morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2006-05-02
From: Wesser Bald shelter

To: N.O.C., Wesser
Miles today: 5.7

The Trail today was mostly downhill, dropping from 4115 feet at the shelter to 1740 at the N.O.C. (which stands for Nantahala Outdoor Center). This is the same place as I came last winter for the SORUCK. It mainly caters to rafters and kayakers running the rapids on not only the Nantahala, but quite a few other class 3 and 4 rivers as well. It's a very pleasant place with an outfitter, a couple of restaurants, a hostel for both hikers and water people, and a lot of picnic tables and benches along the riverbanks.The hike down here was interesting. In places the descent was gentle on good trail, and in others it was precipitous over rock scrambles. There were a couple of places where I sat down and swung my legs over the edge, and got down that way. I was really grateful I was going down and not up!As I got to slightly lower elevations there were more flowers blooming, including azaleas in a variety of colors, Confederate violets, wild apple and cherry, and unidentified wildflowers. Quite pretty!There is a shelter just 0.7 miles south of here, and I went into there to take a pack-off break, eat a snack, and get more water. On the trail to the shelter I took fall #4. This one was also a faceplant, but, for the most part, my knees got spared this time. However, I did actually land on my face, so I have a scratched up cheek, and sob, scratches on my brand-new glasses. Maybe I'll have a black eye by tomorrow, that would be kinda cool...When I picked up my maildrop here, to my surprise there were 2 packages. A woman named Cathy, who did a thru-hike in '05, trailname Socks, sent me a package with all kinds of goodies: Goldfish (which I sat down and ate on the spot), chocolate, instant cappucino, muesli with strawberries and raspberries, and more, plus an invitation to visit when I reach Connecticutt (this is spelled wrong...). Thanks so much Cathy, you made my day!I'm planning on zero'ing here tomorrow, before heading on to Fontana Dam and the Smokies.See you on the Trail!granny franny
Date: 2006-05-03
From: N.O.C., Wesser

To: N.O.C.
Miles today: 0.0

Zero day at N.O.C.Just sitting around today relaxing and reading and watching the river.However, Locomotive Joe, the young man with the guitar and harmonica, is taking a few days off the Trail to let a painful knee heal, and he has immortalized me in song and verse. It goes something like:Going to a hootenannyGoing to a hootenannyGoing to a hootenanny With Granny FrannyShe fell and cut her eyeBut she didn't cryGranny FrannyGoing to a hootenanny with Granny FrannyLook for it soon in your local music shop!See you on the Trail!granny franny
Date: 2006-05-05
From: N.O.C.

To: Sassafras Gap Shelter
Miles today: 7.0
Weather: light rain

Today was a mix of good and bad, weighted towards the bad.On the good side, I saw my first non-avian wildlife of the hike. Early in the day I came across a six-foot black snake laying across the trail. He oblidgingly posed while I took a couple of pictures, then slithered on off into the underbrush. The flowers early in the day were spectacular, because the N.O.C. is at low elevation, only 1740 feet. I especially liked the flame azaleas, which were slightly differently colored than the flame azaleas that are available at nurserys.Unfortunately, as we climbed (this shelter is at 4330 feet), it started to rain. The rain started about an hour after leaving N.O.C., and continued the rest of the day. Walking in rain is not a lot of fun. You quickly get wet, even if wearing raingear. The trail gets slick. In places it was like wading up a creek, there was so much water rushing down the trail. The logs and/or rocks that you sit on to rest are wet, so you slog on with not as many breaks.Luckily, this is a big shelter. There are sixteen of us here tonight, partly thru-hikers and partly people just out for a few days. The shelter is a maze of lines that folks have strung to hang their wet gear, in hopes that it will dry out a little before morning.Interesting people met: Family of Six (later to become the Samurai Hillbillies). This is a delightful blended family. Mom is Japanese, Dad is Caucasian, 2 of the kids are hers and 2 are his, but all 4 are obviously theirs. The youngest is a boy of about 10 or 12, the 3 girls are all teenagers. I have never seen a family with this many adolescents who seemed to be getting along so well. Nobody was sullen or sulky, their was a lot of laughter despite the cold and wet, and everyone seemed to be having a good time. I wish them every success with their thru-hike!Hope tomorrow is sunny...See you on the Trail!granny franny
Date: 2006-05-06
From: Sassafras Gap Shelter

To: Stecoah Gap
Miles today: 6.7
Weather: broken clouds

Good news: It didn't rain today.Bad news: Hiking was slow because the trail was so wet from yesterday that in places it was like hiking on greased Teflon.The morning started with people changing back out of their nice warm dry camp clothes into their still-wet hiking clothes. It is important to keep dry clothes dry out here so that you have something to change into when you come into camp cold and wet, but it's not pleasant getting into cold wet pants and top.But by the time we had climbed another 700 feet to the top of Cheoah Bald we were warmed up and mostly dry. Then it was mostly downhill to Stecoah Gap. Downhill is not necessarily easier than uphill. You don't have to struggle for breath, but you do have to be very careful not to trip over a root or rock, or slip in a patch of slick mud. If you fall going downhill, you could go a long way before you stop, and the extra care slows you down.There were a lot of people on the Trail today, and I knew as one of the slow ones I would not get a spot in the shelter tonight, because it is one of the old six person shelters. Since I would be tenting anyway, I decided to set up camp at Stecoah Gap, not really an ideal spot because of its proximity to state road 141, a paved road carrying quite a lot of traffic. There are a couple of picnic tables there, and I met a young couple named Shawn and Betsy, who offered to let me share their state forest campground campsite and they would shuttle me back to Stecoah Gap in the morning. I was more than happy to accept their offer. Back at their campsite, they fed me shish-kabob cooked over a campfire. Delicious! They are true Trail Angels.See you on the Trail!granny franny
Date: 2006-05-07
From: Stecoah Gap

To: The Hike Inn
Miles today: 0.0

It started raining last night at about midnight and continued all night. By morning I was wet, there was water in my tent, and it was still raining.The previous evening when Shawn was driving me from Stecoah Gap to their campsite, he had pointed out the Hike Inn, run by Jeff and Nancy Hoch. I had planned on staying here when I reached Fontana Dam. So I suggested to Shawn and Betsy that instead of shuttling me all the way to Stecoah Gap, that we first stop and see if there was a room available. There was, so I am here drying out.It is an older motel with six units, renting strictly to hikers. They run shuttles to the dam, as well as to town for dinner and groceries. They also do shuttles for section hikers to other points both up and down the Trail.I'll resume my hike in the morning.See you on the Trail!granny franny
Date: 2006-05-08
From: The Hike Inn

To: The Hike Inn
Miles today: 0.0

Zero day at the Hike Inn.Just call me a wimp, but it was cold and rainy this morning, so I decided to stay here another day.We are having Blackberry Winter right now. For those not familiar with this phrase, it is a cold spell while the blackberries are blooming, and it seems to be an annual event.See you on the Trail!granny franny
Date: 2006-05-09
From: Stecoah Gap

To: Cable Gap Shelter
Miles today: 8.5
Weather: overcast clouds

It was a nice hike today. The weather was cool and partly cloudy, but no rain, although I did put my pack cover on around noon just in case.The day started with a steep uphill out of Stecoah Gap, and I do mean steep. For some reason, here in North Carolina, they don't seem to believe in switchbacks but just take you straight up the mountainside. In a lot of places, the angle was close to 45 degrees. Usually in places that steep where switchbacks are not feasible, the trail maintainers put in steps, but not here. It was just a muddy trail scramble.In spite of that, I made good time today (for me), covering the 8.5 miles in about 6.5 hours. Partly that was because my pack was lighter than usual, because I was only carrying 2 days worth of food, and I left some miscellaneous stuff back at the Hike Inn, to be picked up when I reach Fontana Dam. I'm sure going through my pack with a fine-toothed comb when I get back and ruthlessly eliminating stuff!I took another "turtle" fall coming into the shelter. A stream runs just in front of the shelter, and I slipped in the mud. I only seem to do this when I have spectators, LOL! No injuries except pride, and one of the guys who was at the shelter came over and helped me back to my feet. He was kind and didn't laugh too hard.There are four of us staying here tonight, two in the shelter and two tenting. No bear cables, but there was a very good tree for hanging food bags close by, and even I was able to hang my food like I knew what I was doing.Into Fontana Dam tomorrow.See you on the Trail!granny franny
Date: 2006-05-10
From: Cable Gap Shelter

To: Fontana Dam
Miles today: 5.5
Weather: light rain

Today was a nice short day. There was a storm predicted but it did not arrive before I reached Fontana. On the map, it looked like easy hiking today, a mild uphill for a couple miles, then downhill into Fontana. What neither the map nor the elevation profile showed were all the rock scrambles. These are areas where you use both hands and feet to get over, and in one case going downhill, the seat of your pants. They are becoming more fun (at first I hated them) as I gain more confidence in my ability to negotiate them.Still, I made good time, doing the 5.5 miles in just under 4 hours. I am now back at the Hikers' Inn, trying to decide what to do next. The Trail Days get-together in Damascus VA is next weekend, and I want to find a shuttle to that, so I can't start through the Smokies yet, because the only place to get off the Trail in the Smokies is Newfound Gap, for me about a week in. So I will probably be killing some time here until I get a shuttle lined up.Almost forgot! I saw another animal to add to my wildlife seen list. Finally I saw a shelter mouse, two of them in fact. All of the shelters have mice, and I've heard them a few places, but these are the first I've seen.See you on the Trail!granny franny
Date: 2006-05-11
From: Fontana Dam

To: The Hike Inn
Miles today: 0.0

Zero day at the Hike InnHappy birthday to me! I turned 60 today.Also happy birthday to my loving sister and journal transcriber, Peggy. I won't tell you her age, only that we have the same birthday and we are not twins.Just sort of hung around today, not doing much of anything but reading and eating, trying to pick up a couple of pounds. As a weight loss method, I can heartily recommend long-distance hiking!Nancy here at the Hike Inn made me brownies for my birthday, and they are yummy!See you on the Trail!granny franny
Date: 2006-05-12
From: The Hike Inn

To: The Hike Inn
Miles today: 0.0

Zero day at the Hike Inn. Nancy and Jeff, owners of the Hike Inn, have a couple of cats. One is a little stand-offish, but the other is a real snuggler. I spend a lot of time with that cat on my lap. It's huge, and goes by the name of Catzilla!See you on the Trail!granny franny
Date: 2006-05-14
From: The Hike Inn

To: The Hike Inn
Miles today: 0.0

Zero day at the Hike Inn.Well, my plans are set for getting to Damascus. Paul "Ole Man" and Jamie "Navigator" from the Hiker Hostel in Dahlonega are coming this way and are giving me a ride. Then after Trail Days, I will hike north out of Damascus, skipping the Smokies and the rest of North Carolina and Tennessee for the time being, and catching up to a few more hikers. At times on the trail I've been a little nervous because I'm so slow, and the vast majority of thru-hikers are past here, so sometimes it's a long time between other hiker sightings. One point I went about 36 hours without seeing another hiker. I thought the world had ended or something!So this is important to those who are handling my food drops...We will be going by Hot Springs and Erwin, so I will pick up my drops there, and will get my Damascus drop when I get there, so the Gatlinburg one is the only one I'll miss completely. Please resume the food drops going north from Damascus, and I'm still running a couple of weeks behind my proposed pick-up dates. I don't have access to a computer here, so can't at this time update the drop schedule on the website. But those of you at work, please make sure Candi, Attracta & Siobhan, Heidi G, and Christa M. see this.I'm going to try to email Candi--hope I remember her email address!See you on the trail!granny franny
Date: 2006-05-15
From: The Hike Inn

To: The Hike Inn
Miles today: 0.0

Paul and Jamie are here at the Hike Inn visiting with Jeff and Nancy. We leave tomorrow and will be staying in Hot Springs tomorrow night. I'm really looking forward to Trail Days and seeing a lot of the friends I've made since I started. Todays photo is of a couple of those friends.See you on the Trail!granny franny
Date: 2006-05-16
From: The Hike Inn

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

We left this morning at about 10, and drove through some beautiful country on a minor highway that twisted and turned all over the place. I don't know what the folks that live here do when the weather is bad and the roads are slick! In one place there was a sign to a commercial campground, with the notation, "Scenic route to Hot Springs!" We laughed, because it could not possibly have been more scenic than the road we were on.We got to the campground, and I ate lunch with Paul and Jamie, then set up my tent in a little clearing next to their motorhome. Jamie is planning on doing a soak in the hot springs that are located here; I plan to wait and do my soak on a day when I have earned it by hiking into town...Hot Springs is a pretty little town, and the Trail goes right down the mainstreet of town. So I have hiked some on the trail today, but nothing that counts!Had dinner tonight at a restaurant called the Paddler's Pub. There are a number of hikers here in town who I have met previously on the Trail, so there were plenty of people to eat and socialize with. I thought it was a tad on the expensive side -- a hamburger and one beer cost $20 with tip. However it was a huge (3/4 pound) hamburger, and delicious, with 2 kinds of cheese, lettuce, tomato, and saute'd onion, and it came with FF onion rings and pickle. I was full when I left to go back to the campground.See you on the Trail!granny franny
Date: 2006-05-17
From: Hot Springs, NC

To: Hot Springs, NC
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

I thought we were moving on to Erwin, TN today, but I was mistaken. I had already taken down my tent and packed everything back up when I found out about my error... However, the practice in setting up the tent is good for me; the second time setting it up was much quicker than the first!Paul and Jamie went for their soak around noon, and I wandered around town, looked at the resort, spent some time at the Outfitters (they had a wonderful selection of bumper stickers, and if I had been in my car I would have bought some. However, I resisted, because I didn't want to carry them.There is a hostel here in town, known along the Trail as Elmer's. It is in a big old house which has been declared an historical site, and it is lovely. I took a little tour of it today, even though I'm not staying there. I will definitely stay when I hike through Hot Springs. There is a music room and a library, plus rooms with real beds, not bunks. Elmer is a gourmet vegetarian chef, and I understand the meals are wonderful, even for those of us who are not vegetarian.Ate another 3/4 pound hamburger for supper with some folks I knew who had just hiked into town, and am calling it a night. We head on to Damascus tomorrow.See you on the Trail!granny franny
Date: 2006-05-18
From: Hot Springs, NC

To: Damascus, VA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Damascus bills itself as "The Friendliest Town on the Trail", and I believe it. We got here in the early afternoon, after stopping in Johnson City and having lunch at Cracker Barrel with Paul and Jamie's daughter-in-law. I had my usual Cracker Barrel meal: Grandpa's Country Fried Special. It's a big chicken-fried steak, hash brown casserole, 2 eggs, biscuits, gravy. It also comes with grits, but I don't like grits, so I tell them to keep it for the next customer.It started raining shortly after we pulled in, and I rushed down to "The Place", a hostel run by the Methodist Church here. It looked like they were full, so I set my tent up out in the yard, with numerous others. Then, someone who had been staying at the hostel left, so I grabbed the bunk he vacated. It was even a bottom one (I like bottom bunks so I don't fall out of bed and go boom in the middle of the night when I get up to answer the call of nature).Then this evening there was a dinner put on by the Baptist Church, with all kinds of foods and casseroles and fried chicken and desserts. I was sadly still too full from lunch to really do the dinner justice, but I tried! After the dinner the library had a couple in who are Appalachian humorists/storytellers/singers who were really good. The place was packed, and most people are not even in town yet. There was a big thunderstorm about halfway through their presentation and the lights flickered a couple of times, but did not go out, luckily. Got a lot of rain though. Made me glad I was staying in the hostel.Tomorrow the Trail Days starts for real, with a lot of activities, speakers, vendors, manufacturer's reps repairing equipment, etc. Should be fun.See you on the Trail!granny franny
Date: 2006-05-19
From: Damascus, VA

To: Damascus, VA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

Today was great. I got to see a lot of people I knew from earlier in the hike. It seemed like every time I turned around I heard someone yelling, "Granny Franny!". Took my trekking poles into the Leki rep for repair, and they repaired so much that the poles are virtually new. They also taught me how to use the wrist straps, which I had not been doing.The manufacturer's reps are set up in an area called "Tent City". There are already a huge number of tents set up here, and this is where the heavy partiers stay, because there is no alcohol allowed at the two hostels in town. It rained again during the night, and a lot a people in tent city got wet, but today is nice and there is gear strewn everywhere drying.The vendors are in a different area, and it ranges from Outfitters to people selling crafts, a psychic, and quite a few food booths. I had one of my favorite "bad things for you", funnel cakes. Yum. On the other hand, some places have taken unhealthy to a whole new level, with battered and deep-fried Twinkies!Attended a showing of a movie about the AT, but only stayed for the first half, because it was getting dark, and the location where the movie was is quite a ways from the hostel, and I didn't want to walk back in the dark and rain.See you on the Trail!granny franny
Date: 2006-05-20
From: Damascus, VA

To: Damascus, VA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

The big event today was the parade. In some ways it was a typical small town parade, with the high school band, beauty queens in convertibles, etc. But then come the hikers. We grouped together by year, and walker through town. Everywhere were people with water balloons and squirt guns; even one guy with a hose. But we weren't totally defenseless; I purchased a water gun with a big tank before the parade, and squirted back. It was great fun. Some people told me I cheated by wearing my Frogg Toggs (wet weather gear), but I was glad I had them on.Every day I see more people that I met earlier on the Trail; they remember me better than I remember them for the most part. Faces are familiar, but names come hard... It is so good to see them though, and realize that they have been thinking about me on the Trail, wondering how I was doing (the story of my abcess had spread up the Trail), wondering if I was still hiking. As I told them, "You can honorably go off the Trail with blown out knees or with a broken leg; you cannot honorably go off the Trail with an abcess on your butt!"Had a huge burrito for dinner at a cafe about a block from the hostel. It was so big I couldn't finish it. The place was jammed with hikers.Tomorrow some people will be packing up and leaving, then more will leave on Monday. Kinda sad to see people go, knowing you may not see them again.See you on the Trail!granny franny
Date: 2006-05-21
From: Damascus, VA

To: Damascus, VA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: few clouds

Today was a quiet day. There were a few activities planned, but mostly I wandered up and down the main street (Laurel), talking to people that were still here and dropping in at the Outfitters.Ate dinner again at the Baja Cafe, where I ran into some folks from very early in my hike; we did a group hug, and enjoyed our tacos and beer. Went back to the hostel early and spent some time cleaning up. The hostel has no staff, and the hikers are in charge of keeping it presentable. On a weekend like this, it can get pretty bad...Hope my maildrop is here tomorrow. Candi tells me there are birthday goodies in it, so I gotta wait!See you on the Trail!granny franny
Date: 2006-05-22
From: Damascus, VA

To: Damascus, VA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

There are still people at the hostel. Not only hikers stay here, but long-distance cyclists as well. The Virginia Creeper Trail goes through here (a rails to trails route), and I met a couple of guys who are a weeks into a transcontinental ride.My maildrop was not here today yet, so I have arranged to shuttle north and hike south back to Damascus. The maildrop will be here by the time I arrive back here. It should take me about 3 days. I will be leaving about 9 a.m., and will probably be meeting people on that section that were here. I was a little concerned about the section from Damascus to Rural Retreat, because I was going to need to be carrying about 10 days worth of food, and food is HEAVY. This way I can divide that section up, and not have to carry nearly as much weight.Next entry will be from Damascus, but will be in 3-4 days.See you on the Trail!granny franny