morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2010-04-10
From: Betty Creek Gap

To: Between Wallace Gap and Winding Stair Gap
Miles today: 11.0
Weather: clear sky

Woke up to 25f, brr and grr, from one extreme to the other. Makes it hard to get going. Might go into Franklin tonight. It's not a scheduled stop but I'm ready. Had an awesome episode of trail magic this morning. The Anderson Hiking Club and The Oconee Hiking Club set up breakfast at Mooney Gap. There was fresh fruit, juice, coffee, pancakes, oreos, fiber bars, it wase fantastic. I especially enjoyed a nice fresh, ripe banana and strawberries.12:30 Made it to the Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory, took a picture of the sign that will be unreadable since it is so old and vandalized, so here is what it says: "The 4015-acre basin below has been a world famous forest and water laboratory since 1933. Here, a variety of forest cutting experiments have increased flow of pure water by almost a half a million gallons per acre per year without increasing soil erosion of flooding. These classic experiments have shown that the forest ecosystem can be managed without ruining the priceless water it produces. Research continues to learn how these forests can best be managed to serve the public's water, timber, wildlife and recreational needs" Then I climbed to the top of the observation tower/lab to find it locked. The climb up the mountain was just that, a climb. It was hand over hand at the rock parts, luckily there were some stairs inbetween those sections. Hopefully down hill will be less treacherous, probably not. 2:15pm taking a break at Glassmine Gap to enjoy the nice weather and catch up on some writing. 4:30pm at Rock Gap Shelter for a snack. Waiting for Krusty to see if we can push the miles to Winding Stair Gap. Met a thru-hiker named LongShanks. Decided to make it past the next road, up to the top of the next mountain and find the first flat campable spot. It was about 3 miles before Winding Stair. I took a side trail to visit the Walisk Poplar. It's .5mi off the trail so it added a mile to my day but it was worth it. Worth it not only for the very large, very dead tree but for the awesome waterfall and the family that I passed on the way. A mom, dad and three boys between 8 and 12yrs came past. The last boy was carrying a puppy. The boys were so excited, they had picked up the puppy that day and were going to name him Rascal. His markings reminded me of LugNut and made me miss my old dog terribly. Made camp @ 7pm, much warmer than in the valley the night before.
Date: 2010-04-11
From: Between Wallace Gap and Winding Stair Gap

To: Franklin, NC. Haven's Budget Inn
Miles today: 3.1
Weather: clear sky

Woke up at 7:30am and considerably warmer this morning, 55f. Ate a clif bar for breakfast and packed up. Krusty and I hit the trail at ten minutes to nine and arrived at winding stair gap at 10:30am. Three miles in just over an hour and a half. It was all steady sloping downhill, that helped. Limestone caught up with us. He had been in Franklin yesterday and gave us details on what to expect. Shortly after Longshanks came through, paused to stretch out, said hello and then trekked on. The shuttle picked us up at 11:30am. I settled in to a room around 1pm. They have internet here available to guests in thirtry minute chunks so I'll try to cath up the online journal a bit. Took the free shuttle to the main shopping plaza and treated myself to a set of 'town clothes'. Got back to the room and talked to G for a good while on the phone. Showered up and headed over to Cody's Roadhouse to try to catch up with other hikers who were going there. Didn't see them so I took a small booth and ate an awesome steak with garlic mashed potato and salad. Also ordered a chicken quesadilla of which I ate half and took the other half home for breakfast. Topped it off with a brownie sundae but was only able to eat half, luckily the room has a little fridge/freezer and dessert came home too.
Date: 2010-04-13
From: Wayah Shelter

To: Wesser Bald Shelter
Miles today: 10.6
Weather: clear sky

Woke up at 7:30am, took time to cook breakfast and filter warer. Didn't get hiking untile 11:30am, ugh another late start day. It was a great day for hiking, cool and partly cloudy so things went by quickly. At 3pm took a break at Cold Springs Shelter. It photographs well but is a bit on the creepy side. That didn't matter as much as it having a privy though! Around 5pm I made it to the service road for Wesser Bald. I had seen the fire tower while coming down the previous mountain and was preparing myself for the last climb of the day. At the road was sitting George 'Zeus', he was making some adjustments to his pack since it was giving him trouble. Zeus is in his eighties, GO ZEUS!!! I sat for about five minutes drinking water and sizing up the challenge ahead of me. I'm renaming the stretch of trail from that service road to the Wesser fire tower to 'The Appalachian Chase Your Tail'. You basically go as far away as possible before actually climbing the part of the mountain with the tower on it. What I thought would be a 30 to 45 minute climb up the hill in front of me turned into an hour and a half of switchback madness. Once on top of the fire tower though, enjoying the breeze, it was all forgotten. In the future I'll probably come to enjoy the long sloping switch backs but after being conditioned to go up and over everything in Georgia it was an unexpected change. From there is was just under a mile to the shelter. I got in, cooked some freezedried lasagna, set up the tent and crashed.
Date: 2010-04-15
From: Nantahala Outdoor Center

To: Cheoah Bald
Miles today: 8.1

Woke up at 7:15am ate a cold breakfast and was out of camp by 9:15am. Today's goal is 11mi but there is a steep uphill for most of the day, ugh. 1:15pm Almost at the top of Swim Bald, decided to stop for lunch and let my feet out of these boots. Pulled out my food bag and wondered why it was so heavy then discovered that when G had packed the daily bags he included the trail mix though we had discussed not including it. Again I have twice as much trail mix as needed. Trail mix is great for the body but damn is it heavy. I tried the freeze dried meal the other night and it was really good. I can see why so many people use them. Here is where I'm conflicted on freezedried meals, all those non-recycleable foil/plastic packs creating all that trash. Even if hikers pack them out properly at best it ends in landfill. There's got to be a better way. The environment is still there when the hike is over. I wonder if there has ever been a study on the amount of trash thru-hikers produce. It's 2:30pm now, I'm going to chill for another half hour while lunch settles then get back to hiking. On the way up here I passed a 4 foot long black snake that was sunning itself on a fallen tree. It was gorgeous and I took several pictures of it. I need to stop at Sassafras Gap shelter for water, getting low. While sitting here Caper, now going by Hook came through. It was great to see him back on the trail after taking care of some things back home. Made it to Sassafras Gap Shelter but not sure if I have it in me to climb another 700ft up in the next 1.2mi to Cheoah Bald. Going to clean some water, use the privy and think about the next move. 7:10pm Made it to Cheoah Bald. What a beautiful spot! Glad to have made the climb. Setting up camp and watching the sunset at 5062ft. above sea level, pretty cool for an ocean girl like me.
Date: 2010-04-16
From: Cheoah Bald

To: Brown Fork Gap Shelter
Miles today: 7.9
Weather: few clouds

Woke at 5:20am to dig a cathole and enjoyed the star filled sky. Went back to sleep until 7:30am than enjoyed a lazy pack up in the morning sun. Left camp at 9:45am. 2pm taking a break at a campsite inbetween Stecoah Gap and Sweet Water Gap. Only 1.4mi from Stecoah to the shelter but it is all uphill in the afternoon sun, yuck. On the way here I saw another snake, not sure wha kind. There were also lots of big yellow and black butterflies. At one point one of the yellow&black butterflies was doing sky battle with a black&blue butterfly of the same size. I know they were dueling for territory but it looked more like dancing in the air. I'm about ready to pitch the bag of extra trail mix over the next cliff, so tired of carrying it. I took it out of the backpack when my hip started to ache and have been carrying it by hand ever since. Made camp at 5:45 at Brown Fork Shelter, the climbs just killed me today. Went to clean some water and the steripen is acting up, not good.
Date: 2010-04-17
From: Brown Fork Gap Shelter

To: Campsite before NC 28
Miles today: 9.1

Woke up at 7am, most everyone had left already. Packed the tent and went up to the shelter to cook breakfast. The steripen needs new batteried and I foolishly have not back-up treatment for water. When I heat water for breakfast I'll prefilter enough to fill the pot then let it boil. It can cool while I'm eating and that should be enough to get me to Cable Gap Shelter. I'll boil some more at lunch there. Left camp at 9:45 am, spent a good morning talking with Sandals about all sorts of topics. 1:45 Got to Cable Gap Shelter, mostly cool and cloudy with a couple spits of rain. Very comfortable for hiking in. Decided to make the freeze dried chili-mac for lunch since water needed to be boiled anyway. Between the chili-mac and the lasagna my vote goes to the lasagna but when you're hungry it doesn't matter. When I got here Draggin'Tail and Sherpa were just finishing their lunch break. During the hike I had also been passed by a man named Hokie due to his hokie label hat. Shortly after Draggin'Tail and Sherpa had gone a SoBo hiker named Greyhound came in for a break. He was looking for a NoBo hiker named KrispyKritter, they are supposed to meet up along the way. Greyhound has done a lot of hiking; the triple crown trails,the long trail, the Benton McKay trail, some trails in England and many others. He recomended Awols book on the AT because it is excellent at showing the elevations not simply listing the numbers. He gave me some great hiking advice and recomended a camp spot for between here and Fontana, NC 28. 3pm and off again! 5:30pm Found the campsite about 2mi from the road. Set up the tent, ate dinner and had a heck of a time hanging the bear bag. Around 7:30pm I heard 2 young men setting up camp but didn't peek my head out, just wasn't feeling super social at the moment but we'll see what happens later. Tomorrow is Fontana Dam and Fontana Village. There is an outfitter there where hopefully there will be new batteries for the steripen and a back-up water treatment. Also, somehow a tent spike has gone missing. I pick up my backcountry permit for the smokies as well, with any luck the weather through that area wont be too harsh.
Date: 2010-04-18
From: Campsite before NC 28

To: Fontana Village
Miles today: 2.5

Woke up a bit later today 8am but that's all right, only 2mi this am to the marina then a call for the shuttle to the village 6mi away. In the companion it said most things open here in may, hopefully the outfitter opens sooner than that. Did not sleep well last night. The broken sleep hasn't effected hiking during the day but getting going is not so easy. Looking forward to a shower and doing laundry, very stinky the past couple of days. It's colder this morning and makes me cautious about what the Smoky's will have tho offer. Arrived at the marina at 10am. Enjoying a Pibb Xtra from the vending machine. Met another thru-hiker named john and asked hime about the village. He let me know it would have what I needed but it is a resort area which means costly but to me it is worth it. 2pm at the Laundromat washing super stinky clothes. There doesn't seem to be cellphone service here so that means using the room phone to make calls. This is a quaint little resort. Elaborating on wanting to come back to the NOC it would be great to do a more vacation like hike using the two locations as bookends. The 'outfitters' didn't have the batteries needed but did have aquamira drops to treat water with. The steripen really spoiled me with being able to cleanse water in 2 minutes. The drops take 20 minutes all together and make the water have a slight chemical taste. I better make sure not to run out of treated water and get so desperately thirsty as to drink untreated. Several hikers I know so far haven't treated their water once and are doing all right. I'd rather not play that game though. The 'outfitters' is actually inside the general store and I missed it the first time around. There is an icecream store as well but it doesn't open until April. This is a nice little vacation village. 4:15pm and I'm lurking in the main lobby keeping an eye on the internet alcove. Since there is no mobile service here my Droid is useless to update things.Remember to get fuel for the stove tomorrow!!!! Had a very late lunch/early dinner at the lodge's resaurant and saw Tim the violin player peek in to ask about dinner hours. It was nice to see him even though we didn't speak. While eating dessert a White Stripes song that G and I used for our first dance at the wedding. It made me smile and miss home at the same time.
Date: 2010-04-19
From: Fontana Village

To: Birch Spring Gap
Miles today: 7.0

The alarm went off at 7am. I did some packing then went to breakfast at the restaurant. How I have missed eggs!! Checked the internet alcove but it was in use. Went down to the post office at the bottom of the hill and mailed home the extra trail mix. Bumped into Indiana at the P.O. and spoke with him for a bit then swung over to the store to pick up fuel and a make shift pack cover since there is a chance of rain tomorrow. Bought one last treat, a Stewarts Cream Soda. Went back to the room finished packing and got the shuttle back to the marina. I sat on the bench enjoying the cream soda and watching down the boat ramp to the dock before hiking to the Fontana Dam Shelter to check it out. It is known as the 'Fontana Hilton' It is on a paved road and has a bathroom/shower room just up the hill from it. It's right by a tourist picinic area and has great views of the water and the mountains. From there it was onto Fontana Dam. You have to walk next to the road on the way to it and once there walk on the road across the dam to enter the national park. Just as I was getting to the edge of the visitor center complex a big navy blue truck pulled over and a park ranger got out. He asked me if I was a thru-hiker, where I was from and where I was headed for the night. He jotted the info down on a little handmade chart inside of a notebook. He didn't ask to see my backcountry permit though, in a way it was a bit disapoining. There is a sign for hikers to leave their packs at before entering the visitor center area so I plopped the backpack on the ground and went to the buildings, nothing was open except for the restrooms but I had fun peeking through the windows. There was another sign as well indicating a blue blazed trail around the dam area to be used in the event of a terrorist threat to the dam. That was a little unsettling. On to the Birch Gap Campsite! It used to have a shelter but that was removed and camp pad areas were installed instead. I took the last camp spot available once there then joined others around the fire ring to cook dinner. Here for the night were Ups, Sideways, Indiana, Rambling Taninger, Beer Near?, Laughing Socks and a few others. When Ups went to her tent for the night she spooked a bear and it ran down the hill away from her tent. She came back to the fire ring to tell us so we wouldn't be startled if we saw the bear in the area.
Date: 2010-04-20
From: Birch Spring Gap

To: Mollies Ridge Shelter
Miles today: 5.4
Weather: light rain

Raining this am, waiting it out. 1:30pm Stopped raining so I took the food bag down and had some lunch. Decided to pack up and head out. Once water was treated it began to rain again, hussled to get the rain coat on and put a poncho over the pack. Only got to Mollies Ridge Shelter, soaked to the bone, should have just zero'd at the campsite. Being soak through was not worth the five miles. The shelter is full but I was able to sleep on the shelf in front of the lower sleeping level where Rambling Taninger, Beer Near? and Laughing Socks were set up. It was a bonus that it was at the fireplace end of the shelter! Other hikers mentioned that all the shelters in the Smoky's have fireplaces in them and on a day like today that's pretty sweet.
Date: 2010-04-21
From: Mollies Ridge Shelter

To: Spence Field Shelter
Miles today: 5.4
Weather: scattered clouds

My hiking clothes are still wet, fiddlesticks. The guys are getting the fire going again. Between drying clothes and treating water didn't make it out of camp until eleven. And I'm still damp! 3pm Made it to Spence Field Shelter and cooked lunch, was starving. At 4pm it was unlikely for me to make another 6.3 miles before dark so I laid the tent out to dry and decided to stay the night. If they allowed tenting in the Smoky's between shelters I would definately go a bit farther. Took some time to gather a couple of armfulls of firewood, following suit with Beer Near, Rambling Taninger and Laughing Socks. These ladies know how to camp! Rambling Taninger had brought some chocolate covered pomegranate friuts, mmmm such decadence. Rounding out the shelter for the night were; HotSauce, MellowYellow, Turtle, Zeus and Java.
Date: 2010-04-22
From: Spence Field Shelter

To: Silers Bald Shelter
Miles today: 11.8
Weather: clear sky

Made it out of camp by 9:30am, going 6.3mi to Derrik Knob Shelter then taking a break to have a snack. 2:30pm Wow, took a lot longer than I was expecting to get here. After the break I'm shooting for Double Spring Gap Shelter. Clingmans Dome is tomorrow!!! The highest point on the AT, looking forward to it. 7pm, At Silers Bald Shelter just under 2mi from Double Spring Gap but this is it for tonight. Also at the shelter are Mike and Alan who are on a loop hike and RestlessLegs who is thru-hiking. While cooking dinner two deer walked through camp, they gave us the once over and must have taken us for non-hunters since they casually sauntered through.
Date: 2010-04-23
From: Silers Bald Shelter

To: Mt. Collins Shelter
Miles today: 8.0
Weather: light rain

Out of camp at 9am. 10am At Double Spring Shelter to get water because there were not so little critters in the water at Silers Bald. Hopefully after Clingmans Dome I'll have enough umph to make it to the road and get a shuttle into town. The hike over Clingmans Dome wasn't bad at all. There was something spewing pollen in the air that gave it an acidic smell and there were so many downed trees. I thought on a nice day like today the observation tower would be buzzing but the road to the tower has been closed due to all the downs and I had the tower all to myself. It felt a little post apocalyptic. 4:30 at Mt Collins Shelter. It's another 4.5mi to the road and the last shuttle to town was at 4pm so tomorrow it is for town. There are reports of heavy thunderstorms coming in tonight at midnight with a second front coming in around 10am in the morning. Crumbs, I'm not looking forward to hiking in the rain. Meeting new people tonight, Fireball who is from Germany, Wizard Of Oz andTripper from Australia, ManDog, Poccahontas, Andy and Bill who are doing a loop hike over the weekend, TaterChip from SC, StickBuilt and a ridge runner named Flying Squirrel. Bill and Andy have given us some pancake mix, honey and dried strawberries to lighten their load. They've decided to shorten their hike due to the weather threat. Wizard Of Oz is going to cook it up for everyone since he has a pan that would work for making pancakes. What an awesome treat! Today makes over 200 miles on the AT
Date: 2010-04-24
From: Mt. Collins Shelter

To: Newfound Gap, Gatlinburg, TN
Miles today: 4.5
Weather: light rain

Not sure what time it was last night but the wind kicked up strong blowing into the shelter. Shortly after that it began to rain. At 5am a watch alarm went off. Fireball wanted to make it to Newfound Gap for the 8:30 shuttle, ah to be so ambitious but there was no sound of rain so I rolled over and caught two more hours of sleep. Skipped breakfast, packed up and quickly made it out of camp at 8am. 11am At Newfound Gap. There is a shuttle here but the driver said it was going to Cherokee, the one to Gatlinburg would be here around 1 or 1:30p. Two hours to hand and people-watch, just hope it doesn't rain. A couple of the hikers I stayed with last night are trying to hitch a ride. There are bus loads of people coming in to take photos of the monument here and gaze out across the Smoky Mountains. Tourists are funny and fun to watch but I have to admit to enjoying being one as well. As I was peole watching a woman was going to take a photo of her husband by a commemerative plaque so I offered to take a picture of them together for them. A few minutes later most of the hikers from last night had arrived at the gap and decided to get a group photo. The man from the plaque took the picture for us which ended up being about half a dozen photos, one for each hiker's camera. Once the group broke up I went to read all the informational signs and look out on what those around me were looking out on. I bumbled around the monument and talked with several people who were curious about thru-hiking it was really cool. While putting the backpack back on after having a snack an older gentleman asked me if I was through hiking. His name was Joe and he told me about when he thru-hiked in 1986 with the trail name Kernel Joe. He was visiting the monument with his wife and they had brought friends of theirs up to see it as well. He offered me a ride to town which I greatly appreciated but I didn't want to intrude on their outing. He let me know it would be okay so when the group was ready I went with them to town. I met his friends Kay and Dick and his wife Judy. They were all great people. They dropped me off at the Grand Prix Hotel and wished me luck. Thank you Kernel Joe for your help and support. May you be healthy and happy! I got in the room, showered, put on the town clothes and went to Shoney's Buffet for dinner.....mmmmm buffett.