morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2007-01-30
To: Dentist
Miles today: 0.0

Well I went to the dentist today and I've got a couple of small things to take care of there... I definately want to get all fixed up before the hike. It would really suck to have to deal with a tooth ache on the trail. As if the elements and the strain on your body wouldn't be enough. Anyways... So I'm getting really anxious lately. I really want to get on the trail ASAP ! But I know I can't until April. My Mom has made known her plans to hike to Neels Gap with me. I think it will be really nice to hike with my Mom for a few days. As long as she leaves the naked baby pictures at home that is. Seriously though, she has wanted to do that section of the AT for a while now. Her and I tossed it around in our head for a few years and then one day I just decided we would do the hike but I would keep going north for five more months. We'll have a blast I'm sure. I'm trying to get some of my friends to meet me somewhere along the trail. I've gotten a couple of close buddies to show a genuine interest in meeting me. I think my brother is going to meet me in VA and do SNP with me. That will be awesome. And I would like to see my family and girlfriend at katahdin. That would be the ultimate ending for my ultimate adventure. Either way it goes down I'm having a good time on the trail even if I have to talk to a pinecone all day long. Not that talking to pinecones is a bad thing really. I'm sure they can carry on a perfectly intelligent conversation right ? I know I will have plenty of my fellow smelly hikers to talk to, which will be nice because I will be smelly too. If we agree on and have nothing in common except one thing it will be that we all smell like an old sock at the end of the day. I can't wait !I'm beginning to ramble on about nothing now so I'm going to go and make some spare wind screens for my Trangia stove. Sweet !Laters!
Date: 2007-03-05
To: Home
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Well my last day of work was a couple of days ago. I told most everyone what I was doing and it was very well recieved. Of course there are always a few who don't understand or agree with such a decision but oh well. I'm really going to miss the people I've worked with for the past two and a half years. I'm really ready to get hiking though. I would like to just pack up and slip out of my back door and get going. Just disappear. But I can't just disappear, I've got too much lined up this month. My 21st birthday, two weddings, and a party or two. The excitement is really building up. I don't have butterflies yet but I'm sure they're on their way. I've just got to get my maildrops in order and a couple of other miscellaneous items from the local outfitter and I'm ready for take off. I can't wait. It's just after 1 A.M so i'm going to bed.See yall lata'BigShanty
Date: 2007-03-09
To: Home
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Well I saw that new movie "300" about the battle that occured in Sparta like a gazillion years ago. Anyways It was AWESOME ! Go see it, really I encourage you to see it especially while it's in theatres. I left the theatre ready to don a shield and spear and slay all that represents evil and tyranny. HAHA.....Enough about that. All I have left to do is shop for food to put in my maildrops. I've put off buying boxes for long enough now lets see how long it takes me to buy food. Got my REI divedend in the mail recently. I was supprised at how much we spent on gear this year. But it's all worth it. Hopefully it all holds up under the conditions I'll experience out there. I'll let you know.Tomorrow night my friends and I are going to celebrate my 21st birthday. OH YEAH! I'm excited. We are going out to a local pub about 11 P.M. and just hang out and shoot pool until 12:01 rolls around and then I'm ordering my first legal brew. Then another, and another, maybe another, and maybe one more after that, and why not keep on going one more time, ah I'm losing count and conciousness... you get the drift. It's my 21st so I can't see why not. Everyone remembers their 21st birthday... well maybe some of you don't but hey ! That's what it's about. I'll have a DD of course so no one get your knickers in a twist. I'll tell you all about it soon.Once again I'm rambling aimlessly so I'm going to go stare at that black square thing that rests on the wall for a while. Laters
Date: 2007-03-18
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

   Alright... It's been just over a week since my last entry. I turned 21 last weekend and it was an absolute blast. I had my good friends at my party and I had such a great time with them. Thanks to my friends, I know what an "Irish Car Bomb" is. So yeah I survived my birthday party pretty much unscathed.   Yesterday I witnessed one of the scariest things in my life. One of my best buddies got "99 to life".... HE GOT MARRIED ! I'm so happy for him and his beautiful bride. The wedding was absolutely beautiful. No one tripped or passed out at the altar. No cell phone rang. It was a perfect union of two very special people. Adam & Angela if you guys read this I wish you a happy life full of love, compassion, and understanding. May God's blessings ride with you into the horizon.    Enough of that.... ehem. I went to the local outfitter today and bought new boots and a new pot. Here I am two weeks from departure and I'm buying new boots and a new pot. Now I have to break in these boots and make a new wind screen for my stove/pot combo. Jeez it all seems to be too much. On top of all this I haven't bought a single thing for my maildrops yet. Not one thing. I bought the boxes but have yet to fill them with anything. I think I'll get all that schmoo taken care of tomorrow. I'm going to Florida in two days with my riding buddy to shred the mountain bike trails at Alafia. We've never been there but I'm sure we'll have a blast. I just hope I don't break anything.Gotta' Go !Peace
Date: 2007-03-31
To: Home
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Tomorrow is the big day. Many days and nights this great adventure has played heavily on my mind. I am very blessed to be able to make this a reality. I have just about everything in order and I'm confident. No butterflies yet i'm suprised but i'm sure tomorrow is another story. From this point forward my Mother will be transcribing my journals. I have complete faith in her abilities to handle this type of thing. Wish me luck b/c I'm going to need all I can get. A significant part of a man dies as he lives. Tomorrow I walk into the wilderness to rediscover all that has been hidden.Tyler
Date: 2007-04-01
From: Home

To: Springer Mt. to Hawk Shelter
Miles today: 7.6

Well, the Odyssey of 2007 has begun...in grand fashion I might add. In the past five years, I have been lucky enough (or blessed is a better word) to never hit rain while hiking or backpacking. So, it's only fitting that I start my AT thru-hike with a downpour. We left the house this morning around 8am, went to Cracker Barrell in Canton for breakfast, then on to Springer Mt by 11am. My mom, dad & I set off for the summit from the parking lot which is 0.9 miles north of hte AT. We made good time to summit and took a few pics. I met ManySleeps, the caretaker on the summit. What an interesting fellow he is. I also met "Torgua" - he's a pretty cool guy, old enough to be my dad I'm sure. He said he's from CA thru-hiking as well. I hope we see more of each other. I also met two other guys from Ohio. One is thru-hiking & his buddy is just out for a ocuple of weeks. Their names escape my tired mind right now but I'm sure I'll be seeing more of them. My mom & I headed north after some tearful goodbyes at the parking lot. I love my dad & I'm going to miss him bad! We made some good time to Hawk Mt. Shelter where we came upon Tent City! There has to be 30 or more tents here tonight. We have a really nice spot picked out though. My mom set her tent up all by herself! Woohoo mom! She learned how to pump water today too. I'm proud of her! Oh, I almost forgot, I met "Circadian" from Connecticut at the water source this evening. He seems like a pretty cool dude as well. We are all in good spirits and faily dry enough (even though it poured all day. My feet are really hurting which has me concerned but oh well...too late now! It's gettin late, almost 8:30 hahaha so I'm going 2 bed.
Date: 2007-04-02
From: Hawk Shelter

To: Gooch Mt. Shelter
Miles today: 7.3

We woke around 7:45 this morning to the sound of heavy rain. Maybe 10 minutes later, my mom & I got up and the rain stopped for good. We made good time to Gooch Mt. Shelter where we found all of the designated campsites taken, but we found a nice little campsite on a slight gradient. When I say slight gradient, I mean we are both stuffed into the bottom half of our tents - but it's ok. We got here around 3:30pm and we had time to push on but I don't want to push her or myself any harder than needed. It's still too early in the game to strain anything. Besides, my feet are bothering me a decent amount all day, even since I started yesterday. No hot-spots or blisters. The pain feels like my feet are being torn apart longways and they are about to tear right behind the balls of my feet. My arches hurt too. I am not really worried right now. I hope & predict the pain will subside soon. As soon as my feet, legs & back become used to it I'll be copasetic. Aside from the foot pain, the day was awesome. The climbs were pretty brutal as were the descents but they were tolerable as they offered amazing views. I couldn't get my camera to do them justice so I didn't bother. Maybe tomorrow will yield some picture worthy vistas. We have almost 12 miles to do tomorrow so I hope I'm in good spirits. I've done more than that in a day but with the quirky condition of my feet, we'll see.NO TIMES LIKE GOOD TIMES!BigShanty
Date: 2007-04-03
From: Gooch Mt. Shelter

To: Woods Hole Shelter
Miles today: 11.9
Weather: broken clouds

We woke up early today & got packed up & out by 6:52am We hiked 1.7 miles to Gooches Gap and ate beakfast at the road crossing. Good company on an absolutely beautiful trail! We hiked with Cargo and Rob (who is now BigBy - pronounced Big B). We went through Woody Gap around 10am and pushed on through the Blood Mountain Wilderness. The trail was rough with many ups & downs. All of them steep for the most part. Amazing views just north of Woody Gap. It got pretty hot today due to the relentless sun. The top of my bald head is now burnt! I can't tell if my arms & legs are burnt because of all the dust on them. I can't wait for some leaf cover to give us break from the sun. Well I take that back because then the leaves will block the breeze too. The shelter is nice - very clean & tidy. Tonight we had a very small thunderstorm come rolling in while everyone was cooking dinner. It lasted 30 minues or so then gave us an AMAZING rainbow that went from the bottom of the adjacent valley over Blood Mountain & disappeared. It ended probably 500 yds away which is the closest I've been to a rainbow. There are probably 15 of us at the shelter tonight. We all hung out for a while and talked & told jokes. BigBy was named when he was wearing his fanny pack. He asked me if "this would throw off his game with the trail chicks". I told him "no, I think it's big ballin." It stuck! I'm not sure if he likes it or not but everyone else tonight loved it. Tomorrow is over Blood Mt early then into Neels Gap where I go on alone. I will really miss hiking with my mom. Shes been the coolest person on the trail.BigShanty
Date: 2007-04-04
From: Woods Hole Shelter

To: Walasi-Yi Hostel @ Neels Gap
Miles today: 3.7
Weather: overcast clouds

There was a brutal thunderstorm last night. Around 1am, a HAIR-RAISING thunderstorm pummelled everyone until 4am. I have never been so scared in my life! Thunder & lightning were awful but the wind & rain were ridiculous! I never prayed harder in my life than I did that night. My mom was tenting next to my tent and we were both holding on for dear life. Everyone was awake about 2:30am when a ball of ligtning struck about 200 yds away and it was one of the loudest bangs in my life! When it happened, I let out this loud WooHoo - it was hard to find the humor in it but we did. We woke up at 6am to get going over Blood Mt. The climb wasn't bad but the descent was. It all would have been worth it if we would have had a view. But due to the clouds & fog, we had no view. We got in to Neels Gap around 9am and I got a bunk at the hostel & a much needed shower, along with doing some laundry. My dad, brother & dog showed up around 10am to pick up my mom and dad brought 10 hot biscuits from Chik-Fil-A. We passed them out to some of the guys we knew & we all gobbled them up. My dad is a real trail angel He brought my resupply and some apples & oranges fo the gang. It was sad seeing my mom leave but life is calling & she has no choice. I'm going to miss her. She is such a good hiker. I love you mom! After they all left, dinner rolled around and we had some more trail magic...2 burgers, chips & sweet tea is what I got but it was AYCE (all you can eat). After that, some hikers had a buddy show up & go on a beer run. We all had Guiness, Coors, and Sierra Nevada. We had a couple o'beers & a damn good time.I'M LOVIN IT!BigShanty 2007
Date: 2007-04-05
From: Walasi-Yi Hostel @ Neels Gap

To: Low Gap Shelter
Miles today: 11.5
Weather: overcast clouds

Good day of hiking. Hooked up with Dan & Dave pretty early and made good time to the shelter. We were the 1st ones there so we got spots in the shelter. This is the 1st shelter I've stayed in yet because I tented every night next to my mom. I missed her today but nothing I can do ya know? We named Dan "Little Spoon" and Dave "Big Spoon" because they're hiking together but I don't think it suits them too well. Dan & Dave are both carrying 20 lbs. each so it's hard staying with them but I manage well. "Sir Privy Winks" is pitching his hammock over a stream about 4' off the ground because he can't seem to spot all the other good trees around nearby. It's supposed to be in the mid 20's tonight so I don't think he'll be very pleased with that at all but we'll see. It's BigBy, Cargo, Ben, Dan, Dave and myself and 2 other guys we don't know in the shelter tonight. There are a lot of people tenting around nearby & some boy scouts up on the ridge. The wind is howling & it's COLD but the shelter is pretty tucked away and I think we'll be fine. We met Elizabeth tonight at the shelter. She is a pretty cool chick. We all invited Elizabeth into the shelter to play cards for a bit. We had some fun playing a couple of rounds of hearts and then it got cold so we headed for the sleeping bags around 7:30. Early I know but it's freezing already. Going to bed."IT ALL COMPILES DOWN TO THE SAME BYTE CODE ANYWAY"BigShanty
Date: 2007-04-06
From: Low Gap Shelter

To: Cheese Factory Campsite
Miles today: 13.0

Woke up just after 7am. It was COLD as hell! Around 25 degrees. As I was waking up, Elizabeth was hiking out so she got up early. The "5 Guy" crew which include myself pulled out around 8:30am. We hiked 7.6 miles in 3 hours so we were smoking today! We pulled into the Blue Mt. Shelter to eat lunch before heading on. We renamed Cargo. He is now "ByteCode" because he's some kind of software guru. Dave keeps such a badass pace all day so I made the comment "he's like a mousewheel" and it stuck. So Dave is now MouseWheel or Wheel for short. Dan doesn't mind being called Little Spoon anymore. We have unofficially named Ben "WhiteLightnin". We don't know if it will stick or not. I hope so. We covered some of the most beautiful trail today. But it was also the most brutal. It was the rockiest treadway so far and the worst descent as seen so far. The trail was very rocky all day but descending into Unicoi Gap and ascending Rocky Mt, I got a great view of Mount Yonah. Some of the fondest memories of my teenage years are of me & my friend Adam taking a day hike to the summit. Adam, if you read this...I've been looking at Yonah for 2 days and missing you since I left. It's supposed to get down to 22 degrees tonight so we're all in bed at 7:15pm. It's a very crowded campsite tonight. Hope we all don't freeze! Robo just got in around 7:40pm so it's good to see he made it. He a friggin hoot man! Good night....WE ARE IN FOR A COLD ONE!BigShanty
Date: 2007-04-07
From: Cheese Factory Campsite

To: Hiawassee Inn
Miles today: 12.5
Weather: broken clouds

Woke up around 7:30am to 9 degree temps but with the winds we had -10! We pushed hard into Dicks Creek Gap which took us into Hiawassee, GA. The "5 Guy" crew needed to pull off for a day so we arranged for a place while at Addis Gap. We got a decent room at the Hiawassee Inn for $15 a head per night. We got here & headed to Daniels Steak House for an AYCE (all you can eat) fried chicken dinner. We all slammed more then our fare share of food. The climb up Kelly Knob was very hard. We all made it though. We all went to the gas station in the parking lot to buy beer. Since tomorrow is Easter Sunday, we are stocking up on beer tonight. BigBy & I bought $45 in beer. We have over 18 Guiness & Heineken to slip between us. Life is good! We are warm, dry, full bellies, and we have beer. That is all a hiker needs to survive. Oh, and we also got some laundry done tonight so we don't blow each other away with the "hiker stench" which is nothing to take lightly. Somehow a hiker manages to prodce a putrid stench second only to hot trash. Even then hot trash isn't all that bad when you pair 2 or more of us together. We hitched into Hiawassee in the back of a truck so thank God we didn't have to smell each other. It would have been deadly! Time to catch up on some sleep. I haven't slept since I started this thing. See ya'll tomorrow.BigShanty
Date: 2007-04-08
From: Hiawassee Inn

To: Hiawassee Inn
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: few clouds

Woke up around 8am. I slept like a baby last night. It is nice to sleep in a soft bed & catch up on sleep. We all went to Ingles around 11am to resupply for the next section. All that food was almost too much to handle. I bought some good food for the next section and some olive oil to up the calorie count. I have been lacking calories every day for the last week. I've lost some weight but it's all coming along fine. Hopefully I won't lose as much with all this olive oil in my diet. My feet are awesome now & I hope they stay that way. A lot of hikers are having a lot of problems with blisters & such. After we resupplied at the store we headed for Huddle House. We all got greasy burgers & breakfast combos & then headed for the room. Around 11am we started drinking the rest of our beer & hanging out with other thru-hikers. We had a blast! We went to the same AYCE restaurant around 6pm & had a damn good dinner. After that we all came back to the room & got packed up for tomorrow. I called some people from ByteCodes phone and it was good to hear from Adam & Angela. I talked to my parents and it was good to hear that they were doing good as well. My brother picked up the phone for a minute & it was nice to hear his voice for that short moment. I miss my family but it's something I'll have to deal with. Tomorrow I hike into North Carolina hopefully so I say goodbye to my home state. Georgia has been brutal but an honor. I will miss my homeland all the while...BigShanty
Date: 2007-04-09
From: Hiawassee Inn

To: Muskrat Creek Shelter
Miles today: 11.6
Weather: overcast clouds

Got going this morning & took care of town chores. Stopped by Ingles for donuts & milk for breakfast. Got a cramped hitch out of town in some guys van half full of childs toys & thru-hikers. We started hiking around 10:30. The trail today was brutal. Up, up, up & up some more! I was off my game a little bit today. We made it to some gap today and ran into "Murdock", "Grizzle", and "ChurchMouse". They dubbed our 5 man tean the "PainTrain". I like it! We crossed into North Carolina today and we all thought that the terain would even out a little. Boy were we wrong! We went straight friggin up a couple of times before we were all said and done. We got to Muskrat Creek Shelter totally gassed. I ate a box of Tuna Helper with 10 oz of tuna and I added a nice sized dollop of olive oil for fat and calories. I'm going to miss Georgia greatly but I'm excited about all that lay ahead more. Good company beside the campfire tonight. Warmest campfire in a while too. Probably gonna be cold again tonight. I'm goin to bed.GOODBYE GA, HELLO NC!BigShanty
Date: 2007-04-10
From: Muskrat Creek Shelter

To: Carter Gap Shelter
Miles today: 12.5
Weather: light rain

Woke up about 7am to 15 degree temps. No wind though so it wasn't too bad. Didn't want to cook grits this morning so I ate my Kingsize Snickers which was frozen solid but tasty. BigBy & Bytecode left before MouseWheel (who use to be BigSpoon), LittleSpoon & I did. We caught them at Deep Gap not long after they got there. Boy, North Carolina sure does know how to make a trail enjoyable! No steep straight ups, no unreal downs. The trail today was the most enjoyable stretch of the A.T. yet. The "PainTrain" was cookin with gas all day. We had an afternoon rest at Beech Gap after filling up on water. We were the first to Carter Gap Shelter & we sprawled out our bags so we got the shelter for the night. We went over Standing Indian Mountain today within .02 miles from the top. We should have gone up there we found out when Murdock & Grizzle rolled into the shelter for a minute. They said the summit view was amazing. One day I'll go back. Well, it's 7pm & it's already cold so I'm going to bed.1ST FULL DAY IN N.C.....BITCHIN!Big Shanty
Date: 2007-04-11
From: Carter Gap Shelter

To: Franklin, NC
Miles today: 16.0
Weather: light rain

Woke up this monring around 3am briefly due to the rain that had just started falling. Woke up again at 7am to get moving for the day. The rain was spotty at the shelter but it was about 38 degrees and foggy as hell. We all got hiking around 8:15am or so. The trail was absolutely beautiful but extremely technical. After about 6 miles or so we came upon Albert Mt. I would rather eat glass than to climb that thing again! It was so foggy that the visibility was down to about 20 ft. It was windy as hell and around 35 degrees up there. On top of it all, I was soaking wet and stayed that way all day. We ate lunch at Big Spring Shelter and then pushed on to Rock Gap Shelter. We made really good time today all the way here so we figured we would pull the last 4 miles into Winding Stair Gap where US64 runs 10 miles to Franklin, NC. It took us probably an hour to get a hitch because it was raining & all but we finaly got a hitch. 8 hikers plus gear in the back of a lowered Chevy S-10 pickup. This thing should have popped! But it held up all the way to Franklin. We got a room for the 5 members of the "PainTrain" and then headed across the street to Pizza Hut. We put down some pizza and got a couple of beers to take back to the room. OMG! We got back to the room where all our wet gear was laid out and the smell could have knocked a buzzard off a gutwagon! Thru-hikers STINK! We watched tv for a couple of hours and watched the rain outside then went to bed. I'm glad it all worked out for us today!Oh, and we broke 100 miles today...woohoo!BigShanty