morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2007-03-02
To: snow hike
Miles today: 0.0

Yesterday was a beautiful day. Well, in Washington any day that does not rain is a beautiful day and some of those are too. Kathy and I too a hike up Mt Si. Over night a storm was dumped on Western Washington leaving snow and traffic snarls from Seattle north and, of course, in the mountains. The weatherman promised it would be the last one for the year to leave snow in the lowlands. Maybe.We started our hike a bit late because of the traffic and road conditions. But we pulled into the parking lot for Mt Si and it was beautiful with softly falling snow. I made up a verse for "Oh, What a Beautiful Morning":   There are big flakes of snow softly falling.   There are big flakes of snow softly falling.   The trees are all white.   It's a beautiful sight.   And we'll climb up the trail with allof our might.   Oh, What a beautiful morning...And we started up the trail in a winter wonderland. There was about two inches of snow in the parking lot and as we went up the 3,500 ft in the next four miles it steadily got deeper. On top there was a good foot and a half or more, which was quite clear if one stepped off the packed down trail. The trees were quite covered. Some branches were weighted to the ground leaving a tunnel to walk through on the trail. And bare branches no more than an inch or two in diameter carried tall banners of 7-8 inches of snow. Beautiful, glorious, gorgeous. Words fail. And I left my camera at home. Bummer! Well, at least we saw the beauty even if we could not record it.I was carrying a 25 pound pack - about what I will be carrying on the AT, maybe a couple pounds less but close enough. Even with the trail packed down it seemed more difficult than the last time we went up. Of course I was not carrying 25 pounds then. But the snow did add a bit to the difficulty. Kathy was not feeling particularly well either so we did not set any speed records and I needed a trail mix boost before the end. But we were not as slow as the first time we went up a number of weeks ago. I am only a little sore today. I must be getting stronger. I hope. It was a good conditioning hike.We had a rather cold lunch on top but the sun even came out for a while to add to the beauty and to allow us to see the views too. Then we headed down. I was grateful that Kathy graced me with the luxurious gift of a couple of hand warmer packets. My feet loved the soft snow for the first mile down, as well as the cold. When the snow got thinner on the trail, about half way down, it was more slick and I managed to tumble once. I was careful to relax as I fell and the left knee only tweaked a little bit and is fine today. But I was more careful the rest of the way down. The picture I will try to attach to this journal has snow too. but it is from earlier in the week when we went up Tiger Mountain. Snow did not stick much that day but it still was pretty.
Date: 2007-03-06
To: My Gym
Miles today: 0.0

Washington finally got a little nice weather, not rain, not snow. It was even above 70 degrees today. Amazing. So I have been working out in my gym. My gym is my yard. I have slightly conflicting pleasures in my life, the love of hiking and the love of being out gardening in my yard. I am planning my section hikes for at least the next 4 years to be right after the earliest crops are planted in the spring and before hot weather crops go in and in the fall after early harvestiing but before late harvesting. I grow vegetables, most of them. There are a few things that either do not grow in Washington or are not my favorites but the vast majority of veggies have a home in my garden. (Later in my freezer) I also have cherries, apples, strawberries, grapes, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries and pears. So my corner lot on a cul-de-sac offers me many opportunities to be physically fit just in keeping everything growing. And getting ready to go on the trail also means making certain that everything is in as close to apple-pie order as possible before I leave. Since I just retired there is also a very long list of things both inside and outside that have been put off for years with a promise of "I'll get to that when I retire."Anyway, the last 2&1/2 days have been filled with lots of outside work. I have mowed the lawn, pruned an apple tree, taken out old canes from the raspberry patch, pruned the little red leaf maple tree, cut back and chopped up a lot of overgrown blackberry bushes, tilled the garden beds for peas and potatoes, hauled several wheelbarrow loads of weeds and garden trash to the compost and hauled several wheelbarrow loads of compost to the garden. This is the first bit of weather dry enough to till in the garden and I am a much happier camper with my peas planted. If I truly have timed this right I hope to come home from the AT to peas nearly ready to pick.And if there is not enough to do with the garden, the big windstorm in December took down my neighbor's very large maple tree, much of which I am hauling to my woodshed or (the smaller stuff) boxed kindling to my garage. And Yes, I split my own wood. I don't go to the gym. My yard is my gym. And I have been having quite a workout. It is not exactly geared to trail hiking but it does increase my general strength.So, more specifically geared toward the trail, I put my pack on my back in the afternoon and walked 2&1/2 miles to the Doc office to get my allergy shot and then home again. It was all on pavement with busy traffic and lots of exhaust fumes. My feet were not very happy with the pavement nor my lungs with the exhaust of the cars. The walk was mostly level. I got some rather strange stares from people driving by, to which I smiled back. But it was still exercise with pack on and must have burned a few calories and worked a few muscles.Ah, I look forward to walking trails instead and being in the company of other strange folks shouldering packs. And we won't seem strange to each other - well, not very strange anyway. Or maybe we will just be similarly strange.
Date: 2007-03-10
To: Reservations
Miles today: 0.0

Yeah! I now have my reservations for shelters in the Great Smoky mountains National Park! Since I am starting this year at Fontana Dam, they would not classify me as a thru hiker although I have done the Georgia and North Caorolina sections up to Fontana Dam. The rules say you are not a thru hiker for registration purposes in the park unless you start at least 50 miles before the hike in that year and end up at least 50 miles past the park. I will end up more than 300 miles past the park but that does not classify me as a thru hiker.So, one must register as a section hiker. Section hikers MUST stay in shelters and CANNOT tent. One cannot register as a section hiker for shelters until 30 days from the start date in the Smokies. (A system similar to Mount Rainier's registration for backcountry campsites.) So, I got up this morning at 4:30 in order to call right away when their office opened at 8:00 eastern time. It took me until 6:00 (Pacific time) to get through but all is well. I have the shelter registrations. Yeah!I was somewhat anxious as, if I had not gotten the shelter reservations, I would have had to start after the Smokies, change all my food drops and accomodation reservations elsewhere and planned out another 6 days into Virginia - not impossible to do but rather inconvenient and time consuming and besides, I already had my flight reservation into Asheville.So all is now set. Jeff Hoch will meet me in Asheville on the 9th and take me to the Hike Inn at Fontana Dam. I will have my pack ready to go from the airport and my fuel canister is already at the Hike Inn waiting for me.Once my last prescriptions reach me from the mail order pharmacy the food drop boxes will be ready to weigh at the post office and then take to my friend who will mail them at appropriate times. The request to the Post Office to divert my mail to my son's house while I am gone is already turned in. I have arranged for a house-sitter while I am gone. All that remains is to finish getting the yard and house ready and then to go to Arizona for the birth of my new grandbaby.A new grandbaby, a 400 mile hike - life is good.
Date: 2007-03-29
To: It's a boy!
Miles today: 0.0

Well, today was the day. Matthew David was born at 1:19 in the afternoon. He weighed in at 8 lbs 13 oz and is 20 and a half inches long. He has hair and all the appropriate appendages. He nurses well and is beautiful. Well, his Daddy says he has to be handsome since he is a boy but for grandma he is beautiful.Mother Sara is terrific. But then she looked and acted terrific when she was nine months pregnant. A few hours after the birth she sits in bed and looks like "well, I had a baby today, now what will I do for the rest of the day." Well, maybe she was not quite that spry but pretty close. She is tired and Daddy is proud and Sara is happy with her boys.William, at 18 months, is not too sure about this turn of events, especially when Matthew was being held by Daddy. But Sara and Andrew are both wonderful parents so will help with his adjustment.I was babysitter for William today but now have help with that as Andrew's parents have arrived too. In fact, as we went to the hospital so I and William could see the new baby, they took over and took William back home so I could walk the 3-4 miles back and pretend I did something to prepare for the hike.Hopefully all will be home tomorrow so I can have a week and a half of cuddle time with both boys before leaving for the AT. I will also be blessed in that they are coming to stay with Grandma for about 6 weeks in the summer so I will have even more time to play and love and enjoy both boys. They will also be able to play with their Washington cousins this summer.I am now grandma to four grandchildren. Three boys aged three years, 18 months and a few hours and one girl age five years.I love to hike but I love being grandma too. How blessed am I to have grandchildren and also to be able to hike.
Date: 2007-04-08
To: last prep entry
Miles today: 0.0

This will be my last prep entry as I should be on an airplane on Monday and on the trail on Tuesday. I will miss Sara and Andrew and William and Matthew. Ah, I will miss Matthew's soft baby skin and William's happy smile. I will miss David and Yuki and Hanna and Cai too. I wish I had thought to put their pictures on this journal so I could look at them when I happened upon internet access. And I won't see them until July as they will be going (Yuki and Hanna and Cai) to Japan for a visit too.Yet I am also very full of excited anticipation to be on the trail. I sprayed my clothes to deter the bugs tonight and also packed my box of clean clothes for the plane for Linda to give me when she picks me up at the end of my hike.For those of you who are following my hike by this journal please remember not to get worried when I do not send something every day. I will be dependent upon finding internet access to send journal updates. There may be possibilities to do so after 3, 6 and definitely after 10 days. I will be writing on paper each day and transfer to internet entries whenever possible. So, DON'T WORRY!All the stretch of the AT which I am hiking has had the coldest start to April on record with a big storm, high winds, lots of snow even at lower elevations and night time temps in the single digits. However the weather is turning somewhat warmer as I begin so I lucked out and missed all that cold. One never knows what the weather will be on the AT and at this time of year it can go from 85 to single digits in a day. Irregardless, I am just very, very eager to be out on the trail.I will celebrate the Easter season, if not Easter Day, in a new way going in and out of springtime as I go up and down the mountain trail. There will be new life to greet me in each new day and I will give thanks for the taste of resurrection seen in the budding trees and opening flowers and the release of snow and ice to new growth and sunshine. Thanks be to God!
Date: 2007-04-09
To: At Hike Inn
Miles today: 0.0

Hooray! I am at the Hike Inn. Tommorrow morning just before 7:00 Jeff Hoch will take me to Fontana Dam and I will begin hiking. I am excited tp be hiking. The flights went well today - just long but no mishaps and the pack also arrived so all is well and ready to go. Nancy Hoch picked me u0p at the airport in Asheveille and we had a delightful time chatting away on the drive to the Hike Inn.Many thanks to Andrew's parents for providing a nice bed in their home closer to the Tucson airport and for getting up at 3:00 AM to go to my 5:00 AM flight.It was hard to say good-by to Sara and Andrew and their little guys, William and Matthew. There have been many mixed emotions - excitement at being "almost" on the trail and sadness of good-bys. I don't even know where Sara and Andrew will be by the time I complete my hike except that it will be different than where they are now.I pray for all my family to be safe wherever they are - AZ, WA, Japan - while I am on the trail and I pray for safe and sane hiking for me too.But in spite of sadness at good-bys, I am excited!
Date: 2007-04-09
To: Pastor on the Trail
Miles today: 0.0

A word about a pastor on the trail. I do not want other hikers to freak out about me being a "Pastor." I am not an in your face sort of Pastor. There are many different people on the trail with many different religious views as well as from all walks of life.I will not be "pushing" my views of faith on anyone. Actually, I firmly believe that God loves and cares for each person regardless of their religious views and I am content to let God be at work in each person's life in God's own fashion, not mine.That said, I am a pastor. I do carry a pocket New Testament with the Psalms with me. I also carry two copies of Holden Evening Prayer and will sing that service on the weekends or as requested, by ,myself or with others. I have done so before on the AT and on other trails. Occassionally others join in. So far no one has minded and there have been times others who did not wish to participate have told me afterwards that it was very beautiful and they liked to hear me sing. I cannot take credit for the music but Marty Haugen does write beautiful music and Holden Evening Prayer was written to be sung in the mountains at Holden Village in Washington State.So - I am a non-pushy pastor who carries a New Testament and sings and I also have ears to listen but I entrust myself and my fellow hikers to God's care. That is enough.Oh, and when on the AT before I sang a blessing on those whom I got to know when our ways parted. The Jewish young man also appreciated that particular blessing (God's Great Family)May we all hike safely in God's beautiful creatiion and know the love of God.
Date: 2007-04-10
From: Fontana Dam

To: Russel Field Shelter
Miles today: 13.1
Weather: few clouds

Well, the good news is I covered the miles to my reserved shelter just fine. The bad news is I got blisters on both my heels on the first day of hiking. Oh well, it is not like that has never happened before.It was very cold with frost on the ground this morning even at Fontana Dam. It gradually warmed up to a high of 54 or so but it will be cold tonight.I got up to Shuckstack mountain - 4 miles, in 2&1/2 hours. I climbed the tower at Shuckstack. I am not particularly afraid of heights but those stairs were old and it went up rather high so I was very cautious.I actually passed a couple of hikers - Sailor and a day hiker. Some also passed me - Autumn Joy (a young woman hiker who was planning on a 22 mile day), Carpenter, Ghetto Blaster, Crazy Bear and a very young kid named Spence. For those of you who do not know, AT hikers often go by trail names, not their real names - you know already that I am Medicare Pastor.There are 4 of us at Russel Field shelter and probalby 20+ at the last one, Mollies Ridge - glad I came to this one. I also met the ridge runner, Jim, who was very nice. Tonight at our shelter are Boneless (another woman), M&M, Handyman and Tex.It is 6:45 and after a trip to the woods and hanging my bear bag I am headed for my warm sleeping bag. Hiker midnight is at 9:00 but I will be turning in long before that
Date: 2007-04-11
From: Russel Field Shelter

To: Siler Bald Shelter
Miles today: 14.7
Weather: light rain

Today can be described as WINDY! cold and wet. In the night the wind started. It sounded like a freight train and then it continued like banshees. We knew it was coming and indeed it did. I was the first one up in the morning, trying to get an early start to the day. I found a place beside the shelter outside of most of the wind and boiled the water for my oatmeal. I got things packed up and headed out at about 8:00.The temp was about 40 degrees and the wind was at least 40 miles an hour with gusts strong enough to knock you over if hiking poles were not firmly planted for extra support. Even with the poles I got knocked sideways off the trail at least 4 times.I learned that Rhododendrons are your friend. They make a very nice windbreak. Leafless trees do not. And open areas with grass on the top of Rocky Top and Thunderhead mountains were open- well, open to the wind, not the views as I was hiking in a cloud most of the day - a wet cloud.Handyman and M&M caught up with me just before the next shelter about 1:30-ish for a late lunch. Boneless and Tex straggled in a bit later. In weather like today's shelters are very nice. One is not supposed to eat in the shelters but we all did. The alternative was being blown apart and doused with rain at the same time. All those I stayed with the night before decided not to go on to the next shelter. I wanted to keep to my schedule - shelter reservations being one factor and a plane to catch in Roanoke, VA on May 14th being another factor. So, after fortifying myself with lunch I set out for the next five miles or so. And it rained and blew and hailed. But I got there and I got dinner and I got dry.There were 5 of us at Siler's Bald: David, a youngish thru hiker, Dave, a small section hiker maybe my age and a couple of newlyweds on a short backpack.Safe and warm in my sleeping bag I played footsie with myself until my feet warmed up and then got some sleep while the wind howled and rain beat on the metal roof. I was very glad we were all inside.
Date: 2007-04-13
From: Newfound Gap and Gatlinburg

To: Pecks Corner Shelter
Miles today: 10.4
Weather: broken clouds

Wonderful day!I hitched a ride back to Newfound Gap. Interesting experience. It was my first time ever hitching with my thumb out. It was rather discouragiing to see big cars with very few peoople in them zoom by. Glad I don't have to hitch hike much in my life. But it was really not long - only ten minutes or so and a nice family from Cincinnati in a van gave me a ride. They were going to hike up to Alum Cave where Sara and I hiked three years ago while we were in the Smokeys. We chatted a bit and the driver dropped his family off at their trail head and took me all the way to Newfound Gap. It was a nice piece of trail magic for me.It was very cold and windy at Newfound Gap - 34 degrees at 9:15 AM. Lots of day hikers were out going to Mt LeConte and Charlies Bunion. But hiking while carrying a pack is the great warmer upper. Soon I had to shed the down jacket. Just before Charlies Bunion it started to rain so I had to put on rain gear and pack cover.Charlies Bunion had terific views even with clouds and a bit of haze. I chatted with some day hikers and had a snack bar and some GORP. Going by Ice Water Spring shelter the trail was just ice so I picked my way around it in the trees. (Actually I forgot to say it was like that coming down from Clingman's Dome too.)The rain was brief and the temp actually got up to 50. The views today were fantastic. Much of the hiking was along a ridge and to the right was North Carolina and to the left was Tennessee. The ridge top was only 6-10 ft wide with precipitous drops on each side into each state. Most of the time there were plenty of bushes and trees so you would not go far if you happened to fall.I met G Smurf (young girl), Lala, (young guy) and Paloma (young girl)- all 20 somethings. I had seen G Smurf's journal before I left so it felt like I knew her. They are all very fast hikers doing long miles each day so this was probably the only time I will see them. We chatted a bit. She has a couple of friends who are thinking of becoming pastors in the ELCA but one may switch to Episcopalian for reasons people at Resurrection would understand. What a shame. We both did enjoy the chat though, I think.I am staying at Peck's Corner Shelter tonight - pretty full Shelter: Genesis, Mate, Papa Bear, Ferrell, 3rd time's a charm, Doodles, Handyman, M&M, Peer Pride, Shalom, Coach, maybe someone else - I lost track. - Oh, and also a young ridge runner.Today was a wonderful day but tomorrow may bring rain.
Date: 2007-04-14
From: Pecks Corner Shelter

To: Cosby Knob Shelter
Miles today: 12.9
Weather: overcast clouds

I got up early today and was Superwoman on the trail!. Amazing! I am hiking really well and the body feels pretty good about it too. My left knee speaks to me going downhill and my feet scream while doing same but all in all it feels really good to be hikiing and making good time too.We knew the forecast was for rain and the skies were threatening all day. The wind picked up again to gusts of 40-50 miles an hour according to the weatherman on some radio someone had.Papa Bear and Ferell started about 20 minutes before me. I hiked to the next shelter (5 miles) and made better than 2 miles an hour even with a couple good uphills on the way. I am working on a nice smooth even pace uphill. After catching Papa Bear and Ferrell at the shelter and having a nice snack and water break I took off again and made almost as good time for the next 7 miles. But the feet were screaming at the rocky downhills.It was pretty windy but the rain held off except for a few spits here and there. Interesting - on one part of the trail the wind was blowing hard and I noticed what looked like the ground moving beside the trail. The wind was trying to blow a big fir over. It was running into other trees and not going over but all the roots on the trail side of the tree were lifting up off the ground about a foot at every strong gust and then settling back down when the gust died down.Many beautiful views today even with the Washington type cloudy weather And the rain held off until EVERYONE made it to the shelter - except for a new addition to the crew - Batman (He is from a town called Bat Cave North Carolina. We were all rather glad to be in the shelter as the rain did start pouring and the wind continued to howl.Coach carries a travel guitar with him on the trail - a country music singer who sings some every night and has about 4 young girls who like hiking with him and learning guitar too and singing. David, who I met at Siler Bald was here too.We have had thunder and lightning while here in the shelter too. Tomorrow may bring more rain and wind.