morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2005-03-14
From: The Second Longest Day

To: Justis Creek
Miles today: 6.0

Our day started out late, we didn't leave the tent site till 10:15 due to having to filter water, cook, prepare and pack out wet tent...what a mess. Then to top it off we had to hike over six miles of straight up and down mountains, the worst being Sassafrass Mountain in the overcast damp weather. Upon arrival at Justice Creek we camped right beside it next to a fellow hiker Bear Bait and across the creek from Calico and her boyfriend who did not have a trail name yet. However, it wouldn't be long as the wood was damp and hard to start a fire, he threw fuel from his fuel cylinder onto the fire and it followed the fuel back into the cylinder whereby he dropped it. Hence his trail name Torch. We had to get up in the night and relocate our tent because we kept sliding down the hill on our sleeping mats and bags. Rookie hikers, what can you expect. At least we got to eat supper, though.
Date: 2005-03-15
From: Justis Creek

To: Woody Gap
Miles today: 6.3
Weather: light rain

Awoke to a clear sky, ate grits for breakfast, filtered water and packed up-a rountine is beginning to be established. We started off and hiked about 1/2 mile and Fancyfree noticed her back and pants were getting wet. She had screwed the top of her water bladder on crooked and it emptied out in her pack and all down over her. We hiked up and down for 6 1/2 hours till we reached Woody Gap 6.3 miles away. Upon arrival, we decided we would get off the trail and go to the Hiker Hostel for the night to rest up, get a shower and regroup. As we were standing along the road hitchiking Calico and torch arrived and Calico, being the pretty young thing she is stuck her thumb out and some good ol boy in a pickup truck screeched to a stop scattering rocks. Within two minutes Fancyfree, Torch, and I climbed in the back. Calico climbed in the front and off we went. Of course being the rookies we are we gave him the wrong drop off point and he let us off a mile to soon. So, once again, thumbs out and luckily some Spring Breakers who were going hiking were lost and stopped to ask directions and ended up shuttling us back to the hostel in two trips. The hostel was a newly built log cabin which was absolutly unbelievable. We had a private room with a bath and a double bed. Absolute Heaven. We got to take our first shower in three days, go in town and eat at an Italian Restaurant and stop by Wal-Mart. It don't get any better than that.
Date: 2005-03-16
From: Woody Gap

To: Zero Day
Miles today: 0.0

It rained all day so we opted to stay another day and night at the hostel. We went through our backpacks and took out 13 pounds from my pack and 5 pounds out of Fancyfree's and semt it home. We then went up to Neel's Gap and purchased new sleeping packs and boots. We called Domino's and ordered pizza for supper which we atte while we worked on our gear and water-proofed our tent. We left our private room and moved into a room with two other hikers and slept in bunkbeds. Life is good.
Date: 2005-03-17
From: Woody Gap

To: Heels Gap
Miles today: 10.6
Weather: light snow

We got up early to a breakfast of waffles and scrambbled eggs and all the trimmings. Sounds good but I couldn't eat very much and the scale says that I have lost 5 1/2 pounds since day 1. Today we are going to slack pack which means that our big heavy packs will be taken ahead about ten miles and we'll carry little light packs with water and lunch in them. The hostel staff drove us up to Woody Gap and we began where we left off. As soon as we started hiking it began to snow and sleet which it kept up almost all day. We hiked up Blood Mountain, the highest mountain in Georgia (4461') and down to Heel's Gap where we picked up our packs. We then hiked down over the hill to Blood Mountain Cabins where we had agreed to share a cabin with Torch, Calico, and Bear Bait. We were driven into Blairsville in a big ol dual wheeled F350 truck that would make any good ol' boy slobber, by a really nive retired fellow who's trail name is Fabulous Fred. Fred gave me some good advice about forcing myself to eat and drink and the proper care of feet. We went to a restaurant that served all you can eat buffet featuring home cooking but I still couldn't eat much. Back to the Racoon Cabin, which is right next to the Beaver Cabin which we stayed at on our first trip last fall to Blood Montain.
Date: 2005-03-18
From: Heels Gap

To: Hog Pen Gap
Miles today: 6.4
Weather: overcast clouds

We got a late start but managed to hike farther than we had planned. This was due to missing the signs for water. So on and on we went till we found water at Hog Pen Gap. After we had settled in for the night we heard a voice which turned out to be a trail worker who went by the name of Dances With Mice. Something about a mouse getting into his sleeping bag on a previous outing with Cub-Scouts. He hung a hammock in the trees down from us and slept there for the night. When we went to bed it was 22 degrees. A hardy lot, these hikers....we're getting there.
Date: 2005-03-19
From: Hog Pen Gap

To: Low Gap Shelter
Miles today: 4.2
Weather: overcast clouds

We started our day off with a very nice conversation with Dances With Mice. He knows all the trails in Georgia and was very helpful to us. We then saw some people giving out trail magic, java, soda, apples, bananas, etc. Which we passed up as we had just eaten(About lunch time we regretted that we did not grab a piece of fresh fruit.). We arrived at the shelter at about 1:30 p.m. and we quit for the day. We just sat around and rested, built a fire and met new people. One very interesting older couple from Maine: Runaway and Alt Youth. We were in bed by hikers midnight, 8:00 p.m. and slept fitfully all night. Fancyfree had a mouse run over her sleeping bag. Footloose kept all awake by snoring all night.
Date: 2005-03-20
From: Low Gap Shelter

To: Unicoi
Miles today: 9.4
Weather: scattered clouds

Boy, sure seems like we should be in Maine already. Our toes have duct tape on them, we're ragged and we smell like....like we haven't had a shower in three days-The good news is is that we have decided to do extra miles and go into town and stay. We hiked to Unicoi Gap and hitched a ride with a man in a travel trailer. We went to Helen Georgia, a town that looks like a Bavarian Village. Really neat. We went to Super 8 hotel and who walks out but Torch and Calico. We all went to the steak house and celebrated the 50 mile mark with a good meal. Footloose's appetite is coming back. The rest of the night was spent lying in a king size bed watching the Weather Channel.
Date: 2005-03-22
From: Zero Day

To: Zero Day
Miles today: 0.0

Took another zero day due to severe thunderstorms. Ate wings at Feisty Bar-B-Que and got to write our names on the wall. Apparently they have a custom of writing your name on the wall if you've eaten there. So we did. It was raing and the owner treated us to some trail magic by taking us back tot he motel. We had a very relaxing evening in the room watching HBO and snacking.
Date: 2005-03-23
From: Unicoi

To: Tray Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 5.5
Weather: light rain

Clear skys after terrible storms overnight. Got off early, ate breakfast at our favorite place, Hoefer's German Bakery and then on to Betty's store to get a lunch packed for us. We caught a ride almost immediately by a lady named June. She was very interested in our hike and wants us to keep in touch. Tough hike today over two hard mountains. Arrived at shelter at 3:15 p.m. and ate a supper of noodles and tortillas and cheese and coffee. We also mixed up a liter of Gatorade and drank it to keep hydrated. Very cold and windy here tonight. Fancyfree has rigged up a tarp over half of the shelter to try and cut the wind. No one else here in the shelter tonight. Just us, the wind, and the mice. We do have a privy though, a one seater, complete with store bought seat and lid, life is good! We hope to make it to Blueberry Patch Hostel tomorrow, almost ten miles to get, you guessed it, to Blueberry Pancakes and a hot shower
Date: 2005-03-24
From: Tray Mountain Shelter

To: Deep Gap Shelter
Miles today: 7.1
Weather: broken clouds

Very, very cold and windy all night at Tray Mountain Shelter, 18 degrees when we got up at 6:30 a.m. and very foggy. We dressed in our heavy coats, gloves, hats, etc, and upon leaving and hiking down about 300 feet we had to stop and take all of it off. Today was a very long day capped off by an arduous hike up Kelly Knob, almost straight up for over a mile. We had wanted to hike on to Dick's Gap to get a ride to the Blueberry Patch but we ran out of steam and intead opted to camp at Deep Gap Shelter. We encountered many people today but the most interesting fellow by far was Cyclehiker. He passed by with a full sized bicycle, weight 18 pounds, broken down in pieces, on the back of his pack. He has cycled from Illinois to the trail, will hike the whole trail to Maine, and then cycle back home to Chicago. He said he didn't know how much his pack weighed, didn't want to know, saying, "ignorance is bliss."
Date: 2005-03-25
From: Deep Gap Shelter

To: Dick's Creek Gap
Miles today: 3.5
Weather: clear sky

We spent a very pleasant night in the tent, awakening to a very balmy 50 degree morning. We had trouble with the stove and so we had a cold breakfast of trail mix bars and Gatorade. We hiked a few ups and downs and a very long down into Dick's Creek Gap, where the trail intersects with the highway. We stuck out our thumbs and the first vehicle stopped. It was driven by a very nice man who had been out of state for a week working and was on his way home. He said that his wife was a hiker and that she made him promise if he ever saw any hikers hitchhiking, he was to pick them up. So the fellow being a dutiful husband turned out to be a piece of Trail Magic for us. He dropped us off at the Blurberry Patch, a hostel for hikers, where we picked up our mail drop and boarded a van bound for the town of Hiawassee and the Hiawassee Inn, another hiker hostel that has been converted from a 50's era motel. We got a room, took a shower, washed our clothes, and went to eat at the Georgia Mountain Inn, that specialized in Southern cooking. Footloose had the whole fried catfish with all the trimmings, to include hush puppies and cole slaw and Fancyfree opted for the southern fried chicken dinner complete with banana pudding. Yee Haw!!
Date: 2005-03-26
From: Dick's Creek Gap

To: Hiawassee
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

We have been monitoring the weather channel and the outlook is not good. It looks like we're in for 2 days of severe rain and thunderstorms. After much contemplation, we've decided to zero day today and possibly even tomorrow. We enjoyed a continental breakfast provided by the Hiawassee Inn and sat around and talked with Anchor, Oblivious and Troll; a family of three who are hiking the trail. Oblivious, who is 9 years old and his father, Troll, hike wearing Kilts. Oblivious has a Mohawk haircut and is homeschooled by his mom, Anchor. A very neat, interesting family. We caught a ride to Kups and Kones, a local coffee/ice cream shop, to relax and check out Trail Journals and read a newspaper. We then went over to the Yacht Club restaurant and enjoyed wings and beer for lunch. Screaming Sunset joined us for lunch and we finally learned how she aquired such a trail name. The secret is safe with us. We went back to the motel and used the owner's grill and cooked some hot dogs for supper, satisfying a trail craving of Footloose. We met Roy (no trail name) and Allison AKA Salty, and shared our hot dogs. And then the rains came. And it rained and rained and rained. There were severe lightening and thunderstorms all evening and throughout the night. Good sleeping weather, especially since we were indoors.
Date: 2005-03-27
From: Hiawassee

To: Hiawassee
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Easter Sunday. Awoke to heavy rain. We were treated to eggs benedict, fruit, coffee and juice for breakfast by the staff at the Hiawassee Inn. And then off to the gas station, dodging lightening strikes and torrents of rain (just kidding) to get a Sunday paper and back to bed to read and watch old movies. We lunched at Dairy Queen, the pork barbeque, fries and a promise of an ice cream later. The rain continued to pour throughout the day and we ran over to Subway for supper. Fancyfree was not feeling well so we got her some chicken noodle soup and back to the room to eat. Rain and more rain. No kidding, you should have seen this rain, it was unbelievable. We were sooooo glad that we were not out in it.
Date: 2005-03-28
From: Dick's Creek Gap

To: Plumorchard Shelter
Miles today: 4.3
Weather: light rain

Up early, still raining. But, we must go on, on the weather channel's promise of the rain stopping by noon. We were driven up to the trailhead by the Hiawassee staff and started hiking in the rain at 9:15 AM. We hiked in the rain, arriving at the shelter at 12:25 PM. We were wet and cold and already there were about 15 people there, eating lunch and just hanging out, waiting for the weather channel's prediction to come to fruition. No such luck, the rain continued to fall but as luck would have it, eight of the hikers decided to leave and, "go for it". Rookies. We ate a peanut butter and banana wrap and contemplated the situation. We opted to stay. We met Momma Bear and the three cubs (Bip, Bop and Achilles; ages 8, 11 and 12 years), who are also trying to hike all the weay to Maine. We had a supper of Lipton beef noodles, hot chocolate, snickers bars, hung the food bags and turned in for the night. The Plumorchard Shelter was a very nice shelter in that it was a three story affair with plexiglass windows, tables and a tree stump out front that reportedly was home to a family of copperhead snakes. Footloose spent a very resless night afraid that he was going to roll off the second tier and break his neck. This caused him to crowd Fancyfree resulting in her having a restless night as well. Such is trail life.
Date: 2005-03-29
From: Plumorchard Shelter

To: Whiteoak Stamp
Miles today: 8.0

We woke up to a bautiful sunny morning, the ground was still very wet, but otherwise, a perfect day for hiking. We breakfased on instant Oatmeal and Grits and finally got out of the shelter by a litle after 9 AM. We crossed a milestone right before lunchtime. We left Georgia and crossed over into North Carolina. At Bly Gap we lunched on a Granny Smith apple with peanut butter and trail mix. Then, ....then the fun began, we hiked up two murderous mountains, Sharp Top and Courthouse Bald. Very hard, we'll probably dream about those babies for some time to come. It was as if North Carolina was welcoming us, saying, "You thought Georgia was hard, you'all ain't seen nothing yet!" We didn't like the looks of Muskrat Creek Shelter, so we hiked on about another mile where we tented. The data book said there was water there but we couln't locate it so Fancyfree hiked back .7 of a mile and got water. After a supper of Ramen Noodles, we turned in.
Date: 2005-03-30
From: Whiteoak Stamp

To: Beech Gap
Miles today: 8.6
Weather: broken clouds

Up and at 'em by 8:00 AM, another nice sunny day. We had hoped to hike about 11 miles today but the ups and downs and a two mile ascent to Standing Indian Mountain took it's toll and we gave it up at Beech Gap. We did enjoy the early stop and took advantage of the down time to tear the stove apart and clean it, read a little and just plain loaf around. We enjoyed a side hike to the spring that was just, " a 5 minute hike, up the blue blaze trail", as reported by a fellow hiker. It was the longest 5 minute hike we ever saw, as attested to by fellow hiker Virgil and Momma Bear and the Cuibs who also were tenting with us at the gap. We enjoyed a fire, which was built by Achilles and turned in.
Date: 2005-03-31
From: Beech Gap

To: Carter Gap Shelter
Miles today: 3.2
Weather: moderate rain

We awoke at 3:00 AM, to the sound of rain hitting the tent. A deluge soon followed which lasted all through the morning. It was tough getting up in the cold, freezing rain and packing the tent, which just about doubles in weight when it is wet. We ate a pop tart, drank some water and headed up the trail. Momma Bear and the Cubs were still sleeping as we passed their tent. We hiked in the pouring rain, soaked through and through and very chilled to the bone. We hiked a mere 3.2 miles to the Carter Gap Shelter where we spent the rest of the day trying to dry out. We saw a grouse and observed as it flapped it's wings making a strange sound which no one could identify up until that point. Fancyfree went to the spring and fell down the hill and came back with her backside covered in mud. We spent the day talking with Virgil and his wife Jo, who are thru hiking with their dog Harley, and Mama Bear, about food and it's preparation on the trail. Jo, whom we tried to give the trail name of Martha,(Martha Stewart) because of her extensive knowledge of trail foods and cooking techniques, but she balked and did finally tentaively agree to Betty Crocker. Our stove is shot, or it may be operator error, who knows; but we've decided to get another cooking system, a Jet Boil. The Jet Boil is a pot type affair that is attached right to the stove itself and has a French Press available for real coffee. Betty Crocker had one and treated us to a cup of real Columbian coffee which was given to her by missionary friends who were in South America. Incidentially, we are almost out of food as well. We've been out a day and a half more than we planned food for. The shelter became filled to overflowing with people sleeping under the shelter and on the gravel in the entryway. There were also 8 or 10 people who tented near the shelter.
Date: 2005-04-01
From: Carter Gap Shelter

To: Rock Gap Shelter
Miles today: 12.1
Weather: moderate rain

Rain, rain and more rain. Can you see a pattern here? Awoke to a cold dreary day. Fancyfree had a Snickers bar and I had some water for breakfast. We started hiking about 8:00 AM and covered some very rough terrain up to almost Albert Mountain. Or should I say, the dreaded Albert Mountain. Picture this, wet, cold, hungry, tired hikers, dreading a hike up a killer mountain and then around a turn there's a sign right on the trail that said, "Trail Magic" and an arrow pointing to the left. You then almost immediately hear Bluegrass music coming from where the arrow is pointing and you smell tacos or burritos or some kind of Mexican food. You think that you've either died and went to Country Heaven or someone is playing an April Fools joke on you. Well, we followed the sign and the trail to a clearing right beside the Trail where a fire road ended and there sat a camper and a pickup truck and tarps were spread out a man was cooking beans and rice over an open fire and there was a table set up with all the fixings for burritos. There were hikers standing around under the tarps eating burritos and drinking cokes and coffee and hot chocolate. Two former hikers and campground managers, Terry and Barry Glidden had provided the Trail Magic. They also offered a big tent to sleep in and a privy. Not to mention all the Bluegrass music, piped over speakers from a local radio station, that you could stand. Needless to say, we spent over two hours there, in the shadow of the dreaded Albert Mountan, eating burritos, drinking coffee and drying out by the fire, all the while tapping our foot to the twang of the banjo. We also picked up an extra meal out of the hiker box and some fuel for the stove that doesn't work, before we headed out. We were so revived that we hiked the rest of the day in very high spirits, crossing the 100 mile mark, to the shelter at Rock Gap. There we ran across a fellow from town, Night Stalker, who was just hanging out and we asked him for a ride into town. Momma Bear and the Cubs and Fancyfree and I loaded into a little pickup truck and off to Franklin, North Carolina, and civilization, we went. He dropped us off at the Microtel for a paltry sum where we got a room, a hot shower, washed our clothes and enjoyed a good meal at Shoneys. Life Is Good!!
Date: 2005-04-02
From: Rock Gap Shelter

To: Zero Day, Franklin, NC
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

It snowed 8-12 inches up on the mountain where we just hiked in from, depending on who you talk to. We watched the weather channel with much interest, went to the grocery store, K-Mart and the outfitters. The outfitter replaced Footloose's Camelback, which had sprung a leak. They could not do anything about the stove though. A call was placed to Neel's Gap and the owner said to send the stove back and he would credit our charge card and we asked him to mail us a Jet Boil on to Nanthala Outdoor Center (NOC). Footloose had to replace his pants which were too big due to weight loss. We ate pizza and drank beer for supper, while watching basketball in the room. The Pope passed away today.
Date: 2005-04-03
From: Zero Day, Franklin, NC

To: Zero Day
Miles today: 0.0

Spent another zero day waiting out the rain and gloom. We cleaned and waterproofed the boots, dryed and aired out the tent, packed the packs and fidgeted with gear virtually all day. We went to a barbeque house to eat lunch and Shoney's for supper. We made some telephone calls to the kids and Footloose trried to read every newspaper for sale in town. We called a real nice fellow who provides shuttle service, named George, who agreed to pick us up at 9:00 AM and take us back to the trail.
Date: 2005-04-04
From: Rock Gap Shelter

To: Siler Bald Shelter
Miles today: 7.5
Weather: clear sky

Up and at 'em. George was prompt, we loaded up in his little pickup truck with Mamma Bear and the cubs and off we went. He dropped us off at the parking lot near Rock Gap Shelter, refused to take any money or even a donation for the trail club. As soon as we got started we encountered a huge tree which had blown down across the trail in a very precarious exteremly spot. We took our packs off and attempted to go around it and in the attempt Momma Bear's pack fell about 60 feet down. The pack burst open and a clasp was broken. Achilles and Footloose, together, retrieved the pack, an effort that took almost an hour. Talk about being clean and fresh just coming out of town, now all were sweaty, muddy and tired and we had only been on the trail less than ten minutes. We hiked in slush and stopped at Winding Stair Gap to eat lunch and had a snowball fight with the cubs and talked to section hikers from Orlando who had been out for several days. We made it to Siler Bald Shelter but elected to tent as the shelter was small and full.
Date: 2005-04-05
From: Siler Bald Shelter

To: Cold Spring Shelter
Miles today: 12.1
Weather: clear sky

Today's hike was miserable. It was one of those days were all the pieces just did't fit right. The terrain was alot of bad ups and downs, we were detoured maybe a mile or so and the day ended with a terrible uphill, when we got to the shelter, right at dark (thank goodness that the time had just recently changed while we were in Franklin and we had an extra hour of daylight) it was a very tiny little thing that everyone refused to sleep in. We ended up tenting up on a ridge on an eneven spot. There was a good spot in the day, when we stopped at the observation tower on Wayah Bald. This tower afforded an excellent view of the mountains that we had just hiked and those to come, the dreaded Smoky Mountains. It was a clear day and the views were excellent. We socialized there with Red Beard and Zen and several other hikers for probably an hour.