morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2003-04-26
From: Elmer's Sunnybank Inn and Hostel, Hot Springs, NC

To: Spring Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 11.0
Weather: light rain

**Transriber's note: Windtalker has added to her journal entry from 4/25 so be sure to check it out.**No PainNo RainNo Maine Day 31: Today it definitely rained, in fact it's raining right now. I'm trying out my new tent tonight so this rain should be a great test for it. So far I really like the amount of space I have in here, I can fit all of my gear in with me. I tried to get out of Hot Springs as early as possible so I left before everyone else in my usual group. I got here around 3pm and its 9pm now and they haven't shown up yet. It looks like they probably took a lot longer in town and decided to camp somewhere in between. Smokey and her fiance Chris were here so it was nice to see a familiar face. I also met a whole new group of people including Indiana Slim, the Smith Family (from trailjournals.com), Bat, Montana, Theat, and Makoshika, and Morning Crow (from Alaska!). That always seems to happen after town because when you take a zero day a whole new group catches up.Today was the first day I hiked in my new trail runners. I love the lightweight feeling and the rocks and roots didn't seem to bother me as much as I anticipated. I do have a few concerns though - I feel like there is more impact on my knees on the downhills. My knees aren't really hurting yet, but that could potentially be a problem. Also, my Superfeet insoles that I loved so much in my boots, seem to be moving around a little in my trail runners. Every time I take a step I can feel them squish around and they make an annoying sound. Its only the first day, so maybe they just need a little breaking in.I'm excited because I finally have a book again (well half of one anyway, I'm still not willing to carry the whole thing!). They had "Into Thin Air" at the Outfitters and I've been wanting to read it for a while. I'm going to start it right now!
Date: 2003-04-27
From: Spring Mountain Shelter

To: Jerry Cabin Shelter
Miles today: 15.3
Weather: clear sky

Day 32: I must be in a lull of hikers because nobody from my group has caught up and I passed up most of the people from the shelter last night. Its fine during the day when I'm hiking, but it gets a little lonely at night with nobody around. Tonight at the shelter its just me and another family with a journal at trailjournals.com, Montana, Theat, and Makoshika. For the past two days I've mostly been hiking with other groups, like families or couples so I'm pretty much the only solo hiker. That makes it even more lonely!Later in the evening...Another hiker came to the shelter tonight, Rally Monkey also from Alaska and wow, he had some amazing stories! He was attacked by a grizzly bear in Alaska and tried to use pepper spray but it didn't even slow down the bear. He thru-hiked in 2001, and he really opened my eyes to how far you can stretch a dollar out here. He once hiked 400 miles on only 40 dollars!!! He doesn't eat anything during the day, except tea and eats plain Ramen noodles without seasoning for dinner. I saw the food he was planning to eat between here and Erwin, TN (our next stop) and it was less than I am planning to eat tomorrow! He said that he eats as much as possible in town to store up energy but I don't know how he does it. When I get hungry I get extremely tired and I can't hike.
Date: 2003-04-28
From: Jerry Cabin Shelter

To: Flint Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 5.9
Weather: clear sky

Day 33: Today we crossed the 300 mile mark and it has been exactly one month since I started the AT. I hurt my achilles tendon climbing up the boulders on Big Butt Mtn. Yes, that¢s right, it is actually named Big Butt Mtn and the worst part is, that is the second mountain named that on the trip so far! Since I've pretty much just ignored most of the physical problems I've had so far I figured I'd actually pay attention to this one. I took it really easy and it turned out great because everyone in my old hiking group caught up with me! It was also nice to take it slow because my feet are still getting used to the trail runners.I can't believe I've hiked 300 miles! That¢s almost like hiking across Michigan all the way from south the north. I always compare distances in my mind to biking because That mostly the experience I have traveling long distances. On bike this distance would only take me about 3 days. I guess its a really bad comparison though because I'm hiking up and over huge mountains everyday.
Date: 2003-04-29
From: Flint Mountain Shelter

To: Stealth Campsite Near Little Bald
Miles today: 20.0

Day 34: My first 20 mile day, and a lot happened. We did the first 8.7 miles before noon and stopped to eat at Hogback Ridge Shelter. I didn't really plan on going this far today, especially because the terrain was extremely hard, but it just kind of happened. Play, Boilerplate and I tried to hitch to a convenience store at Sam's Gap but there was no store, so we hitched a little further to this tiny gas station and got sodas and ice cream. After that, we just pushed to Big Bald which turned out to be totally amazing!There were two HUGE climbs today, actually it was pretty much uphill the whole way and I was exhausted by the time I reached the summit of Big Bald. It was worth it though because it was even better than Max Patch. The weather was beautiful, almost no wind and a 360 degree view from the bald. A group of us stayed up there for a while and then I kept going to the next shelter because I needed water pretty badly. While I was hiking down I just kept stopping and staring in awe and the awesomeness of the scenery and the moment in general. For some reason I just didn't want to leave! Now I'm thinking I should have camped up there but the forecast calls for a chance of thundershowers and the weather can be totally unpredictable up on top. Right now there isn't a cloud in the sky where we are camping, but better safe than sorry I guess.After I ate dinner at the shelter I decided to hike another 0.4 miles to a campsite that was listed in the handbook. Boilerplate, T-bird, and Nemo already left to go there so I set off. About half an hour later I still hadn't seen a campsite and I found T-bird and Nemo just starting to give up and set up camp near the side of the trail. The handbook is wrong about these little backcountry sites sometimes, so we decided to hike a little further just in case it was "just over the next hill" (by the way, everything is always "just over the next hill"). Of course, it wasn't. They said Boilerplate had gone ahead even further but there is anther mountain called Little Bald just ahead and it was about to get dark so we didn't want to climb that to catch up to him. We just set up camp along the side of the trail here and Rocky ended up coming too so we have a little group here now. 20 miles is far and I'm tired!!
Date: 2003-04-30
From: Stealth Campsite Near Little Bald

To: Hotel, Erwin, TN
Miles today: 15.7
Weather: few clouds

Day 36: Today was another long day. I got up early, surprised to see Michelle and Crazy Talk hiking by our stealth site at around 6:30 am! I couldn't believe they had hiked almost as far as I did yesterday or that they were already hiking, usually they are slow and get a really late start. It turns out that they heard from some other hikers who were slackpacking in the opposite direction that Miss Janet would be at Spivey Gap around 11am to drop off some hikers and that we might be able to slackpack from there into Erwin if we got there in time.I forgot to mention that I fell and sprained my right ankle yesterday - it didn't hurt terribly bad last night but I woke up and my right ankle was about 2 times as big as my left. Anyways, this turned out to be a great opportunity to slackpack and get some rest for my ankle. If you aren't a hiker and you are reading this, "slackpacking" generally means someone drives your backpack to a place down the trail and you hike that section without your pack. You are still hiking every mile of the AT and actually, you have to carry water and food too. Also, Miss Janet runs a hostel in Erwin and has a wonderful reputation for helping out hikers (which she definitely lived up to, thanks Miss Janet!!) We all managed to get to Spivey Gap (about 5 miles away)in time and gave our packs to Miss Janet to drive to Erwin. From there, we slackpacked the 11 miles into town. The weather was crazy today. In the morning and most of the afternoon it was sunny and hot, maybe 75 or 80 degrees. Then all of a sudden around 3 pm we started to hear thunder and then it started to hail and rain! The hail was a little bigger than pea-sized, but just enough to hurt when it hit you. Also, since we were slackpacking we didn't have any rain gear so we were all freezing in shorts and t-shirts. When we got into Erwin, there were absolutely NO cars on the road past the river. We couldn't get a hitch so we just started walking and after about a mile or so we all started to get pretty annoyed. Luckily, Miss Janet just happened to drive by and picked us up! Talk about a sight for sore eyes! Miss Janet didn't have any room left at the hostel, but she drove us to the hotel and then came back to drive us into town for dinner and resupply! She is also going to pick us up tomorrow morning and take us to the post office and for all of our other town chores. Thanks again Miss Janet!
Date: 2003-05-01
From: Erwin, TN

To: Miss Janet's Hiker Hostel, Erwin, TN
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Day 37: Today I'm taking a zero day in Erwin, TN. I had so much to do including resupply, maildrops, bounce boxes, laundry etc. Also, I need to let my sprained ankle heal for a day before I start hiking again. This is the first computer I've found on the trail that actually has high-speed internet access so I finally added some pictures to my journal!! Since my pictures from the first month were lost, I got some photos from Iron Toothpick's website from our rafting trip at the NOC and a few other shots. It's not much, but the best I can do for now. I just sent home my second memory card so those pictures should "hopefully" be posted soon. Miss Janet is AWESOME! She basically spends all day helping out hikers and driving them around town or to the trailhead or to the outfitters. She takes hikers anywhere they need to go and even drives them to slackpack sections of the trail! Her house is loaded with hikers right now so I'm not sure if I'll get a spot there tonight. If not, Play, Iron Chef and I might camp out near the river for free. It is supposed to rain the next several days so it looks like there is no way to avoid this weather!
Date: 2003-05-02
From: Miss Janet's Hiker Hostel, Erwin, TN

To: Miss Janet's Hiker Hostel, Erwin, TN
Miles today: 19.1
Weather: overcast clouds

Day 38: Today I found out that I can run really fast in the middle of a hail and lightning storm on an exposed bald at 5000 ft!Today we slackpacked 20 miles from Iron Mtn Gap back to Miss Janet¢s. She drove us up there and then tomorrow morning she will drive us back to the Gap to start hiking north from there. We didn't even get started until noon because there were so many hikers who needed to be driven to various places in the morning.The morning started off a little cloudy so we all brought our rain shells just in case. After about 8 miles, we were starting to hike down Unaka Mtn and I got a little ahead of the group. All of a sudden, a huge storm blew in and I found myself in a high wind hail storm. The hail was about pea-sized but the wind was extremely strong and there was so much hail that I couldn't stand up! I had to crouch down to protect my legs because I was only wearing my hiking skirt. I also had to get down because of the lightning, I wasn't in a very protected area. The hail started to clear up after about 15 minutes, but we couldn't move on for a while because a few miles up the trail was a place called the Beauty Spot, which is a totally exposed bald. We eventually started hiking again but we had to wait before crossing the bald because there was still tons of lightning. It was great when we finally got on top because the clouds were starting to part and it made for a really nice view. When we got on top, we noticed that Auntie Em's hair was standing straight up from the static electricity in the air so we tried to stay low and didn't stay up there too long. After the storm we still had about 11 miles to hike and we were soaking wet. We made it in just before dark, but it was a long day. It is supposed to storm for the next 5 days in a row!!
Date: 2003-05-03
From: Miss Janet's Hiker Hostel, Erwin, TN

To: Clyde Smith Shelter
Miles today: 6.0
Weather: light rain

Day 39: We got a very late start today. We almost got sucked into another day in town because there was a huge party/BBQ planned for hikers near Sam's Gap. It was hard to resist because Miss Janet offered to shuttle us there and then back to where we left off on the trail tomorrow morning. At one point we actually decided to go but then changed out minds because even though the BBQ sounded great we all wanted to get back on the trail. We went to Sonic and got huge milk shakes (I got a coconut cream pie shake and it was great) but that made hiking 6 miles right afterwards difficult. The situation worsened when we decided to bring marshmallows, graham crackers, chocolate, hot dogs, and beer up the mountain for tonight! I swear my pack weighed about 100 pounds! I think it was the hardest six miles of hiking I've done so far. We all had a huge campfire and made smores and drank a few beers. I guess it was all worth it in the end:)Iron Chef has been feeling sick the past few days so he only did a nine mile slackpack yesterday instead of the 20 miles. He also took today off so he didn't come back out with us today. Hopefully he will catch up soon! Also, I forgot to mention that Two Dog rented a car and drove to Nashville to see her brother. I think she is planning on doing some slackpacking to catch up and I'm sure we will see her at Trail Days.I've been meaning to talk a little about the wildlife I've been seeing on the trail so here is the wildlife update: 1 rabbit on Wayah Bald, 1 tiny garter snake near Neels Gap, 1 bright orange salamander near Nolichucky River, 2 deer near Big Bald, 1 immature Bald Eagle while driving near Standing Bear Farm, several smaller birds, tons of bugs, and of course some mice in the shelters! We've also heard coyotes close by a few times. Nothing terribly exciting so far, but I'm sure I will see my share of wildlife over the trip.
Date: 2003-05-04
From: Clyde Smith Shelter

To: Overmountain Shelter
Miles today: 12.8
Weather: broken clouds

Day 40: This shelter is a renovated barn and its great! Apparently, it was used in the movie "The people under the stairs" so that makes it even cooler. The climb up Roan Mountain killed me today. I think it was one of the toughest climbs so far. When we got to the summit, we found out that we just missed trail magic courtesy of Fix It GA-ME '98. Nemo was there and she said he just left after feeding hikers all day yesterday and this morning. We were pretty bummed but we stopped for lunch and attempted to yogi some food from the tourists anyway. No luck there, but we did get to eat some wild ramps that we picked along the way.Ramps are everywhere out here and they taste great. They taste like a cross between a sweet onion and garlic. Anyways, after lunch I just continued down the mountain. Somewhere as I was hiking down my right shin started to tighten up. It kept feeling worse and worse so I tried to stop every so often and stretch it out a little. Now it really feels like I pulled the muscle and I'm worried because I think it might be a shin splint! I know those take forever to heal and I refuse to have to get off the trail for something like that. I've been stretching it all evening and I also took some "vitamin I" (ibuprofen). All I can do is hope that it starts to feel better in the morning.
Date: 2003-05-05
From: Overmountain Shelter

To: Overmountain Shelter
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Day 41: 12:50 pm Last night the wind and rain really started to pick up. It was basically an all out wind storm by the middle of the night. We heard that there were tornados in the area and we were so glad to be in this barn. It was still pouring this morning and the forcast was for "severe thunderstorms with hail and damaging winds" so it didn't take a lot of convincing to decide not to hike today. I would normally be the one advocating hiking regardless of weather but since my shin splint is not feeling any better this is the perfect time to take a rest.Later in the day...So I guess it will be a Cinco de Mayo party in the barn today! Right now the people here with me are Pipes, Superman?, Headlamp, Crazy Talk, Play, Mr. Magoo, Capt'n Ben, Auntie Em, Sidewinder, Parkway, Sleepy Floyd and Moxie. Nemo and T-bird decided to move on about 8 miles to the next shelter. Right now with this wind, a regular shelter wouldn't even protect you very much. The wind and rain are blowing in horizontally right into the open side of the shelter so we are much better off in the second floor of this barn. The wind and rain come through the boards a little but its still much better.7:00pm This is getting crazy! Now there are over 20 people up here. The newcomers are Mountain Butterfly, Radar, Looney, Sassy, Kodiak, Wounded Knee, and Flatlander, to name a few! At least there will be a lot of body heat to keep it warm up here. Play and Pipes helped to re-dread my hair and my shin splint is feeling a little better. I'm still worried though because I took some motrin and I think that might be why it is feeling O.K.The only down side to taking a day off in a barn in the middle of the woods is that you have to ration your food. I never carry much extra, in fact I usually don't carry enough becuase food weighs too much! I only ate one package of easy mac for dinner (usually 3 packages with chicken and extra cheese is barely enough) and I tried not to eat too many snacks. Its actually funny to see everyone trying to stop themselves from eating too much because its usually a lost cause. It¢s just too hard when the food is sitting there in front of you!
Date: 2003-05-06
From: Overmountain Shelter

To: Campsite in Slide Hollow
Miles today: 18.0

Day 42: Today started off rainy and windy. The winds were very high going over Little Hump Mtn and Hump Mountain. They are balds and it was literally all I could do to remain standing because of the high winds. To my surprise when I started down the decent of Hump Mtn, there was a herd of longhorn cattle sitting right on the trail! I went around to the side so I didn't disturb them too much, but I still got within a few feet of them. They were huge, I think their horns alone had a span of about 4 feet! I didn't want to take a picture face to face with one because I thought it might scare it. I did get a few shots from a distance however. I did the first 8 miles fast and got to the shelter for a snack around noon. Pipes caught up with me so I hiked the rest of the day with her. The weather started to clear up around 4 pm, thank god! SO we ended up getting a nice view of Jones Falls and the rain held off for the rest of the evening. We found a nice place to camp by a little stream and it is just Pipes and I here tonight. My shin was doing great all day until the last 3 miles or so. It really started hurting again towards the end so I'm trying to stretch it out well tonight.
Date: 2003-05-07
From: Campsite in Slide Hollow

To: Kincora Hiker Hostel
Miles today: 14.0
Weather: light rain

Day 43: O.K., Wingfoot¢s Handbook is completely useless between miles 394 and 408! He listed 4 streams, one with a Rhododendron Thicket and I swear I counted about 25 streams and they all had thickets!! I was so frustrated because I couldn't tell where I was for about 5 miles and I thought I'd never see the next shelter. It started off raining today (of course, since it has decided to rain everyday now!) but it eventually let up and the last few miles of my hike today were at least tolerable. I finally made it to Kincora and I'm so happy because most of the hikers are in town right now so I won't have to wait hours for the shower and laundry. I crossed 400 miles today but I didn't really notice because I was too busy cursing Windfoot and his useless handbook. I think I'm getting over it now though so maybe it will sink in later tonight.
Date: 2003-05-08
From: Kincora Hiker Hostel

To: Kincora Hiker Hostel
Miles today: 8.9
Weather: scattered clouds

Day 44: Today started off terrible because I had a horrible headache and nausea. I thought I might be a little dehydrated but I didn't think it was caused only by that, I thought I might actually have the flu or something. Everyone was leaving to do the 9 mile slackpack from US321 back here so I got in the car and thought I could decide when we got there. I drank about 2 liters of water before we left and I started the hike a little queasy. Eventually I started to feel better so I guess it was all because of the dehydration. Its amazing what it can do to you. I'm making a big effort from now on to drink even when I'm not thirsty.The hike turned out to be absolutely gorgeous! The clouds cleared up and the sun came out. I think it was one of the most beautiful stretches of trail so far. The Laurel Falls were amazing and the rocks and blooming rhododendrons made the walk beautiful. Then to top it all off, we found this awesome swimming hole on a side trail that had a little falls and went swimming! Radar (he thru hiked in 2002) actually went skinny dipping, but Pipes and I weren't quite up to that yet! Tonight I have to go into town to resupply and then we will be off heading towards Damascus tomorrow morning.
Date: 2003-05-09
From: Kincora Hiker Hostel

To: Campsite before Iron Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 13.5
Weather: broken clouds

Day 45: Whoever said the section between Hampton, TN and Damascus, Va is easy is full of crap! People keep talking about how certain sections of trail are so easy and they never are. Every day is hard, every mile is hard and every step is hard! The whole trail is hard and Virginia isn't going to be easy either. We figured out a while ago that the elevation profiles are completely useless but for some reason we still torture ourselves by looking at them. Half the time they are completely outdated anyways and the scale they use isn¢t uniform at all.Today was one massive climb and it was exhausting. IT was so hot and humid it felt like we were walking through a sauna. The bugs were also terrible you couldn't even stop to rest without being swarmed and eaten alive. Luckily Pipes was feeling really tired too so we stopped to camp a few miles short of the next shelter. The evening actually turned out to be nice, we got a really nice fire going and cooked dinner and then we somehow managed to cook an apple cobbler on rocks over the open fire. It was delicious! IT was a Backpackers Pantry thing that you were supposed to cook using some fancy backpacking stove, but it turned out great over the fire. We had some great campfire conversation and now I'm headed to bed. My tent is set up under an apple tree.