckErwin ...... a dying townDinner with Trail Angel Ruth and her husband Fred
Date: 2009-05-22
From: Erwin, TN

To: Bald Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 8.7
Weather: broken clouds

The first order of business this morning was to get my bounce box back to the PO, along with a small package of things I needed to send home. While there, I left forwarding instructions for the long-awaited pole to be sent on to my next mail stop in Marion, VA, if and when it ever arrives. My sense is that "Priority Mail" is getting slower as time goes on.After walking back to the motel and packing up, I walked over to the freeway to hitch a ride back to where I had gotten off the trail yesterday. Despite having an excellent location, it took me a hour to get a ride with two guys who were headed up to the mountains for some dirt bike riding. They let me off about four miles from where I was going at an exit with probably no traffic. Unlike the first ride, I had not finished walking up the on ramp before someone stopped to give me a ride to the pass where the AT crosses the freeway. This was great except I think the guy was a bit inebriated. We arrived without incident, however. From there I had a 2,000 foot up hill hike to a great lookout point, Big Bald ... a huge grassy area on a mountain top with views in all directions. Along the way, a day hiking couple caught up with me and showed me what poison ivy looks like. I was glad to learn this since I had not seen poison ivy for many years. We have poison oak at home in California, but it looks a bit different.I also met up with a group of guys at a water source where they were tent camping. Unlike everyone else I have met out here, they had hired a guide for their hike. When I first arrived, the guide was not there. He had left his pack and run ahead to catch the first of the group who had hiked past the campsite by mistake!After crossing Big Bald, I came across a guy in jeans and a sweat shirt ambling along the trail towards me munching on what looked like a Big Mac. This was some 7 miles from the last main road and oddly out of character so far in the woods. It turned out he was camping nearby with another guy and they were getting 10 very fine meshed nets ready to catch birds the next morning as part of an on-gong, North American-wide project to catch, band, release and assess the health of bird flocks in various areas. He does this ten times a year in this particular spot. We chatted for a few minutes and he took me to see one of the nets that was furled for the night and would be opened early in the morning to do its thing.When I got to the 10 man shelter, I was alone and it stayed that way all night. This was quite a change from two nights before when there were 18 folks in and around a 6 man shelter!PhotosMy ride back towards the trail from ErwinSomeone abandoned this 5 pound tent on this steep trailThis local day hiker was kind enough to show me how to identify poison ivyPoison IvyFellow getting ready to count the local bird populationBald Mountian Shelter where I stayed alone
Date: 2009-05-23
From: Bald Mountain Shelter

To: No Business Knob Shelter
Miles today: 10.6
Weather: overcast clouds

Today was a day of mainly walking in the woods, but there were a few things worth mentioning.The only people I saw until evening were three men and three dogs who were out for a day hike up to some high rocks. I learned later that Ruth and Fred, who had taken me out for dinner two nights ago, also hiked the same trail and encountered the same men and dogs. We missed each other by a few minutes based on what I concluded from an email from Ruth.As I was walking up a steep hill at one point, I stopped to catch my breath. As I rested, I leaned with one hand against a 5 inch diameter tree next to the trail. It made some cracking noises so I pushed a bit harder and it broke at about waist height and fell completely over!The shelter was quite old. There was no out house (privy), no cables for hanging food away from bears, and no water within .2 miles. It looked like I would be alone again, but about dark a fellow showed up who tented nearby, followed by another guy who set up a hammock nearby. So I had the shelter to myself, but was not totally alone. It was a good thing that I was in the shelter alone because the sleeping depth of the platform was only 6 feet. I am 6 feet 3. So I slept 90 degrees sideways to the normal layout effectively taking up half the space in the shelter.PhotosAfter more than 300 miles, my shoes are beginning to deteriorateNo Business Knob Shelter ...... where I slept alone again
Date: 2009-05-24
From: No Business Knob Shelter

To: Uncle Johnny's, near Erwin, TN
Miles today: 6.3
Weather: light rain

I had a fairly easy hike this morning down to Uncle Johnny's, a legendary trail hostel just outside of Erwin. I met up with a group of four guys which included a 57 year old 2006 thru-hiker and learned a bit by literally following his footsteps down the mountain.At the hostel I got a room with four bunks rather than go into the larger bunk house. Soon I was joined by Jed who had stayed in a hammock last night near the shelter.Also at the hostel today was Kermitt, the lady from Wales, and now Boston, who I have seen several times on the trail. She is a real trooper, overcoming lots of issues to keep on heading north.Shortly after arriving, Uncle Johnny shuttled a bunch of us to an "all you can eat" buffet for lunch. It was less than spectacular with various mystery meats and sauces. I had three bowls of salad though since that was my craving after many days of oatmeal and mashed potatoes on the trail.In the afternoon, I showered and washed clothes. This is the second time a hostel laundry featured cold water clothes washing only ... not good enough to get clothes clean. After washing, I put the clothes in the dryer. It had no heat! So after an hour, I hung them on a clothes line before going to dinner. During dinner, a rain shower came through and got them wet again!I also took some time to update my trail journal during the afternoon.Dinner was another shuttle into town with time to eat at one of several nearby fast food restaurants and resupply at a grocery store. I picked KFC and ate with Nails and Roof Walker ... since there are no hills in Florida, she trained for the AT by walking up and down on the roof of her home!After dinner, I managed to finagle a couple of beers at the hostel despite this being Sunday in a dry county!PhotosUncle Johnny's hostelI hiked with this formet thru-hiker for awhileMy room at Uncle Johnny'sRoof Walker and NailsUncle Johnny (right)
Date: 2009-05-25
From: Uncle Johnny's, near Erwin, TN

To: Curley Maple Gap Shelter
Miles today: 4.2
Weather: light rain

After another shuttle for breakfast this morning, everyone was faced with a dilemma ... it was raining off and on and was forecast to continue to be like this for the next several days. Choices were: 1) stay at Uncle Johnny's spending money and making no progess, 2) make a run for the first shelter 4.2 miles up the trail, 3) make a tougher run for the second shelter 17 miles up the trail, or 4) go somewhere between 4.2 and 17 miles and tent in the inevitable rain. I picked option 2 and left about noon, meeting a nice couple out for the day along the way who shared with me some veggies and special dip she had made. I also encountered a t-short and pair of Bermuda shorts hanging from a tree branch at the aside of the trail. I am sure there is an interesting story behind those items, but I have no idea what it is! About 3 miles into the hike, up about 1,300 feet, the heavens opened and a real deluge came down. I donned my rain gear and trudged on to the shelter. During a break in the rain, I got a broom and scaped a large accumulation of pine needles and other debris off the corrugated metal roof so it would not flood and leak into the shelter. Other than that I just stayed there and waited it out. No one else showed up so I had the place to myself.PhotosTrail angel who gave me some veggies and home made sauceA t-shirt and Bermuda shorts hanging on a limb on the middle of the woods. I'd love to know the rest of the story!Another night alone ... Curley Maple Gap Shelter
Date: 2009-05-26
From: Curley Maple Gap Shelter

To: Cherry Gap Shelter
Miles today: 12.8
Weather: scattered clouds

It was another damp day. Soon after setting out in the morning I came to an old home foundation. the foundation was about the length and width of a child's bedroom these days.The high point of the day (literally) was Unaka Mountain at 5,180 feet about 2,000 feet total up from where I started. Just after crossing the peak, I had a real treat. A trail phenomenon named "20-mile Tuesday" overtook me. This 21- year old gal is hiking 20-30 miles per day, using old gear from her brother, a Walmart tent, tennis shoes, and a stout stick for a hiking pole. No one can keep up with her as she flies north. She has done in 3 weeks what it has taken me 7 weeks to accomplish. Tuesday was kind enough to slow down from her usual afternoon pace of 3 miles per hour and walk down the mountain with me at 2.5 miles per hour. It was a 'walk' for her, but I had to really struggle to keep up. I finally fell behind when we came to an uphill, and when I got to the shelter a bit later, she was just finishing up cooking some noodles and the headed off to do another 10 miles of so before dark. Tuesday has lots of chigger bites but nothing to put in them so I traded her my tube of hydrocortizone for an orange!I spent the night at the shelter with Jed, a gal named Root Hopper and two of her friends.PhotosAn old foundation, not larger than a child's bedroom in a modern home20-mile Tuesday
Date: 2009-05-27
From: Cherry Gap Shelter

To: Greasy Creek Gap
Miles today: 7.3

More damp weather.As I hiked along, I met a fellow, Cous Cous, hiking south. He told me about a hostel he had just come from. He had gone there to get alcohol fuel, but there was a note on the door saying that the lady that runs it had gone into town. To make a long story short, I gave him half of my fuel and decided to go to there for the night.The hostel, Greasy Creek Friendly, is .6 miles off the trail with a long, gentle downhill on old Forest Serivce roads. When I got there, the owner, Cee Cee, was still not back so I sat in a comfortable rocking chair on her porch for over an hour until she returned with two other hikers. My first impression of the place was not favorable, but the more I got to know Cee Cee and hear her story, the more impressed I was ... a fascinating lady from another state who is trying to make a go of it in an area that does not take kindly to strangers. After spending some time with her very slow dial up internet serivce, I got a spot in the bunk house and went to bed. During the night it rained.PhotosGreasy Creek Friendly HostelBunk house
Date: 2009-05-28
From: Greasy Creek Gap

To: Clyde Smith Shelter
Miles today: 1.9
Weather: scattered clouds

This morning I took advantage of the intermittent rain to have Cee Cee wash my filthy clothes and to purchase some more food to carry out with me. Finally, about 11:00, I decided to make a break for it and left. About a 1/4 mile later, it started to rain.After a solid uphill hike, I got to a shelter and called it a day. Others at the shelter included a couple named Plowboy and PolPoli from Washington state, Spiderman, two section hikers, and a fellow who just finished a two-year tour with the Peace Corps in Senegal in April, and started north on the AT three weeks after getting back to the US! We had an interesting conversation comparing the Peace Corps today and in my time over 40 years ago in Iran.As we all spent the evening getting acquainted, it stormed outside the shelter.PhotosCee Cee, the proprietorHostel common roomThis fellow, name forgotten, I had met before. He had been at the hostel for several days waiting for a mail drop to show upClyde Smith ShelterPoliPoli and Plowboy from southern Washington statePeace Corps volunteer just back from two years in Senegal