morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2012-04-09
From: Rt 28, Fontana Village

To: Fontana Village
Miles today: 0.0

Day 18: An unplanned zero day today in Fontana Village. SilverGirls shins are still bothering her, so we're taking an extra day here hoping she will feel better tomorrow. It is difficult sitting here watching our trail friends forge ahead into the Smokies without us. Tomorrow, we will take the morning shuttle back up to the Rt 28 trailhead where we got off 2 days ago and hike the 1.2 miles over to the Fontana Dam Shelter. At that point, SilverGirl will assess how she is feeling. If she's still hurting, we will stop there and spend the rest of the day and night in the shelter. If she feels good, we will continue on up into the Smokies to the Birch Springs Campsite, about 7 miles up the trail.
Date: 2012-04-10
From: Fontana Village

To: Birch Spring Campsite
Miles today: 7.1
Weather: few clouds

Day 19: An encouraging day today. After a quick breakfast in our hotel room, we pack up and walk over to the hotel lobby to check out and call for a shuttle back to the trail. SilverGirls shins are feeling a bit better, so we are going to try them out today and see how it goes. We have the option of hiking just 1.2 miles to the Fontana Shelter and staying there if her shins start hurting again, or, if she feels ok at that point, we can hike the additional 5.9 miles up into the Smokies to the Birch Spring Campsite. We are on the trail by 8:45, and walk slowly over to the shelter, where we see Cackles and the Twisted Sisters. SilverGirl says her shins are feeling ok so we continue on up Shuckstack Mt into the Smokies. Along the way, we run into several trail buddies we have met during previous days: Old Tyme Ed, BlackTop, BackTrack, BigBear, and Train. It really is a "linear community" here on the trail. Everybody seems to get to know everybody else as we all move up the trail together. We reach the side trail to the fire tower on top of Shuckstack Mt and have our lunch there along with several other hikers who have also stopped. To minimize any additional stess on SilverGirls shins today, we decide to forego the short hike up to the fire tower. We reach the campsite at about 1:45 and call it a day. SilverGirls shins are a bit sore, but much better than they were during the past couple of days. She is encouraged and has gained some confidence back, but we will continue to take it slow and easy until we're sure she is 100%. Tomorrow, we have the option of hiking anywhere between 5 and 10 miles, depending upon how she feels. Right now, we are resting comfortably in our tent as a cold night is settling in around us. It's great to be back on the trail.
Date: 2012-04-11
From: Birch Spring Campsite

To: Spence Field Shelter
Miles today: 10.8
Weather: scattered clouds

Day 20: After a very cold and windy night, we crawl out of our tent at 7:15. We eat a cold breakfast in the tent, and then we're on the trail by 8:45. The day is again gorgeous, although quite cool. The temperature never rises out of the low 50s. We are walking now between 4000 and 5000 feet, so cool weather can be expected. During the morning's walk, SilverGirls shins are feeling better than yesterday. She is still not at 100%, but she thinks she's turned the corner towards full recovery. Hopefully, tomorrow will be even better than today. The walking today is vey pleasant, with many wildflowers lining the trail. Even though our elevation is high, spring is making inroads slightly faster than we are hiking north. Pretty soon, the leaves will be out everywhere. Tonight, we are staying in the Spence Field Shelter, our first night in a shelter since we started. We are here with Truckin, Flame, Bill, Brian, and a lively group of high school girls on spring break. Still having fun!
Date: 2012-04-12
From: Spence Field Shelter

To: Double Springs Gap Shelter
Miles today: 13.5
Weather: clear sky

Day 21: Today marks 3 weeks since we started the trail. Hard to believe. I am the second person in the shelter to rise this morning. The temperature is below freezing for the first time since we've been out. I can still see the stars as I set up to cook breakfast on the bench outside the shelter. Last night, I promised SilverGirl that I'd get her some hot tea and oatmeal while she remained in her sleeping bag, so that is what I'm doing. She deserves it. We are on the trail by 8:15 and the day is once again cloudless. Climbing up Thunderhead Mountain at 5500 ft, we cross several open, grassy sections that offer 100 mile visibility. We can't believe the good fortune we've had with the weather so far. Dropping back into the woods, we walk on to Derrick Knob Shelter, where we stop for lunch at 11:30. "Truckin" is also here having his lunch. SilverGirls shins are feeling quite a bit better today, so we push on to Silers Bald Shelter, and then the aditional 1.7 miles to Double Springs Gap Shelter. For the past couple of days, we have been walking on the spine of the TN/NC border. Our left feet are in Tennessee and our right feet are in North Carolina. We arrive at the shelter at about 3:15. Truckin is here along with Smiley. Later, Flame, Pepper, Pipi, and Bojangles arrive along with several other hikers we haven't met. After a delicious dinner of macaroni and cheese, I call the Grand Prix Motel in Gatlinburg and make reservations for us and also for Pipi and Bojangles. We will try to spend just tomorrow night in Gatlinburg and then head back up to the trail on the 14th. Today has been a very good day. SilverGirl is very encouraged that her shin splints are fading away. Tomorrow, we only have to hike about 10+ miles to Newfound Gap, where we hope to hitch a ride down into Gatlinburg.
Date: 2012-04-13
From: Double Springs Gap Shelter

To: Newfound Gap - Gatlinburg
Miles today: 10.8
Weather: scattered clouds

Day 22:Anther cold, but not as cold, night last night. Snorers in the shelter keep me awake most of the night. I climb out of my sleeping bag early, once again before the sun rises. Truckin is also up and is starting a fire in the fireplace inside the shelter. I retrieve our food bags from the bear cables and then forage for some wood for the fire. Today, we are headed to Newfound Gap, where we hope to hitch a ride down into Gatlinburg for the night. We are on the trail by 7:30, and reach the summit of Clingmans Dome by about 9:00. The views from the observation towere on top are unbelievable. We can see the mountains we hiked two weeks ago 100 miles to the south. We have a quick cup of hot tea and some cereal while we're up there and then push on. The terrain is starting to change now. We walk through virgin spruce forests for much of the day. The variety of plant life in the Smokies is incredible. The walking is fairly easy as we slowly descend towards Newfound Gap. There are blooming fields of Spring Beauties and Bluets all over the sides of the trail. It's like walking through a fairytale land. We reach Newfound Gap at 12:30, and secure a ride from a very nice man, Pole Climber, into Gatlinburg. Pole Climber is section hiking the trail and got his name from his job, when he used to do work up on telephone poles. Our thanks go out to you, Pole Climber, for the ride into Gatlinburg. In Gatlinburg, we check into the Grand Prix Motel and then walk into town to do some errands. We buy a pair of Superfeet inserts for SilverGirls shoes, some alcohol for cooking, and a few other items. Later, I take the tourist trolley to the supermarket, where I buy enough food to get us to Hot Springs. We stuff ouselves on huge calzones at an Italian restaurant for dinner and then settle into bed for the night. Tomorrow, we will catch the 11:00 shuttle from the NOC store here back up to Newfound Gap and hike on to Pecks Corner Shelter. Life is good.
Date: 2012-04-14
From: Newfound Gap - Gatlinburg

To: Pecks Corner Shelter
Miles today: 10.4
Weather: scattered clouds

Day 23: An all around great day today! We are in no rush this morning since our shuttle back up to Newfound Gap doesn't leave until 11:00. We start our day by walking over to the AYCE breakfast buffet at Bennetts, where we have a very satisfying breakfast. After breakfast, we get all of our stuff ready to go and walk over to the NOC Outfitter Store, where we wait for our shuttle. Today is a bit warmer than the past few days, with temperatures predicted to be is the low 70s. Once again, we enjoy full sunshine and unlimited views. By 11:45, we are back on the trail, leaving Newfound Gap and heading north towards Icewater Springs Shelter and Charlies Bunion. We stop at the shelter for a quick water break and then move on to Charlies Bunion, where we stop for lunch. The views from there are magnificent. We can look down into the lower valleys, where we see that spring is in full bloom. All of the leaves are now fully out at the lower elevations, but up here above 5000 ft, the trees still just have buds. Moving on from Charlies Bunion, we walk the ridgeline of the Smokies, with fantastic views to both sides. We have to stop many times just to take in all of the wonderful views. Later in the afternoon as we walk, we come across a headlamp and a Steripen that someone has lost along the side of the trail. Guessing that they belong to a northbound thru-hiker, I pick them up and carry them with me, hoping that we'll run into whomever lost them up the trail. Sure enough, about an hour later, we catch up with "501"(his trail name). He didn't know that they had fallen out of his pack and was very greatful that we brought them to him. We arrive at Pecks Corner Shelter at about 4:15 and set up our tent. No more shelters for us if we can help it. Today has been one of our best days yet. SilverGirl is back to almost 100% and is again hiking like a machine. She is amazing. We are in very high spirits, with one more full day of hiking left in the Smokies. In 4 days, we will be in Hot Springs! Can't believe we've come this far.
Date: 2012-04-15
From: Pecks Corner Shelter

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

Day 24: After a quiet and peaceful night in the privacy of our tent, I crawl out of my sleeping bag at 7:00. SilverGirl rests for a bit longer while I pack up my sleeping bag, pad, and pillow. I walk down to the spring to fill our water bottles and then retrieve our food bags from the bear cables. When I return, SilverGirl is busy packing up all of her stuff. While we eat breakfast, a raven circles overhead, making its presence known with with several  loud cries. Our plan for today is to hike 12.9 miles to Cosby Knob Shelter. This will be our last full day in the Smokies. By 8:30, we are on the trail. The day starts off clear and cool, with temperatures in the 40s. We wear our fleece shirts to start, but soon it begins to warm up and we shed our outer layer. Much of our walking this morning is through dark spruce tunnels at elevations over 6000 ft. We marvel at the stillness of the woods as we walk. Just before noon, we break out into an open, flat, grassy section called Deer Creek Gap. The view from here is spectacular and we just have to stop for lunch. Over hot soup, peanut butter crackers, and candy bars, we soak in the warm afternoon sunshine and admire the view for about 45 minutes. Life is really tough out here! Moving on, we begin a long, slow descent. The trail is covered with loose shale which makes the footing tricky. At 2:30, we arrive at our destination, Cosby Knob Shelter. We find a secluded campsite above the shelter and set up our tent there. Tomorrow, we will  hike out of the Smokies, cross Interstate 40, and begin our approach towards Hot Springs, which is the next trail town that we pass through. We plan to be there on Wednesday. We are both a bit tired after todays hike, but feeling good otherwise. SilverGirls shin splints continue to improve and we don't think they will cause any more problems. On we go!
Date: 2012-04-16
From: Cosby Knob Shelter

To: Deep Gap
Miles today: 17.6

Day 25: During the night, the wind howls as it sweeps up the mountainside to the ridgeline we're camped on. It's not bad at ground level though, just noisy. At times, I can hear the bear cables knocking together in the wind, and I wonder if a bear might be outside swiping at the cables. No bears though, just the wind. We are up at 7:00 this morning and on the trail before 8:00, a record for us. I think we've got this camping, hiking, cooking thing down pat now. Today is once again sunny and the temperature quickly rises into the 70s and low 80s, depending upon our elevation. As we continue our descent towards Davenport Gap, we enjoy a few beautiful views of the mountains we will be crossing over during the next week. During the morning, we descend over 3500 ft into Davenport Gap. As we descend, we enjoy a profusion of wildflowers along the sides of the trail. There are so many different types, and it seems that a new variety introduces itself to us about evey 15 minutes as we descend. We reach Davenport Gap at noon, and continue on towards I 40 and the Pidgeon River. Crossing the Pidgeon River, we look downstream where we can see lilacs in full bloom along the sides of the river. By 12:30, we reach Green Corner Rd and decide to take the short side trip up the road to Standing Bear Farm. This is a well known hostel that many hikers stay at, but we decide to simply have lunch there before moving on. Before we move on, I call the Iron Horse Station in Hot Springs and make reservations for us for 2 nights. Leaving the hostel, we begin our ascent of Snowbird Mt. Our plan is to hike about half way up, where there is supposed to be a campsite and water. As we climb, we pass a couple of nice looking campsites, but we don't think they are the ones we're shooting for. After almost 2 hours of climbing, we notice that the grassy bald summit of Snowbird is coming into view. Oops! We've come too far. Oh well. We continue on up to the summit where we enjoy panoramic views in all directions. The Smokies look particularly impressive as we look back on them. Checking our guide book, we notice that Groundhog Creek Shelter is only another 2.5 miles up the trail, so we decide to push on.At 5:00, we reach Deep Gap, just before the shelter, and find a nice tent site. We are set up here for the night. Our feet are tired and we are famished after the 17.6 mile day we've put in. We wolf down our dinner of Chili Mac and Reeses Peanut Butter Cups, and then retire to the coziness of our tent. Today has been a wonderful day, punctuated by the many types of wildflowers we saw, incredible views, the first blooms of mountain laurel and flame azaleas we've seen, and the seemingly endless stretch of incredible weather we've enjoyed. We are living a dream and loving every step of the way.
Date: 2012-04-17
From: Deep Gap

To: Walnut MountainShelter
Miles today: 13.1
Weather: scattered clouds

Day 26: Last night was not a very good night for sleeping. The air was very sticky, and midway through the night, we got a smattering of rain, just enough to force us to close our rain fly. For breakfast today, I boil water for tea, which we enjoy with bagels, cream cheese, and fiber bars - not a big breakfast, but such is life on the trail. The more you eat, the more you have to carry. The day starts off with several steep climbs as we leave Deep Gap and move closer to Max Patch. Max Patch is a beautiful, grassy bald mountain that tops out at about 4600 ft. We are excited about getting there and having lunch on top. During our approach, the sun is in and out and the air remains humid. We expect it will rain sometime today, hopefully not while we are on Max Patch. At 11:15, we reach the summit. The views are the most incredible sights you can imagine, with 360 degree views. We sit at the grassy summit and enjoy a leisurely lunch. The best we can describe this spot is to compare it to the scenes in The Sound of Music, when Maria vonTrapp is high up in the Swiss Alps. Reluctantly, we eventually begin our descent off of Max Patch and back into the woods. The hiking becomes much easier during the afternoon. For the next 5 miles, we enjoy relatively flat walking along smooth trail. We pass through long rhododendrun tunnels, one of which is a couple of hundred yards long. These are so cool to walk through. You almost get the feeling that you are indoors, with the rhododendrun branches and leaves bending up over our heads until they meet the branches and leaves growing up from the other side of the trail. The last mile of our hike today is a 1000 ft climb up Walnut Mt. The top of this mountain is also grassy, although not as pretty as Max Patch. We are in the zone of the southern Appalachians now where we encounter many mountains with grassy, bald summits. We will continue to hike over these for the next several days. At 2:15, we reach our destination for the day, Walnut Mt Shelter. We set up our tent and climb inside just as it starts to rain. Right now, we are resting comfortably in our tent, waiting for the rain to stop. Seems to be letting up now as I type. Time to go make dinner. On to Hot Springs tomorrow and a much deserved full day off there on Thursday.
Date: 2012-04-18
From: Walnut MountainShelter

To: Hot Springs, NC
Miles today: 13.1
Weather: moderate rain

Day 27: Well, the rain never stopped like we hoped it would last night. During a brief respite, we dash over to the shelter from our tent to cook our dinner. At the shelter, we are greeted by at least a dozen other hikers who have also taken refuge from the rain there. We find a small spot under the outside roof of the shelter to set up our cook stove and make dinner. At the shelter, we meet Balls and his daughter, Sunshine along with Beacon. Balls and Sunshine are from Oregon and hiked the Pacific Crest Trail together last year. The interesting story about these two is that Sunshine was only 11 years old when she completed the PCT, and now she is 12 and hiking the AT with her dad. She's one amazing young lady. After dinner, we retreat from the rain back into our tent. As dusk settles in, the intensity of the rain increases. Although we are very comfortable and dry in our tent, the noise of the rain makes for a restless nights sleep. Morning dawns and the rain continues. I retrieve our food bag from the bear cables and we eat a cold breakfast inside the tent. Packing up our gear in the rain is a challenge. Most of our gear remains dry as we pack up as much as we can inside the tent, but when it comes time to pack up the tent, the best we can do is to shove a soaking, muddy tent into the stuff sack and then into my pack - yuck! As we get walking, it's not so bad. In fact, after a while, I'm rather enjoying the walk in the rain. After all of the dry weather we've had so far, we certainly can use the rain. By noontime, we have already covered 10 of the 13 miles we've planned for the day. We stop for lunch at the Deer Park Creek Shelter and run into Balls and Sunshine again. We have a very pleasant conversation with them while we enjoy our lunch. After lunch, we push on for the finall 3 miles into Hot Springs. The AT leaves the woods and follows the sidewalk on the main road right through the center of town. We check into our room at the Iron Horse Station and then walk across the street to do some laundry. In the laundromat, we run into at least a half dozen other hikers whom we have met at various points along the way. Later, as we walk about town, it seems that everyone we know is here. Hot Springs is a cool trail town, with all of the businesses and places to stay concentrated along a one quarter mile stretch of the main road that passes through its center. While we eat dinner, we look out the window and see hiker after hiker that we know walk by. We are all like a huge family now, moving up the trail together. It's so much fun. After dinner, SilverGirl and I walk down to the restaurant below our room in the hotel, we have a couple of beers and listen to some relaxing live music. We are so glad to be here and very happy to be taking a day off tomorrow. We aboth feeling very strong, but we need a day of rest. On Friday, we leave Hot Springs and begin our 5-6 day approach towards Erwin, TN. In less than 3 weeks, we should be in Virginia! Still loving every step of the way.
Date: 2012-04-19
From: Hot Springs, NC

To: Hot Springs, NC
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Day 28: A very relaxing and much needed rest day in Hot Springs today. We begin our day by walking over to the Smoky Mountain Diner for breakfast. The diner is packed with hikers. Sparky calls us over to sit with him and his wife, PassionFlower and her boy friend, and Snail and Turtle. There must be close to a hundred hikers in here. After breakfast, we gather some more clothes for another round of laundry. While we wait for our laundry, I set up our still very wet tent to dry in the sunshine next to the laudromat. While the tent is drying, we walk across the street, where I buy SilverGirl a brownie sundae. I go over to the outfitter, where I buy some more denatured alcohol for cooking and a pint of Ben and Jerrys ice cream which I devour in no time. After our laundry is done, we walk over to the post office to mail a few post cards. During the afternoon, SilverGirl and I walk over to the Hot Springs Resort. This is a popular spot for visitors who want to soak in the natural hot mineral springs here. SilverGirl spends about a half hour soaking in one of the tubs. You can see how tough life can be out here! Returning to our hotel room later, we spend some time sorting through our food mail drop, getting it organized into our food bags for the next 5-6 days of hiking. We will have full and heavy packs tomorrow when we leave. For dinner, we walk back over to the diner, where I order a large Chicken Caesar Salad. SilverGirl orders Fried Chicken, Summer Squash, and Fried Green Tomatoes. You can see that we eat quite well when we pass through trail towns. Our bodies are usually pretty food deprived after a few days on the trail even with all of the food that we carry with us. There's just no way we can keep up with the caloric demands of our bodies while we are hiking, since we are burning about 6000 calories a day. We do our best to make up for this deficit when we get into towns. I've lost a few pounds so far, but SilverGirl's weight has remained about the same. Anyway, tomorrow morning we will head back out for a planned 11 mile day to begin our approach towards Erwin, TN. Today's day of R&R has served us well. We feel rested and well fed, and strong - ready to tackle this next leg of our adventre.