morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2009-04-03
To: Veteran Wisdom
Miles today: 0.0

Yesterday I swung by High Country Outfitters here in Atlanta to shop for a new pair of Trekking poles and as I was talking to one of the guys who works there, he tells me that a guy named Glenn would be working today and that he thru-hiked in 07 and loves to help first timers as they prepare. I went back today to hang out and chat with Glenn about his hike. I was at the outfitter for a good 3 hours looking around, hanging out and talking about thru-hiking! It was a really encouraging day and I definitely learned a few things that I hadn't thought about. Here's a breakdown of his best advice:1. "Dirty socks are the biggest cause of blisters more than anything else, not new boots." He said when socks get dirty and sweaty, they harden up and combine that with the salt from your sweat and you've got a pretty abrasive recipe for blisters. He suggested carrying 3 or 4 pairs of socks instead of the 2 that I was planning to avoid a lot of potential blisters!2. "Thru-hikers are the professional athletes of backpacking." When your gear breaks (and it will) whether you have a lifetime warranty on it or not, bring the customer service numbers for all the vendors of your major gear and call them. Vendors want thru-hikers to carry their products and will often not just replace items for free, but ship them to your next trail town. He said he did this to get a new set of trekking poles and backpack!3. "The art of the Yogi." Day hikers, section hikers, and picnicking families are often awed and inspired by thru-hikers. This can be used to your advantage in positioning yourself to be offered some free food. A story about how a bear ate all of your food could very well earn you a hamburger! Great for the budget conscious hiker.I was also given a card and told that if I need anything on the trail and can't find it to just call the store and they'll get it to me fast. Couldn't ask for a better hook up! I left with a pair of Leki Super Makalus and got the "thru-hiker" discount!Tomorrow I'm driving to Michigan for the weekend but I'll be back on Tuesday with more updates on the planning!
Date: 2009-04-10
To: Quick Update!
Miles today: 0.0

This week has been a really crazy week of planning and taking care of things. I'm working on making sure I see a doctor and dentist before I leave, trying to buy health insurance, selling a truck, moving all my belongings out of storage, finishing my taxes, and much more! I'm trying not to get stressed out by focusing on where I'll be in just 8 days. Yesterday all of my North Point peeps took me out to lunch at Dreamland BBQ to send me off. It was a lot of fun just hanging out and talking about the trail. I've been a regular at Dreamland for many years (since high school!) so I know a lot of the staff by now. Jasmine, the hostess, bought me a bowl of their amazing banana pudding to celebrate my trip. I could barely eat any of it, having just destroyed a pork plate, but at least I had plenty of people to share it with. Last night I sold my old truck. This is the end of an era. I first bought the 1989 Ford F-150 when I was 16 and drove it for 5 years. It was affectionately known as Debbie. Well Debbie, it's been fun. Enjoy your new life. I'm going to enjoy mine!This weekend all my gear will be coming out of storage so I'll be able to start putting it all together. Stay tuned for a detailed gear post with plenty of pictures sometime next week. I think most of the questions I get are about gear. 8 Days!
Date: 2009-04-16
To: Gear
Miles today: 0.0

Most of the questions I get are about what I'll be carrying with me and how much it all weighs. So for all who care, I've uploaded pictures of my main pieces of gear with a description and weight. I'm trying to go as ultralight as possible. The lighter my pack, the more I enjoy backpacking. I've made a lot of compromises to get the starting base weight of all my gear under 15 lbs. Planning is coming right along and I should be ready to hit the trail saturday. The weather forecast is calling for great weather too!
Date: 2009-04-18
From: Springer Mountain

To: Hawk Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 7.8
Weather: overcast clouds

Wow. Today was amazing in so many ways. Here's a quick recap of everything that happened. And a LOT happened! Rode up to Amicalola Falls state park with Chelsea and my family. Got signed in as a thru-hiker and weighed my pack.. which came to only 19 pounds! And that was with 3 days of food. I would therefore like to take this opportunity to say the following: "Booyah!" After some pics and walking up to see the falls, we were off to the top of Springer. We all walked up and met Rodger, the ridge runner for this section. He said I was the 4th thru-hiker to leave springer today and the 767th this season! After more picture taking, I got to walk the first mile with Chelsea. (my mom should be uploading some pictures from the day soon) By the way, if you don't know Chelsea McGough, you're seriously missing out on some awesomeness in your life! After a prayer and goodbyes, I was on the trail. The next 7 or so miles were pretty easy and included some really awesome scenery including a nice waterfall and a big meadow, which I proceded to frolic through clicking my heals. There may or may not be a video of said event. I'm currently at Hawk Mointain shelter with a whole crew of people. I think I'm the only one heading for Maine though. The weather was absoutely perfect today. Thunderstorms tomorrow though. Bring it on. But not too bad. I'm not sure where I'll end up tomorrow night. It depends on the weather and how my legs feel. They feel great so far!I'm off to sit by the fire until the sun goes down.
Date: 2009-04-19
From: Hawk Mountain Shelter

To: Woods Hole Shelter
Miles today: 19.2
Weather: light rain

I didn't plan on doing so many miles today, it just kind of happened that way. I got up and was on the trail by 7:30. I knew there was a storm coming so I wanted to get to Gooch gap shelter before it did. I got there about 11:30 and still no storm. I didn't want to sit in the shelter for 9 hours before it got dark so I decided to just keep hiking until the storm came and I would just set my tent up when it did. Well I made it all the way to woods hole! The sorm finally came around 11:45 so i got to enjoy it from rhe dryness and warmth of my sleeping bag. There are a bunch of people here tonight. Many more than will fit inside. Some are in tents and I'm sleeping on the picnic table. Tomorrow morning I'll hike just 3 miles to Neels gap where there's an outfitter and hostel. I'll take it easy and relax! They're saying that once the last of these clouds roll out, we'll have like 9 days of beautiful weather! Awww yeah!
Date: 2009-04-20
From: Woods Hole Shelter

To: Neels Gap
Miles today: 3.7
Weather: light rain

The rain had stopped by the time we woke and things had already begun to dry. When i dumped out my stuff sack of clothes to re pack several particially chewed acorns fell out.I've heard of little creatures coming to try and take food from you but one decided to leave me some. I am already becoming one with nature, earning the trust of woodland creatures. I kept one acorn for good luck. Next, I made the 3.7 miles hike to Neels Gap up and over blood mountain. Even though the rain had stopped I was basically walking through a cloud so no great views at the summit. I've decided to stay here at the hostel to give my legs a break after yesterday's high mileage. This is a great place to do it too. There's an awesome outfitter, showers, beds, everything. I went down to my assigned bunk and found a can of Natural Ice beer sitting on the bed. Not my kind of brew but what the island wants, the island gets. There are several other people staying here and we're just having fun relaxing. I bought enough food to get me to the next town which is a few days away. The forecast says we're gonna have great weather for a week! I'm really excited about that. Now off to the biggest challenge of the day.. how to get some pizza up here.
Date: 2009-04-21
From: Neels Gap

To: Blue Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 18.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Last night was a ton of fun in the Walasiyi Inn at Neels gap. Ron (age 67) had decided to leave the trail and wanted to treat all the thru-hikers to dinner. Since the store was fresh out of pizza, he bought a bunch of hotdogs and buns and found a grill to cook them all. We gather to eat and in comes Josh with a 12 pack of beer he must have spent an hour trying to get into town to fetch since the hostel is in a dry county. We ate, laughed a lot and hung out pretty late for hikers, about 9:30. I'm really bummed that Ron got off the trail today. He was a really cool guy. I definitely didn't expect that to happen so soon. Anyway, we all slept a little later than usual. I took a quick shower using shampoo I found in the hiker box and hit the trail about 8:30. The weather today was really beautiful, cool and partly cloudy. The section of trail I hiked today was also much less strenuous than the previous and it had some really great views. I also saw some cool wildlife, a couple of rabbits and an owl. There's probably 10 or so people here at Blue Mountain Shelter including a small group of guys from London. Since there's no rain, I'm sleeping under my tarp and it should be more comfortable than the hard floor of the shelter. No mice issues either. One guy here, Cody, woke up to a mouse in his hair a couple nights ago. Yikes. I'll be able to resupply again in Hiawasse the day after tomorrow. I hear there's an all you can eat steak house there.. I'll also hopefully be able to upload some of the pictures so far.
Date: 2009-04-23
From: Deep Gap Shelter

To: Blueberry Patch Hostel
Miles today: 3.5

As expected, today was epic. There were several firsts: First real resupply in a trail town. First hitch hike. First AYCE (all you can eat) We knew that Gary of the Blueberry Patch Hostel drops the hikers that stay with him at 9:30 so we (myself, cody, tom, collin, crystal, ben, and mike) left in time to hike the 3.5 miles and be at the road when he got there. We were thinking he probably had a van or truck but he comes in a jeep cherokee. Luckily he had straps so we could strap our packs to the roof and squeeze inside. The blueberry patch is seriously amazing. It's got a bunkhouse, bathroom with shower kitchen with a fridge full of drinks, laundry service, and the famous blueberry pancake breakfast. They also have donkeys and goats. We hung out while Gary did our laundry and then he took us the 7ish miles into town. We went straight to Daniel's steak house for the AYCE buffet. We all ate way to much way too fast but laughed a lot. I felt like I would throw up. We then went to the local public library and I uploaded some pics. Then to good ole Ingles for groceries for the next 4 days. While in the grocery store I ran into Melanie who was in the hostel with us Monday night. She said she and her friend laurence whom she was hiking with were probably going to get off the trail and hitch hike all over the US for the next few months. I then walked down near the lake and sat under a tree for a while and then started walking to Zaxby's. I met back up with the others and we ate there. It was starting to get dark so we knew we needed to start going to get a hitch. We walked about a half an hour before a local guy (Eddie) picked us all up in his pick-up. There was a thunderstorm nearby and I sat outside enjoying the wind an clouds. I heard the thunder but never felt more than an occaisional drop. It's great to be in a bed with a real pillow and we're all excited about the big breakfast tomorrow. Tomorrow will probably be a shorter day since my legs are feeling very sore. Can't wait to have the trail legs. Tomorrow we also leave Georgia and enter North Carolina! Hope you enjoy the pics. It may be a while before I can upload more.
Date: 2009-04-24
From: Blueberry Patch Hostel

To: Bly Gap
Miles today: 9.0
Weather: clear sky

About 6:45 everyone wakes up to Jimi Hendrix blaring from someone's phone. Turns out Tom forgot to disable his alarm. It was good enough to give him the trail name "Hendrix." Later, once we finally woke up a bell starts ringing. A bell that we knew meant glorious pancake breakfast. We all gathered around a huge table in the Poteats home. They had eggs, sausage, these cheese fluffy amazing biscuits and of course, pancakes with homemade blueberry syrup. Gary and his wife are real servants. They kept our plates and glasses full. They dropped us off at the trail and we started hiking. It ended up being really hot at 85 degrees. It's especially rough because there isn't any kind of canopy to shade us. Later is the afternoon I hit the first big milestone of the trail, knocking off the first state! Tyler and I hit the North Carolina state line around 4. Everyone decided to camp right there on the state line at Bly gap to celebrate. It was very hot and exhausting but all in all, a great day!
Date: 2009-04-25
From: Bly Gap

To: Carter Gap Shelter
Miles today: 15.3
Weather: scattered clouds

Today was another really hot day. We started our first day in North Carolina, which started off with a couple of really tough climbs. Afterward it was really easy, gradual downhill which made the miles go really quickly. We've started to have 1st lunch and then 2nd lunch. It's a nice system and we might need to add 3rd lunch before too long. We made it all the way to Carter gap. Since it got warmer, the bugs are definitely coming out. Building a fire helps. Being from the south, it's been up to me to explain to the northerners and Brits the concept of a dry county and no alcohol sales on Sunday. It's been really hilarious hanging out with these English guys. These small southern towns are how they're getting their first impressions of America and it's verrry different. I'm staying in the shelter hoping the bugs chill out when the sun goes down.
Date: 2009-04-26
From: Carter Gap Shelter

To: Franklin NC
Miles today: 15.9
Weather: clear sky

The first half of today's hike was really easy, then it turned really steep climbing Albert mountain. When I say steep, I mean that, were it any steeper, you would need climbing gear. The good part about it was that, at the top, was a fire tower built in 1933 that offered some really amazing 360 degree views. We hung out there awhile and then moved on to the next shelter for lunch. We've decided Cody's trail name. Since two people have told him on the trip that he looks like Emilio Estevez, he will now be know as Gordon Bombay, which is Emilio's character in the Mighty Ducks. Several times a day we do a slow quack in his honor. It's pretty amazing. We hit another milestone today, 100 miles! We had planned to stop 3.7 miles short of the road that goes to Franklin NC, but we learned an important lesson, never plan to camp less than 5 miles from food and showers because when you get there, you'll decide to go ahead and go into town. Which is what we did. We made it to the gap and called a guy named Ron Haven, who was listed in the guidebook as someone who gives hikers rides into town. He said he'd come get us and in about 20 minutes, he rolls up in a, I kid you not, short school bus. Best ride ever. Ron also owns a motel and we got two rooms with 8 people. Nice and cheap. We had a huge meal at a place called Cody's roadhouse and now we're at the motel taking showers and hanging out. Today has been a really great day. I'm really looking forward to being in the Smokies very soon. Hopefully I'll get some pictures of today's shenanigans up tomorrow!
Date: 2009-04-27
From: Franklin NC

To: Silar Bald Shelter
Miles today: 3.7
Weather: clear sky

Laundry was first on the long list of things to do today before heading back to the trail. It felt really amazing to put some clean clothes. I then re-packed my pack and uploaded some pictures at one of the computers Ron had set up for hikers. I found a really nice pair of smartwool socks in the hiker box and they looked like they had maybe been washed once. They were clean so I saved like 16 dollars and took them with me. I don't know if most people would get fired up about a free pair of used socks but I was pretty fired up about it. Next we all walked a couple miles through Franklin to the Pizza hut to feast. It was pretty amazing how many emtpy pizza trays were lying around after we ate. It was like a pizza tray graveyard. Yummy. Next was to the outfitter. I was hoping to replace my rapidly dying shoes but they didn't really have what I was looking for. Every shoe they had was waterproof goretex which really just means they take longer to dry when they get wet anyway. I should be able to score a good pair at the NOC where we'll be in a couple of days. After we resulplied at Ingles, we sat outside and it wasn't too long before we yogi'd our way into rides back to the trail. A quick 3.7 miles and we're at a nice shelter near Silar Bald. So we're sitting around the camp fire and several of us were talking about how dumb we were for not picking up some marshmallows in town and Hendrix walks up with a bunch of sticks and a bag full of them. I ate far to many. Most of us are crammed in the shelter tonight and the mice are already giddy and running around. Yay.
Date: 2009-04-28
From: Silar Bald Shelter

To: Cold Spring Shelter
Miles today: 12.1
Weather: clear sky

Today ended up being a great day. I got to see my first bald at silar bald and I'm really excited foe more of them after the smokies. We had lunch at the old stone fire tower on top of Wayah Bald. It had the best views I've seen so far. We could even see the peak of Clingman's Dome. Evidently, the spot was even popular among native Americans for thousands of years. In the last mile of the day, we came upon some epic trail magic. An AT volunteer named Apple had a canopy set up with a cooler full of cold sodas and huge oranges. Booyah. It really made the last mile go by quickly. It's cool, the trail gets more and more green each day. Today there were several places along the trail near springs just covered in green plants, moss and yellow and white wild flowers. The shelter nearby where I'm camped has a really nice spring 25 feet away which we have renamed the enchanted spring since it looks like something out of a fairy tale. The weather forecast is now calling for lots of rain in the next week so things could get a little interesting. I'm hoping to get a new pair of shoes tomorrow at the NOC so they'll be broken in before our week in the smokies. Well, it's 9 so that means it's bedtime for this hiker..
Date: 2009-04-29
From: Cold Spring Shelter

To: Nantahala Outdoor Center
Miles today: 11.5
Weather: clear sky

As far as hiking goes, today was my favorite day so far. The last week or so we've been hiking between 4000 and 5500 feet. During the huge decent into the NOC, around 3500 feet, it was like walking down into spring. The trees were lush with leaves and blooms and there were all kinds of insects and birds moving about. It was a slight taste of what it's like to hike in the summer. On top of Wesser Bald, there's an old fire tower that's been converted into an observation deck. Really amazing views. I could see Fontanta lake for the first time and the Smokies, which have loomed in the distance for so long, lurk just a few days hike away. I rolled into the NOC around 1:15. It's a river and hiking outfitter, hostel, cabins, and several restaurants all right on the river. We hung out at one of the restaurant from 3 to about 7. Did some laundry. Took a shower. Tomorrow I have to climb back up all the feet I came down today which means it will probably be a shorter day (less than 8 miles). There's about 12 or so thru-hikers are staying in the hostel tonight and we're all hanging out in the big community cabin. I'm really excited for the smokies!
Date: 2009-04-30
From: Nantahala Outdoor Center

To: Sassafras Gap Shelter
Miles today: 6.9
Weather: overcast clouds

I woke up about 7:30 today and walked down to the NOC to chill by the river until the general store opened. Once they opened, I went in to get enough food to get me to Fontana Dam. Then accross the street to the outfitter to get some new shoes. I tried on several pair and went for a nice pair of Vasque trail runners and a pair of Superfeet insoles. Should give me much better arch support. Leaving the outfitters, I see the rest of the crew sitting in the restaurant getting some breakfast so I swung in and had a bacon egg and cheese sandwhich. We all spent about an hour going through our gear and repacking. The 6.9 miles out of the NOC was steep and all uphill. We got to the shelter pretty early so Colin set up a slackline behind the shelter so we tried walking across it. I am determined to get good at it before this trip is over. Then we grilled brats on the fire. Nice. Still no rain?
Date: 2009-05-01
From: Sassafras Gap Shelter

To: Fontana Dam Shelter
Miles today: 21.8
Weather: overcast clouds

Huge day. The rain finally came and we woke up to pouring down rain. We considered zeroing there but there was no quarantee it woulnt still be raining the next day. It took me awhile to get moving but I set out into the rain around 10. After an hour or so of hiking in steady rain it stopped and an hour after that the sun was out. Just before lunch, I took a pretty nasty fall. The rocks were really slippery and I was going over a big one very carefully. I placed my foot and put some weight on it to make sure it was good then as soon as I took the step, it gave. I fell a few feet on my stomach. It must have looked like a pretty violent crash, my trekking pole ended up about 12 feet away afterward, not sure how that happened. After the rush I thought "is anything broken?" "Am I bleeding?" thankfully the answer was no to both. I was fine. It was a humble reminder though of how fast this whole thing could be over. Glad to still be on the trail! I walked the rest of the day and ended up at the shelter we were aiming for around 6. The shelter was really small, slept maybe 6 people. I knew we'd all never fit in the shelter and I didn't want to tarp since there was a storm coming so I (as well as Colin and Alex) decided to press on to the next shelter. The storm was rolling in as we pressed on and we hiked in some heavy rain but the trail was really beautiful so I didn't care about being wet. We finally got to the shelter around 9 and we're staying here with the most obnoxious group of people I've met out here. They seem to think an AT shelter is a great place to throw a party. Tomorrow, I'll take a zero here at the Fontana Dam. I should be able to resupply and hit the smokies Sunday morning!
Date: 2009-05-02
From: Fontana Dam Shelter

To: Fontana Dam Shelter
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

I took my first zero mile day today and it was a good day to do it since it rained most of the day. I walked down to the dam and visitor's center, bought some ice cream and took a shower. The we all caught the shuttle to the "Fontana Dam Resort Village." Not as awesome as it sounds. They basically turned the old housing village for the dam construction workers into a tourist trap for bikers and RV drivers. Everything's is way overpriced. I did my laundry and bought a few days worth of food though and went back to the shelter. Later that evening a police officer comes down with his ticket book saying he heard there were some rowdy people drinking in the shelter and was ready to give them all tickets. We told him he was a day late and that the group he was looking for left earlier that day and had hitch hiked to clingman's dome. He looked disapponted he didn't get to give us tickets. I filled out my back-country permit for the smokies and went to sleep to dream about the weather for tomorrow. It's not looking good folks.