morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2011-03-31
From: Deep Gap Shelter

To: Dick's Creek Gap
Miles today: 3.5
Weather: light rain

Woke up this morning to fog and mist again, but sleeping in the loft at the shelter kept me dry. End the end I don't know if it's better to try to stay dry in the shelter versus possibly getting your tent wet because of how restricted you are in your movements and behaviors in a shelter. You can't get up and go to the bathroom without waking half the people up, and someone is always snoring. If you wake up earlier than the other people in the shelter you have to just lay there until everyone else starts moving around. Maybe packing up a wet tent is not so bad a tradeoff after all.Anyway we hiked about four miles down the steep and muddy slope to Dick's Creek Gap. I hiked with Pippy and Teach again. Richard, a retired school teacher from Texas but who still has an English accent from his youth, joined us. His trail name is "Hot Drinks¢ although I can't seem to make myself cal him that. Of course, he stops several times a day and makes a variety of hot drinks for himself. He's a really enjoyable guy to be around.Once we reached the gap we were going to try to hitch a ride down to the Blueberry Patch, but there was a guy already waiting there who offered to give us all a ride for $3 each and we said fine. The hostel its a great place. They immediately offered to do our laundry for us and gave us some clothes to wear in the meantime, and then dropped us off in town for dinner and picked us up 2 hours later.We have comfortable bunks and in the morning they'll feed us a huge breakfast before we leave. Teach, Richard and I are going to go in to Hiawassee and stay in a hotel tomorrow night. Tomorrow will be the first day since I started the hike that I won't do any hiking. It's known as "taking a zero"and although I didn't intend to take one until I had made it 100 miles, I need one. The Georgia mountains are tough, and the rain had made the last week especially difficult. We'll relax and enjoy ourselves tomorrow and hit the trail again Saturday morning. We'll cross the border into North Carina sometime on Sunday. Our next town stop will be Franklin, NC at mile 107. The weather for the next week is supposed to be much drier than last week. We're looking forward to it.
Date: 2011-04-01
From: Dick's Creek Gap

To: Dick's Creek Gap
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Took a zero in Hiawassee today. Richard, Teach and I left the Blueberry Patch this morning and moved into the Hiawassee Budget Inn. It's owned by Ron Haven and they will shuttle you between the local Gaps and the hotel for no extra charge. We've pretty much just relaxed and done a little shopping today.I bought a pair of Columbia hiking pants that let you unzip the legs and turn them into shorts. Many hikers use them. Other than that we bought what food we need to get us through the next 40 miles of the trail to Franklin, NC.I may send my camera home at Franklin because I find it easier to upload pictures from my phone's camera than my 12 MP. I haven't ben able to upload pictures from my camera because of the lack of computers, or the computers I've had access to so far are to old to read my USB adapter. I also haven't had slot of luck uploading pics from my phone because of the poor signals we've had. I'll keep trying though.Anyway we'll hit the trail again tomorrow morning and figure on 4 or 5 days to make it to Franklin at a relaxed pace. The pace will certainly pick up as we "get our trail legs", but we're trying to take or time and just enjoy ourselves for a bit.
Date: 2011-04-02
From: Dick's Creek Gap

To: Campsite at Bly Gap
Miles today: 9.0
Weather: broken clouds

We had breakfast before the shuttle arrived. They ran about a half hour late so I ended up having a second breakfast sandwich from Subway. I'm starting to develop that "hiker hunger" you get when your metabolism starts working overtime with all of the calories you're burning while hiking everyday.Teach, Richard and I got starred about 9am out of Dicks Creek Gap. The first day out of town is always hard because your pack is stuffed with 40 miles worth of food, and you always have to do a lot of climbing to get out of the gap.I'm very tired right now so let's make this one kind of short. We reached the North Carolina border about 5 and camped right after it. One state down.
Date: 2011-04-03
From: Campsite at Bly Gap

To: Standing Indian Shelter
Miles today: 7.7
Weather: clear sky

This morning started with a long climb and was followed by three more big climbs, a couple miles of fairly level trail and a fifth long climb to get to Standing Indian Shelter. We've only done 16 miles in the last two days but there's been a ton of climbing. The weather has been great, though. We'll probably reach Franklin on Wednesday. Teach needs a new pack. The pack she has now isn't working for her and it's slowing her down.Thanks to Jade of the "Crazy Cajun Crew" for the trail mix. They're great people. I need to talk about them but I'm too tired now. Thanks to Leapfrog for the granola bars, and to the hiker who's name I didn't get for the cookies.
Date: 2011-04-04
From: Standing Indian Shelter

To: Campsite at Betty Creek
Miles today: 11.3

Teach, Richard and I left the shelter about 9am. For once we had a gentle climb to start the day. After that the trail began slipping down for most off the day.We did 8 miles to the next shelter in about 5 hours. We stopped in for lunch for about an hour. We ran into the Crazy Cajun Crew there and talked for awhile. We're going to try to meet up with them in Franklin in a couple of days. The Cajuns are: Dear Diary, Fairy Tale, Jade, Mashaka, Crackity, Hawk and Hendrix. Jade doesn't have a trail name yet. They're all about 18 to 20. Dear Diary lost his left arm to a lawn mower accident at the age of four. In spite of that he's as good as anyone out here. He's got a great attitude and is one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet. Fairy Tale and Jade are dating. They're all great people.We ended up doing 11 miles today. We're tenting in a campsite at about mile 96 of the AT. We've got thunderstorms moving in tonight. Tomorrow we'll do 9 miles to the next shelter and an easy 3.5 miles into Franklin on Wednesday. T
Date: 2011-04-05
From: Campsite at Betty Creek

To: Rock Gap
Miles today: 8.5
Weather: scattered clouds

The rain moved in as soon as we got camp set up last night. About 11pm the thunderstorms started. We were camped in a gap, but we were still at about 3500 feet. It was pretty intense. After the first one passed there was a short lull and another storm came through. Yesterday afternoon the temperature was in the 70's. Overnight it dropped into the 20's. Then a couple of hours before sunrise, it started raining ice. I had set my tent up in a bad place and I got a lot of water inside it. My sleeping bag got wet, and when I packed up my tent it still had ice clinging to it. I wasn't particularly happy this morning. We got started finally around 9am, and about 2 miles into our hike we reached Albert Mountain. It's not the tallest mountain we've had to climb, but there's a 400 foot ascent in the last three tenths of a mile. It was brutal, but we finally made it up. The views were beautiful, but we couldn't stay at the summit long because of wind chills in the teens. We snapped a couple of pictures and started down. It was shortly after that that we decided to get to Rock Gap and call for a shuttle into Franklin, instead of hiking to Winding Stair Gap tomorrow and shuttling in from there. Teach mentioned that she and Richard were thinking about taking a zero, and since my tent and sleeping bag were wet, and I was exhausted, I said that was a fine idea. It's my second zero day in a hundred miles, but it's been tough getting used to hiking up these mountains often in bad weather. I've learned you can't schedule zero days according to miles. You have to take care of yourself if you're going to make it 2200 miles. We'll take tomorrow off and get started again Thursday morning. The next section will be 31 miles to the Nantahala Outdoor Center at mile 135.
Date: 2011-04-07
From: Franklin, NC

To: Franklin, NC
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

We ended up taking two zero days in Franklin because Teach had to go to the chiropractor on Wednesday and Thursday for her back. Richard had his own problems in that on Wednesday he found out his grandson had been rushed into emergency surgery. Then on Thursday his wife called to tell him that their house had been broken into. Everything of value was stolen and the rest of the house was trashed. He took the extra day to decide if he should go home, but his wife encouraged him to stay. I stayed because I didn't want to split with them since we make a good team and I also had a medical problem (that I don't particularly want to go into details about) that would benefit from an extra day off the trail. In any case, we've had a lot of fun in Franklin but we're all ready to get back on the trail. We'll catch the 9am shuttle back to the trail in the morning for the next 31 mile section to the Nantahala Outdoor Center (NOC). Another 30 miles after that and we reach the Great Smoky Mountains National Forest. Thanks to the local church for the pancakes and bacon breakfasts each morning. Much Appreciated.
Date: 2011-04-08
From: Franklin, NC

To: Siler Bald Shelter
Miles today: 7.4
Weather: light rain

We caught the 9am shuttle back to Rock Gap and got started hiking around 10 (it's a long ride back to the gap from Franklin.) We were in clouds all day since we were at altitudes around 4500 to 5000 feet all day. Teach is still having back pain so we only hiked 8 miles to the first shelter. It rained lightly most of the afternoon but nothing serious. Tomorrow we're going to try to make it 12 miles to the second shelter. I will carry all of Teach's food and her tent so that she can rest her back. I fell while hanging our bear bags and I have a big bruise on my shin but I took some ibuprofen and I think it will be fine. It doesn't hurt right now. Tonight we're at the Siler Bald shelter and we're going to try get an early start in the morning. It's supposed to rain again tomorrow so we'll just see how things go.
Date: 2011-04-09
From: Siler Bald Shelter

To: Cold Spring shelter
Miles today: 12.1
Weather: scattered clouds

We got an 8am start from Siler Bald this morning. The shelter is a half mile off the trail, so it's a 1 mile round trip from the trail. Teach is still having back pains so I carried her food bag and her tent. We did 12 miles with several long climbs, so it was a tough day. Fortunately the weather stayed mostly sunny. We decided to push on to Cold Spring shelter which turned out to be a good choice, in spite of the long climb, because at the gap before the mountain we ran into trail magic. Great thanks and appreciation to the Burningtown Baptist Church. Let's see, I had a burger, two chili dogs, two small bags of chips, three chocolate cream cupcakes, a peanut butter muffin, two peanut fudge brownies, four cookies, and a bottle of orange soda. The infamous "hiker hunger" is in full force. They also gave me five packs of peanut butter crackers to take with me. After that it was a very long and steep climb up the mountain to the shelter. The great news was we found the Crazy Cajun Crew camped there. Tomorrow we're going to try to make it 12 miles to the Nantahala Outdoor Center. We'll shower and do laundry and I'll pick up a mail drop and then we'll start the next 30 mile section to the Smokies.
Date: 2011-04-10
From: Cold Spring shelter

To: A. Rufus Morgan shelter
Miles today: 10.7
Weather: clear sky

We got started about 8:30 this morning. We did some medium ups and downs before hiking down to Telico Gap. We found a little trail magic there. Someone had left some Debbie Cakes. There wasn't much so I took a single brownie. It was still appreciated. After that was a very long climb up Wesser Bald to the observation tower. The views were great and we got some great pictures, but it was hot and there was no water so we hiked down to the next shelter for lunch. Next was a mile or so of small ups and downs before a VERY long and steep descent to the Rufus Morgan shelter at mile 134. It was a 2000 foot descent in about 4 miles. We were scrambling down piles of rock at times. It was hot with no breeze and not particularly enjoyable. We finally got to the shelter about 5:30. I cooked the last of my food and took a sponge bath in the stream. There's no chance of rain tonight so I'm using my tent as a screenhouse so I can see the stars. The NOC is just a mile farther but we're staying here tonight because it's free. Tomorrow we'll get up early and head to the NOC for breakfast and we'll get laundry done and take a shower. It's a 3000 foot climb out of the NOC in the first six miles so we'll stay the night and get an early start on Tuesday, before it gets too hot.
Date: 2011-04-11
From: A. Rufus Morgan shelter

To: Nantahala Outdoor Center
Miles today: 0.8
Weather: overcast clouds

Today we hiked the one mile down to the NOC. We're staying the night so today was mostly eating, showering and laundry.I picked up my mail order also. Not much else to report today. Tomorrow we'll make the 3000 foot climb out of the gap and we'll probably get to Fontana early Friday.I'll also carry Teach's food bag and tent again, which is going to make for a pretty hard day, particularly since we'll be carrying food for 30 miles. I don't want to risk her hurting her back again. We'll get through the day though.
Date: 2011-04-12
From: Nantahala Outdoor Center

To: Sasafrass Gap Shelter
Miles today: 6.9
Weather: light rain

We hiked out of NOC Tuesday morning after breakfast. The hike out was a 3000 foot ascent in 6 miles. It was lightly raining but it wasn't too cold. I was a little intimidated by the climb, but it turned out to be fairly gradual. If not for the weather, it might have been enjoyable. But as we got higher, the rain became more steady and the temperature dropped. The wind also started blowing hard. As we neared the peak, the wind was gusting to 50 miles per hour and the temperature had dropped to 38 degrees. The last mile to the shelter was pure torture. By the time we made it I was half frozen and I couldn't feel my hands. I tucked my hands under my armpits to warm them which worked but the pain as they thawed was intense. Fortunately we arrived before the shelter was full. It was a 14 person shelter that would end up with 34 people including tenters trying to squeeze in under the roof to escape the weather and cook food. I had never seen so many people at one shelter before. It was horrible. We arrived about 3 pm and I immediately claimed a bunk spot and climbed into my sleeping bag to warm up. It was a couple of hours before I could stop shivering. By 7 pm though the rain stopped and the sky cleared. It was still terribly overcrowded but we got through the night.
Date: 2011-04-13
From: Sasafrass Gap Shelter

To: Cody Gap campsite
Miles today: 11.9
Weather: overcast clouds

This morning was cold but beautiful. There was a number of ups and downs during the day including a long descent into Stecoah Gap which really tired me out. We were in the middle of a 5 mile section with no water so we had to go light on it, which was hard because it had turned hot. What a difference a day makes. Not long after that we came to a section called Jacob's Ladder. It was a 500 foot climb in a half mile. That was pretty tough but we managed it. We stopped at the next shelter to cook a meal since we were out of energy. It was still fairly early so we decided to push on to a campsite three miles up the trail. It was pretty full, but they told us there were spots available down the hill by the water source. We had to get water anyway so we went down and ended up setting up camp in a beautiful green glade by a babbling stream. It was the nicest campsite we had yet had on the trail and we had it all to ourselves. We couldn't find any trees that were good for hanging bear bags, so we slept with or food in our tents. The night passed quietly.I did hear something moving around outside my tent at one point, but since I was camped right by the stream I figured it was just some animal getting a drink.
Date: 2011-04-14
From: Cody Gap campsite

To: Fontana Dam Marina
Miles today: 8.8
Weather: overcast clouds

We woke to another beautiful morning. For once our tents weren't covered with dew. Most mornings even if it doesn't rain, your tent will be damp from condensation. That morning everything was completely dry, which was nice. It's never fun packing up a wet tent and it adds weight.As usual, we had several ups and downs for the first part of the day. We had one steep 600 foot climb that was brutal, but once we got to the top we were met with our first good view of Fontana Dam and Lake. Then came the brutally steep descent down to the lake. We had done a 3000 foot descent into the NOC, but while probably shorter, the descent to the lake was the worst descent I had yet experienced on the trail. By the time you get to the bottom your toes are in agony from being smashed into the front of your boots and your knees are pounding. Several hikers have blown out their knees by trying to descend too quickly. A lot of hikers also lose their toenails from it. You have to keep them well trimmed so they don't press against the front of your boots. We finally made it down to the highway at mile 162.5 of the AT. There was a soda machine in front of the restrooms so we sat down to have a cold drink and a rest before doing the last 1.5 miles to the dam. We were actually early in that we had reservations at a local hotel for the following day. It was about 10 minutes later that I realized we were in the marina parking lot sitting in front of the restrooms, which is where we were supposed to call from the following day to get the shuttle to the hotel, so we called to let them know we had arrived early and to see if we could change our reservations. The Hike Inn is a tiny little 5 room motel, but miraculously they had three rooms open.Long story short, within a half an hour we were on or way to the motel. We showered and were driven into town for a nice dinner (BBQ brisket with baked beans and fries for me with a hot fudge brownie sundae for dessert.) After that we were driven to the grocery store to resupply for the next 40 mile section of the trail.Tomorrow we'll be driven back to the marina. There's threatening weather forecast for tomorrow so we'll see how the day goes.
Date: 2011-04-15
From: Fontana Dam Marina

To: Birch Spring Gap campground
Miles today: 7.0

We got about a 10am start after the shuttle from the Hike Inn. We stopped at the dam area for awhile and checked out the Fontana Hilton. As shelters go it's the best I've seen yet but it still didn't quite live up to it's reputation. We didn't stay long since there were thunderstorms coming and we wanted to make it up to the campground before the rains came. We had about a 2000 foot climb to start with. We had just enough time to get camp set up and cook dinner before the rain hit. I set my tent up on a slight incline this time so that the rain water wouldn't collect under my tent. The combination of the incline and my leaky sleeping pad made for little sleep. I need to find a motel with a bathtub instead of the shower stalls we've had at the last couple so I can submerge my pad and find the leaks.
Date: 2011-04-16
From: Birch Spring Gap campground

To: Russel Field Shelter
Miles today: 7.9
Weather: broken clouds

We got soaked from the rain, but we packed up and headed out around 8:30. After an hour or so we came to a sunny hilltop and spent am hour drying everything out. Good thing because it clouded up and the temperature dropped below freezing. It didn't rain during the day though. The day was the usual mix of ups and downs. We stayed for the night at Russell Field shelter. For the first time I stayed in a shelter that wasn't crowded. There were six people, including a ridge runner. A ridge runner is someone who patrols a certain section of the trail looking for trail maintenance issues and offering advice or assistance to hikers. We all had to stay inside the shelter. In the Smokies, you are required to stay in a shelter. You can't camp wherever you want like in Georgia and North Carolina. At a shelter, thruhikers only are allowed to tent and only if the shelter is full.
Date: 2011-04-17
From: Russel Field Shelter

To: Derrick Knob Shelter
Miles today: 9.2
Weather: clear sky

We had a hard day today. The section we hiked today is one of the most beautiful sections we've hiked, but there were too many ups and downs. The weather was sunny, but windy and cold. There were amazing views from Rockytop Mountain, and we took many pictures. Teach has not been feeling well the last couple of days so the mileage hasn't been particularly high, but we're sticking together. Tonight we're at the Derrick Knob Shelter. I'm tenting because a high school class has hiked in and they are required to stay in the shelter, where we thruhikers are allowed to tent if the shelter is full.
Date: 2011-04-18
From: Derrick Knob Shelter

To: Clingman's Dome
Miles today: 9.7

Today our hiking trio was reduced to a duo. Richard has decided to hike ahead and Teach and I wish him the best of luck.We woke to cold but dry weather this morning. Our tents were completely dry because of a strong wind coming over the ridge. In still air, your tent will often collect condensation.Since the weather forecast for tuesday was for thunderstorms, we decided to hike to the top of Clingman's Dome while the weather was sunny. Clingman's Dome is the highest point on the Appalachian Trail at 6643 feet. Hiking in the Smokey's has been tough, and Teach and I have been running short on food. Teach and I are certainly not the fastest hikers out here. She's 61 with back problems, and I started the trail at 320 pounds. We're still going though, while many others have gone home. The first 200 miles of the trail have been filled with tall mountains and tough climbs and we decided we needed to get off the trail a little earlier than planned. For that reason we decided to try to hitch a ride into Gatlinburg, TN from Clingman's Dome, instead of hiking 8 miles further to Davenport Gap, which is where most hikers go to hitch into town.The hike to the to of the Dome was long and hard, but we got there about 3:30. We climbed the observation tower and took pictures and then turned our minds to finding a ride to Gatlinburg. We were actually standing there trying to figure out how to get a ride when we were approached by a young couple who asked if we would like a ride into town. Great thanks to Dipika and Pankaj for their great generosity in giving us a ride to town and helping us find our hotel. They are on vacation from New Jersey with their two children and were true trail angels today.Tomorrow we will take a zero day in town to rest and resupply and on wednesday we will take a shuttle back to Clingman's Dome to continue our hike. We may be in the back of the pack, but they don't give prizes for first place out here. We've got nearly six more months to get to Maine.