morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2005-03-26
From: Wood's Hole

To: Neel's Gap
Miles today: 5.0
Weather: clear sky

Last night Jenny (now "Peanut"), Buzz and I went for a walk after dark and wound up sitting on a log watching the full moon rise over the mountain nearby. We talked for a while and had a lot of laughs, it was nice to be able to bond more with Buzz, whom Jenny, Farmer Dave, and I all think very highly of.Today, we hiked from Wood's Hole to Neels Gap. About 5 miles, which was a nice change of pace! There is a famous outfitters right there on the trail, and judging by their high prices, slum of a hostel, and rude employees (the owner was nice though), they are simply taking advantage of the hiking commuminty big time. Talk about location, location, location. The trail goes through their building! So, instead of staying at their crappy hostel, we called Josh and Leigh at the Hiker Hostel in Dolonega, GA and are staying with them again tonight. We went to Walmart on the way to dinner and resupplied for the next 4 days, which should get us to Hiawassi.Funny Note: Florida went off on a tangent during the shuttle ride to the hostel about his former girlfriends. Apparently the last two have stolen from him the day they moved out. They took silverware. One took four spoons and other took two forks! Which, I should add, he had originally stoled from the Hilton in Boca Raton, FL. Talk about Karma!
Date: 2005-03-27
From: Neel's Gap

To: Low Gap Shelter
Miles today: 10.4
Weather: light rain

Rainy, foggy, and cold...but this is thru-hiking! The shelter is full. Biscuit and her dog Cola, Forrest, Matt, Buzz, Farmer Dave and myself. Peanut also joined us after her tarp tent started taking on water. Florida is tenting as usual too. Aviator and Eagle are sleeping under the shelter and there appears to be a constant dust storm under there. They are just happy to be dry though! We are looking out of the shelter at towards the side of a hill covered in thin, tall trees, and a beautiful moss covered stream running down the side of the hill. Buzz and I filtered our water from the stream and then we listened to Farmer Dave's riddles for a while. There were a few lightening strikes nearby but that's about it. I think this storm will pass over by tomorrow afternoon...this entry is getting boring so I'm ending it now...
Date: 2005-03-28
From: Low Gap Shelter

To: Unicoi Gap/Helen, GA
Miles today: 9.4
Weather: light rain

Holy Crap! The thunderstorm was unreal last night! No one got a good night sleep because the wind was howling, thunder all over the place, and I even saw some huge thunder bolts striking not too far in the distance. The wind was blowing the rain into the shelter and I could feel it hitting my face through the small opening in my sleeping bag. I had a dream I was laying in a huge bed overlooking a bright blue ocean, and there were beautiful women everywhere. Just a little Fruedian, don't you think? Reality hit me when I woke up and had to put on all my wet clothes from the day before and head out to the Blue Mountain Shelter. It rained and most of the trail resembled a river. But, we saw a lot more than the day before because the fog had lifted and there were a bunch of big waterfalls along the way. By the time we got to Blue Mountain Shelter it was very cold, snowing, and hailing. Nice combo. We decided to hike out to Unicoi Gap and hitch into Helen 10 miles away.We got picked up almost immediately by Nancy from Dallas, TX. She was very friendly and let us in her brand new Lexus SUV with our muddy boots and gear! As nice as she was, we did find it sort of strange that she picked us up while looking for a liquor store, before noon. Nancy said that if we were her kids she wouldn't want us standing on the side of the road like that! So, Nancy dropped us off at the Helendorf River Inn and Buzz, Matt and I got a room together for $35 total. Farmer, Peanut and Biscuit got a room together also. Coincidently, Florida decided to go into Helen and got a room at the same hotel! Florida looked us up and we all went out to dinner together at the tavern next door. The whole town of Helen is like a little Bavaria. It's very strange. We arrived on a Monday, as it turns out, the whole town takes Monday off (?) so we were lucky to find a place to eat. It was funny too. We walk in and the bar is full. Everyone at the bar turns around in sync and stares at us as we walk in. I could practically hear the Lynyrd Skynyrd album playing on the jukebox scratch at the same time! The ceiling is a foot above my head and I'm only 5'9", and the floor slopes downhill at an angle. We are the only people sitting down at a table and my instincts and experience tell me this is gping to be a horrible meal. Oh contrair. The food was bomb! I had an awesome cheeseburger with seasoned fries and Matt had such a good ribeye sandwich he couldn't stop raving about it. Even the Vegetarians were happy...
Date: 2005-03-29
From: Unicoi Gap/Helen, GA

To: Deep Gap Shelter
Miles today: 12.5
Weather: clear sky

We woke up early today and met Farmer, Biscuit and Cola, and Peanut at the diner next door for breakfast. I asked our waitress how she was doing this morning, she said, "Not good." so I ordered the ham and cheese omelet with raisen bread toast and left it at that. I took a few group photos on top of Tray Mountain because it was such a beautiful day (above). Sunny, no clouds at all, and about 75' with a slight breeze. This was a very difficult day of hiking though. The last hill, Kelly Mountain, was a bitch! Basically, the trail led straight up, with hardly any switchbacks. I believe it was 1000ft. of elevation in a half mile, no joke. I experienced some brief momments of insanity where I would stop, lean hard on my trekking poles, turn purple with rage and mutter incoherent profanities, and then push on. Just a little out of the norm for me, but not too bad though. Buzz changed his trail name. He is now going by Spoon Man because he has lost yet another spoon. I believe this is the 5th spoon he lost in 6 days. He also told us about a similiar experience while hiking the Wonderland Trail a few years back.We are going into Hiawassii tomorrow to resupply and take a zero day on Thursday. Matt will be joining us also, and I think Bisuit and Cola may join us as well.I gave Matt his trail name today: "Ribeye". This is because he has not stopped talking about how good the ribeye sandwich he had at the tavern in Helen was. Another interesting fact. Buzz, er, Spoon Man, told me that upon successfully lighting a fart on fire, you gain membership to the "Eternal Order of the Blue Flame."
Date: 2005-03-30
From: Deep Gap Shelter

To: Dick's Creek Gap
Miles today: 3.5
Weather: scattered clouds

Last night I heard the craziest noises I've ever heard in the woods. In the very early morning I woke up in my tent and heard what I can only describe as an owl fighting a racoon possibly. The commotion moved really fast from one tree to another, all around the area. Then it moved on away from us. Personally, I'd like to think it was a Chupacabra (http://www.elchupacabra.com) but I can't be sure because I didn't actually see it.   Anyhow, it was bizarre to say the least. We hike to Dick's Creek Gap where Farmer Dave's wife, Mary Elle, and her friend Jane Swanzik (sp?) met us and brought us into town for a zero day in Hiawassee. I went to the library and updated TJ. We actually heard a kid in Dairy Queen say, "I'm gonna put Chevy parts on that truck and make it Ford tough!...it's gonna be an inbred truck!" Oh yeah, we're in the South.We stayed at the Hiawassee Inn which was a total dump. I got the impression the owners were only interested in squeezing the hikers out of their cash because the accomadations were near-appalling. We were charged $20 a head to a room, so they made $80 a night on our 2 bed room. Nice deal huh? Shady, Shady, Shady, that's all I can say. I really wished we stayed at the Blueberry Patch outside of town, I heard nothing but great stuff about the place. Either way, we had a lot of fun hanging out and relaxing for a change.
Date: 2005-04-01
From: Dick's Creek Gap

To: Plum Orchard Shelter
Miles today: 4.3
Weather: moderate rain

Plum Orchard is a big, three story shelter. A huge storm is on its way today so we got here at 10am and will wait out the storm. Joining us in the shelter is Smoke & her brother, Slaphappy, and three section hikers (Yard Sale, Richard, and one other I can't remember). We waited all day, and then all evening for the storm, what came around 9pm was bitter disappointment. Just a little rain and wind. Whatever, we all had a good time anyway! I wrote this short poem while laying in my sleeping bag...Itchy beard, cold feet,thank God I finally had something to eat.A new pad, a soft bag,and I can't wait to fall asleep.Pleasant company, friends new and old,taking shelter from the rain and cold.When morning comes the clouds will part,the sun will greet us when we start.If when we wake that's not the case,then I'll have to pick up the pace.Rain or shine I'll be OK,this sure beats working anyday!
Date: 2005-04-02
From: Plum Orchard Shelter

To: Muskrat Shelter
Miles today: 7.3
Weather: snow

We got sacked by a huge snowstorm almost as soon as we hiked out of the shelter this morning. BUT, we are now in North Carolina! We passed the sign in a white out but stopped to take a few pictures, unfortunately my camera was too cold to turn on! Anyway, this shelter bites! It barely has three sides because the "sides" are completely open to the outside. So far there is about 4 inches of snow on the ground and the wind must be blowing into the shelter at 50mph. Like fools, we thought the storm would blow over so we (Farmer, Peanut, Ribeye, Spoon Man) laid on the platform in the shelter in our sleeping bags and watched the snow blow in and pile up on top of us. At one point we all agreed we were going to die but Ribeye suggested we set up our tents, which we did, and now things are OK. The weatherman is a marked man. We all want a piece of him because today was supposed to be light rain and in the 50's. I'm pretty sure it's in the teens. We decided to eat all of our food tonight and head into Franklin tomorrow to dry off since everything we owned was soaking wet.Picture this: Peanut, Ribeye, Me, and Spoon Man are all standing in a circle, heads down, arm in arm, jumping up and down to stay warm...and who walks in the shelter? None other than the Boy Scouts! A Total Disaster. 15 kids, most of them no older than 12, their guardians are letting them play in the snow (I was told that they didn't have a change of clothing), no one is setting up a tent, and the parents don't even start to heat up water for the kids because they claim they're too cold. They let them go to bed without a warm meal or drink. I left me stove on for a while so they could warm up by the fire. We were seriously wondering if we were going to be the only people waking up tomorrow morning...Scout-sicles anyone?
Date: 2005-04-03
From: Muskrat Shelter

To: Deep Gap
Miles today: 4.0
Weather: clear sky

We woke up to find everything frozen solid. The storm had passed but it had left 5-6 inches of snow behind, and more than a foot and a half on the drifts. We broke the trail for four miles to Deep Gap and then Blue Blazed the Kemsey Trail to Standing Indian Campground where we called Haven's Budget Motel and they sent a shuttle to pick us up. Today was actually a beautiful day. Sunny, 60's, but we needed to dry our stuff off before going back out, so we stayed the night in Franklin. We went to the all you can eat buffett and ate like maniacs! AND, we met back up with Florida, who was once again conveniently staying at the same motel as us!BIG NEWS: Farmer Dave went back to New York tonight. Apparently the same storm that nearly killed us last night, travelled up to New York and flooded his home and business badly. unfortunatly, Dave had to leave abruptly. So we are now "on our own", but I'm confident in my newly aquired skills to finish this myself. We had relied heavily on Dave's wisdom and experience, which proved invaluable, and we all learned a lot from him. So, thanks so much Dave for your guidance and friendship, you will be sorely missed!
Date: 2005-04-04
From: Deep Gap

To: Zero Day
Miles today: 0.0

We woke up and decided to take a zero day. We, is now redefined to mean Peanut, Ribeye and myself. Spoon Man wants to go on alone from here and his ankle has been hurting him so we wished him well. We stocked up at the grocery store for 6 days of food, which will get us to the NOC (Nantahala Outdoor Center) in Wesser, NC. We also bought an additional 4 days of food to get us from the NOC to Fontana Dam. We mailed that package ahead today. Beasically we spent the whole day resupplying. I did have a great milkshake downtown though, thanks to Solace for hooking us up while we were in town!
Date: 2005-04-05
From: Deep Gap

To: Carter Gap Shelter
Miles today: 11.8
Weather: overcast clouds

The shuttle from Haven's Budget Motel brought us to Indian Campground where we took the Kimsey Trail 3.7 miles to Deep Gap, where we hooked back up with the AT.I had another name change today. I am now going by "Thirsty" on account of my penchant for drinking large quantities of water every day. I'm filtering at least, twice a day. Which means I'm drinking about 4-6 liters of water a day...We talked to folks at this shelter (The AT3 -OX, York, & Naked Son, The Pied Piper, Strider and Hot Flash) and they told us Spoon Man sends his regards. He went a little further ahead to Betty's Gap so we may catch up with him tomorrow. Oh yeah, we hung our food bags tonight for the first time because there were no bear cables (curious because this is a bear sanctuary). RibEye and I got our food bags up with few problems. We were damn proud, so we sang the Man Song afterwards. If your wondering, it goes something like this: Men!Men!Men!Men!Men!Men!Men!Men!
Date: 2005-04-06
From: Carter Gap Shelter

To: Wallace Gap
Miles today: 12.8

Our new strategy is to get up early, eat breakfast and then hike at a medium pace (2-2.5mph) for 2 hours, eat a snack, and then hike on until lunch which is someplace we have pre-determined that morning. Basically we are trying to hike longer hours at a slower pace, which we believe will enable us to hike more milage each day.Today, we were the last, and I mean, the very last people out of the shelter area by at least a half hour. Upon waking up I immediatley felt a rapid pounding in my chest, but I could tell it wasn't my heart. Ribeye asked me if I could hear a truck starting and that was sort of the same type of sound I felt. It turns out it was a Grouse mating call. They are birds the size of pheasants and they beat their wings against their chests and it creates this sound vibration that travels close to the ground for great distances. This is what we were actually feeling/hearing. It's hard to describe it, but anyone who has experienced it will tell you it's really cool. At the end of the day we were at Wallace Gap, which is a road crossing in the middle of a ridge run, and no adequate campsites available anywhere. Now, the forecast was calling for thunder storms all evening and we could see the weather coming in...so reluctantly, we called Ron at the Haven Motel and asked him to send a shuttle. Solace picked us up and laughed at us as we blamed each other for deciding to go into town again so soon! Hey, it's only $15 a night each, and more time in lovely Franklin (NOT!). We had subs and wings delivered and then crashed out early. The AT3 got a room right next to ours and are planning on possibly zeroing tomorrow. Unfortunatley we passed out before we were able to destroy them in a game of A$$hole (card game). That challange is still pending!
Date: 2005-04-07
From: Wallace Gap

To: Bartram Trail Campsite
Miles today: 11.2

OK, Summary for today:1. Solace dropped us off at Walace Gap.2. Female photographer pulled up at the parking lot at Winding Stair Gap and took our pictures for a college documentary project.3. Pumped water at a beautiful waterfall.4. Took a cool picture of a mist covered hill and trail.5. I am now tenting at 5,290ft altitude in a thunder and lightening storm! The rain held off just long enough for us to eat and set up our tents and then the sky opened up and unleashed HELL on us! The sound of the rain drops beating on my rainfly is deafening as I write this, and the lightening is so close it is illuminating my whole tent when it is striking (nearby I might add). I hope tomorrow's entry gives this one a happy ending...
Date: 2005-04-08
From: Bartram Trail Campsite

To: Wesser Bald Shelter
Miles today: 14.0
Weather: light rain

Yes, I survived the storm! Camping with us last night was Snowman and Sparkplug, a married couple from Portland, Maine. They are really nice and super-friendly, we chatted with them while pumping our water for the evening. Also joining us last night was Noonen, a Robert E. Lee look-a-like from South Carolina with a great sense of humor. He heard my Boston accent and commented (in a think southern draw), "You sound just like John F Kennedy!" I laughed, and then replied, "Yeah, I'm from Boston so...""It's OK," he said, "You can tell me I sound like Strom Thurmond!"We liked him immensly, right off the bat. I also have a lot of respect for him after last night especially. As I laid in my dry tent, waiting for that imminent lightening strike to take me to the pearly gates, Noonen lay nearby saying his prayers as well. Only he was outside! In a bivy sack, which is the equivilent of a nylon garbage bag that you slip your sleeping bag into and then pull over your head! His head was resting between two trees, literally. So, should the lightening strike one of the trees his head would have acted as a conduit or lightening rod if you will, between the two! Well, you know the whole misery loves company thing? I really hate to admit this but the thought of Noonen out there did give me some comfort last night...after all, there WAS someone worse off than me!   Anyhow, today there was lots of flat and downhill. I took a video on top of the lookout tower on Wesser Bald, NC, which had an awesome view that was mostly covered by fog. Today the weather was mostly scattered showers all afternoon. Not too bad at all. I am starting to feel a lot stronger on the uphills too, which is really encouraging. Tomorrow we go on to the NOC! That's the Nantahala Outdoor Center (aka-civilization) for those that don't know. It's a big rafting and outdoor activities amusement place. We can only talk about the cheeseburgers though! Just a quick downhill walk tomorrow...
Date: 2005-04-10
From: Nantahala Outdoor Center

To: Sassafras Gap Shelter
Miles today: 7.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Hiked 7 HARD miles today. Rigorous as hell! Uphill the whole time. Unbelievably, I hiked the first 3 miles with hardly any water at all. It was atleast 75' and very sunny. I sweat my ass off and could seriously feel symptoms of heat stroke coming on. Well, it may have been remnants of my hangover from last night's festivities...who knows? I am tenting tonight because it will be the last night of nice weather I'll see before Fontana Dam, that is if the weatherman can be trusted at all. We cooked our food in the shelter and hung out with the other thru-hikers. Staying here tonight is: The AT3, Sweet 16 (a super nice older lady), and two guys from New York that don't have neat trail names yet so I can't remember their boring real ones. I talked with Naked Son (of the AT3) and he is really cool. It turns out that he is doing the AT to try to raise money and awareness of the disease Cystic Fibrosis, which took the life of one of his sisters recently. Luckily, he does not have the disease. The other two of the AT3, Ox and York, are doing the same type of charity thing for Emphysema. They are all really friendly and have great senses of humor.That's all for tonight, time to fall asleep under the stars...jealous yet?
Date: 2005-04-11
From: Sassafras Gap Shelter

To: Cable Gap Shelter
Miles today: 15.2
Weather: scattered clouds

15.2 miles of total, full-body pain! Biggest day yet and I feel every bit of it. Things were going fine for a while, I listened to my FM received even though I couldn't listen to one song for more than 30 seconds before another channel cut in...but I digress from the point, it was all good. Ironically enough, as this was happening, a sudden, strong signal came in and it was the "If you like Pina Coladas and getting caught in the rain" song! Perfect signal all the way through. I laughed all the way down the mountain listening to that!As the day progressed, I started to fell very, very sore from yesterday's hike. I could tell my energy level was low. Then came the most rediculous uphill of the day. The book lists it as "Unnamed Cliffs", which I renamed, "The place I almost gave up and died." No joke, I had no muscle energy left in my legs at all. It was like 750 feet in 8/10ths of a mile or something like that. So, needless to say, after that I was very sour for most of the day, and whenever I had to walk uphill I would instantly get nauseous.The Happy Ending: This is unbelievable. SO I get to the shelter with Peanut and Ribeye and I spot a campsite right away and begin setting up my tent so I can just lay down in comfort...when out of nowhere a kid about 19yrs old, dressed in head to toe camouflage, with a rifle slung over his shoulder, comes stumbling through the campsite from off the trail. After telling me that he had drank a twelve-pack of beer for breakfast and another twelve-pack for supper, while trying to hunt turkey, he then offers me his last beer! I said, "Hell Yeah!" It was a Michelob Light and I drank it with glee! In fact it way the best tasting beer in the world to me at the time! We are expecting more thunderstorms tonight, but I don't see anything yet...we'll see. On to Fontana Dam tomorrow! Then...The Great Smoky Mountains!
Date: 2005-04-12
From: Cable Gap Shelter

To: Fontana Dam Marina
Miles today: 5.5
Weather: light rain

My knee killed me today. Luckily, it's only the right knee and I think it's tendonitus based on what other people have told me from their own experiences. Peanut Ribeye and I got a room at the Inn. A TON of thru-hikers are here. Noonen, Spoon Man, Cup, Cricket, Stretch, the Jersey Girls,Bela, Crosscut, Prometheus, Curt and Goose just to name a few. Crosscut, Prometheus and Curt are section hiking and stayed with us at Sassafras Shelter two nights ago. Crosscut is a really friendly guy and we hope to meet up with him again at the Trail Fest festival in Hot Springs. We paid the shuttle driver, Justin to go to the next town to pick up beers for a bunch of us as this is yet another dry county. Peanut, Ribeye and I split a 6-pack of Sweet Water IPA, which was a really good micro-brew out of Atlanta, GA. Two beers is a tough place to have to stop drinking but we're planning on hiking tomorrow so there's not much of an option. We are all still hurting from that first morning's walk out of the NOC after killing that keg. There is no recovering when your hiking 15 miles a day.We spent the evening hanging out on the balcony outside the hotel lobby, drinking beers, exchanging funny stories and all the while watching an amazing lightening storm move in over us.
Date: 2005-04-13
From: Fontana Dam Marina

To: Zero Day
Miles today: 0.0

We woke up, had a good breakfast at the hotel restaurant, and decided we are all too beat up to go out today, so we are zeroing! I sat in the sauna with Spoon Man and sweat my ass off, but I did feel better afterwards. I iced my knee periodically and did a lot of stretching and eating. Tomorrow we are heading out to the Smokies. I hope my knee doesn't hold me back too much...whatever, I'll roll with whatever happens regardless. I bought a knee brace and maybe that will help...only time will tell. 'till tomorrow...