morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2008-03-16
From: Stecoah Gap/Robbinsville, NC

To: Fontana Dam, NC 
Miles today: 14.0
Weather: clear sky

Today's hike had a little bit of everything. There were a lot of ups and downs with gradual grades in both directions. There were a couple of decent climbs that really beat me up and the long downs are getting to Dad. Imagine going down hill for 2 hours or stair climbing for 2 hours that is what we encountered today. I should have spent some time @ the gym with Johnny Fontaine on the Arc Trainer. It would have prevented me from having these pudding legs and jello belly. It's a heck of a lot easier getting out of shape then it is getting into shape. When I get back I should be an expert in both. Then I will write that book...training for the trailWe met a guy named John out there today doing maintenance on his stretch of the trail but saw no other hikers. There was no wildlife out there today either. The weather was great 50 degrees and sunny! NO RAIN... HooRAh! We will be back at it hard tomorrow after we pick up our mail drop. We are going to take what we need for the week and forward the rest to a hostel on the other side of the Smokies. We plan on being there on Saturday night. Covered the 14 miles in 7 hours. Start of week 3 tomorrow!lata
Date: 2008-03-17
From: Fontana Dam, NC 

To: Mollies Ridge Shelter
Miles today: 12.4
Weather: overcast clouds

First day of week 3...Picked up our mail drop. Headed into the Smokies without much cell reception. We learned quickly that re-supply day is not always going to be fun. We only took 1/2 of our shipment with us and sent the rest forward to a hiker hostel just north of the smokies. Even after doing that our packs are heavy again. The hike was 5 hours of straight uphill and very boring. Not much to look at and no wildlife. We did see about a dozen or so spring breakers out exploring.
Date: 2008-03-18
From: Mollies Ridge Shelter

To: Derrick Knob Shelter
Miles today: 11.7
Weather: overcast clouds

Long, tough day. The Smokies have a lot of elevation changes. Gone from 1,800' to 5,527' with a lot of ups and downs since yesterday. Clingmans Dome is just in front of us. Second highest peak in the east at 6,643! Last night at the shelter a group of five "BREW HIKERS" strolled in late (I will refer to them as that because it was 5 college kids from Wisconsin on spring break just out for a party... packed up and loaded with a handle of each vodka, tequila and brandy)and partied like the world was going to end. We got up early in hopes of beating the weather and getting a decent hike in and about 1/2 way through our planned day the rain and wind picked up again. We got to the shelter around 2:30 and called it quits because the weather was horrible again. There wasn't much to see today due to the heavy fog and rain but hey tommorrow is another day and hopefully the weather will break.
Date: 2008-03-20
From: Silers Bald Shelter

To: Newfound Gap
Miles today: 12.5
Weather: few clouds

Well the Smokies are throwing the kitchen sink at us. After the brutal rain and wind for the last two days we woke up this morning to about 20 degrees and an inch or two of snow on the ground. YEP everything was frozen! Awesome way to start the day! But hey the sun was out. BONUS! We hit the trail fairly early in hopes of getting to Clingman's dome by lunch, we made it before 11am. What an unbelievable day of views. One great view after another and it warmed up to a balmy 30 degrees. Great day for hiking
Date: 2008-03-21
From: Newfound Gap

To: Tri Corner Knob Shelter
Miles today: 15.6
Weather: scattered clouds

Making up some miles today. Will cross Guyot Spur tomorrow (6,360')last of the big mountains in the smokies. Heading to a hostel for Saturday night and will update before I leave there. OK before I begin I want to say that nothing in this world scares me more than climbing from 5000ft to 6300ft straight up on a sheet of ice!!! I have a new respect for ice and it SUCKS! ok so there it is... Anyway got up this morning with dry, clean clothes and went and had a nice breakfast at FlapJacks. Got back to hotel, updated journal and started hitching a ride back to the trail about 8:30am. A nice couple from Michigan picked us up and got us back to the gap and we were off and hicking by 9:15am... Today was another stunning day with great views and warm sunshine. We did a bit longer of a hike then we have been doing but we are trying to make up for the rain days. A ton of people on the trail today. Meet 3-4 people doing day hikes. 6-8 spring breakers, 2-3 section hikers(people doing a small section of the trail over a 4-7 day period) and 4-5 thru hikers (people trying to do the trail complete like us). But once again no wildlife!!!! Hitting the sheets early tonite, have another big day planned for tommorrow. gotta do it while the weather is nice!!Lata peeps!
Date: 2008-03-22
From: Tri Corner Knob Shelter

To: Waterville School Road
Miles today: 18.1

Great day today! Made it to the hostel as planned. Trekked over Guyot Spur and it was all down hill from there! Tons of sunshine, very lite wind and between 55 and 70 all day! The day was real long and our legs are a little sore after a 4000ft decent over 6 miles. Other then that what a great day for hiking... We are starting to hit our groove a little and hopefully (as long as weather permits) we can string together a bunch of long days and start putting a dent into this. Once again tons of random day hikers on the trail and no wildlife!! Not sure whats up with the animals but I have been bathing regularly so i know it's not the smell. Happy Easter to all and Lata!!!
Date: 2008-03-23
From: Waterville School Road

To: Roaring Fork Shelter
Miles today: 15.4
Weather: broken clouds

Easter Sunday and we are hiking! Catch up with you all later...Headed out a bit later then normal... 9:10 today!! Nice sunshine and warm today. Saw absolutely no hikers but as we were walking along there was trail magic again... Some nice person who will go unknown forever placed easter bags along the trail every 1/4-1/2 mile. The bags were filled with hard boiled eggs, jelly beans, protein bar, tylenol and other misc candy. It was really cool to see that someone out there had taken the time to think about us hikers. Shelter looks like it is going to be full tonight as people keep rolling in. Supposed to be cold tonight. Hitting sheets now...lata
Date: 2008-03-24
From: Roaring Fork Shelter

To: Hot Springs, NC
Miles today: 18.8
Weather: light rain

Last night was absolutely frigid... Woke up this morning early and felt like a freeze pop. Everything was frozen again. So we ended up getting an early start this morning. We were on the trail before 8am and made very good time doing the mileage by 3:30. It snowed on us all day which made for a pretty hike. Once again it felt like we were the only ones out on the trail as we saw no other hikers and still no wildlife. Staying in Hot Spring tonight at a hotel. We are getting another mail drop and resupplying for the next 6-10 days. Heading back out tommorrow mid day. Will be a short day of about 11 miles!lataDay 1 of week 4: Avg. 13 miles/day; 1 zero day; Approx. 1,900 miles to go!
Date: 2008-03-26
From: Spring Mountain Shelter

To: Jerry Cabin Shelter
Miles today: 15.4
Weather: broken clouds

Spent the night with the mice..pushing forward. Will catch this up soon! lataWe had quite a surprise this morning with some more trail magic! There was a sign on the trail offering breakfast to the hikers. We took the detour (about 300 yards) and met Jody and John Nelson. They invited us into their home and sat us down at the dining room table and fed us brunch. They are doing this for 2 days this week and it was so very nice of them. Came upon a granite rock scramble which was straight up and down along a ridgeline. Some of it you had to walk backwards. It was tough but truly awesome. Funny little story about another hiker...his group arrived at the shelter in the dark after doing the granite scramble in the dark. They were telling us how awesome it was and then told us that they had gotten delayed because one of them had to pass a kidney stone. He then told us he had to get it out with his tweezers and is saving it for MT. Kahtadin. OUCH! and I thought the blisters and chafing was bad. lata
Date: 2008-03-27
From: Jerry Cabin Shelter

To: Hogback Ridge Shelter
Miles today: 14.7
Weather: scattered clouds

We hiked seperately today. Dad needed to motor along and left me behind on the trail. I took my time and he beat me to the shelter by an hour or so. Since we end up in the same place at night it was good for both of us. The trail was gorgeous today with 70 degree weather and beautiful views. There was a waterfall that was absolutely gorgeous! Dad spent some extra time there soaking his feet and probable wondering if I would catch up. We regrouped at the shelter. Hit a major milestone today by crossing the 300 mile mark. At this point we are pretty much on target and happy with our mileage and time.   lata
Date: 2008-03-28
From: Hogback Ridge Shelter

To: No Business Knob Shelter
Miles today: 20.6
Weather: broken clouds

tomorrow updates...new photos...lataWe got started around 8am and it was perfect weather. We headed to the next shelter about 10 miles away and made decent time. Stopped for lunch and a break when we arrived around 1pm and after some discussion we decided we would push forward at least another 7 miles to a camp ground. Well the hike was nice and the weather was perfect and we were still making good time so we pushed forward to the next shelter giving us our second day of over 20 miles. Not much happening on the trail these days. The further we get the less people we see although we end up seeing the same 5-10 thru hikers at shelters at night. We got to the shelter and made dinner, dried out our sweaty clothes and started a fire. Just as the sun was going down Spruce (from Buffalo, name reason unknown) and 5 bags (named that because he carries five bags of food) showed up. They left the same time we did this morning but a few miles into the hike they got off the trail, hitched a ride to a diner and had a three hour breakfast break. Must be nice to hike at that pace, anyway we sat up and shot the crap with them for an hour or so and are now hitting the sheets.... late night for us 10pm!!!lata
Date: 2008-03-29
From: No Business Knob Shelter

To: Nolichucky River, Erwin, Tenn.
Miles today: 6.3

Well after nine straight days of unbelievable weather it's back....and we are very glad we made the extra push last night because it poured all night and we woke up this morning and it was still raining. Which meant that we would be hiking for about three hours in the rain instead of five or six. We headed into Uncle Johnny's hiker hostel for a food resupply, hot shower and clean clothes. Took our time this morning knowing it was a short hike and hit the trail right before nine a.m., because of the rain there were no views so we made excellent time and hit the hostel right around 11am. Wish I had more for you today but it's early and I need to head out and find some pizza and beer to fill the BELLY!!!LataFound them both....We split a large meat lovers pizza from pizza hut, bought some food for supplies, grabbed subway for tomorrow's lunch, had a few beers and are now back at the hostel watching the B-ball game drinking more beer and getting ready for bed.. Starting early tomorrow with a 17 mile day planed.Lata
Date: 2008-03-30
From: Nolichucky River 

To: Cherry Gap Shelter
Miles today: 16.4
Weather: overcast clouds

Misty, cold and windy hike today almost all up hill. Started at 1,700' and the shelter is at 4,000' which is the down side of the high point of 5,100'. Tweeked my knee so the last couple of miles were a hobbling effort. Will add to this at the next public computer. lata
Date: 2008-03-31
From: Cherry Gap Shelter

To: Stan Murray Shelter
Miles today: 20.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Headed out this morning and made about three miles and my knee was killing me. Needless to say I should have gotten a shuttle out of the hostel and into Damascus. By not doing that we were out in the middle of no where and I couldn't go anymore which didn't make Southside happy but we made it to a road and I caught a ride into a little community called Buladeen. Southside continued on the trail and will meet me in Damascus later in the week. The mileage logged for the next few days will be Southsides while I get medical attention. Hey...notice that we are using our trail names!By talking to some very, very nice people in Buladeen (pronounced: Buelahdeen)I got connected with CeCe who runs the Greasy Creek hostel for hikers and is an angel that helps out hikers with problems and shuttles hikers to trail heads for section or day hikes. Today she had to take a hiker to Erwin, TN because he was sick and his ride was going to pick him up there. He is calling it quits. I am not! She also had several other shuttles to run for hikers so I sat at her place with ice on my knee and waited until she could give me a lift to Damascus, VA. I am there now at a hiker hostel run by Mt. Rodgers Outfitters. Really nice guys and they will get me to Abbingdon tomorrow to a walk up doc. I need to be ready to roll when Southside arrives. This is the most physical and mental challenge that I have attempted in my life but I will finish the AT and come back to do the miles that I am missing. Southside: Made it to the Stan Murray shelter tonight. Covered 20 miles plus whatever it took to get Bull to a road to hitch a ride into town. The hike was a good one and I finally saw two deer up close and personal (got their picture). Covered a lot of mountains today. Starting at about 4,100' up to 6,285' and ending up at 5,000' at the shelter. Would have been tough for Bull with a bum knee. He thought he could walk it off but with a knee injury and the ups and downs it would have been worse for him to keep going and he may not have been able to get back on the trail at the end of the week. Bull can come back another time and finish the 100 miles that he will miss with the medical time out. Better to get it taken care of then to struggle and not be able to finish the trail.   I saw five bags (named this because he carries 5 bags of food) this afternoon and he had seen Bull at the hostel and let me know that he had secured a ride to Damascus. That made me feel better about leaving him. Five bags blew by me like a breeze. With everyone doing their own hike we keep meeting up with some of the guys at different shelters and hostels. We saw Squire last night again and will probable see five bags somewhere along the trail when he takes a down day and we catch up. We have met a lot of nice people along the way and really enjoy the comraderie. My plan is to do the balance of 84 miles to Damascus by Thursday and then take a down day on Friday. We are picking up a planned mail drop on Friday in DamascusWeek 5/ Day 1 /   376 miles
Date: 2008-04-01
From: Stan Murray Shelter

To: Mountaineer Shelter
Miles today: 18.9
Weather: light rain

Southside is out there hiking his way into Damascus. Bull is sitting in Damascus resting his knee and getting ready to get back on the trail over the weekend. More to come!Southside here!! Woke up this morning packed and left for Stan Murray shelter at 7:45 with three bags of oatmeal, no water and alone with Bull in Damascus getting his knee checked out at the hospital. The rain started and the fog is rolling in, that's ok, just not the 50 mph winds. went two miles and past Over Mountain shelter at 8:45 not knowing that Spruce, Squire and Five Bags were inside. I took some pictures of the shelter, which was restored to it's original condition, built in the 1700's. They all saw the flash of my camera from about a mile away. The sky started to clear on Doll Flats and by the time I crossed it the sky was blue and the wind was at my back blowing about 40-50 mph. At about noon I stopped for lunch at Apple House shelter and tem minutes later Spruce, Five Bags and Squire walked up. We had a great walk to Mountaineer Shelter which was brand new and a shelter that Bob Peoples, main trail worker in Tenn., designed and built. It had three levels and was extremely nice. I set up on the second level and hit the sheets around 8:30
Date: 2008-04-02
From: Mountaineer Shelter

To: Dennis Cove
Miles today: 15.3

Southside is moving along on his way to Damascus. ETA Friday. I woke up around 6:45 and ate a power cookie then Squire and I took off at 7:45, Still Bull less! We had a little rain in last night and the sky's were starting to clear when we left. It turned out to be a great day with tons of sunshine. By 11:45 we had already gone nine miles!! We stopped for lunch and were back on the trail by noon. What we thought was going to be a fairly flat hike turned out being a bunch of pointless up and downs for about five miles. Squire and I arrived at Koncora Hostel around 2:30. I immediately started laundry, took a shower and went to town for food and supply's. Got back had dinner relaxed for a bit and went to bed around 9pm
Date: 2008-04-03
From: Dennis Cove

To: Vandeventer Shelter
Miles today: 17.5
Weather: overcast clouds

Southside is approaching Damascus hiking with Squire. ETA Saturday noon. More to follow.I'm not so sure how far away Southside is but my best guess is about 30 miles, which puts him here to meet me sometime Saturday before noon. It's been a very boring last couple of days waiting but i've been taking my meds and icing the knee. It feels a ton better which means i will be ready to roll once dad gets here and reloads! I'm in this real small Mayberry type town and let me tell you it's not a place you want to get stuck in for more then a day or so. There are 900 people in the whole town, no stop lights or stop signs,a gas station,a library, a pizza place, a dollar store, and....that's about it! Oh I forgot a subway restuarant! So as you can imagine it's real tough to stay busy. I had to actually buy not one but two books to read because I read the first one so damn fast! Not really like me to be reading!! I actually might be getting a little edgeumication!! Well i'm signing out and will update how Southside's adventures have been once we catch up with each other.lata Southside's here with the daily update!I said my good bye's to Bob Peoples and left Koncora Hostel! Another day with the threat of rain and away we hike. Myself and Squire shook off the rain gear and into the shorts and t-shirt!! We hike on! What sites we have... roaring river, 80ft water fall, man made bridges(made out of a gaint tree. Sometimes the wall of the gorge seemed to rise up and on forever, then we realized we have to go to the top of this thing! Oh well, we are headed for Vandeventer Shelter about 16 miles away. We have gone 9.5 miles and the rain finally comes. We hiked about half a mile futher (great timing)and there is Watauga Lake Shelter. Inside are Spruce and Five Bags, I stop for lunch and Squire joins me about ten minutes later. By 1pm the rain stops and we hike on. The sky's are gray with a heavy fog but no rain. For the next six miles we hike along Watauga Lake and what a view! 1500ft above the lake just wish we have some sun to enjoy the view with. We arrived at Vandeventer shelter at 4:15, settle in and about half hour later we meet GatorAid, a thru hike from Florida. Can't guess it but yes he's a Florida Gator fan. The rain really started coming down so I slide into my sleeping back to warm up and sleep!What a great day it waslata--- Southside!
Date: 2008-04-04
From: Vandeventer Shelter

To: Abingdon Gap Shelter
Miles today: 22.7
Weather: light rain

Hiking with Squire the last few days. Plan is to be out on the trail early and into Damascus before noon tomorrow.I woke up at six and was of at 7:30. Looking to do a big day of just over 22 miles. It's raining and foggy when we leave but it only lasts about 45 minutes. One of many people who are memorialized on the trail is Nick Grindstaff. He has a 7ft tall monument for him and on it it says " I lived alone, I suffered alone and I died alone" It was pretty sad!!! Squire and I are cruising doing almost three miles per hour. Our first stop is Iron Mountain for a little fuel. My little man shoveling carbs in my stomach has run out so two cookie bars, 600 cals and 30 min later we head back out. Not many views because of the heavy fog and mist but we are moving at a pretty fast clip. We pulled into Double Spring Shelter for lunch, bang down two packs of Ramen noodles(800 cals) and a hour later we are back at one PUD(pointless up and downs) after another. As we go the trails are the best we have walked in over three weeks and we arrive at Abingdon Shelter around 5:30. 22 miles in nine hours!! Feel's really good! The rain hits again at about 7:15. We must have a horseshoe stuck up our butt's because we keep just missing the rain. Well into our bags we go, ear plugs in place and off to sleep!Lata Southside!!
Date: 2008-04-05
From: Abingdon Gap Shelter

To: Damascus, Va
Miles today: 10.0
Weather: light rain

It rained all night with a touch of heavy fog. The shelter was full! Six hikers in a five man shelter. I met another thru hiker who did the whole trail a few years ago by the name of Gratefull Grandpa. A really nice guy! Well Squire and I woke up at 5:45 and ate a lite snack. Hit the trail with our head lamps. Made it to Damascus in 3hrs 15 min Thanks to everyone who reads and cares!!love all Southside and BullPs what a great support team at home!!! Thanks Pam!! I love you!!
Date: 2008-04-06
From: Damascus, Va

To: VA 859 Grassy Ridge Road
Miles today: 14.6

I wanted to test out my knee so, we smart packed today with Squire. Smart packing is where you carry a light pack with only the essentials for a day hike and trek to a point where the hostel can provide shuttle service back to the hostel. Then the next day the hostel shuttle takes you back to where you were picked up and you head out again. I am back on trail with my knee feeling pretty good until the 12th mile or so. The hike took us along a river with a lot of streams flowing in to it. There were a few small waterfalls and the scenery was gorgeous. The weather was fab too! We had a great hike doing the trek in about 5 hours. We had ice cream along the creeper trail which is a train track that goes up the mountain. It is called the creeper trail because the train crept up the mountain and sometimes the passengers got out and walked along with the train. The outfitter where we ordered our packs from happens to be in Damascus and they made arrangements for me to trade out my harness for my pack for a smaller one. Both of us got new boots since the ones we have are starting to break down. All of this should help keep my knee moving along. Had dinner at the hostel tonight. Suzanne is an unbelievable lady! She has been wonderful to us. I went into town and picked up some hamburger and hot dogs and she broke out her grill for the season. Suzanne made up some potato wedges and veggies. Willie boy showed up here in time for dinner and a Guy named Greg was here too. After dinner the always busy Southside got busy and got Suzannes mower going for her. Willie boy and I cleaned up the dinner mess with Suzanne. This was a great stop for us...Tomorrow we are leaving at about 8:00 and shooting for about 19 miles. lata