morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2007-05-22
From: Mollies Ridge Shelter

To: Fontana Dam, NC
Miles today: 12.4
Weather: scattered clouds

We finally saw our first bear in the Smokies. We were about a mile from the shelter, and we saw him up ahead eating about 10 feet off the trail. We just froze while he continued eating and slowly moved away from the trail. He was fairly small and was making little grunting sounds like our foster dog Chase use to do. We tried to keep in mind the question about what it means if a bear¢s nose is wet (you¢re way too freakin¢ close to the bear!). That was really bad.We then descended from over 4,500 feet down to Fontana Dam at 1,775 feet. It¢s the highest dam east of the Rockies and was built in the 40¢s.One of our first stops was the post office where we got our drop box from Bill (thanks!) and goodie boxes from Becky and Tony, Laura and Glenn and the Simons. We hit the jackpot! We're blown away by all the great stuff everyone sent!Fontan dam is a beautiful area, and we stayed at the Fontana Dam resort.   We are now done with Tennessee and are looking forward to a much needed zero tomorrow!
Date: 2007-05-23
From: Fontana Dam, NC

To: Fontana Dam, NC
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

We had a wonderful zero in Fontana Dam. We did our re-supply shopping in the morning and watched "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" on HBO in the afternoon. The resort is quite nice. It started as the housing for the dam workers in the 40's and was then turned into a resort. Last year it was remodeled and it's pretty nice. We spent a bit more than we wanted to at the restaurant, but it was worth it to have good food rather than junk food in town for a change.This area is full of motorcycles and sports cars. They come here to drive a road called The Dragon, which has 318 turns in 11 miles.
Date: 2007-05-24
From: Fontana Dam, NC

To: Browns Fork Gap 
Miles today: 12.0

After a nice breakfast at the hotel, we climbed about 1,900 feet out of town. The blooming mountain laurel was spectacular -- huge white and pink flowers on both sides of the trail. The smell was incredible and we felt like we were walking in a huge flower garden.We spent the night at the shelter with a nice couple from Atlanta who are section hiking and looking forward to their retirement in two years.
Date: 2007-05-25
From: Browns Fork Gap 

To: Nantahala Outdoor Center 
Miles today: 16.0
Weather: clear sky

Rattlesnake Day!After 9 weeks on the trail, we finally saw two good sized rattlesnakes. The first was about 2 feet off the trail, and he gave us plenty of warning by "rattling away" about 20 feet before we got to him. The rattle is quite loud in the quiet woods. We gave him a wide berth.The second was a few miles later and he was slithering across the side of a hill about 20 yards off the trail. He looked to be about 4-5 feet long. They really are amazing creatures. The hiking today was pretty difficult, with a lot of ups and downs. We're were both pretty beat, so was nice to end at the Nantahala Outdoor Center (N.O.C.). We stayed in a hostel room and caught a shower and a good meal in their restaurant.
Date: 2007-05-26
From: Nantahala Outdoor Center 

To: Burningtown Gap, NC
Miles today: 13.0

We started with a big climb out of the N.O.C. from 1,750 ft to 5,200 ft which took about 3 1/2 hours. It was pretty tough terrain until the final 4 miles of the day and we were beat! I think we were pretty tired from yesterday's hard day. In addition to the mountain laural, the rhododendron is starting to bloom up the mountain. It will be pretty awesome in a couple of weeks.We didn't see any rattlesnakes today, but a hiker coming from the other direction warned us about one on the trail that he passed a mile before. He was gone by the time we got there.We spent the night at a campsite with a father and son from Georgia (we're getting close to our final state!). The son is in his first year of dental school, and the father is waiting for him to graduate so he can buy a beach house! They were great guys and we had a good time.
Date: 2007-05-27
From: Burningtown Gap, NC

To: Winding Stair Gap, NC
Miles today: 15.0
Weather: clear sky

We hit a much needed easy day of hiking. The trail was nice and the ups and downs were pretty minor. There were beautiful views from a stone tower on Wayah Bald, but the valley was a little hazy due to the forest fires in Georgia. We hit a lot of day hikers and section hikers with lots of dogs, so we spent a lot of time chatting!We were a little confused when we hit a spot called Swinging Lick Gap. Someone changed one of the letters in the name (guess which one!) and we had trouble finding it in our hiker's handbook!We spent the night camping in a hollow by a beautiful stream.
Date: 2007-05-28
From: Winding Stair Gap, NC

To: Carter Gap Shelter, NC
Miles today: 15.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Another day of sweet trail! It was fairly easy hiking and the best views of the day came from a firetower on Albert Mountain (5,220 ft). There was a slight haze again which we think is still due to the forest fires in Georgia. We hit a lot of hikers finishing up their hikes for the Memorial Day weekend.At the shelter we met a guy that was going on and on about how he's headed back home to get a job; retired life is just not for him. It sounds like since he retired he's just been cleaning his house. You meet all kinds in the woods! We sort of doubted his story about the foot long grey rat at the shelter. However, the mice sure were active all night. We set up our tent near the shelter and it sounded like a couple of them dive bombed us during the night!
Date: 2007-05-29
From: Carter Gap Shelter, NC

To: Bly Gap, NC
Miles today: 15.0
Weather: scattered clouds

We kept up our streak of seeing a bear in every state. About a mile from the start we saw a mom and two cubs about 50 yards off the trail. The cubs were so small they looked like black dogs. They all heard us and took off farther into the woods.We also saw an interesting display by a grouse. We scared up a mom and babies that were about 15 yards off the trail. The babies flew away, and the mom wobbled around like she had an injury to get our attention. As soon as we got up the trail, she flew normally and was calling out to get the kids back.Because the last re-supply towns we stopped in didn't have any good supermarkets, we're running a bit low on food this leg. We're stuck with Mountain House backpacker freeze dried foods, and their a little short on calories. We're greatful for the care packages we got back at Fontana Dam! This is one leg that when you drop a peanut in the dirt, you pick it up and eat it. Well actually, we've been doing that the whole trip.We spent the night with a happy retiree this time! He's moving from California back to his home state of Utah and fixing up a house for him and his new wife (first wife died of cancer). He seemed like a good guy.
Date: 2007-05-30
From: Bly Gap, NC

To: Hiawassee, Ga
Miles today: 9.0
Weather: broken clouds

We're in Georgia!!!! It's our southern most state of the trip and the last state in our "flip." We spent a lot of time thinking about whether to do the last 67 miles in 4 or 5 days and finally decided on 5. The ups and downs are pretty steep, and there are not a lot of flat sections in Georgia. We're in much better shape and have lighter packs than all the people that start here and head north in March and April, but since we're still on track to finish in Maine by the end of September, we decided to take the extra day. We'll take tomorrow off, hike for 5 days, and then will be looking forward to Sandy and Bill picking us up and driving us back to Virgina. They'll be the first familiar faces we've seen since March!We hiked pretty fast today with the thought of town food on our minds. We went to a restaurant by the hotel at 2:30, ordered off the lunch menu until 3:00, and then ordered off the dinner menu for another hour! Food is good!
Date: 2007-05-31
From: Hiawassee, Ga

To: Hiawassee, GA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

We started our day off with eating most of the morning, continued with eating in the afternoon, and finished with eating all evening. We must look like starving young hikers -- we got carded at diner.We're finally in a town with a great supermarket. We gorged ourselves on fresh berries and good cheese all day. We're in a Holiday Inn Express that is great to hikers. They have washers and dryers on the premises and have free bikes for running around town. That saved us a lot of time on our errands and left us with enough time to enjoy the hot tub and indoor pool in the afternoon. It's a unique experience to be without a car! We end up with a very focused experience in towns of the post office, supermarkets, and laundramats! We end up meeting a lot of the locals.Tomorrow, it's back to the Georgia ups and downs.
Date: 2007-06-01
From: Hiawassee, GA

To: Rocky Mountain, GA
Miles today: 15.5
Weather: scattered clouds

We got back on the trail by 8:30 and it was a very hazy day. Tray Mountain was our biggest climb of the day which is at 4,930 feet. The top of the mountain was incredible with blooming rhododendron and mountain laurel all over. We felt like we were at an outdoor wedding.Our plan was to camp on top of Rocky Mountain, but then the thunderstorms started. We hiked in a heavy downpour for about two hours and continued over the mountain to avoid the lightening. We camped by a nice stream and tried to dry out.
Date: 2007-06-02
From: Rocky Mountain, GA

To: Baggs Creek Gap, GA
Miles today: 16.4

We woke up to a nice morning and put on our wet boots and packs. It¢s only miserable for the first 15 minutes!Georgia is really nice hiking. It is fairly challenging with some steep ups and downs, but we think it gets a tougher reputation than it deserves because people starting here aren¢t in great shape yet, are hiking in the cold March weather, and have a lot of heavy winter gear in their packs. There are some beautiful flat easy sections of trail mixed in with the steep climbs.Our day would have ideally ended at Whitley Gap Shelter, but when we saw it was 1.2 miles off the trail, we decided to bypass it. Our concern was that we were almost out of water and a couple of hikers cautioned us that the next water source wasn¢t too good. It actually turned out to be okay with Bonnie¢s ingenuity in getting water. I told her about one source with the water running down a rock where you couldn¢t get a bottle to fill, but someone formed a rhododendron leaf into a little spout which worked perfectly. At this source, Bonnie formed a leaf into a little pipe so she could get the water running down the crushed stones. We ended up with perfect water. She¢s such a helpless little delicate flower!
Date: 2007-06-03
From: Baggs Creek Gap, GA

To: Slaughter Creek Campsite
Miles today: 6.9

After 4.5 miles, we made it to Neels Gap, which has the Walasi-Yi Center. It¢s a hostel and outfitter where we whipped up a lunch of microwave cheeseburgers, pizza pockets, and beef pot pie! It¢s also the only place where the trail passes through a building.We met an employee at the outfitter who had a yellow lab mix with her that was a really sweet shy dog.   She rescued the dog and it was an incredible story. For days on her way to work, she saw this dog by the road, but she could never get near it. Finally one day, it was on the opposite side of the road and it appeared to be protecting something. Sure enough, the girl and her boyfriend hiked down the side of the road and found the dog had 3 pups. The dog had dug out an area under some rocks and sticks, and formed it into a den. For another few days, the girl and her boyfriend still couldn¢t get near the mom. At one point they left a blanket and the mom eventually pulled it into the den with the pups. Finally, one day the girl managed to get a leash on the mom, and her boyfriend picked it up and it just quit fighting and went limp in his arms. Between her family and friends, she found a home for the mom and all 3 pups. The dog she had at work with her was the smallest of the three pups. There really are some good people in the world!A mile after Neels Gap the thunder started. Since we weren¢t in the mood to get wet after just washing our clothes and getting a shower, we quick set up the tent and called it a day.
Date: 2007-06-04
From: Slaughter Creek Campsite

To: Hawk Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 19.7
Weather: few clouds

The first 12 miles of the day were fairly easy. The final 8 almost killed us!We had to make up miles from yesterday, and it all seemed so easy for a while. Then the climbs and descents started and we barely stumbled into camp! We started hiking at 7:30 a.m. and finished at 6:45 p.m. We were fried!The most memorable thing from the day was a family walking down the trail with a baby in a stroller. They must have had to carry it 50% of the time because it was fairly rocky. When we saw them, they were bouncing down a fairly smooth section; the baby boy was fast asleep!
Date: 2007-06-05
From: Hawk Mountain Shelter

To: Springer Mountain, Georgia
Miles today: 7.6
Weather: overcast clouds

We woke up psyched to finish our southern trek!We had a 6.7 mile hike to the parking lot at the base of Springer Mountain where we met Sandy and Bill. They arrived with sandwiches and Rolling Rock ¢ woo hoo!!!After a happy reunion and quick lunch, we hiked the 0.9 miles together to the top of Springer and the southern terminus of the A.T. We had beautiful views and took lots of pictures on the rock which has a plaque marking the beginning of the trail. The ¢flip¢ portion of our flip-flop is complete!!!!!
Date: 2007-06-06
From: Springer Mountain, Georgia

To: Afton, VA
Miles today: 0.0

We had a nice drive back to Virginia. It's only about 600 miles by car, but it took us 900 miles by trail!It was fun driving back up Rt 81 and looking over to all the places we hiked through on the way down. We can't belive we left way back on March 20. Bonnie and I also got carded again buying a six pack of beer! When the clerk asked me for I.D., I told him that if he's willing to wait 4 1/2 years, I can show him my A.A.R.P. card. He was only mildly amused.
Date: 2007-06-07
From: Afton, VA

To: Afton, VA
Miles today: 0.0

We're spending today and tomorrow at Sandy and Bills. It's so nice to be in a private home and they treat us so well. A few more days here and my name will have to be changed from Starvin' Marvin to Fat Albert.They couldn't believe how different Bonnie looked. She lost 20 pounds since we started our trip and looks really fit. I lost about 5 pounds, but gained most of it back.Today we started to "re-group." We bought Bonnie new boots, shopped for our drop boxes for the next 3 months, and caught up on lots of financial stuff. We ended the day at a picnic at Sandy and Bills with friends and family. The food was awesome!
Date: 2007-06-08
From: Afton, VA

To: Afton, VA
Miles today: 0.0

Our second day off was spent mostly on getting our next 7 drop boxes ready. We also spent way too much time trying to get our SanDisk MP3 player working. After an hour trying to re-format it on our own, and more time spent with tech support, SanDisk decided we needed to send it back for a new one. We have not had the greatest luck with electronics on the trail!We ended the day at a great Mexican restaurant with Sandy and Bill. They are the greatest hosts!Thanks Becky for the awesome care package -- you rock!!!!
Date: 2007-06-09
From: Afton, VA

To: Big Meadows
Miles today: 17.0
Weather: broken clouds

After another nice breakfast by Sandy, Bill drove us back up the trail to the place we started from way back on March 20. It seems like it was just yesterday.We were on the trail by 9:30, and hit trail magic by 11:00! The Jones Mountain Boys (2 great couples and a son) had hot dogs, fruit, snacks, and drinks about 200 yards off the trail. It was great, plus the son did some video of us that he¢s putting up on You-Tube.The trail was really easy today, but since we both have new trail shoes, we spent a lot of time making adjustments. It¢s such a tough decision to change shoes. Bonnie needed to because hers were shot and I wanted to go to a lighter trail shoe for the summer. We may regret it! We spent the night in Big Meadows campsite in Shenandoah National Park. We had a nice hot shower and a steak sandwich at the restaurant.
Date: 2007-06-10
From: Big Meadows

To: Pass Mountain Hut
Miles today: 19.0
Weather: few clouds

We hiked with a guy named Birdman today. He¢s from Maine and is working on his graduate degree in wildlife. He knows just about every bird in the woods from its call. It was fascinating to hike with him ¢ the woods take on a whole new life when you listen to all the birds and can identify them from their call.We hit loads of day hikers today out for a Sunday hike. The terrain was much more difficult than yesterday, with quite a few ups and downs and a lot of rocks. With about 5 miles to go, Bonnie was feeling really weak and sick. She had a fever by the time we got to camp, and just crashed out in the tent. We¢ll have to see how she feels in the morning. Hopefully it¢s a side effect from the minor ear infection she has and she¢ll feel better in the morning. We've been pulling a lot of ticks off ourselves lately and we're always worried about Lyme Disease. Bonnie really toughed it out for those final miles.
Date: 2007-06-11
From: Pass Mountain Hut

To: Gravel Spring Hut
Miles today: 13.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Bonnie felt a little better in the morning, but we cut our mileage back to 13 for the day. The fever was gone, but she wasn¢t feeling real strong.There were a lot of deer on the trail, and we saw one momma bear and two cubs. In addition, there are places in the woods where the caterpillars are doing a lot of damage. You see pieces of leaves all over the trail and hear the caterpillars eating and pooping all day up above (sounds like what I plan to do after we finish the trail). We kept the day easy by stopping at one of the waysides in the park and had their famous blackberry sundaes. We spent the night at a shelter with a guy that had the biggest Chesapeake Bay Retriever we ever saw. His name was Picker and we were really happy he was friendly. We suspect he¢s part horse.
Date: 2007-06-12
From: Gravel Spring Hut

To: Jim and Molly Denton Shelter
Miles today: 18.2
Weather: few clouds

Our shoes are killing us! Bennie¢s got blisters from her new ones, and we¢re both hitting the fronts of our shoes on the steep descents. We¢ll be headed for the outfitter first thing when we get to Harpers Ferry! We finished hiking through Shenandoah National Park today. We¢ll miss it; the trail maintenance is awesome, and it¢s been nice to be able to stop by the campsites for snacks. We¢re now getting close to more congested areas and can hear planes, trains, and cars mostly headed for the D.C. area.The thunderstorms hit just after we got into camp and got set up. It poured for quite a while. We were glad to have a picnic table under a roof at the shelter.
Date: 2007-06-13
From: Jim and Molly Denton Shelter

To: Rod Hollow Shelter
Miles today: 18.3
Weather: scattered clouds

Some days you¢re the pigeon, and some days you¢re the statue.We felt like the statue today. Shortly into the hike, I fell hard going over some wet rocks. There¢s nothing like a 30 pound backpack to really drive you into the ground. I was fortunate to get away with only a cut finger.About a mile after that, we crossed a field with chest high wet grass. We were soaked by the time we got through it. You could barely see the trail through the grass. At least we didn¢t smell any cucumbers.(I guess you need to know the ¢factoid¢ we just read about copperhead snake dens smelling like cucumbers ¢ who knew!).We stayed at a shelter with Mountain Mike, L.T. and Matterhorn. Mountain Mike has a cute little Pekinese mix dog named Pumpkin to whom we gave most of our summer sausage. She wins the prize for the cutest dog on the trail.The thunderstorms hit again after we got into camp.
Date: 2007-06-14
From: Rod Hollow Shelter

To: Bears Den Hostel
Miles today: 10.5
Weather: light rain

We hit the ¢Roller Coaster¢ today. It¢s a series of about ten 500 foot ups and downs in northern Virginia. They were fairly tough, but 500 feet isn¢t that bad after all the 1-2 thousand foot climbs we did down south.The rain from last night continued into this morning. It ended about 3 hours into our morning hike.We planned on stopping by Bears Den Hostel for food re-supply, but we got there around 1:30 and it didn¢t open until 5:00. It turned out to be such a great place that we decided to cut the day short and just stay overnight. We headed down the road to the Horse Shoe Pub, had a couple of beers and a great lunch. We love pubs with dogs inside, and we spent a lot of time talking to the owner about one of the dogs that just had its leg amputated due to cancer. When lunch was finally over, she had her husband drive us the mile up the hill to the hostel. We continue to be amazed by how nice people are to hikers!
Date: 2007-06-15
From: Bears Den Hostel

To: Harpers Ferry, WV
Miles today: 19.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Almost heaven, West Virginia ¢¦Finally, the John Denver song we¢ve been singing on the trail fits the terrain!We¢re into West Virginia, and are finally done with Virginia, which contains 14 of the trail. We had to do 19 miles today because of the short day yesterday, but we ended at a nice Comfort Inn Hotel. Bonnie has some knee swelling, which we¢re hoping is just a result of the long miles this week. After a day off tomorrow, it¢s back to mostly 15 mile days again.
Date: 2007-06-16
From: Harpers Ferry, WV

To: Harpers Ferry, WV
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

We checked into the Appalachian Trail Conservancy office today in Harpers Ferry where they take your picture and add you to the photo album for the year. We are flip-flop hikers number 21 and 22 for 2007. So far, 309 people have come through Harpers Ferry that started at Springer Mtn, GA. It was cool to see a lot of the people in the book that we passed when we were headed south. I bought new trail shoes at the outfitter, and Bonnie ordered new ones on line. I hope these new one work out! Bonnie's knee swelling looks a little better. We'll probably head back out tomorrow, and start with a short day.
Date: 2007-06-17
From: Harpers Ferry, WV

To: Rocky Run Shelter, MD
Miles today: 14.4
Weather: clear sky

The hike started today through the historic district of Harpers Ferry which was pretty cool -- lots of Civil War stuff. We then crossed the Patomic river and said hello to Maryland. We continued up a rail trail along the river, where Bonnie started craving a coke. About a mile later, we came across a cooler of trail magic which was filled with guess what. Her powers freak me out sometimes.We then received our formal welcome into Maryland by a big black snake across the trail! He even picked his head up and looked at us. We were unable to understand what he said.We spent some time with Shadow and Numb Toes, a couple we met while headed south. We ended up at the same shelter as they did, but since we camped up on a ridge by the shelter and they camped right by the shelter, we never even knew they were there.My new trail shoes seem pretty good, and Bon's knees a little better. However, we're going to keep this a pretty easy week.
Date: 2007-06-18
From: Rocky Run Shelter, MD

To: Free State Hostel, MD
Miles today: 15.5

We met a guy on the trail today who's working on his first novel about Peru. He has been living near D.C. so he can do research at the Library of Congress, but got writers block. He decided to come out on the trail to hike and within the first two hours, he sat down by the trail and was able to finish the book! He was quite and interesting guy.It was really hot and humid on the trail today. We're at elevations around only 1,300 feet, and there's alomost no wind. In addition, the caterpillers have eaten away so much of the leaf cover in MD that you're in the sun much of the day. At least it's supposed to cool down a little tonight.We stayed in a really nice hostel which is run by a guy the thru hiked last year. He ran us to town for supplies and we're in a nice air conditioned room for the night. Tomorrow we finish MD and head into PA.