morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2013-05-11
From: Muskrat Creek Shelter

To: Carter Gap Shelter
Miles today: 12.5
Weather: overcast clouds

93.9 total hikedNo rain, no pain, no Maine.With five rain days of nine hiking days I think I have qualified to use the above AT thru-hikers cliche.I saw a deer last night walking around in front of the shelter. First of this hike.I don't remember what I was dreaming but I ended up kicking the poor guy next to me. I'm glad Steve didn't have a gun.When I woke shortly after six fog created an ethereal woodland scene. Until four pm visibility was limited to 50-200 yards. I put my rain jacket on six different times and rain pants three times.Dana started section hiking last year and will make it to Fontana Dam this year.Before I started this trip my Muse advised me not to let devotion to his journal take the fun out of my hike. I thought of this after writing three entries during my short stay in Hiawassee. I think when similar situations come up I will post only a skeleton entry and try to expand on it later if possible.Today, added to the wet rocks and leafs, were exposed roots from trees lining the trail. At some point I will tell you about how roots ended a mans hike in Maine.It's amazing how reassuring a white blaze can be. Especially when the hiker has been daydreaming for a while.I met Eric and John from Groveton, NH on the trail and later joined them in the shelter. Shortly later Dana and Steve arrived. The only other people I saw today were four SOBO section hikers who didn't seem to be having fun.It is a nice feeling to have the AT to yourself.I have previously only seen Fairy Violets in very small colonies. Today I saw them blanketing the mountain. Above and below the trail. Beautiful.Sleep well.Ole Slo
Date: 2013-05-12
From: Carter Gap Shelter

To: Franklin, NC
Miles today: 15.9

109.8 total hikedI was awake at 5:40 and on the trail at 6:40. I need to figure a more efficient way to get packed up in the morning. Rumor had it that the temperature would fall to the low twenties tonight. I looked at the mileage and felt that with the early start I had an outside chance to get to Franklin and a nice hot shower and warm bed. Oh yeah... And real food.I encountered my first pole-less boulder scramble where you toss your poles ahead of you and use hands, knees and feet to get past a helter skelter of medium to large boulders. I smiled when I finished, happy that I negotiated this with ease and knowing biggersuch challenges are spread from here to Maine.The sun burned through the fog by 9:00 and by 10:00 I realized I was still tired from a night of poor sleep and an early start. I also wanted to dry my sleeping bag and liner in the sun. I spread my equipment out on a sloping ledge, propped my head on my backpack, covered my eyes with a shirt and took a twenty minute nap. As I was trying to out do myself on mileage I didn't take much notice of my surroundings today. I did however slow down for Mt. Albert. The guide said there was a bypass. That should have been my first clue. Ignoring the blue blazed trail I kept following the white blazes. Boulder hopping became pole less boulder scrambles. Roots and small trees became anchors by which to pull myself up. Early in, in astonishment, I began taking pictures of white blazes painted on boulders. At one point I came to the realization I was making a record so that when my body was found they would know how far I had made it. Delusions of Mallory.At a point near the top I was intrigued by a section which looked not just difficult and challenging, but dangerous.   Having seen nobody for hours I realized even a minor injury could be trouble with the cold coming tonight. Disheartened, I retreated to the blue blazed bypass. I will return to this spot with a partner and climb that last piece of the Albert.Following Josh's, advise which now seems from so long ago, i went back to pumping arms and pushing poles. I got to the road, stuck my thumb out and was picked up quickly by day hikers returning to Franklin. These very nice people went out of their way to bring me to the hiker-friendly Budget Inn. A great meal waited for me only a block away. A couple phone calls later exhaustion finally lead to collapse. A nap in the sunshine in the middle of the AT wilderness is a thing of beauty. I slept well. I hope you did. :-)ole slo
Date: 2013-05-13
From: Franklin, NC

To: Franklin, NC
Miles today: 0.0

Butch has figured out the operation of the total mileage calculator so I guess we can omit adding it to the start of each entry.I found myself wishing I had a way to capture the sound of the trail side waterfalls I was passing. Duh... I have at least two ways on my iPhone and also in the video mode on my camera. I have a good friend who shoots as much video as stills. I'll try to get in the habit. One reason I pushed the miles yesterday was I knew I would be able to recoup with a zero today. Still I got a lot done. Whittled down my bounce box and worked on my pack load plan. Josh at Hiked Hostel told me he was still tweaking his pack in Maine when he did his Thru. Tweaking I can handle. I hope I'm through with major (and expensive) changes. I'm being picked up in the morning and shuttled to the trailhead. I'm ready.It's nice to finish everything you wanted to do on a zero day. Beautiful. Another night of sleeping well coming up. I hopefor you as we'll. :-)ole slo
Date: 2013-05-14
From: Franklin, NC

To: Wayah Gap
Miles today: 7.1

I got lucky with the woman who shuttled me for two days in Franklin. Judy, who either works for or owns City Taxi was on time, patient with waiting for me at various stops and charged reasonable rates.Bob at Outdoors 76 outfitters also treated me well.I had a Kountry breakfast at Kountry Kitchen. Great.I don't know why I set up a late pickup for the shuttle back to the AT. Judy arrived at 11am. There was a young man from Seattle there also. He, Winstin, started hiking four days before I did but hurt his ankle the first day out and is just now getting back up to speed.The hike today had nothing much remarkable about it. I did make some videos of waterfalls.I had originally planned to stay at a shelter four miles up the trail but it was too early to stop. I am stealth camping on top of a ridge waiting for a gorgeous sunset, and I should see a nice sunrise on the opposite side of the ridge to wake up to. (Note: Stealth Camping means camping where there is no designated campsite or shelter)Two hours until dark. I wish I had a Kindle.Changing plans I the middle of the day and having it work out so well is beautiful. Sleep well. My heart is still brimming with joy. :-)ole slo
Date: 2013-05-15
From: Wayah Gap

To: Cold Spring Shelter
Miles today: 9.1
Weather: clear sky

125.6 Total hikedAs I thought last night, I woke to a great sunrise. By looking under the edge of my tarp I was able to see a long line of gold back-lighting the ridge lines led across a valley. All from the snugness of my sleeping bag. I got A Klymit sleeping pad in Franklin and the jury is still out on it. Weird cutout. Worth a look by Googleing. First time I've been able to spend extended time sleeping on my left side since the crash.I thought I was in Kansas with the strong wind from yesterday afternoon until 8:30. Then it was as of someone turned off the switch.Some of the white blazing and the yellow blazing for the Bartram trail confused me, but then...At least I didn't get lost. Eee, maybe I shouldn't have said that.Saw a chunky chipmunk today. It must be a good spring for food. Saw a small colony of maroon trillium. Couldn't get a good picture because of the steepness of the trail side. I suspect Butch won't be upset with that. The Wayah Bald fire lookout tower was worth the climb. Built in 1935 by the CCC, it was dedicated on 9-6-37 to John Byrne who in April, 1931 became the first Forest Superintendent of the Nantahala National Forest. This forest includes many miles of the AT. Have I told you how much I love my multi-use rain suit. The second most appreciated gear behind my hiking poles. Here with Twitch who will finish a mine year section hike May 26At Springer. This shelter was built in 1933 by the CCC. The Voice and Ohenro, both from Germany, joined us and Ohenro immediately started a amp fire. Soon others from the renting site joined our group. I didn't last long and was asleep before dark.I had an easy hike today with no goal set until I started to tire about 3pm. For the first time I took pack-off breaks in both morning and afternoon as swell as the first such break since day two for lunch. Beautiful. Sleep well. :-)ole slo
Date: 2013-05-16
From: Cold Spring Shelter

To: Nantahala Outdoor Center
Miles today: 11.1

Three people came to the full shelter after 10pm last night. This morning they were cowboy camped spread out on the ground in only their sleeping bags.Forgot to tell you that Marsha sent homemade goodies to me in Franklin but they hadn't arrived when I was leaving town. Thanks for the thought Marsha.Because of the lay of the land and the placement of shelters I planned to make it here today by pushing. I did both.Other than a rant later on trail condition, it was an uneventful day.Head down and grind it out.It's a beautiful thing to set a goal and make it. My muse had more faith in me than I did. Sleep well.:-)ole slo
Date: 2013-05-17
From: Nantahala Outdoor Center

To: Sassafras Gap Shelter
Miles today: 6.9
Weather: broken clouds

Woke at 5:30 and could have started much earlier but didn't want to wake bunk room mates. Yesterday I met the guy who is here taking a canoe racing course this week. The other, a hiker, came in after I went to sleep and never woke me up.Well you know 7:00am was late enough. I started packing up and was on the trail by 7:25.Doug let me know when you start your SOBO and I'll post it here. If you need a trail name, after Blood Mt., "The Bouncer" might be appropriate.I got to learn one of the pleasures of the trail this morning. For the first mile and a half I was the first person to walk it today. You"ll never know until you try, spider webs in your face, eyes, ears and teeth, what fun.Early on I saw my first wild Azaleasand first ever Mountain Laurel. Next month the Rhodies will be showing off.I called The Hike Inn at Fontana to make a reservation for Sunday but... are you ready... there was no room at the inn. Even I shook my head at this one.I have read a lot about the seven mile, all uphill hike out of Nantahala. I faced this in the morning with apprehension because some of the stories I have read in Trail Journals made it sound terrible. Most of it was well maintained and easy to walk. There was about a mile all told that was pretty iffy. And, only about 5.9 miles are uphill. The last mile is downhill to this shelter.I met John from Corning, NY who is doing the trail in sections and another man doing his second to last section.It was overcast today which kept the temperature nice for hiking. It might be cold tonite.When the creator decided to make beautiful, he chose a special niche in nature for Azaleas, Mountain Laurel and Rhododendron. Sleep well. :-)ole slo
Date: 2013-05-18
From: Sassafras Gap Shelter

To: Stecoah Gap
Miles today: 6.7

150.7 total hikedToday was the roughest 6.7 miles I've walked on this trip, but lets start with last night.A lot of people were here night. I went to bed before the campfire started and watched from my bed in the loft of the shelter and six more in area around it. It became pretty quiet when the rain started around eight o'clock. It rained off and mostly on all night and today. A lot of the trail had been poorly maintained and the tread way, instead of being squared off perpendicular to the center of gravity (I don't know how else to describe it) was sloped downhill while the trail traversed the mountain. This made each foot placement an adventure when leafs, mud and marble like stones were added to the mix.The guide noted the start of the last three mile section I wanted to do this way, "start of Jacobs Ladder". The profile showed this section being very steep. I said, "Nope not going to finish a day tired and climbing no "Jacobs Ladder." "Do you remember clause in my contract that grants senior citizens with no agenda and no responsibilities the right to HYOH! I called a shuttler, Donna, and I am now warm and dry in a small Mom and Pop motel nestled in the NC mountains. Donna will return me to my jump off point in the morning. Everyone I have dealt with in this remote community have been very nice.Dave, that was the largest single serving of ice cream I've had. I have lots of books on my iPhone. The Kindle comment was to admit to Butch that he gets much better Battery life on his Kindle than I on my iPhone.Blossom, I will try to answer your question in another post. I don't want these updates to be too long. You may call me anything you wish, but is it fair you get to hide behind your trail name?I saw a beautiful flower with three upright yellow petals. Sleep well.:-)ole slo
Date: 2013-05-19
From: Stecoah Gap

To: Cable Gap Shelter
Miles today: 8.5
Weather: light rain

5-198.5 hiked today159.2 total hikedI had a filling southern breakfast at the convenience store part of the store, gas station, motel here at Tuskeegee.Donna picked me up when she said she would. Did I tell you how good she was yesterday, to this traveler who was not smart enough to know what he wanted. Her patience was extraordinary given her full schedule. Thanks Donna.When Donna dropped me at the trail head parking lot there were a man and woman standing next to a car. It was the couple that had arrived at the shelter two nights ago at 8pm. Jim was taking himself off the trail, but Peaceful Walker was gearing up and she asked me to wait for her. It was not long before I was glad I didn't try this section late yesterday. The trail builders tried to do their best to reach heaven with this steep and straight up design, but in this world all hills eventually have a top... and a downhill.Fortunately.We had intermittent rain, mostly overcast conditions which kept the temperature comfortable. When we got to this shelter there had been rumblings of thunder for nearly the past two hours. I decided I was going to stay here tonight and reach Fontana Village tomorrow. Peaceful Walker, having been told Fontana was 3.4 miles away was going to continue. A sign here read that Fontana was 6.9 miles. Other hikers quoting various references added two or three totals to the discussion. This plus the continuing thunder convinced Peacefull Walker to stay. Others involved in this discussion at the shelter were Lightweight, Wolverine, Roman and Slow Motion, a photographer who is on Trail Journals.Jack, if you think that yellow flower is poison ivy you've been a flatlander too long. At least we can get you some thin air now in PC.I saw a beautiful pink Lady Slipper standing all by itself at the side of the trail. I hope you sleep well. I'm ready to. :-)ole slo
Date: 2013-05-20
From: Cable Gap Shelter

To: Fontana Village
Miles today: 6.6

6.6 hiked today165.8 total hikedWell let me tell ya. It poured last night. Not early enough to interfere with those who struck out for Fontana but I'll tell you in a bit what it did to the trail. When I got up to visit a tree after midnight the sky had cleared and a big moon that will be full Friday was shining its way through the canopy and lit the little glen the shelter sits in so I didn't even need to use a light.It would become overcast again, but more of that later.Peace walker and I started walking at 7:30. As a runner knows, the first quarter mile in the morning is tough. As a mountain walker I can attest that the first half mile of the day steeply uphill out of a glen is not fun. After the first two miles we crested the ridge and started downhill. This is where last nights storm affected the trail. The majority of the next nearly four miles were very muddy. Mostly the edges were not precipitous, but the mere thought of plopping my butt into the boot churned goo of mud, leafs and rotting vegetation made me walk very carefully. Three certifiable pole saves!I got to the lodge about noon and managed to eat, do laundry, buy four days worth of food and shower. I think tomorrow will be a Zero day and I will move to a shelter near the Fontana Dam. This will give me a quick start the next day as I enter Great Smokey Mountains National Park (GSMNP) with a hike nearly all uphill 5.9 miles to a tent site or 13.8 miles to the next shelterThis is a good reason to walk. At 5:45 the birds had gently wakened me and I was sitting cross legged on my sleeping bag looking out the open side of the shelter. The clouds had moved into the glen and all was dark and obscured a few feet out. As I sat watching a slow motion light show occurred. The sky showing through the canopy in patches and the ridge line started getting lighter. The trees slowly emerged from the flat darkness and revealed a gathering of giants reaching for the brightening sky, in a slowly disappearing mist, with no breeze to put leafs into motion. Beautiful. Sleep well, I will as I remember this mornings dawn. :-)ole slo
Date: 2013-05-21
From: Fontana Village

To: Tent Site
Miles today: 5.9

I think I said something about making it to the first shelter today. A little over eleven miles. Well, last night I looked at the profile map nadir looked steep. Ok, do I eat today for an uphill killer tomorrow and not be worth much the next day or do I break the climb into two shorter days? The thought of sitting around without anything to do today convinced me to walk.The profile map was accurate in depicting the climb as steep. The good news is that the climb was in the GSMNP and the trail was well maintained. I even had a photo op ofA vista with sunshine. What a day.At 5:10 a thunderstorm that jack told me about this morning came in. Itlooks like I'll stay dry i my little tent but it sure is cramped for space in here. I couldn't find a level tent pad to set up on so I have my knees propped up on the downhill side by backpack to keep from sliding downhill. This my be a long night.Blossom you asked what took meSo long to get started in the morning.It's all about an efficient system. I won't talk about setting up and taking down my tent yet because I haven't done that often enough to have a system for it yet.When I get to a shelter I first putOn a dry shirt and hang my sweaty one. Then I start takingStuff sacks out of my backpack. When something comes out of it's stuff sack the sack is stored with all the otherSacks in a specific external pocket. It'sI may need during the night are placed in the same location each night.Everything is reversed in the morning with all the stuff sacks going in the same place on the backpack. You need to experiment with what works best for you with your gear. I will say that in loading the Pack the common advise to load heavier stuff lower and closer to my back has worked well for me afterSeveral trials and errors.Snug in a tent with rain pattering the outside if it. Beautiful. Sleep well, I hope I can. Already planning an early fast (for me) push to the next shelter in the morning to dry things out. :-)ole sloNote: There may be limited updates for the next 4-5 days will be limited coverage in "The Great Smokey Mtn Nat. Park" Butch)
Date: 2013-05-22
To: Russell Field Shelter
Miles today: 7.9
Weather: few clouds

Well you know, I felt self satisfied when I thought I was the first up and out of our little camping-allowed glade this morning. I climbed up four or five hundred feet to where the access trail joined the AT and there was a couple in the middle of a hot breakfast. I had met them, Diane and Dwight, at Fontana Village the day before yesterday and they got to the campground after the thunder storm stopped. Dwight has a journal on trailjournals.com under the name DWAG.The sun tried to break through the overcast all morning but only succeeded in creating a bright spot in the clouds. As if to express defiance the clouds spit at me a couple times but held off the deluge.Jan, all the pretty things are here and the black flies too... for balanceI was first up the trail eating a caramel breakfast bar as I walked. Spider webs, black flies and caramel. Yum.Beautiful is the first downhill of the day, cool, light breeze and the sun fighting to burn through the overcast. Hope you sleep well. I'll sleep better than last night fighting the ground slope. :-)ole slo
Date: 2013-05-23
From: Russell Field Shelter

To: Derrick Ko Shelter
Miles today: 9.2

188.8 total Today was probably the hardest work I have done on this trip. The trail and the altitude combined to wear me out. When I travel from park City and stay for one to three weeks it takes me two to four days to re acclimate. I was feeling similar effects today in the climbs that went above 5,000 feet. None of this is to seek sympathy. Self inflicted wounds don't deserve sympathy.Linda, I wish you had been here today with your video while I was climbing Rocky Top. It would have made a good PSA against smoking. If something like that stops one young person from starting to smoke it would be worth anything.Jack, once I got to the top of Rocky Top I played Charlie Daniels version of the song that he recorded at a show in Iraq for our troops.The most interesting thing to report today is the large amount of bear poop on the trail. Some of it very fresh. One poor critter had diarrhea. I saw that often in Michigan during berry season but not this early in the year.I met Landline here at the shelter. He is an ultra-light backpacker from Maine. I really enjoyed talking gear with him. His base pack weight is seven pounds before consumables.I just saw two deer in front of the shelter.At one point this morning my legs were tired and I hoped for a nice log to sit on. As I made this wish the path turned and not thirty feet away was a log. Beautiful synchronicity. Sleep well. :-)ole slo