morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2006-04-04
From: Jerry Cabin Shelter

To: Big Flat
Miles today: 12.6

4-4-06Jerry Cabin Shelter to Big Flat12.6 milesVery, very chilly this morning and last night was definitely a long underwear wearing night. I heard hail or something hitting the fly at some point.When I got out of my sleeping bag, I put on a few layers before venturing outside and heading towards the shelter privy. That seat was one hell of a wake up call that morning. I grabbed the bear bags and told Shanae to meet me up at the shelter for breakfast so that we could get out of the wind.Nobody was in the shelter and I tried to start a fire to surprise Shanae when she made it up there, but in the twenty minutes it took for her to make it up there I was still failing miserably. Everything was wet and I couldn't find any good starter material, Nonetheless, I got hot water going on the stove for a rejuvenating breakfast. Due to the chill (the thermostat read 30 degrees) and the sun wasn't out, we were moving in slow-mo with all our morning activities. By the time we got the water, took down the tent, and packed up, it was around 10 or 11AM.The start was cold, but as we got out of the wind and the sun started shining for all its glory, we quickly warmed. Shanae was taking it very slowly today, a pace not much faster than a speedy turtle. I think she got in way over her head yesterday and was feeling the repercussions of that on the hike today.We got to the first shelter and Shanae's initial idea was just to stay here for the rest of the day. I was okay with that if she was hurting, so we rested up, I made some hummus, and we ate. The sun was shining brightly and it was nice to just sit there on the picnic table and feel its warmth. Shanae was feeling recharged, so we decided to push on to the campsite called Big Flat on the other side of the mountain. We had already climbed Big Butt before the shelter, but this next mountain was about 1500 feet in three miles, a good amount of climbing.Still, with our determination (and according to Shanae, my slave-driving), we made it up and over that beast and spotted our first sign of life, camped out on Big Flat, which I must mention was neither big nor flat. It was a couple of tents with some kids, maybe Cub Scouts, and their adult supervisors with them. We camped a little farther down the path, not facing the wind this time. I went to go look for the water source, but it was forever away. We fortunately had enough for dinner and to last us until we got to the shelter two miles from here tomorrow morning.Shanae was cold and miserable again and didn't want to eat anything, but I made some dinner for her anyways and she forced some of it down. It is a common occurrence for hikers not to be as hungry as they expected or even to have some sort of food aversion in the first week or two, until hiker hunger kicks in. Shanae blamed it on the cold. We ate; I hung the bear bags, and fell right to sleep.
Date: 2006-04-07
From: Bald Mountain Shelter

To: Temple Hill Gap
Miles today: 13.0

4-7-06Bald Mountain Shelter to Temple Hill Gap13.0 milesBlessed are those who take time to stop and smell the flowers.Seven was about the time of our eye-opening, but we hung around in our sleeping bags until everyone left, and then got out and had the whole shelter to ourselves to cook and relax. Our secluded morning was interrupted by a pair of old folk with a pair of beagles; they wished us good luck on the trail and were off on their own little hike.We graced the trail with our presence soon after breakfast, and it was bright and sunny and getting hot. The weather managed to hold out like this all day. The hiking was moderate-easy, and Shanae was rested up and had adopted a quicker pace (which was a secret relief). I mentioned how nice it would be to have trail angels waiting for us at Spivey Gap, our lunch break location, and wouldn't you know it, on a sign right by the gap there was a bag of bananas, oranges, and chocolate chip cookies in it! What a nice surprise! And there was a perfect little creek with some shade to sit by and enjoy our trail magic.Shanae made friends with a little purple butterfly that kept landing on her feet and licking her toes (it was one brave butterfly!). I shared with Shanae all the pictures I¢ve taken on the trip so far, and we headed out after that for No Business Knob Shelter. We passed many nice cool streams, but were dying in the sun on the uphills. I sweated more today than any of the other hiking days since Hot Springs.When we got to the shelter Casey Jones was already there, waiting for his girlfriend. They had solo hiked since Hot Springs and this was their meeting point. We were low on water, but the source was too far away, so we pushed on to Temple Hill Gap. Switchback was just coming into the shelter as we were leaving.Another couple of easy miles and we were at the gap. There was a perfect little campsite right at the intersection of the AT and the Mine Flat trail where we set up our tent. We got some water from a stream nearby and set about to making dinner. The stove wasn't set up on level ground, so our first pot of boiling water and the stove tipped over just as the water started boiling, spilling water and flames everywhere. It wasn't the end of the world and we soon had some more water boiling. I had hummus and crackers, miso soup, a Clif Bar, and some of Shanae's highly-acclaimed taco rice. Looking forward to some Little Ceasar's tomorrow!This gap is kind of buggy, which is probably why bats swoop through it constantly- listen closely and you can hear them, swoosh, swoosh. I had a hell of a time hanging up the bear bag and will probably be getting poison ivy on my ankles soon enough because of it. I will be dreaming of real food tonite!
Date: 2006-04-09
From: Miss Janet's House (Erwin, TN)

To: Iron Mountain Gap
Miles today: 19.1
Weather: clear sky

4-09-06Ms. Janet¢s House (Erwin, TN) to Iron Mountain Gap19.1 miles        Even though I slept very well, I got up early to do some work on my trail journals. As everybody started waking up, Ms. Janet got breakfast started. I drilled away at the computer until it was time to eat, and oh my God, what a feast it was. There was banana foster pancakes with ice cream, along with eggs, and some sort of pork product (bacon, I think). The pancakes were so filling and Shanae managed to pack a bunch down too.        Tortoise left us ¢ she was moving on with Bear being sick and all. So we went to the grocery store with Ms. Janet, got a lot of snack bars, and then headed back to the house to pack. While we were packing, Bear, being the sly burly animal that he is, managed to convince Shanae to slackpack 19 miles today, so that we would be at the point where he stopped. I was reluctant at first, because I was not big on the idea of slackpacking, but I figured this would give Shanae a break from carrying her big pack, we could knock out some big miles, and we would be able to come back to a nice warm house and, not to forgot, another one of Ms. Janet¢s awesome breakfasts. So we arranged to do a work for stay for one of the nights and that was that.        I picked out my day pack from Ms. Janet¢s selection; it was a purple pack with Pooh on it (my Mom loves Pooh) and we hopped in Ms. Janet¢s giant van and off we went. We got dropped off at Iron Mountain Gap and started making our way back to Erwin. It was a beautiful day and we saw lots of wildlife: two deer, a very bold skunk, and an attack bird. Other hikers we ran into were Red Dog, Turtle M and Turtle D, Uber-dude and the girls (at lunch), and Tins and Trooper. We hiked through this really cool area of filled with pine trees and moss with ice dropping of the trees all around us, chiming as they hit the ground. We stopped there to admire the beauty for a few minutes and then hiked on. We crossed a bunch of streams and then ran into Casey Jones, Doodle, and Texas at the first shelter after Erwin.        During the last few miles I could tell Shanae was getting pretty tired because her legs got all wobbly like Gumbi¢s. But we made it to the campgrounds right before Erwin just as it was getting dark and headed up and down the new AT route. After Shanae tripped a couple of times, we figured it would be a good idea to put on our headlamps and move on. Redneck was there to meet us at the end as planned, and he took us back to Ms. Janet¢s. Her house guest tonight included Caboose, Ajax, Train, Da Bear, Bushwhacker. We were starving and went on a desperate search for some place that would delivery. Finally Pizza Plus gave us a break and we ordered some calzones. But when they got there, the portions were pretty small and they charged us extra for delivery. Well it was what we got so we ate up, achieved an after meal catatonic state, and slept like babes.
Date: 2006-04-10
From: Iron Mountain Gap

To: Carvers Gap
Miles today: 14.0

4-10-06Iron Mountain Gap to Carvers Gap14.0 miles        Yet again, I got up early to work on my trail journals. Then, as part of our work for stay, Shanae and I helped out with making breakfast, taking out the trash, bagging up cans in the back. And after all that grimy work, we were treated to yet another feast, this one a bit more southern style. There were biscuits and gravy, eggs, potatoes, and various fruits. For the second morning in a row, I rolled away from the table like a human sized butternut squash.        Well, our lazy butts decided to slackpack again, this time with Bear and a woman named Caboose. Miss Janet took us up to Carvers Gap and we were on our way, not without me taking a few pictures of all of us first. We passed by a mystery shelter that wasn¢t on the maps, peaked Roan Mountain, and then started running into a bunch of people in this order: the girls, Turtle M and Turtle D, Uber-dude, and Tortoise. When we ran into Tortoise Bear pretty much ignored her and walked on. I said hi but wanted to keep hiking so went along with Bear. Shanae stopped to chat for a bit. We hiked for about 5-10 minutes, passed Red Dog, and then I figured we should stop with Shanae. So we stopped and waited.        When Shanae got there after a couple of minutes, she was all upset and fuming at me for hiking on. I really didn¢t understand where this was coming from, we had just hiked on for a bit and then stopped and waited for her. Bear, avoiding any relationship drama, hiked on ahead of us so we could sort out our silly argument.         It was another nice day, lots of sunshine and little breezes. I really couldn¢t appreciate, because for one reason or another my stomach wasn¢t agreeing with me (damn Pizza Plus calzones). Other than my personal problems, the day wasn¢t bad, some up, stopped at a shelter to eat, lie in the grass, and wait for Caboose, who was about 15 min. behind us (fitting for her name I suppose). Knocked out the next six miles like a prize fighter, then sat in Caboose¢s Jeep, which she had parked at Iron Mountain Gap, and drank some Minute Maid Lights (yuk!).         None of us were too familiar with the drive back, plus I feel like I am driving dumbass after being on the trail for so long, so we got a bit lost going to Erwin on Rt. 26. And to make matters worse, when we did finally get back, the trail famous Erwin Burrito was closed; our much anticipated burritos were not to be had. So we just went to the house to unwind. For some supper we ended up going to Azteca Mexican Restaurant for a delicious chalupa and Corona. We waited for Ms. Janet to pick us up, and when we got back we laid around and chatted. I stayed up late and wrote some letters and caught up on the journal (it never ends with that thing).
Date: 2006-04-14
From: Watauga Lake Shelter

To: Iron Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 13.6
Weather: broken clouds

4-14-06Watauga Lake Shelter to Iron Mountain Shelter13.6 miles        Pickles and Little Tree were the first ones up and out this morning; they had to meet some friends in Kentucky and just stopped to camp on the trail to see if they could find any hikers. We enjoyed the orange juice and strawberries they had left for us (I also chugged some of my personal stash of syrup) as we began our daily routine. Everything was delicious. It was a slow start this morning; no one was feeling too motivated after yesterday¢s big climb.                When we did get on the trail, it was slow going because Shanae was hurting from the day before, but I didn¢t really mind. With our late start, it got hot pretty quickly, and we were sweating up a pool pretty quickly as we crossed the Watauga Dam and were climbing up the ridgeline. We took a few water breaks, and then a longer one when we made it to Vandeventer Shelter.                Switchback was already there because he had passed us as we were hanging out in the shelter in the morning. The shelter was pretty low so I managed to hit my head three times (ouch!). We took a half and hour break there and then bounced on out.        The terrain wasn¢t too difficult, no big mountains, but it was hot and Shanae wasn¢t feeling too well. We got some water at a campsite about halfway to the next shelter, and by the time we got to the Iron Mountain Shelter we had decided to just stay there. Originally, we had planned on going to the Double Spring Shelter and making this an over-20 mile day, but I could tell Shanae was exhausted.        We made an early dinner, Switchback showed up, and Shanae and I napped until dark. Bear made it in and cooked himself some dinner. I got out of my sleeping bag and chatted with Bear and Switchback. Somebody brought up that they had spotted a bear at the last shelter, or it was in the log book, but that kind of freaked us out. Just about that time Shanae her bag and food bag stunk like salmon because she had left an open packet of salmon inside from last night. Then she saw some mice and that was it; we were camping in the tent tonight.        So we set up the tent and let poor Bear to fend for himself in the shelter, amidst all our hanging food bags. He prepared himself with a trekking pole, a boot, and a knife at each side, ready for the bear/mice invasion. Shanae I enjoyed the superficial safety of the tent.
Date: 2006-04-04
From: amicalola visitor center

To: stover creek
Miles today: 11.3
Weather: clear sky

Hiked up the Approach Trail. It was rough, but not as rough as they say. Fell once and was pretty bumbly what with not sleeping very well. Was alone most of the time. Got to Springer so exhausted. A guy who hiked it in 2003 took my picture and reminded me to get a pebble to take to Katahdin. Of course by the time I hiked to the shelter at Stover Creek I realized that I forgot to get a pebble, and the photos the guy took did not get saved for some reason. I debated whether or not to go back in the morning, but ultimately decided not to, or rather, forgot again.
Date: 2006-04-05
From: stover creek

To: justus creek
Miles today: 11.1
Weather: scattered clouds

I am making dinner now and enjoying this campsite a lot... Of course everything hurts and I am super exhausted, but it's all feeling okay. I am having a hard time slowing down. Tomorrow I hope to take a lot of rest stops. It's only 17 miles to Neels Gap now, but I will probably stop before then. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention yesterday that my pack weighed 27 lbs, which was a little disappointing, but apparently I'm carrying enough food for eight days and I only needed four. Oh well.
Date: 2006-04-06
From: justus creek

To: woods hole
Miles today: 13.6
Weather: broken clouds

I'm at Woods Hole Shelter. Today was pretty rough, well just the last two miles. I guess the last couple of miles are always hard. Tomorrow I'll hit Neel's Gap. Ice cream! Gear of the day award goes to my Patagonia Silkweight Capilene. For real, sweating all day like a sweat machine and my shirt stayed cool and dry. I think today it finally sunk in that I'm doing this -- I'm really doing it! Oh, and also I'm really sick. I have a bad cold and am on the verge of throwing up all the time, but have been holding back 'cause they don't tell you what to do with that when you're following the "Leave no Trace" principles.It's just started to rain. Let's see how my tent holds up...
Date: 2006-04-09
From: low gap

To: cheese factory
Miles today: 13.0

Long day of hiking with a couple of tough climbs. The day started out pretty rough with frost on my tent and my sleeping bag was soaked from condensation, but it warmed up pretty fast. Stopped at Blue Mountain Shelter for lunch and had great views and dried all my gear out. Ended up at the most beautiful campsite ever, though there weren't great views, just lots of trees and a nice, level sleeping surface.
Date: 2006-04-10
From: cheese factory

To: moreland gap
Miles today: 11.3
Weather: clear sky

Today was supposed to be a slow easy day to get into Hiawassee tomorrow but the planned campsite didn't exist, so ended up going a few extra miles. I'm here with Old Spice from Brooklyn and No Pliers from Pennsylvania and Garret from Virginia. Had phone reception so it was great to talk to Aimee for a minute. As much as I love it out here I miss here for real. My body is still adjusting to the physical exertion, but it's okay. In just 9.8 miles I will be in North Carolina - I can't believe I am almost done with my first state!
Date: 2006-04-11
From: moreland gap

To: dick's creek
Miles today: 1.2

Did a really short hike to the gap today and hitched into town to get breakfast and groceries. Hiawassee is awesome! There's a coffeehouse, a pub and really super nice people. Then I hitched a ride back to the Blueberry Patch hostel where i fed my apple core to the donkey and got a shower and laundry. Sleeping on a mattress was so good. My little camping pad is all flattened out and not at all cushy.
Date: 2006-04-12
From: dick's creek

To: standing indian shelter
Miles today: 16.5
Weather: overcast clouds

Why did I do so many miles today? Started the day with an awesome breakfast of pancakes, eggs, chees biscuits, sausage and coffee. Got into North Carolina before lunch and then immediately had three really tough mountains to climb. The first shelter I came to was really nasty so I went ahead to the next one, thouroughly exhausted.
Date: 2006-04-13
From: standing indian shelter

To: carter gap
Miles today: 7.6
Weather: few clouds

Did a short day today cause when I got to carter gap I met up with Old Spice and three other hikers. Two of them were southbound from Maine and have been living in the woods since last July and August. One of them went over 500 miles without sharing a shelter with anyone and weeks at a time without even seeing a single person while hiking through the winter. It was good to sit around the campfire all night listening to wild hiking stories.
Date: 2006-04-16
From: siler bald

To: wesser bald
Miles today: 18.3
Weather: clear sky

Today's the most miles I've done yet. It hurts for sure. But today was awesome - an old lookout tower with 360 degree views. I could see Standing Indian Mtn where I stayed three nights ago and it looked really really far away. Then, this afternoon a mile or so from the shelter there was a fire tower on top of the bald. Even though I was exhausted, I climbed up and it was worth it.
Date: 2006-04-19
From: Brown Fork

To: Fontana Dam
Miles today: 12.7
Weather: overcast clouds

Intense thunderstorm today. I was caught on the ridge when the sky opened up and pea-sized hail pelted me from all directions. Ouch. The thunder and lightning were simultaneous right overhead and I was pretty freaked out (downright terrified actually). I hiked as fast as I could to get off the ridge and to the next shelter. Then the rain stopped and I ate lunch and dried off a little. I was down to one last cigarette when I turned around and found a full pouch of rolling tobacco. I gave half of it to Garret and then headed down to Fontana Dam. It was a rough hike but Garret and I talked a lot about biking and perspective and other stuff and the views were incredible. The Fontana Hilton, as the shelter is known, was great. Got a free shower and then slept out under the stars. There was supposed to be a meteor shower, but I didn't see any and soon fell asleep.
Date: 2006-04-20
From: Fontana Dam

To: mollies ridge
Miles today: 11.3
Weather: overcast clouds

I woke up soaked from the morning dew. My sleeping bag dried pretty quick though, and Roni and I walked the two plus miles into "town." The village sucked. Overpriced food and not much else. I got a maildrop, though, and it had some surprise treats in it and a letter from Aimee, so I was very excited. Took a shuttle back to Fontana Dam and hiked into the Smokies. I'm pretty psyched to be here. It rained a little on the way up and when we got to the shelter a fire was going. This guy Cup decided to sleep in his tent so he traded me his corner spot in exchange for a smoke. I slept great and was glad to be there 'cause it rained all night. Thanks Cup!
Date: 2006-04-21
From: mollies ridge

To: derrick's knob
Miles today: 11.7
Weather: moderate rain

Still Raining. When it let up, Old Spice, No Pliers and I hiked on to the next shelter, but of course it started pouring again. Dried everything out at Spence Shelter and sat in front of the fire. I made some sandals out of bits of my sleeping pad and some string. When the rain let up Old Spice and I went ahead to the next shelter, a hard, steep 6.1 additional miles. We ended up getting kicked out of the shelter because some section hikers showed up with reservations. It was pouring again and I had to set up my tent, but it ended up being one of the best night's sleep.
Date: 2006-04-23
From: double spring gap

To: GATLINBURG
Miles today: 10.8
Weather: overcast clouds

Hiked to the top of Clingmans Dome today around 9 am. It was awesome beeing the only ones up there and the sun was out again so the views were incredible. It's the highest point of the whole A.T.Hitched a ride into Gatlinberg. I'm sad because this is where Aimee was planning to meet up with me and we were going to go to Dollywood, but the plans fell through. At least I got a shower and laundry and an awesome hotel room that I split with Roni and Old Spice for 15 bucks apiece. There was a jacuzzi and our balcony was on the river. Civilization is nice.
Date: 2006-04-26
From: davenport gap 

To: groundhog creek
Miles today: 10.5
Weather: moderate rain

It rained all night and the shelter leaked so my pack is soaked. Oh well. Eventually left the shelter and went on. Old Spice decided to try and hike to Damascus in ten days. It's 225 miles away. I'll probably see him in a couple of days, but it's kind of sad and lonely hiking on knowing I won't know anybody at the next shelter.I got to groundhog creek in the rain and the shelter was full, but they made room for me. Then we all made room for two more people. We were stuffed in there head to toe like sardines. Then around 9 or 10 Roni showed up. I hadn't seen him in a couple of days and I was very glad to see a familiar face there.
Date: 2006-04-27
From: groundhog creek

To: deer park mountain
Miles today: 23.0
Weather: few clouds

Woah! Can you believe I hiked 23 miles today? Roni and I are always joking about the macho men who do 20+ mile days. But I wanted to get to Hot Springs tomorrow so I can call Aimee (and get hot breakfast and coffee). It was actually pretty amazing hiking so much. There were a few mountains, too, so it wasn't that easy. I must have been going pretty fast because I didn't leave the first shelter until almost 10 a.m. and I stopped at Max Patch for lunch and to wait for the fog to roll out so I could see the valley and all that and I still got to deer park, made dinner and set up my tent before sunset. Then, after the whole shelter and all the tents were put to bed somebody ran arouns whispering "beer and donuts at the campfire." I was in the middle of writing a letter to Aimee complaining of how much food I ate today (A LOT) and how I was still hungry. I went out and a couple of former thru-hikers had hiked up the mountain with two suitcases of PBR and bags and bags of krispy kreme donuts to pass out. I stayed up a few more hours and ate four donuts in a row! Thank you Disco and Princess of Darkness for a great ending to a long day!