morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2008-03-26
From: Tri-Corner Knob Shelter

To: Green Corner Road(Standing Bear Hostel)
Miles today: 18.1
Weather: clear sky

I convinced Lil Mak this morning that we could make the 18 miles to Standing Bear, a well known hostel outside Great Smoky Mountain National Park. Her preference was to shoot for Davenport Gap Shelter which is the last shelter inside the park At 15 miles that would be a pretty challenging day in itself. After watching us for the last couple of days, I felt like we could make the hostel which was 3 more miles past the shelter. Time Traveler, Lil Mak and I all left within 30 minutes of one another with me departing last at 9:15 am. We all met up before noon at Cosby Knob Shelter. This was pretty amazing as Cosby Knob was almost 8 miles away with some pretty good climbs and we had done it in about 2.5 hours. At lunch, we all figured that we could make the hostel and put it high gear. As we got near the valley, we started peeling off layers as the temps climbed close to 70 degrees for the first time in the trip. We made Standing Bear Hostel, exhausted and sore, about 4:30 pm. It was a very strong day! Standing Bear is more like a farm than a traditional hostel. It has a bunkhouse, re-supply and hand wash laundry facility. Rather than sleep in the crowded bunkhouse, I am tenting on the spacious and quiet front lawn. We also caught up with Popeye again. He, Lil Mak and I have coordinated our hiking for the next several days. I think we will make a good team. We hike about the same miles and pace and seem to take the same amount of rest time. Hopefully Time Traveler will join us. Also in the hostel tonight are Jesse Krout, Mangy Mo, Sinker, Chiefdaddy, Shakedown Cruise (back for the night from Hot Springs), Bill, Thorny, and Viewfinder. JUKEBOX
Date: 2008-03-27
From: Green Corner Road(Standing Bear Hostel)

To: Roaring Fork Shelter
Miles today: 14.6
Weather: scattered clouds

I probably got the best sleep on the trail last night tenting at Standing Bear. It is a great little place with a bunkhouse and re-provisioning store. Curtis, the owner, seems to really enjoy the retinue of hikers that traipse through his place this time of year. Popeye, Lil Mak and I got a pretty reasonable start on what we thought would be an easy day. Wrong! The first section of trail was a 4 mile, 2400 foot climb straight up Snowbird Mountain. I have been out here long enough that you think I would have learned this little axiom--days with long downhill descents {such as yesterday} are typically followed by days with long uphill climbs. Today was the case in point. Popeye was particularly struggling. His boot had basically exploded in the Smokies and he had managed to find a stop gap replacement in a hiker box of all places. Hiker boxes are bins in most hostels, trail hotels and even some post offices where hikers donate usable, but unwanted {usually because of weight} food and gear. Anything in a hiker box is free game to other hikers. Anyway, these boots were about a size too big and Popeye was worried about turning an ankle. We eventually got him squared away with a second pair of socks. He is planning on getting new footwear in Hot Springs, but you got to give the man credit for hiking 30+ miles in found boots! The trail today reminded everyone of early Georgia (hot and brown.) The real problem was a lack of water. It was really the first time we have had to deal with that. Everyone was bone dry by the time we found a stream near the end of the day. The highlight of the day was the climb over Max Patch. Max Patch is a big bald mountain with a stunning 360 degree view including a beautiful shot of the Smokies. It was originally our intent to camp there but it was too windy so we pressed on to the next shelter. In the Roaring Fork Shelter area tonight are Lil Mak, Popeye, sinker {or stinker as we have taken to calling him since he has yet to shower or do laundry on the hike} Chiefdaddy, Jesse, Bill, Time Traveler, Burro and Viewfinder, all thru hikers. JUKEBOX
Date: 2008-03-28
From: Roaring Fork Shelter

To: Hot Springs, NC
Miles today: 18.8
Weather: overcast clouds

We got a very early start this morning (for me) as we looked to try to make Hot Springs, NC today. Lil Mak and Popeye both have mail drops there. Post offices sometimes carry unusual hours in small towns and Hot Springs is no exception. The Post Office is only open from 8:30 am to 10:30 am on Saturday morning so we needed to get to town either Friday evening or first thing on Saturday morning. Popeye was a little dubious and he was dragging a bit so we stopped and had a second breakfast about 4 miles out and that got him fired up. We made it over our big climb of the day, Bluff Mountain, before lunch and we all started to get the town pull going strong. Lil Mak left lunch early and I knew I wouldn't see her again until town. She is like a little bulldog. She just keeps going and going and going. I can pass her on the uphill, but on a day like today that was mostly downhill, I knew I wouldn't see her. We definitely don't let Lil Mak trail-blaze for the group however; she tends to get lost and ends up backtracking and putting on extra miles in the process. Not good times for her, but it makes for amusing stories for the rest of us. Looks like we'll zero tomorrow, Lil Mak and Popeye have planned zeros and I want to keep hiking with them so I will zero as well. I need to re-supply and do a few errands anyway. Our plan is pretty aggressive and we will likely make Erwin, TN in the next few days. Michelle will join me next weekend probably near Roan Mountain and we are going to do a slack-pack (a hike without a full pack, more on this later.) I am excited to see her and have her meet some of my hiking partners and experience some of the trail with me. We pulled into Hot Springs late today and checked in at the Alpine Court Motel as Elmer's Sunnybrook Inn was full up. Lots of hikers in town. JUKEBOX ------------------------
Date: 2008-03-29
From: Hot Springs, NC

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

Hot Springs is a great little town. It is not big enough to have suffered the blight of rampant commercialization; there are no McDonalds or Hardees or big grocery chains. It is a no stop light town but it does have a great outfitter, a nice restaurant, a pub, a great diner and a few small motels. The trail literally runs through the center of town as it crosses the valley and the French Broad River. There were a lot of hikers in town as the bad weather prompted many to do extra miles to town while encouraging those already there to stay. Popeye, Lil Mak and I wanted to stay at Elmer's Sunnybank Inn, a famous trail hostel but alas, the hostel was full so we ended up at a small motel(Alpine Court Motel). Popeye went to the outfitter to get new shoes and I tagged along to maybe check out some trail runners. My boots are getting pretty beat up and the weight of the boots was really tiring my feet at the end of the day. So Popeye picks out some Montrail boots, the same brand as my current boot. These new boots are 3/4 top trail runners with a good ankle support. I liked them so much that I switched out my boots for trail runners, the same ones Popeye bought. We look like the Bobbsie twins. The crazy thing is my old boots were size 12.5. My new boots are, get this, size 14. My feet may never be the same. JUKEBOX
Date: 2008-03-30
From: Hot Springs, NC

To: Log Cabin Road(Hemlock Hollow Farm)
Miles today: 16.3

The lure of town is strong, particularly the lure of a great trail town like Hot Springs. There was a large hiker contingent at the pub last night and I stopped by after Lil Mak, Popeye and I had dinner at the Bridge Street Cafe. The group was still going strong when I left at 9:30 pm. I bet there were some very groggy hikers leaving town today (or not). We were on the trail by 8:30 am and it was a pretty miserable morning to hike, raw and blustery. While we were having lunch, I noticed in the AT guidebook that there was a campground about 6 miles further down and 0.5 miles off the trail. It was shaping up to be a pretty chilly night, so we figured to get to a lower elevation and a good tent site. There wasn't much info on the place and thru hikers don't want to walk anywhere off the trail they don't have to, but it seemed a better option than the shelters. The shelters since we left the Smokies have been really cruddy. Many in this stretch are original CCC construction and haven't been renovated since they were built 70 years ago. We got here about 5:00 pm and the place is very nice. It is called Hemlock Hollow Farm and they have a bunkhouse that sleeps 8 with a kitchen and showers, plus free coffee and a lift back to trail in the morning, all for $18. Turns out we weren't the only one who had this idea, in the bunkhouse with us are Burro, Tupperware, Thorny, and Steady On. One side note, today is the one year anniversary of Popeye's heart attack on the trail. Popeye is one crazy dude. He thru hiked in 2001 at the age of 53 and was attempting a second thru hike last year when he had a heart attack on the trail 11 miles outside of Erwin, TN. He then walked into Erwin (he was alone). One year and one stint later, he's back. Needless to say, I made him show me where his meds are! JUKEBOX
Date: 2008-03-31
From: Log Cabin Road(Hemlock Hollow Farm)

To: Devil Fork Gap
Miles today: 18.8

After a good breakfast of biscuits and jam at Hemlock Hollow Farm, Lil Mak, Popeye and I got an early start on a very windy, raw morning. We had a 2000 foot climb straight off the bat and we had a goal of about 15 miles today. It was still raining and raw when we got to the Little Laurel Shelter, our first break of the day. While we had a snack, I figured that if we got to Devil Fork Gap, almost 19 miles from where we started this morning, we could probably get a shuttle to Uncle Johnny's Hostel in Erwin, TN. The weather was supposed to turn dramatically worse later in the day and tonight, so we decided to shoot for the gap. It was a pretty typical spring day in that it was bitter cold and windy on one side of the mountain and still and hot on the other. We hooked up with a kid named Tupperware about half way through the day and he liked our plan and decided to hike with us. I had first met Tupperware back in Gatlinburg at the Grand Prix Motel when we were looking for Popeye. He bears more than a passing resemblance to Christopher Walken and as a result I have started calling him Cowbell. We need more cowbell!-- those of you that don't get this need to watch some Saturday Night Live reruns. We made the gap about 5:00 pm and we were completely exhausted. It was 18.8 miles over some really tough terrain including some exposed ridgeline walking and we were spent. The good news is we got our shuttle ride down to Uncle Johnny's Hostel. We can stay here for the next few days and do some slack packing (hiking with just a day pack). By not carrying our full packs, we can do some extra miles and take some pressure off of our feet and knees. It is starting to warm up and spring is coming to the valley; hopefully, it will hit the mountains soon! JUKEBOX
Date: 2008-04-01
From: Devil Fork Gap

To: Spivey Gap
Miles today: 21.7
Weather: light rain

Food, and to a lesser extent nutrition, is a constant subject of discussion among thru hikers. Our "hiker appetites" have kicked in and as a group, we are eating everything in sight. It is not as if I am constantly hungry. It is just when I eat, I eat a lot. I did the one month weigh in today. My weight on November 15, 2007 when I started heavy workouts to prepare for the hike was 238 lbs. My weight at start of this hike on March 3, 2008 was 230 lbs. My weight at the official weigh in at Uncle Johnny's today was 213 lbs. Somebody should really write a diet book on this subject. Eat as much as you want of whatever you want and lose lots of weight. The catch is that you have to walk up and down mountains 10 hours a day with 40 lbs on your back! Seriously, I was really struggling with my energy levels early on in the hike; I just couldn't eat enough. On an average day, an AT hiker will burn between 4,000 and 6,000 calories. You are carrying roughly 2 lbs of food per day and I can usually wolf down between 2,500 and 3,000 calories per day. You can do the math. The good news is that I have gotten much better at managing my food and eating throughout the day whether I am hungry or not. The result is I am able to hike longer hours and put up bigger miles. The key has been completely going bananas whenever you get to town; pizza, burgers, beer and salads are the items of choice, the more calories the better. My weight loss has moderated a bit and I think I found the right foods for me to go the distance. JUKEBOX
Date: 2008-04-02
From: Spivey Gap

To: Nolichuckey River(Erwin, TN)
Miles today: 11.2
Weather: few clouds

The weather in the spring in the mountains changes dramatically from ridge to ridge, depending upon where the wind is coming from and certainly changes as you gain and lose altitude during the day. I always heard about layering and thought I understood the basic concepts but it has literally taken me weeks to fine tune what I wear day to day to deal with the changing elements. The basic challenge is with moisture. Regardless of the temperature, when you start climbing with 40 lbs on your back, you start sweating a lot. When you crest the ridge you are wet and cold. Best case is you are uncomfortable, worse case is you can get hypothermic. The mistake I made early on was wearing polypro clothing as a base layer. Polypro (wicking shirts like underarmour) is great in warmer weather when the evaporating moisture really cools you down. In cold weather, it just makes you miserable. My solution has been micro-weight wool. Wool keeps its insulation powers when wet and as a bonus, wool really knocks down the thru hiker stink! Polypro will be great when gets warmer, but I will be sticking to the wool for a while. We have completed two trail sections and 32.8 miles over the past two days slackpacking out of Erwin. It has been a good for all of us and has given us a chance to recharge. Tomorrow we plan on doing the 19 mile section just north of Erwin and then its on to Roan Mountain. JUKEBOX ------------------------------
Date: 2008-04-03
From: Nolichuckey River(Erwin, TN)

To: Iron Mountain Gap
Miles today: 19.1
Weather: overcast clouds

Today we did the section north of Erwin up to Iron Mountain Gap. It was 19.1 miles but thanks to a shuttle we could slack pack and end up back at Uncle Johnny's for one last night. I am trying to coordinate with the team our next few days of hiking. We have done huge miles the last couple of days and are kind of beat. Michelle is coming to pick me up for the weekend and do a short stretch of trail with me so that will get me some needed rest and home connection. The rest of the team, Popeye, Lil Mak and our newest member Tupperware are going to head out for short miles tomorrow while I will take a zero day here in Erwin to catch up on some personal business. Michelle is driving up from Roswell and will meet me here tomorrow afternoon. Michelle and I plan to meet the other members of our hiking team for lunch on Saturday. They will move ahead of me after that and I will have to catch up with them next week. By the way, we have been trying to come up with a team name and have been unsuccessful. Any suggestions would be helpful.------------------------------Allow us to help those in need, sell back your spare PocketMail and make some extra pocket money.
Date: 2008-04-04
From: Erwin, TN

To: Banner Elk, NC
Miles today: 0.0

After clocking in 80+ miles in 5 days, I find myself one day ahead of schedule to meet Michelle this weekend. It is a crappy, rainy day so I will zero here and clean up some loose ends including trying to wrap up some tax stuff. Lil Mak, Popeye and Tupperware are heading out this afternoon to do 4 short miles to the Greasy Creek Friendly, another hostel up the trail at Greasy Creek Gap. They also need some rest but they want to make some progress. I hope to catch up with them later next week. JUKEBOX
Date: 2008-04-05
From: Banner Elk, NC

To: Banner Elk, NC
Miles today: 0.0

Michelle picked me up in Erwin late yesterday afternoon and we headed to Banner Elk, NC for a little reconnect time. We plan on doing a hiking a short section of the AT together this weekend but the weather today has been pretty miserable; cold foggy and rainy. So, instead of doing a hike, we thought we would meet Popeye and Lil Mak at Carvers Gap for a little lunch and trail magic. We bought some chicken, donuts, coca cola and beers; all things that thru hikers love. While waiting for the gang at Carvers Gap, we ran into and fed Freebird, Burro, and Nugget but there weren't many hikers out today because of the weather. When Popeye and Lil Mak showed up, they were pretty miserable. They were soaked and cold. After eating lunch, we all decided it would be a good idea to get them back to the place we were staying to dry out. So we headed back to Banner Elk and everyone got dried off and had a chance to shower. After dinner, we all hit the hay pretty early. We will need to get them back to Carvers Gap tomorrow before starting our own hike back at Hughes Gap. JUKEBOX------------------------------Tell your friend about PocketMail and let the savings start rolling in!
Date: 2008-04-06
From: Iron Mountain Gap

To: Hughes Gap
Miles today: 9.2

After dropping off Lil Mak and Popeye at Carvers Gap, Michelle and I parked our car at Hughes Gap and got a shuttle ride over to Iron Mountain Gap from the good folks at Mountain Harbour Hostel. It was a perfect day for hiking; the fog was burning off and it was sunny, in the 50's and getting warmer. We planned on doing about a 9 mile stretch and the terrain was pretty mild. We had one really good climb over Little Rock Knob and the views were spectacular. It was fun giving Michelle a little taste of the trail and she got to meet some cool people. She will head back to the Roswell tomorrow after dropping me off at Hughes Gap and I won't get to see her again until the beginning of next month. It was good that we got to spend a long weekend together. I should be able to put on some big miles (for me) next week and I am excited to get to Virginia. I should be in Damascus, VA by Thursday or Friday. I will be officially ending the part of my hike through both Tennessee and North Carolina. It is both exciting and daunting. I will have over 400 miles of the hike completed but still over 1700 miles to go. I continue looking forward to the new challenges! JUKEBOX------------------------------Have a spare PocketMail laying around, sell it back to us and help those in need.
Date: 2008-04-07
From: Hughes Gap

To: U.S. 19E(Roan Mountain, TN)
Miles today: 18.5
Weather: broken clouds

Wow, today was definitely a day of highs and lows. The lows were early when Michelle dropped me of at Hughes Gap. It is always sad to say goodbye, more acutely so when you know you won't see one another for at least a month. The highs were the perfect weather and the Roan Highlands. Just fantastic views all day including numerous 360 degree, panoramic views. It was also probably one of the more difficult days physically that I have had since the beginning of the trip. Roan Mountain is the last 6000 foot peak I will climb until the White Mountains in New Hampshire and there were several additional peaks in the 5500 foot range. By the time I reached the Mountain Harbour Hostel tonight, I was wiped out. I hiked most of the day with Snoopy. He just graduated from college and is hiking the trail before he enters the working world. It is tough keeping up with the young legs and I can usually only do it for a day or so. I imagine he will be moving ahead in the next few days. Mountain Harbour is a great little hostel with a kitchenette and full bathroom. It is built into a room over a barn and only has 4 bunks so it is not crowded. In the hostel tonight are Thorny and Snoopy. The trail register here shows that Popeye and Lil Mak are about a day ahead so I hope to catch up with them by Damascus at the end of the week. JUKEBOX ------------------------------Allow us to help those in need, sell back your spare PocketMail and make some extra pocket money.
Date: 2008-04-08
From: U.S. 19E(Roan Mountain, TN)

To: Moreland Gap Shelter
Miles today: 17.7
Weather: scattered clouds

A long, hot day as I had my full pack on after several days of hiking with a partially full or "slack" pack. Carrying less weight definitely has its advantages but it limits your flexibility. Having all your gear allows you to stop wherever you want; you aren't as beholden to a preset schedule. It was a warm day and I sweated a lot, but the pack felt good.The coolest thing happened on my hike today. I was walking along the Little Fork Creek as the trail follows the creek for about 300yds. I was just about to turn away from the creek and head up the mountain when a brown flash caught my eye. My first instinct was that it was a muskrat or something but as he popped his head up, there was no mistake, a river otter! I watched him for about 2 minutes before he saw me and bolted away. He was wicked quick and I didn't get a good picture. So I am all jacked up on my otter sighting and I am cruising down the trail and I am just about to step over one of the hundreds of sticks I step over every day when this stick bolts off the trail! It was a big ass snake! I was walking later with Thorny and he asked me what kind of snake it was. I told him that I only saw it for about 3 seconds and during that entire time I was jumping back and screaming like a little girl but it looked to be a rat snake. Seriously, it was not one of my prouder moments. So of course every stick I see for the next 2 miles looks like a snake. The weather is getting warmer and I will have to pay more attention as those little buggers blend in really well!I am tenting outside of the Moreland Gap Shelter tonight and it is just Thorny and I at the shelter. JUKEBOX------------------------------Allow us to help those in need, sell back your spare PocketMail and make some extra pocket money.