morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2018-03-14
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

This past weekend we (5 of us) did our annual trek to the Grand Canyon. We started down the South Kaibab trail about 7:45 on Saturday under cloudy cool conditions. It was great having the clouds. It changes the lighting in the Canyon. Normally we have a bright blue sky with a warm sun on the exposed trek down to the river. My 30 year old son (who will be hiking the first 500 miles of the AT with me) joined us this year. ABear, who I met on the trail in 2014, did his 5th Canyon hike with us. Always fun hanging out with previous thru hikers. He and I hiked 600 miles together in 2014.As we were heading up Bright Angel the rains could be seen coming across the Canyon. Just minutes after we reached the cover of the Bright Angel Lodge at the top the rains started. The temperatures had dropped into the low 40s, so cold by our Phoenix standards. The total hike is 16.5 miles with a 5,000 foot drop to the Colorado River.On Sunday the plan was to climb 12,635' Humphreys Peak about 80 miles south on the Canyon. Our room at the Ski Lift Lodge was at about 7,000 feet where it rained most of the night. The snow line was at 8,000', the ski area base lodge (where we normally park) is at 9,500', so all snow there. Since visibility was zero and the forecast called for winds up high we decided to go lower for our Sunday hike. We headed down Oak Creek Canyon to the west branch of the Oak Creek at about 5,300'. It is a beautiful hike with scenery that most people would not expect to see in Arizona. See the picture under my photos. It was misty the entire time, so often we could not see the tops of the canyon walls.A very fun weekend. I am looking forward to getting my thru hike started, unfortunately it is still over 6 weeks away. Hopefully the weather in the east will settle down by then. It certainly will be warmer.Probably will not be writing much before I leave. I will do my best to update daily once on the trail.
Date: 2018-04-26
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

Only one more day to get everything situated before embarking on another adventure. I realized this morning that this will be my seventh time leaving to hike 200+ miles. It has been a hectic few weeks though between our tenants giving us notice they will be leaving our rental house, to my son getting married last weekend, getting summoned for jury duty on Monday of this week (fortunately I was part of the last cut) and getting ready to run my business remotely for 4 months. All seems on track. A big thank you to all my employees, the staff I work with at NXP and of course a huge thank you to my wife, Elizabeth, for her support in running things while I am gone. Without her help I could not do this hike. She has no interest in hiking the AT, but does love the hiking community. We do plan to do our third Camino next summer.Elizabeth plans to travel east 2 or 3 times to meet me at various locations along the trail. She already has a supply of goodies to provide trail magic. Saturday morning our son and I are flying from Phoenix to Atlanta. We will take the metro to the northern most station where Survivor Dave will pick us up and bring us to Amicalola State Park. With any luck we will do the first few miles of the approach trail that evening. In 2014 I forgot to sign in at Springer so I was not part of the starting statistics. I was number 259 to sign in at Katahdin in mid August.I will do my best to have daily posts once we get started this weekend. Thanks for following along.
Date: 2018-04-28
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Today started with an early morning ride to the Phoenix airport. It was off to Atlanta, then an hour MARTA train ride to the North Springs station where Survivor Dave picked us up and brought us to Amacalola State Park. I signed in as thru hiker 2445. At 5pm Cooper and I had our photo taken at the famous arch and we were on our way. The Amacalola falls were beautiful, much more impressive than I expected. We hiked 4.2 miles to the top of Frosty mountain where we set up for the night. Tomorrow we have 4 miles more of the appreach trail before we reach the summit of Springer Mountain and the official start to our journey. Fun side note. The guy who took our photo at the arch saw my Camino patch and asked if I had walked it. (Yes 2015 and 2016) He lives in Germany and walked from his house to Santiago, then walked home taking a longer way. He is starting his AT home tomorrow. He has a Camino tatoo.
Date: 2018-04-29
From: Springer

To: Gooch Mountain
Miles today: 19.9
Weather: light rain

Survived the first night out. It was quite windy and with no leaves on the trees (we are at 3,400') the wind was blowing right through our campsite. The temp is 44, so cold for me. We were hiking at 7:30 with Gooch mountain shelter our goal, 19.9 miles ahead. 4.2 miles we reached Springer Mountain, the official start of our journey. The day was beautiful, cool, breezy and sunny. At Springer we met Squirrel, a triple crown hiker. His friend had just started her second AT thru hike. She also was born and raised in Vermont. I hope to catch her, but she has a 6 mile head start and is a fast hiker.Today we saw lots of hikers, mostly the section variety. None of the thru hikers I met have plans for a 4 month hike. At 5pm we rolled into our destination for tonight. There are lots of people here.Our goal tomorrow is 15.4 miles to Neels gap. Pizza, shower and a real bed await. That is a great motivator.
Date: 2018-04-30
From: Gooch Mountain 

To: Neels Gap
Miles today: 15.4
Weather: light rain

Another beautiful weather day. Today was 15.4 miles finishing the day with a climb over Blood Mountain, the high point of Georgia at almost 4,500'. Being a Monday the trail was quite a bit quieter. I am surprised how few thru hikers we are seeing. The ones that say they are headed to Maine will need to pick up their pace. We met a couple ladies who are on day 7 of their journey and taking two days off now. We have yet to meet someone who is planning a 4 month hike.Our stop point today is Neels Gap. We rented a cabin just down the road from the trail crossing. No laundry or restaurant but a shower and queen bed. We did rinse a few things off and have them hanging out to dry.We did meet a fellow trail journalist, FarFar. He did a few hundred miles north of here already. He will skip that going north. This way he misses the biggest crowds but still gets the NOBO experience and finishes at Katahdin.
Date: 2018-05-01
From: Neels Gap

To: Random campsite
Miles today: 14.5

Last night was was nice. We decided to go for a cabin so we each got a nice bed and were able to spread our stuff out and reorganize a bit. We even had a 12" TV to watch. We both started with way too much food so a few items will go in the hiker box here.My posts have been short as I am not a writer and need to get into the flow of things. Cooper is having a great time so far. I have told him this is the toughest part as we are not in trail shape and not used to sleeping on the ground. The trail is great and the Georgia mountains are beautiful. There is plenty of water. The leaves are out on the trees below 3,000' but just budding up higher so as we walk every day we see the forest in different stages of spring.At Gooch mountain shelter we watched a couple squirrels playing 50' above the ground, running from limb to limb. If the leaves had been in bloom we would have missed the whole show. Cooper heard an owl so he went on a search expedition. He ended up getting within 15 feet and the owl never flew away. He got some great pictures.Today we are getting a late start since we are taking 3 days to get to Hiawasee. The store opens at 9, so we will buy a few things and head north once again.We hit up the store for supplies and a couple hot pockets. We took our time and left just before 10 AM. Today was great in that we are starting to meet some thru hikers. This afternoon we hiked back and forth with Coach. He is camping with us tonight at a random spot on the side of the trail. The goal tomorrow is 17 miles leaving 6 to the road to Hiawassee on Thursday.
Date: 2018-05-02
From: Random campsite

To: Sassafras Gap
Miles today: 17.1
Weather: clear sky

We did well picking our spot for last night. The guide books do not show all the tenting spots so we were looking at a topo map trying to pick a flat area. It worked. As I write this we just passed Tray mountain and are hanging out for a bit. Last time I was here it was raining and in the 40s, today sunny and 80. The leaves are not out yet so lots of sun.Today has been fun, continuing to meet other through hikers. Coach has been with us. Today we met Cables who used to live in Ashville, NC running a food truck. Coop had fun chatting with him. Cooper continues to love the cold mountain water we are drinking.We finished our day at Sassafras Gap. A total of 17.1 miles for the day. There are lots of tenters here (10). Great for socializing. Coop has been into having a camp fire, so tonight he picked up the trail name Fuego, Spanish for fire.
Date: 2018-05-03
From: Sassafras Gap

To: Hiawasee
Miles today: 6.3
Weather: clear sky

Happy Anniversary to my lovely bride at home holding everything together as I walk north through the Appalachian Mountains. Today marks 32 years.I am writing this from the patio of Barney's in Hiawasee waiting for our burgers to be delivered. Salad was delivered so it is now 5 hours later (5pm). We had a 6.3 mile walk from our tenting spot to the road crossing. We made great time, plenty of motivation as this is our first town since we started last Saturday. We are treating ourselves to the Holiday Inn. We have 2 queens and a pull out couch for Coach. Tomorrow we have a full breakfast included and an 8am pickup for the return to the woods.Right next door is an awesome grocery store, even by non trail standards it is great. We have been there twice so far. I just ate my second salad of the day. We plan on ordering pizza for dinner and watching some basketball. We have a real TV this time.Cooper spent time this afternoon cruising the town including going down to the lake. Back in the 1940s the government and the TVA built a big dam creating the lake.Tomorrow we enter North Carolina so we will be done our first state. Georgia has been awesome, mountains, people and this time the weather as well. Last night I called for a ride for today and enjoyed the phone conversation. Today we had a great ride down the hill into town with Joyce. She is my age and a paddler. She grew up only a few miles from where coach lives in Florida. Both enjoyed sharing stories.
Date: 2018-05-05
From: Hiawasee

To: Standing Indian Shelter
Miles today: 16.9
Weather: overcast clouds

Last night was great with a comfy bed, two big meals yesterday that included fresh fruit and vegetables. We just finished breakfast and have 15 minutes before our ride will whisk us the 10 miles up the hill, back to the woods. Today was 16.7 miles and well over 5,000 vertical of climbing up to Standing Indian shelter. We are actually tenting by a stream .2 miles north of the shelter. Somehow we lost Coach today. We crossed into North Carolina and had lunch with him. At lunch we discussed going another 2 miles to the top of Standing Indian Mountain. We reached the shelter about 5pm and decided we had had enough for today. The last couple miles and 1,000 vertical will wait for tomorrow. Tracks is tenting with us tonight. He lives in San Diego and hiked the PCT a couple years ago.
Date: 2018-05-05
From: Standing Indian Shelter

To: Franklin 
Miles today: 20.4
Weather: clear sky

We had a nice camping spot last night by a small stream. This morning we were up at 6:30 and walking by 7:15. Once we got up on the ridge we had cell reception and I got a note from Coach, he had tweaked a muscle and gotten a shuttle out of the woods and will be taking a couple days off.Yesterday we had debated hiking the extra 2 miles to the summit. Glad we didn't as there were 25 people up there when we went through. Oh yeah, it is a weekend, lots of people around.Our plan was 19.5 to Rock Gap Shelter. Midday we got to thinking with all the people, the shelter being close to a parking lot and it being not a great spot we may as well go the extra .2 and get a ride into town. When we arrived at the parking lot there was a gentleman handing out ice cold Budweisers, our first trail magic. There was a shuttle driver there so we threw our packs in his car and met him .6 miles up the trail at another road crossing. That brought our total to 20.4 for the day.Today we were over 5,000 feet twice and I don't think we ever went below 4,000 feet. The climb up Mt Albert early afternoon was steep but short. There is a fire tower at the top. Other than that short stretch the trail today was fantastic.
Date: 2018-05-06
From: Franklin 

To: Burnintown Gap
Miles today: 14.7

I noticed our total miles is off. We passed the 100 mile mark just after Mt Albert. Last night turned out great. Tracks was with us. We got a private room at Baltimore Jack's hostel. Tracks got a bunk. Two other hikers we know showed up a few minutes later. Tracks took off with them to get some supplies. Fuego and I walked over to the local brewpub, The Lazy Hiker. They had a couple food trucks in their parking lot but we wanted to sit down to eat so we changed locations. There were no places to eat and watch the playoffs.We got a few things for breakfast and a few beers. Tracks came over to our room and watched basketball with us. I was very productive with work. I got a new small project this week including a new employee. The next 2 nights we will be in fun places and very little privacy so it is nice to be caught up. (Thanks for the help Nathan)We are both feeling great. No muscle issues or blisters. I have always felt the first week was the toughest, then your body gets stronger so we are in a good spot. Today marks the beginning of our second week.I am thinking of becoming a trail vegetarian and consuming my meat in town. Tuna and sausage are the popular trail proteins and neither really strikes my fancy.Ron Haven gave us a 9am ride back up the hill. He has been supporting thru hikers for years. He told lots of great stories during the 20 minute ride.We hiked 14.7 miles today and didn't see a single thru hiker and only 1 section hiker. Early on there was a pack of weekend warriors, but we basically had the trail to ourselves. Tonight we are staying at Nantahala Mountain Lodge. It is a beautiful spot. They started catering to thru hikers and now go more for section hikers that have a bit of money. Cooper loves it here. The place is immaculate. Dinner was great, laundry is done, invoices sent, so now a bit of relaxing and probably an early night to bed.
Date: 2018-05-07
From: Burnintown Gap

To: NOC
Miles today: 12.7
Weather: overcast clouds

I fixed the mileage so should be good. Great night at the Nantahala Mountain Lodge. There was one other couple, so a quiet night. Maggie and Steve are great hosts. We enjoyed a real meal, salad, veggies, meatloaf and potatoes.When I was packing up this morning I realized my thru hiker tag and my Camino patch were missing. I had seen them yesterday afternoon. I looked around the hostel with no luck. When we were dropped off I went to where I had been yesterday and there in the grass lay my patches. Sweet. So far 2 people have recognized the Camino patch, so a good conversation starter.After a great breakfast Steve brought us back to the trail. Last night Coop had seen a bald eagle fly right up the dirt road we were staying on. Steve showed us the fish farm where the nesting pair go for dinner. It was just like fishing in a barrel.The trail today had a few climbs. One of the peaks had an open fire tower with incredible views. A section hiking couple arrived just after us. On the way down we blew past the only water in a 10 mile stretch, oops. The NOC is a fun stop. We arrived at 2pm and had lunch overlooking the river. Tracks texted us and he is on his way to the NOC. Also heard from Coach. He is off for a week or two but still plans to head north to Katahdin. We are sitting by a beautiful river enjoying a beer with Tracks. Coop has had a great afternoon here. It will be tough to top our past two days.
Date: 2018-05-08
From: NOC

To: Brown Fork Gap
Miles today: 16.7
Weather: light rain

Today was day 10 hiking and we passed the 150 mile mark. Funny to think I am still a ways from being 10% done. The last 3 nights we have been sleeping inside so figured it would rain tonight. It is 7pm and we are all in our own small tents. Last night was great at the NOC. We had a bunk room off a common area so a bunch of us watched the playoffs. Tracks is still with us. He is from San Diego and a PCT thru hiker. It is amazing to me how few thru hikers are around. There are section hikers but none moving close to our place so we see them once.Today was a big climbing day with Jacob's Ladder near the end of the day. We are getting stronger. Fuego is going great. It is so nice to have him able to do this pace and not have any problems. Right before our last climb we passed a road crossing. A half mile before we got there I mentioned to Fuego that 4 years ago there were apples and oranges on a picnic table. Sure enough today there were apples. Thank you to whoever's been leaving the fresh fruit.The leaves have really been coming out now. The warm sunny weather has the forest really coming to life. Tomorrow we have only 11 miles to Fontana. There is a nice lodge there that offers great deals to hikers. It is the southern gateway to the Smokey mountains.
Date: 2018-05-09
From: Brown Fork Gap

To: Fontana 
Miles today: 11.5
Weather: few clouds

We survived the rain. It only rained for an hour or so, just enough to soak everything. Tracks and I had all our stuff organized and in our tent before the rain. Fuego learned a good lesson about preparing as some of his stuff got wet. We are in the clouds this morning so 100% humidity. Even though it isn't raining the trees are still dripping water.We have almost zero food. It is fun having the light pack. Yesterday was another day where we had to watch our water. We had planned to hitchhike into a town but ended up not doing it. This meant we went over 9 miles with no water on the trail. We were random camping last night (not in a designated spot) so the ground was quite uneven. I slept ok, but much prefer being level. With the rains we were in our tents by 7:30.We had a couple climbs today then a long downhill into Fontana. We got the shuttle to the lodge and immediately pulled out all of our wet stuff so it could dry. It is nice having the afternoon to get stuff done, eat, shop for the next few days, laundry rest, etc.So we cruised down to a grill and had a good lunch then off to the laundromat. What an entertaining 3 hours. There were 6 other hikers there, all characters. It was very entertaining. There was a young lady here who just was hiking in New Zealand with Schroomer, a buddy of mine from 2014. Tomorrow we head up into the Smokey Mountains and enter Tennessee. The goal is 16 miles. No camping in the Smokeys, so we may end up in our first shelter. If the shelter is full, then you can camp.
Date: 2018-05-10
From: Fontana 

To: Russell Field Shelter
Miles today: 16.4
Weather: scattered clouds

Today was another big climbing day. We started at the marina and had about 1.5 fairly flat miles. The Fontana dam is the largest east of the Mississippi, 480' high and 1/2 mile wide. We walk across the dam then it is into the Smokey Mountain national park. That is when the climb started. With the rains this morning the humidity was very high. We were drenched in sweat.Once up on the ridge there was nice walking. We arrived at a shelter about 3:30. Literally a couple minutes later a thunderstorm rolled through with heavy rain. We were under cover so we waited for the rains to stop. Thirty minutes later we were on our way. By the time we reached our destination the sun was out. Now at 6pm there isn't a cloud in the sky. Since we are in the smokeys we have to stay in a shelter, a first for this trip.Just to clarify, Fuego and I have never been without water. The long stretches on the trail without water just require more planning.
Date: 2018-05-11
From: Russell Field Shelter

To: Double springs shelter
Miles today: 16.4
Weather: overcast clouds

Last trip I did not have a shelter mouse encounter till Maine. Woke up this morning to a little guy scampering all over the place. No damage done though. Our food is hung outside out of reach of bears.The shelter was half full, good crew. Besides Tracks there were 3 other thru hikers who we had met the day before the laundromat. There were also a few section hikers. We are 9 miles into our day as I write this. I think we all have the same plan for today.Tracks arrived at our end for the day a few minutes before us. Shortly after Jawz and GQ arrived. It is now a bit after 5pm and not a section hiker in sight. We were told this shelter was sold out (14 people) for tonight. We are only 2.8 miles from the Clingmans Dome parking lot so there is a chance a group will head here after their work.The hike today was fairly uneventful as we bounced along the ridge. We are currently at 5,500 feet.Most of the crew from last night showed up. Still only a few section hikers. Several of us are tenting even though technically we should be in the shelter. It is a beautiful evening. We are planning an early start tomorrow to maximize our time in Gatlinburg.
Date: 2018-05-12
From: Double springs shelter

To: Gatlinburg 
Miles today: 11.7
Weather: moderate rain

We tented last night to avoid the shelter. It was a great night but with the dew out tents were just as wet as if it had rained. Fortunately we were headed into town so we can dry things out.Our day started with finishing the climb to the top of Clingmans Dome, the high point of the AT. It is about 400 feet higher than Mt Washington in NH. FYI- MT Mitchell in North Carolina is the high point east of the Mississippi. On the summit is an observation tower to bring you above the trees. With the wind it was quite chilly.From the summit is was about 8 miles to Newfound Gap where we stopped for the day. We got a ride down the mountain into Gatlinburg. Food shopping is done. I went to the outfitter and got new shorts. I had a 12" tear in my old ones that I sewed a few days ago. Fuego and Tracks had a great time after dinner cruising the main drag.
Date: 2018-05-13
From: Gatlinburg 

To: Tri corner shelter
Miles today: 15.7
Weather: overcast clouds

Last night worked out great. After eating a great meal with 3 other thru hikers Fuego and Tracks hit up the town of Gatlinburg. It gave me time to finish my work.This morning there were 5 of us ready to go backup the mountain. We had an 8:45 pickup. The ride is almost 40 minutes up the windy road. We started with an almost 1,000 foot climb then bounced along the ridge all day. It was a beautiful day and the views were amazing all day long.This is the first full shelter we have encountered. Fuego and I have our tents set up. Not a good tenting area. The next shelter north is closed because of bear activity, so those people have come here.
Date: 2018-05-14
From: Tri corner shelter

To: Painter Branch Campsite
Miles today: 20.3
Weather: clear sky

The shelter last night was packed. We had picked up reasonable tent spots but people were tenting everywhere. It was an odd vibe for the first time. Lots of smokers so we just got up and took off, eating breakfast at the first water spot.Initially our goal was 18 to Standing Bear. We have a great group of 6 going. Tracks, Finger Lickin, Jawz and MF Mouse. Part way through today we decided to stop at Standing Bear to eat some food then move up the mountain 2 miles.Finger Lickin, Fuego and I completed 16 miles by 1pm. We took a long break by a beautiful stream. We only had 1.7 miles to SB where we took another long break. It is very warm down low. Mid morning we were at 6,200' and early afternoon we were at 1,500'. We are now back over 3,000' tonight. This camp site is great, a big stream and lots of space. There are 4 other hikers here, so 10 of us total.