morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2004-05-01
From: campsite after Max Patch

To: Hot Springs
Miles today: 16.9
Weather: broken clouds

Phew, a long day, many miles.Coyotes or wild dogs barked most of the night. It was a little disconcerting sleeping alone in a hammock, but I did it.Up by 6:30 and hiking by 7:30. I ran into Pokey at Roaring Fork Shelter where I took a break with Julie and Bill. Three miles later I took another break at Walnut Mt Shelter. Lots of ups and downs to wear me out. I hoped to make it to Hot Springs and almost succumbed to the temptation to stay at Deer Park Mt Shelter but after a break without my boots I toughed it out. It rained on and off all day. I hate hiking with my pack cover on. Makes it difficult to get at things inside pack. I tried a new technique to stop the rash between my legs, I didn't wear pants today, only my undershorts. They are black boxer briefs that look like bike shorts. They came from REI and are suppose to wick the moisture away. Well, it seems to work. I think the outer layer of pants was stopping the wicking action. The only thing is I had to put my pants back on once I reached the town streets of Hot Springs.Again, the trail was lined with flowers most places. I saw several lady slippers in bloom. There was a 2 mile section where a fire burned much of the fallen wood. I don't know if that was a controlled burn.I made it to Elmer's by 6:30 PM, too late to sign up for dinner. Oh well, I signed up for breakfast. Pokey and I went down town to the pub for a pizza and salad. We each had one beer. The bill for the two of us was $47.00. That's pretty steep. I will do my laundry tomorrow and some shopping, ran out of water purifying tablets. Hope to make it a low mileage day. I don't want to get sucked into the town like some hikers who have been here 4 days already.Life Is Good!! "Gabby" aka Art Cloutman
Date: 2004-05-02
From: Hot Springs

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

Rained all day today. Somehow my luck is still holding. I'm again in town on a rainy day rather then walking. Had breakfast at Elmers then met Julie and Bill for a second breakfast across the street at the diner. At the laundry I met parts of the family of 5 doing a thru hike. The Garland Five are from Wolfboro NH. Dad lost his job so decided to do a thru hike as a transition. The oldest girl is 13, next girl is 11 and the youngest boy is 9 years old. They are carrying heavy packs. The 13 year old has a 40 lb pack. The other kids each carry 25 lbs. They stayed in town today planning on setting up their tents for the night in the late evening. The kids are being home schooled very informally while they hike. I will probably see them again tomorrow when I slack south back to Hot Springs.Got another nice care package from Linda Patton my trailmail angel. This time she sent me some apple cider, hot chocolate, snickers egg, and a coupon for free Ben and Jerrys Ice Cream. Again she included a very nice note. Thanks again Linda.Did a little shopping at outfitters where I discovered Baltimore Jack gainfully employed. What a surprise.Pokey, Bill, Julie and I had a nice dinner at the Paddler's Pub then stopped in the ice cream joint across the street. We had fun talking about many topics not all trail related.I spent considerable time up dating my journal entries now that my pocket mail is working again. I still have 10 entries to transcribe.Life Is Good!! "Gabby" aka Art Cloutman
Date: 2004-05-03
From: Alan Gap

To: Hot Springs
Miles today: 14.7
Weather: overcast clouds

We slackpacked today. I arranged a slack at the Outfitters in town for Bill and Julie, Digger, Pokey and me. Cost us $5.00 each to walk almost 15 miles without our packs. What a feeling of freedom. We probably walked too fast with too few breaks. I was feeling a little knee pain toward the end of the hike. Bill complained that both knees hurt. I'm hoping with some rest we will both feel fine tomorrow. Pokey forgot to sign up for dinner so he took off fast heading down the trail. I didn't see him again until I got back to Hot Springs. Digger tried to keep up with Pokey, he waved to me when I walked by the pub on my way back to Elmer's.It was rainy and very cold through the hike until the last hour. The views were limited because most of the trees at this lower elevation are fully leafed. It was fun to see all the north bounders we had been hiking with on the trail as we headed south on our slack. Some made durrogatory remarks about going the wrong way and/or not carrying a pack. We ran into the Garland 5 (family of 5) as they were on their way north. I stopped each of them to give them some candy and cheered them on. They are great people.The best views, actually the only views, were during the last mile coming into town down a steep cliff overlookng the French Broad River. I stopped several times to take it all in and get some photos.I had dinner at Elmer's tonight. It was a gourmet vegetarian meal. Soup followed by salad then tempa was the main course served on rice. Very good meal. Tea and a chocolate pie completed the meal. I am stuffed.Tomorrow I will be back on the trail. We will have to pay again to get to the trail head. We scheduled the shuttle for 10:30 AM.   Life Is Good!! "Gabby" aka Art Cloutman
Date: 2004-05-04
From: Alan Gap NC

To: Jerry Cabin
Miles today: 11.7
Weather: clear sky

Last night at dinner Elmer noticed there was one more person who showed up than he had counted on the signup list. He asked if everyone had signed up and we all said yes. So another place was set and the wonderful dinner was consumed. Just before 11 PM Pokey went to Elmer to see if he could get on the breakfast list for today. Elmer looked at the list and said you are already on it. Apparently Pokey had signed the wrong list. Oh well, it all worked out.Beautiful day today with bright sun and cold breeze. Weather looks good for the next few days. Found out this morning that Red Beard is quitting his hike. He is going back to Gatlinburgh to see if he can find a run down motel to purchase and run as a hiker hostel. He said he just can't hike anymore. Digger decided to call it quits at least for a couple of weeks. He misses his grandchildren. La-La has decided to yellow blaze to the next town, Erwin TN. She has friends waiting for her there that she plans to hike with. Goosebump has decided to stop hiking at Sam's Gap where she left off from her South Bound hike from last season. She is very excited. I am going to miss her. She has been such an important part of my hike. She gave us telephone numbers and e-mail addresses so we can make contact when we reach PA.We didn't start our hike today until 11:30 AM. We needed to shuttle to the trailhead and it took awhile for everyone to get organized. Pokey, Julie, Bill and I hiked together most of the day. Goosebump hurried off ahead of us as usual. At Little Laurel Fork Shelter we caught up with Goosebump and found Fireman Fred resting and eating. Fred decided to hangout at the shelter then leave early tomorrow to hike the full 47 miles to Erwin. He may even attempt a night hike. Hope he doesn't wake us as he passes through at midnight.The trail today passed over a beautiful exposed ridge line. This is the image we had of the AT when we were dreamers. It must have been a huge effort on the part of trail builders and maintainers to make the white rock steps and tread way in the rhododendrons and mountain laurel. The views were some of the best so far on our hike. What made it remarkable was we were on the ridge after 6 PM when the light was showing more texture to the hills. We found only one water source between Laurel Forks and Jerry Cabin but it was a cool day so thirst was not a big issue. Arrived in camp just before 8 PM. Dinner and light conversation and a giant orange moon made for a complete day. Getting cold. Wow, Fred just showed up. Glad he is not hiking the ridge at midnight.Life Is Good!! "Gabby" aka Art Cloutman
Date: 2004-05-05
From: Jerry Cabin

To: Hogback Ridge Shelter
Miles today: 14.7
Weather: scattered clouds

It was A long, long, long long day. Lots of ¢up¢ made us crave the shelter. Do you know how you begin seeing things that are not there when you are tired? Every dogwood tree in bloom looked like the shelter as we got closer to 7 PM.We followed old mountain roads at 4100 ft for many miles. Julie, Bill, Pokey and I spend our lunch break with Goosebump at Flint Mt Shelter. This is Goosebump¢s last full day on the trail. We may be lucky enough to see her again in Erwin or Damascus. She has promised us trail magic when we get near Lehigh Gap. She lives in PA.We saw a baby squirrel on the trail as we got closer to the shelter. I think it thought Pokey was its mother. We came to a road crossing and a stream where we all soaked our feet to cool them off. That did wonders for me. I should try that every day.There were several grave markers along side the trail. One for Dorothy born in 1865 and died in 1965 with a recent floral arrangement to mother.   Another had three headstones with the youngest for a thirteen year old boy. Apparently three local boys were returning home after fighting for the Union Army during the Civil War. They were ambushed and killed by their neighbors as traitors to the rebel cause. Another marker was located at the site where the ashes of an 85 year old former thru hiker had been scattered. He hiked at age 62, same as my age today. Nice cool night with a breeze we are located at 4250 ft. Night everyone. Life Is Good!! "Gabby" aka Art Cloutman
Date: 2004-05-06
From: Hogback Ridge Shelter

To: Bald Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 10.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Awesome day today. I'm sitting on top of Big Bald Mountain at 5516 feet relaxing and taking in the 360 degree views. It is clear with temps in the 60's at the summit. Mountains surround me.The hike was almost all up hill today. I left camp before anyone else just before 8 AM. At Sam's Gap 2.4 miles from camp a large white van stopped on the road. It was Miss Janet with Goosebump riding shotgun. I asked her if she had space for 4 more hikers on Saturday evening. She said yes. She would pick us up at the trailhead in the morning then bring us to a party in the evening. That's going to be great.Julie and Bill finally caught up to me on the summit of Big Bald. They rested for 1/2 hr then hiked on toward the shelter 1.1 miles away. I'm waiting for Pokey. It is too nice to abandon this spot so quickly.I noticed lots of barbed wire along side of the trail today. And many no trespassing and no hunting signs. The trail runs through a very narrow corridor in this section. Once I decided to go off the trail and up onto a little ridge for a break and the chance to take in some views. I found myself in someone's backyard so moved back to the trail.Life Is Good!! "Gabby" aka Art Cloutman
Date: 2004-05-07
From: Bald Mountain Shelter

To: Temple Hill Gap
Miles today: 13.0

Very nice day today. Perfect weather. Blue skies but no views. Many green passages along winding trails that hugged the sides of mountains. We, Julie, Bill and I stopped frequently to rest, soak our feet in cool streams and enjoy the flowers growing by the trail. Pokey got up early and headed to town. He is concerned with making it to the post office on Saturday since it is only open for 2 hours.We saw garter snakes on the trail. We stopped early at No Business Shelter for lunch. I did not read the guide book which mentioned the water source was .2 miles south of the shelter. I ended up going back on the trail twice to get enough water for dinner and tomorrow morning. We walked another 2.4 miles toward Erwin then camped to avoid spending 2 nights in Erwin.Life Is Good!! "Gabby" aka Art Cloutman
Date: 2004-05-08
From: Temple Hill Gap

To: Erwin Tenn.
Miles today: 3.9

5/8/04Start: Temple Hill JunctionDestination: Erwin, TNDistance: 3.9 milesExciting morning today. We were rudely awakened at 5:30 AM with headlights from a 4 wheel drive Ram Pickup truck heading up the trail aimed right at our tents. I yelled to Bill who managed to get out of his sleeping bag and tent very fast. The truck stopped about 4 feet from my tent stakes, backed up, turned around, then headed quickly down the trail. There is a sign right by our campsite saying no vehicles allowed on this trail. Bill thinks they were hunters planning on poaching deer at sunrise.That got us out of the sack early. We were hiking just before 7 AM. By 8:30 AM we were at the trailhead by the Noluchucky River. I was able to call Miss Janet on the cell phone. She planned to pick us up in 15 minutes but was not there after an hour. Julie suggested we call Janet again to let her know we were going to hitch a ride so she did not need to worry about us. We headed down the road toward town about 1/2 mile before a pickup truck came back and picked us up. He dropped us at the Elms restaurant just 2 blocks from Miss Janet's House. We claimed three bunks at the hostel, took showers, then headed to Pizza Hut for their buffet luncheon. After doing major damage to their salad, pizza, and dessert display we went to pay the bill. A doctor was picking up a take-out order and offered to drive us back to the hostel. He dropped Bill and Julie off at Food Lion so they could resupply and dropped me at Miss Janet's. I got in line to do laundry including some of Bill and Julie's stuff. Been hanging out ever since. Hope to take in a movie tonight. Janet is involved in a hiker party tonight and a Blue Grass Festival. She wants me to go but I think I need to slow down a bit. It is a beautiful day here in TN. Temps in 80's. Not too humid. While most of the hostel crew went to the Blue Grass Festival and to the hiker party, Julie, Bill, Pokey and I went to Sonics for a meal and then to a teenyboppers movie - 13 going on 30. It was a good change of pace. We saw a large flock of Chimney Swifts, which Bill decried as a flock of birds that fly in circles to round up bugs and often nest in chimneys. The entire flock flew around a church steeple for about 20 minutes while we watched. Then they all flew down the chimney of the church. It was amazing.Back at Miss Janet's I packed my food drop of 10 pounds. I always seem to have too much food. I have 5 days of food but really only need 4 since I will be eating breakfast in town and the 5th day dinner at the next town/hostel.Life Is Good!! "Gabby" aka Art Cloutman
Date: 2004-05-09
From: Erwin Tenn.

To: Deep Gap (after Beauty spot)
Miles today: 12.0

Breakfast at Huddlehouse was pretty good and reasonable. Pokey, Bill and Julie and I got a shuttle from Miss Janet back to the trail. We took a lunch break about 4 miles into our hike at Curly Maple Gap where 3 ladies from Florida stopped by on their day hike up Beauty spot. After talking with the ladies and eating we set out again to complete the twelve miles planned for today's hike. About 4 o'clock a thunderstorm began rumbling around the mountains. The skies darkened and I decided to stop and wait for the others. I was in the lead most of the day and somehow had made a few minutes advance of the other three hikers. When they caught up I was able to convince them to stop while we were at a lower altitude, set up my tarp and wait out the storm. We had a blast talking about TV shows and police incidents that we could recall. We also did a little damage to our heavy food bags by eating another lunch. It was after 6 PM before we were comfortable to start hiking again. Beauty Spot is a small bald with nice views in all directions. Tonight we could see banks of clouds caught in the valleys between the mountains and row after row of mountain ridges. it was awesome. We got into camp very late, after 8:30 PM. We are getting efficient setting up camp. Bill and Julie are the fastest since there are two of them. I cooked Tortolini. It was delicious. it was hard to finish the whole package but I did. I tried to talk with Sue on the cell phone but could not hold a signal. Talked for a few minutes however. Life Is Good!! "Gabby" aka Art Cloutman
Date: 2004-05-10
From: Deep Gap (after Beauty spot)

To: Campsite/spring at old homestead
Miles today: 11.9

Slow start this morning. We were tired from our late arrival last night. Didn't get out of camp until 8:45 AM. We decided to take a break at the first shelter we came to, Cherry Gap Shelter, for lunch after only 5 miles. Before the shelter we crossed Unaka Mt where we discovered a large grove of red spruce trees. The grove was dark because the large evergreens let very little light hit the ground. No flowers or smaller plants other than mosses and ferns could grow beneath this canopy.While we took our break Goosebump showed up with Radio Flyer. They were doing a 19 mile slack. Radio was trying to make up big miles so he could catch up with Ladybug and Bear who are again 1 day ahead of me. Goosebump is just trying to make up some sections of trail she needs to cover to complete her thru hike. She brought jelly beans. A few minutes later Little Engine showed up, also doing a slack. We should see all three of them again tomorrow when we start our hike over the Roans.It was a tough series of ups and downs after we left the shelter. At one point I passed a huge swarm of flies. Just a few minutes later I found Bill and Julie taking a break. Bill asked me if I had seen the flies on the poop beside the trail. He thinks it was human waste deposited right in the trail. Just a few minutes later we heard a squawk from the trail as Pokey walked past the poop and flies. We heard thunder most of the afternoon. We put pack covers on at one point when it started to rain. The rain did not amount to much and the thunderstorms eventually dissipated. We were in camp preparing dinner before 6 PM. Life Is Good!! "Gabby" aka Art Cloutman
Date: 2004-05-11
From: Campsite/spring at old homestead

To: Stan Murray Shelter
Miles today: 12.4
Weather: overcast clouds

Mostly up hill today. One heck of a haul up Roan High Nob. I thought I would never make it to the parking lot at Cloud Land, the site of a famous luxury hotel that was demolished in the 20's. Little Knob came before Roan Mountain and was a steeper climb but no where near as long a walk.We stopped at Roan High Knob Shelter for lunch. "Still Frank" dropped by for a breather. He looked up at the sky and said we should expect a thunder storm in 20 minutes. I told him I thought it would happen several times yesterday and it didn't. Frank protested that he was a retired Navy Meteorologist. We all hiked on including Frank and got caught in a feirce thunderstorm. We set up my tarp at Carver Gap near the large sign with the overhang to sit out the storm. Now everyone is wet. Julie and Pokey are shivering. I was petty cold. Bill was trying to get the water out of his boots by using his socks to bail them out. Eventually we headed up Round Bald and Jane Bald while it sprinkled and thunder rumbled in the distance. We called it a day short of our destination of Overmountain Shelter. We are now another day short of my schedule. We listened to radio weather. Threat of rain and t-storms tonight after midnight. We set up the tarp to keep the rain out of the shelter.Life Is Good!! "Gabby" aka Art Cloutman
Date: 2004-05-12
From: Stan Murray Shelter

To: Apple House Shelter
Miles today: 9.9

We were so worried about getting caught in the predicted rain and t-storms today that we planned a short day. The Roan Highlands were spectacular. We were on Little Hump Mountain before 10:00 AM after passing Overmountain Shelter, a huge red three story barn with room for 20 or more hikers. The shelter was named after the Overmountain Militia that crossed the mountains in pursuit of loyalist troops during the revolutionary war.The views from Little Hump were amazing with the clouds still in the valleys and a cloud less sky above.   But off in the distance we could see thunder storms lining up for their day's assault on the Roans. We only spent a few minutes in the sun on the rocks near the summit before heading on to Hump Mountain. Along the way we walked past a small herd of cows with huge horns just laying on the grass. They hardly paid any attention to us. I stopped to take a picture but Pokey was very uncomfortable hiking alone past the cattle. He was worried that his red bandana would aggravate the cows and have them chasing him up the mountain.When I reached the top of Hump Mountain Julie and Bill were already eating a snack and airing out their boots and feet. They spread their wet clothing from yesterdays rain around on the rocks. I took off my boots and shirt to try and dry them in the wind and sunshine. In the mean time the clouds from the thunderstorms were getting closer. I ate some gorp while waiting for Pokey and Bill and Julie headed on hoping to beat the storms. After Pokey had a brief rest we headed across the balds where the views were just amazing. The scenery rivals those of the White Mountains of New Hampshire reminding me of pictures from the Scottish Highlands. Pokey and I reluctantly left the Roan Highlands as we descended to the pleasant forrest lands below. We met up with Bill and Julie at the Apple House Shelter by 2:30 PM where we spread our clothing out again in hopes that they would dry enough to be comfortable to wear tomorrow.After a few minutes, Goosebump and Radio Flyer arrived after crossing the Roan Highlands. Goosebump can now celebrate completing her thru hike started as a south bound hike in 2003. We took pictures with her and congratulated her for her great achievement. I will see her again in Damascus and hopefully in PA when we reach that part of our hike. Gator and Santa just arrived. I'm hungry again. By the way, it never did rain today.   Life Is Good!! "Gabby" aka Art Cloutman