morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2005-03-31
From: Brown Fork Gap Shelter

To: Fontana Dam Shelter
Miles today: 12.7
Weather: moderate rain

Started @ Brown Fork Gap ShelterDestination: Fontana Dam ShelterToday's miles: 12.7Total miles: 161.5Day 20During the night sometime after 1am it started raining lightly.Before that the stars and moon were shining bright. It rained harder toward morning and then let up somewhat before we started out about 9am. We fixed a hot breakfast before starting out in order to give us more of an energy boost. Snowman left with us and pretty much stayed with us all day. We covered our packs when we left the shelter because it was raining lightly but before we were down the trail very far we stopped to put on our rain pants to help keep the rain from going into the boots. It was foggy and rainy all morning until sometime around noon. We stopped at the next shelter about 6 miles ahead and cooked our dinner so we would not have to cook it late when we got into the next shelter another 6 miles up the trail. We left there at 2pm and got into this shelter about 7pm. We had a lot of ups and downs but the ups were not straight ups like yesterday. The downs did a number on my feet--I had to stop an hour before we got to the shelter to put more moleskin on my feet and they did feel better but the shelter was a climb up for the most part which was easier on my feet. My feet were aching into the night despite ibuprofen taken when I crawled into the sleeping bag.This shelter is called the "Fontana Hilton" because it is fairly new (it looks likes) and sleeps 20. There is an opening on 2 opposite sides of the building and on the other two sides are 2 tiers of sleeping platforms. There are restrooms up the paved walkway and 0.3 mile further is a shower and pay phone at the Fontana Dam Visitor Center. I did not want to walk up to take a shower but some trail angels that were here last night gave us their truck keys to drive to it. The shower revived us and when we got back we sat by the campfire and roasted hot dogs and ate them plain on a bun (they were tasty anyway), ate little snack cakes and drank cokes. It was the latest we had been up while on the trail. We did not have any mice problems here last night: We have had good luck with not having any mice crawling over us in the night. A mouse got into our food bag at some time but we cannot figure out when. It could have been sometime when we had it sitting on the ground while we were fixing something to eat. It did not eat much except a baggie of peanuts and chocolate chips. We saw lots of plants popping up out of the ground. One beautiful plant with 3 leaves we kept seeing had a bud on it. Further down the trail at a lower elevation a lot of them had blossomed. Mike took pictures. He thinks it is some kind of trillium. The blossom has dark red petals that stick straight up. Some of the plants had yellow/green blossoms, instead. We are taking tomorrow off to wash clothes, eat good food, and rest our feet and legs. Good night.
Date: 2005-04-02
To: Fontana Dam
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Start Fontana DamDestination: Fontana Dammiles today: oTotal miles: 162.6Day 22We awakened with news from our innkeepers, Jeff and Nancy, thatkeep the scanner on at all times to monitor the reports from thepark, and they have high winds and snow up there and theadvisory is to stay out of the Smokey¢s. The road into the parkwas closed eventually and some hikers were taken out of the parkat Clingman's Dome sometime during the day. That is the highestelevation in the park. Snowman (David) headed out against manyrequests that he stay. Later in the day our host, Jeff, went toFontana Dam to pick up a hiker that had hiked 5 miles into theSmokey¢s and then decided after talking to a ridge runner to turnback. He made the right decision. He said he had gotten wet atthe lower elevation where it was raining and so was pretty cold. Also, he said the wind was so gusty that it would have beendifficult to set up a tent. The shelter was still 5 miles awayat the point where he turned around and he said because of theblinding snow, wind, and drifts of snow up to his knees he was not sure he could have made it.Snowman was determined to go on, though. We may go up there andfind a huge snowman that he has made (like the little 4-5 inchone he made on a rock in Georgia.We will wait for a weather report in the morning to decide whatto do. Meanwhile today we are entertaining hikers in our roombecause we have a kitchen. Apparently our little room heaterworks better than some of the ones in other rooms. Hopefulbought frozen lasagna, garlic bread, grapes, strawberries,cheese, crackers, and tortilla chips (to go with the salsa thatNancy, our hostess here, makes and sells). Later when Mike andI went into town to get cash we bought pie, ice cream, andLittle Debbie cakes. The hiker that came in yesterday was Dragging from Mass. His girlfriend, Julie, is the one that promised us strawberries when we get there. It was so good to meet him and I am glad heturned around and came back. I hope Snowman is OK.
Date: 2005-04-03
To: Fontana Dam
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Start Fontana DamDestination: Fontana DamMiles today 0Total miles 161.5Day 23Another day spent at the Hike Inn. Weather still pretty bad inhigher elevations. Several tried to go out today, but turnedback due to deep drifts and recommendation of the Ridge runner. The day was spent just visiting with everyone and going intotown for nice evening meal. Got to know Creaky Bonze reallywell. She is an amazing lady with some amazing stories abouther law enforcement career. I just hope for her sake that shecan get back on the trail. She so much wants to complete thetrail.That's about it for today. Plans are a go for tomorrow. Hopethe weather holds.
Date: 2005-04-04
From: Fontana Dam

To: Russell Field Shelter
Miles today: 13.5
Weather: overcast clouds

Started: Fontana DamDestination: Russell Field ShelterMiles today: 13.5Total miles: 176.4Day 24Finally! We hit the trail around 8 A.M. and headed for MolliesRidge. What a climb with mud and snow all over the place. Wewere wise to stay off the trail for another day. Met theRidge runner about half way up and he said it was all a go, tookour trail name and wished us luck. He did advise us to move onpast Mollies Ridge Shelter to either Russell Field or SpenceField Shelter because of the influx of hikers after being heldup by the storm. The trail was extremely muddy and slippery.Legs and feet took a whale of a beating. We arrived at Mollies Ridge Shelter at around 4 P.M. and decidedto move on to Russell Field Shelter, around 2.5 miles further.We made in there around 5:30 P.M. after a very steep descent andlots more mud and rocks. People were calling the trail the ATSwamp and the AT River. What a mess! When we got to the shelter, a nice fire was going, so we hungour wet socks and boots to dry, cooked dinner and went to bed. Great day though, our longest yet with full pack, 13.5 miles!... Truly blessed! No blisters yet!!! Great fun and yet the mostchallenging thing I have ever attempted. Each day your body,mind, and spirit are put to the ultimate test with manyobstacles to overcome. I am constantly reminded of the promisethat our Heavenly Father has given to us: nothing will be placedbefore us that cannot be overcome as long as we maintain ourfaith! Boy has this come to fruition!Till' next time, blessing to ya'll!!
Date: 2005-04-05
From: Russell Field Shelter

To: Derrick Knob Shelter
Miles today: 9.2
Weather: overcast clouds

Total miles: 185.6Day 25Today was a terrible day for hiking. Yesterday was not the best but today for some reason was worse for everyone we have been hiking with. The trail itself is wet and very muddy. Also, the snow is melting and very slushy. Sometimes we step into the snow and then start to step out with the other foot and the first foot sinks down several inches to throw us off balance. We slipped in the mud or snow more times than we can count but there was only 1 fall. Now I have 3 falls to Mike's 2. We had wanted to go on today for another 5 miles to the next shelter but we were just too tired. My feet were not as sore as they have been but maybe I just did not feel them because I was so tired and had a headache all day. I think it was a headache from not having coffee the last 2 mornings. I did not want to drink any coffee in the middle of the day so I had a Snickers bar and Butterfly Moon gave me a couple of Midol which has caffeine in it. It eased the headache but it lingered the rest of the day. I'll drink coffee in the morning. The shelter was pretty packed with hikers but we did not have any problem with mice. Again there was a fire going to make the shelter warmer than the outside and it was pretty cozy. Mike and I are in our sleeping bags at 8pm and there are other hikers still talking but they do not bother us. We are too tired. Good night.
Date: 2005-04-06
From: Derrick Knob Shelter

To: Double Spring Gap Shelter
Miles today: 7.2
Weather: overcast clouds

Total Miles: 192.8Day 26 Today has been a much better day of hiking. The sun shone but the wind was gusty all day. In fact, last night someone had a tarp set up outside the shelter and you could hear the wind whipping the tarp all night. It was cool today but was not bad as long as we were hiking. If we stopped we would have to put on our fleece jackets. Before we left Fontana Dam the weather forecast was for rain to start around this afternoon. We had wanted to go 6 more miles to the next shelter but the wind was getting stronger and the sky was getting cloudier. So we decided to stay at the next shelter. There were several hikers here already at 2pm when we arrived and they were planning to stay also. Some of the younger ones are planning to get to Clingman's Dome and hitch a ride into Gatlinburg tomorrow. At the shelter are Red Hat, Double Healer, Scholar, Freedom, Serinity, Thatcher, Moose, G, and Nuge. There is a father and son here also that are section hiking. The shelter sleeps 12 so we are pretty full. The other shelters we have passed while in the Smokys have not had privies but this one has one. With the snow that has melted, the path to it is pretty wet. Most of the shelters we have seen have bear cages (a chain link fence from floor to roof in front of the shelter with a gate). Also, we have had bear cables to hang our food. Someone said that they do not think the bears will be a problem this time of year but we did see bear scat a few times along the trail today. As for snakes, we have not seen any, but several hikers have reported seeing them on sunny days.The forest floor is getting green and the spring beauties, bluets, periwinkles, and a few violets are starting to pop up. The day we were hiking into the Fontana Dam Shelter we saw a yellow-bellied sapsucker on a tree trunk right on the trail. He acted like he was putting on a show for us by going around to the other side of the tree and then coming back around where we could see it. It has been a good day for hiking with drier trail and when there was mud it was not the wet squishy stuff. I hope tomorrow is sunny and dry.
Date: 2005-04-07
From: Double Spring Gap Shelter

To: Newfound Gap
Miles today: 10.8
Weather: light rain

Total miles: 203.6Day 27Today was one of the roughest days so far on the trail as far as weather and trail conditions. Yesterday we stopped early due to threat of rain, but it did not rain until in the night. The wind was very gusty all night and we were glad to be in the shelter. Before the evening was over we had 16 people in the shelter. Anyway, we were out of the shelter and on our way about 9a.m. after coffee and a pop tart. At first, in spite of the wind, it was not cold and the trail was not bad and the ups were not steep until we got closer to Clingman's Dome. We met much bigger gusts of wind the closer we got and it was getting colder. We had some rain falling but it was not heavy. We were in the clouds and there were no views at all. Once we got to the dome we went up in the tower. A winding concrete walkway led to the top and by the time we got to the top all we could do was turn around and come straight back down. The wind was so strong we could hardly walk straight and we were afraid of having our pack covers torn from our packs. We had packed the camera away in the pack because we knew we would not have any views. But we were there!After leaving Clingman¢s Dome (6643 feet in elevation) the trail got worse. There was ice, water, and lots of squishy mud. We could not take our eyes off the trail because we were constantly looking for a place to put our next footstep. Toto started sliding down the trail on a patch of ice and I caught his sleeve to stop him and spun myself around on the ice and fell. A little while later I heard a moan from Totoand he had fallen when his foot slipped off a slippery log. Then I fell face first when my foot caught on a root. The weight of the pack pushed me down flat on the ground. My forehead hit the mud. No injuries to speak of so we were blessed. We passed up a nearby shelter since it was 0.4 mile off the trail and decided to go 4.5 miles ahead to Newfound Gap. Even though we had not intended to go into town to a motel our day dictated that we needed to. We hitched a ride from the gap with a very nice young man from Chicago who had just finished up his PHD in physics and he was out camping for a while in the Smokys. He is from Turkey and has been in this country for 5 years. It was our first time hitching and it felt really strange.Once at the motel we washed our water containers, washed our clothes in the bathtub with a little Tide I had and strung them up to dry after rolling them in towels to remove the excess water. Next we went down the street to Shoney's and ate from the buffet. We are clean, warm, and our stomachs are full. Plans are to get up and head out as soon as possible in the morning. Oh, we got to talk to some of our family this evening which is always great. Everyone is well. Good night. ------------------------------Sent via PocketMail, Email Anywhere
Date: 2005-04-08
From: Newfound Gap

To: Pecks Corner Shelter
Miles today: 10.4
Weather: light rain

Miles today: 10.4Total miles: 214Day 28We did not seem to be in any real hurry to get up this morning. We slept great and I did not wake up with hip or back pain like I do in the shelter or tent. We went to Shoney's for breakfast and went back to the motel to pack up. I had to call the bank because my debit card has not been working. They said my pin number was locked up because I had put it in wrong a couple of times and then from then on it would not work at all. So now they have assured me that it will work. We walked to The Happy Hiker store and bought alcohol fuel for the stove and signed the hiker register. Then the challenge of hitching a ride back to the gap--15 miles. After about 20 minutes a nice man from Kalamazoo, Michigan, with his 2 children stopped to give us a ride. He was interested in the trail, etc. He was out with his children visiting the Great Smoky Mountain National Park on their spring break. At the gap we talked to several people that were asking questions about the trail and it was hard to get away. Once we got started it was 12:10pm and we had a long way to go before dark. The trail was better today and the sun did shine to give us some good views. There was a lot of ridge walking and because we got started late were late getting into the shelter. Everyone was already in their sleeping bags but they made room for us. We had gotten rained on for about an hour before we got to the shelter and there was some thunder but it was not a heavy rain. We met a woman from Toledo, Ohio, who was here to hike for 5 days in the Smokys for her birthday. Happy birthday, Cheryl. She had driven just south of where we live to cross the Ohio River into WV. I forgot to mention that while we were at The Hike Inn in Fontana Dam we met Draggin from Massachusetts. His girlfriend is the one who has promised us strawberries when we get up there. So it was a pleasant surprise to meet Draggin. I think that one of the best things about this hike is the people that we meet along the way. Everyone is so interesting and there is a lot of sharing of water from the spring, ibuprofen, instant oatmeal, Girl Scout cookies, Easter candy, margarine, etc. And to think that there are at least 5-6 more months to meet other people that we will never forget.
Date: 2005-04-09
From: Pecks Corner Shelter

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

Miles hiked today: 12.9 milesTotal miles hiked: 226.9Stayed in a shelterDay 29Today we had a long day to get in in order to get to Davenport Gap by Sunday. Toto must leave the trail to go back to work until July. Red Hat has already told us she has her journal entry for ready for when he leaves. The Wicked Witch (Work) is going to take him away. We left the shelter this morning at about 9am. The shelter is 0.5 miles down the mountain so we had a climb out this morning. We stopped at the next shelter, Tri-Corner Shelter for our lunch. I was so tired and hungry that all I could do was sit and eat a snack and take off my boots. Eventually I made it up to filter some water while Toto had our dinner cooking. I wasn't very hungry so he shared some of the stew with another hiker that was at the shelter resting. Once we ate and had rested our feet we were feeling better but it was a long hike yet to the shelter. Everyone that was at the shelter last night was planning to go to Cosby Knob and others that passed us from the previous shelter were also planning to go there. We knew it would be full so were expecting to tent. The tent space we found was a bit sloped so we had to keep sliding the foam pad and sleeping bag uphill. The tent was staked but I was afraid we would pull the stakes loose and the tent would go over the hill. Since we had our hot meal earlier we had hot chocolate and cheese crackers for our evening meal. We are very tired. This has been a long day. Good night.
Date: 2005-04-10
From: Cosby Knob Shelter

To: Davenport Gap
Miles today: 8.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Day 30From Cosby Knob we headed to Davenport Gap where our son was to meet us. We arrived at the Gap around 2:30 P.M. but no Michael! Draggin and Wolfhound wwere there. Draggin was telling us about the great hamburgers at Mountain Mama's which was only about 2 miles away. We waited to see if our son would show up (we told him we would be here around 3 P.M.), and when he did not we hiked on down the mountain to Mt. Mama's.Draggon was right! Great hamburger and fries! Good service, nice people!Our son showed up around 5:30 P.M. He had overslept. So we headed for Newport for warm, dry lodging. Did our laundry, etc.We did hit Shoney's that evening and Dorothy had two huge Sundae's!! Trail was wonderful today! Clouded by the fact that this was my last day on the trail until July. I truely hate to come off the trail and will miss the people I have met and the unbelievable challenges of the trail itself. Dorothy will go on, though! She is a tremendous trooper!Enough for now! Good night!
Date: 2005-04-11
From: Davenport Gap

To: Groundhog Creek Shelter
Miles today: 9.6
Weather: clear sky

Day 31We left the Motel 6 in Newport and went to Mountain Momma's for breakfast by 8am. Hellboy had stayed at Mountain Momma's and was eating breakfast there and after we were all finished Toto took us to the trailhead at Davenport Gap. We said good-bye to Toto and Michael and I started out. The trail was beautiful and followed a lovely flowing stream for quite a ways up the trail.I was not sure how Michael would do on the trail since he has not done anything like this before, but he took up the mountains a lot faster than me. We did a lot of miles for his first day out but he did great. He did say that he did not see how I could do this. He also mentioned that he had not thought that he would use the trekking poles as much as he was. His feet were bothering him a bit be the end of the day and the first thing he did was put his feet in the cold spring. He was in his sleeping bag as soon as possible, too. I saw poison ivy for the first time today when we climbed up from I-40 but after we climbed to a higher elevation it seemed to disappear as a lot of other vegetation did. We saw jack-in-the-pulpits, blooming bloodroot, may apples, and many other flowers that we did not know what they were. Oh, we saw Snowman today. We were sitting along the trail having lunch when Snowman hiked up to us. He had stayed at Standing Bear Farm (a hostel for hikers) for 2 nights so had gotten behind us. He was sad to not see Toto. At the shelter this evening is Phoenix, Butterfly Moon, Snowman, Gypsy Lulu,, Touk, Baseline, Micheal (now Toto 2 or T-2), Bearbait, and Hopeful Hiker (called Hopeless by most of us).Butterfly Moon had a nice big fire going in the fire pit when we came in to the shelter area about 4:30pm. She had brought potatoes from Standing Bear Farm where she, Phoenix, Snowman, and Hopeful stayed the night before. The shelter is for 6 persons and we have 9 people in here. We know that at least 2 of the persons are snorers so we'll see how we sleep. Goodnight.