morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2004-04-01
From: Dick's Creek Gap/Blueberry Patch

To: Muskrat Creek Shelter
Miles today: 11.6
Weather: scattered clouds

Day 8, April 1 (Thursday)Muskrat Creek Shelter11.6 mi (78.4 total)Gary and his wife Lennie blessed us and prayed for our success, fed us breakfast, and then drove Opalika, Craig and me to trailhead. I¢m guessing that with my maildrop resupply (enough for 7 days) my pack weighs about 43 lbs. If I eat all that food in the first two days, the pack will be a lot lighter, sooner. Sounds like a plan.Mid-day I¢m hiking alone and from up ahead I hear all sorts of wild whooping going on. Moonshiners? Heathen tartars intent on malice? No, just a family out for a long camping weekend. And then there¢s a state border marker, and I step into North Carolina. Upward, onward into snow again, as the wind picks up, and the mercury plummets. Over Sharp Top and Courthouse Bald. Big strapping John Bushey fresh from Wyoming breezes on by. And then there¢s the shelter at Muskrat Creek. There¢s Gramma Jean and Sally again, and Arms, Bushey, Craig, Opalika and a few others. After dinner, I heat water to put in a bottle for the foot of my sleeping bag overnight. I lend it to Gramma Sally for a while as I¢m still cleaning up dinner stuff. Early in the morning it¢s all of 20 degrees. Snow and ice on the ground and rhododendrons.
Date: 2004-04-02
From: Muskrat Creek Shelter

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

Day 9, April 2 (Friday)12. 5 mi (90.9 total)Carter Gap Sheltercold and snowingOpalika tells me the whooping heathen tartar moonshiners are actually the Gardner family from Mass. - thru-hiking about six miles a day. Parents and children, with big tents. I had exchanged hellos with one of the girls. I wish I had known they were the Gardners (people are talking about them up and down the trail) and had stopped to learn more about them.The mission today: up and over Standing Indian Mountain, the tallest yet at 5499 (for a limited time only). Snow on the ground and in the air, and cold and windy.At day¢s end, at the Carter Gap Shelters were Opalika, Homer, Keith, High Trailer and Craig. I had the old shelter to myself (well, I shared it with two mice actually), Craig tented nearby, and the others took to the new shelter.A bottle of hot water in the sleeping bag again staves off the cold. Craig follows suit.
Date: 2004-04-03
From: Carter Gap Shelter

To: Rock Gap Shelter
Miles today: 12.1
Weather: few clouds

Day 10, April 3 (Saturday)Rock Gap Shelter12.1 mi (103 total)                        After a bitter three-day blow, the weather turns mild again and warm and calm. Mid-morning I stop at a vista looking east down at farms. Hightrailer passes by. Onward again through long curving tunnels of rhododendron and small pine forests. North Carolina is quite beautiful. On top of Albert Mountain there is a firetower, from which we can see the Smokies, 50 miles away - majestic, raked with clouds. Down into the rhodos again, and on to Rock Gap Shelter. Craig mentions that if Coyote rested for four days and paced herself, he thought she could still make it to Katahdin. I agreed. It¢s still early in the season.At the shelter, Opalika tents nearby, as does Homer and Keith. After we cook supper, Trail angel Marcia comes by with a bag full of brownies, still warm. Late in the night, the wind sounds like a train approaching, or what I imagine a tornado to sound like.
Date: 2004-04-04
From: Rock Gap Shelter

To: Route 64
Miles today: 3.8

Day 11, April 4 (Sunday)3.8 miles (106.8 total)Route 64Our foursome became a threesome, and is now a twosome. Craig and I hike to Route 64 and wait an hour far a ride into Franklin with a young man named Dustin. Thank you again, Dustin. It was cold up there. It¢s ten miles to Franklin, NC. We eat BIG breakfasts and dinners and clean up and call friends and relatives. I am fit to burst. Tomorrow morning we will hit the trail again. Hokey Smokies here we come.
Date: 2004-04-05
From: winding stair gap

To: to burningtown gap
Miles today: 14.6

day 12 monday april 5 14.6 mi 121.4 mi totalsunny, mild, then coldup, up, and more up, past a cascade with small pools, too small to swim in. we pass through Panther Gap, calling out, "here, kitty, kitty." we stop for a while on wayah bald with its stone lookout tower. it's a clear day; we can see the Smokies all covered in snow. we get cold. continuing on we find a campsite, but the water is poor, so we go on still further, through a marvelous pine forest. we find a great stream gushing from beneath a massive tree trunk. impressive. craig has set up his tent in a meadow. i go back to the woods as i need trees from which to hang my hammock. craig brings his tent and gear over so we can share dinner and conversation. every other day or so i ask in a mock mother's tone if he's remembering to take his vitamins. we watch out for each other. we learn to depend on each other. i feel lucky to be sharing this hike with him. he's a good man, prudent, very even-tempered. he knows trees and plants. he's teaching me to recognize adder's tongue, tulip poplar, hickory, trillium. sometimes we hike all day apart, alone, and meet again in the evening.
Date: 2004-04-06
From: Burningtown Gap

To: Nantahala River
Miles today: 12.7

Day 13Tuesday, 6 April 200412.7 miles (trip total: 134.1 miles)Burningtown Gap to Nantahala River, NCThe river flowsIt flows to the seaWherever that river goesThat's where I want to be-Roger McGuinnThere are six, no... seven of them in a sunny spot in the trail in front of me. They are twisting, writhing, coiling around and around each other. I am striding along; I don't even see them until they are a mere three feet away. I stop, watch my breath for two cycles, stay calm, then run through a mental checklist. Rattlesnakes? Nope, no rattles. Copperheads? No, these are green and gold. They politely move off to the side of the trail. The biggest one is two feet long. They are wondrous to watch.We've had crystal clear skies for three days now, past Chunky Gal Trail, Mooney Gap, Albert Mountain, and Panther Gap. It rained two nights a week ago. We hiked through falling snow for parts of two days, but we've yet to hike in the rain. The weather division at mothernature.com has been berry, berry good to us.On the other hand, for two weeks the creeks have been three inches deep and one foot across. Not exactly suitable for swimming or bathing. Until now.My hiking buddy, Craig, and I have reached the Nantahala River and Outdoor Center. The river is sixty feet across and beautiful -- rushing and roaring. Kayakers and rafters glide by. Swallows perform aerial acrobatics over the river.There's a great complex of buildings sprinkled along the river and strewn up the mountain's side. We share a bunkhouse and open deck high up. In the gathering dark, it feels like we are resting in a giant treehouse, like the one in Swiss Family Robinson, only on a much larger scale.In three days, we hope to reach Fontana Dam, and then in three days more, the Hokie Smokies. Did I happen to mention this trip is absolutely AWESOME?Namaste,
Date: 2004-04-07
From: nantahala

To: sassafrass gap shelter
Miles today: 6.9
Weather: overcast clouds

day 14 wed apr7   6.9 mi 141 mi totalnanta to sassafrass gap shelterand ain't it just like a friend of mineto kick me from behind?                     -james taylorsunny, warmlong. long uphillmet walksalot from marietta, ga. she on a leave of absencefrom a biz that works w/fragrances. she's hoping to hike til late june. i hiked alone til the shelter. grammas jean and sally again! met lightfoot from andover ma and moojuice and beagle from ny. there's maybe 16 folks here. nice campfire. we are going to try for 15 miles tomorrow. craig's a hero. he carried 2 pounds of my gear today and has offered to do the same tomorrow. i'm carrying too much weight and my feet are talking to me and not very kindly. i've been carrying 40+ lbs. to his 30+. thank you, craig.from shelter journal4-6 can i get a switchback?can i get an amen?praise the Lord!holy s**t         opalika4-7 what's this? rev. opalika held a mid-week sermon and i missed it! oh brother, where art thou? will you hold a service sunday? may i attend, heathen that i am? and coyote, oh sister, where art thou? we miss you and hope you found the strength to continue.                              meanderthal
Date: 2004-04-08
From: sassafrass gap

To: cable gap shelter
Miles today: 15.2
Weather: overcast clouds

day 15 thurs apr8   15.2 mi 156.2 mi totalto cable gapcloudy, sprinkles, then sunnywhat a beautiful day it turned out to be. much much more than expected. first off, when we heard it was beagle's birthday, we launched into singing her happy b.d. around the fire ring. i would never have guessed i would ever sing happy birthday to a new york state trooper.craig and i hiked to the top of cheowah bald. took a pic of bartram's "mtns piled upon mtns." onward thru several gaps. light rain. spied a great pileated, then an eagle high overhead, stecoah bald was steep, but not bad. tunnels of rhododendron and gentle grades traversing across some very steep slopes. when i stopped at brown gap shelter, i found in the register an entry dated 4-6 by none other than flyin' brian robinson, calendar triple crown '01, and silver girl. he's found a woman and is doing the a.t. again, i guess. at the shelter, there's a quiet group: six, and then we two. lightfoot comes thru with wayne from clemson. he's brought word that coyote is 2 days behind us. so she didn't give up.nice campfire. awesome day.
Date: 2004-04-09
From: cable gap

To: fontana village
Miles today: 5.5

day 16 fri apr 9   5.5 mi 161,7 mi totalto rte 28 and shuttle to fontana villagesunny, warmlast night i stayed up late with a campfire, so this morning craig started way ahead of me. i didn't start til 9, way, way late for me. within 5 minutes, i see 3 great pileateds all together, close. after 3 miles i see fontana lake thru the trees. chuck from clemson ids the giant cable'like vines as muskadine. they hang free 40 and 50 ft before they coil around some branch or high trunk. the sight of them evokes images of tarzan, swinging his way from one to the next. the trees here are massive, 3 and 4 ft in diameter. they seem larger on average than our bigger trees back in new england. they seem to say, "we are born of great winds and great rains and hurricanes. we have stood up to the torn-apart tag-end remnants of tropical storms. we are quitehale, thank you very much." even the 'fraggin' hewge' tree stumps, are victorious works of art, slowly moldering shipwrecks of pine and hickory, cast high up on alpine shores. every so often i stop to absorb it, to soak it in, to commit it to memory. to carefully scan its hundred shades of gray and the sunlight filtering thru it all. i don't need to know the names of the trees to feel at one with them.i was feeling part of the sceneryi walked right thru the machinerymy heart going boom, boom, boom                                 -peter gabriela turkey vulture swoops down low in front of me, 60 ft away, sailing lower still, its brown back glowing in the sun, it crests a ridge and is gone from view. if you watch them in the wind, you can sense how much they love flight itself, the sheer delight of it. they are beautiful to watch as they soar and turn.i find a road and a kiosk and a phone in a rough-hewn wooden box and notes on how to get a shuttle 2 miles to fontana village. laurie shuttles me to post office, reservation office, and then to the inn room itself. nice touch. i find craig, we find ice cream, laundrymat, then more ice cream. we see big john, uncle jerry, boonie, one day at a time. do dinner. watch the weather. uncle jerry finds me in a lobby and says coyote is down at the laundry and is asking for me. i walk down but she's gone.
Date: 2004-04-10
From: gatlinburg, tn

To: zero in fontana
Miles today: 0.0

day 17 sat apr 10 zero dayi wake up to see a great pileated out the window. at breakfast beagle says she gave coyote a ride last night and she had been looking for me. later craig and i run into her at the outfitters. one foot is half covered in duct tape. she's with snail and digit and some others and they're heading on, up into the smokies, ahead of us. she had knocked off 3 16-mile days and more. go, girl. i hope you make it.craig and i go in search of pints of moose tracks ice cream and make a lunch out of it. we sat in rockers on the porch and imagined hearing opie and andy whistling from around the corner. mt. airy is not that far away. back in the store edna tells us about the dam, how the water is down 60 ft for flood control down river, how every 5 yrs they do a draw-down (scheduled this summer), and really drain it, and how there are remnants of old bldgs and cemeteries, that "resurface" in a draw-down. edna says there are panthers around here, and bears. and on the Tail of the Dragon, an 11 mile stretch of highway with 113 curves to it, about 5 motorcyclists buy the farm each year. one died just yesterday.to pipesmoke's wife in nh: we saw him april 4, he looked good. he's ahead of us now.
Date: 2004-04-11
From: fontana dam

To: mollie's ridge shelter
Miles today: 12.4
Weather: light rain

day 18 sunday apr 1112.4 mi   174.1 mi totalcloudy, then light showers   wizard (formerly craig, from washington, maine) and i pulled into fontana village, got a room, and were rendered utterly paranoid by the weather channel people. they were forecasting great monstrous rainstorms bearing down on the A.T. for weeks on end, human-heat seeking lightning bolts, with GIANT PRODIGIOUS hailstones the size of small drugstores, not to mention the TORNADO that TRASHED TEXAS, coming soon to an A.T. shelter near you. VERY NEAR you. wooo doggies.   so we're going in, into the smokies, rain or no rain, guards or no guards, witch or no witch. let me at 'em. there's just one thing i want you guys to do for me...   "what's that?"   talk me out of it.
Date: 2004-04-12
From: fontana

To: derrick knob shelter
Miles today: 11.7
Weather: moderate rain

day 19 mond apr 12 11.7 mi 185.8 mi totalrain, fogto derrick knobthis is the first day since the start that seemed at all difficult. partly because i overdressed against the rain and the winds. i had two layers on below the waist. i won't do that again.
Date: 2004-04-13
From: gatlinburg, tn

To: double spring gap
Miles today: 7.2
Weather: light rain

day 20 tues apr 13   7.2 mi 193 mi totaldouble spring gap shelterelev 5507'raw, wet, windy, coldwizard and i surmised that part of our difficulties yesterday were due to much elevation gain. today we decided to go only 7 miles, stopping just short of clingman's dome, the highest part on the a.t. at 6643', in the hope that tomorrow the weather will clear and we will have good views from clingman's. the forecast for tonight is for snow. last night we heard strong winds, strong rains, thunder quite close. at this shelter back in 1980, 2 hikers died from lightning.i have not stayed overnight at this elevation, since i wuz in the Panamint Range just west of death valley in 1975.we have a full shelter here tonight with reports of more hikers coming.we gonna try for 14 miles tomorrow.
Date: 2004-04-14
From: double spring shelter

To: gatlinburg, tn
Miles today: 10.8
Weather: light rain

day 21 wed apr 14 10.8 mi 203.8 mi totalup and over clingman's dome   well, okay, so we only went 10.8 miles, but they WERE extraordinary, a high point of the trek, on several levels. i got up, cold, at 5:30, ate breakfast, started to pack. wizard, in his bag, asked me to wait. we started out at 6:45, wizard, didi, and i. didi just got her master's degree in geology from rutgers, and is coming from a 5 week trek in nepal, where she developed an appreciation for a sleeping bag rated to -20 degrees. she's smart and caring and seems eager to learn from this adventure.   after we crested clingman's (6643 ft., the highest point on the trail), we entered an old growth forest of great pines. the wind and the snow and the terrain conspired to make drifts two feet deep in places. jason and white lightning caught up with us, and we had us a convoy of five, trudging through a snowstorm across 6000 footers, eleven miles with virtually no breaks, food or water, 'cause we decided to go for newfound gap road and a ride into gatlinburg, tenn. showers, heated rooms, fresh food, electricity. swimming pools, movie stars. and dollywood. wizard wants to check out dollywood.   i think i caught a glimpse of daniel boone's ghost back up in the hemlocks and the snow.   namaste,
Date: 2004-04-15
From: gatlinburg, tn

To: zero day in gat
Miles today: 0.0

day 22 thurs apr 15   zero day, gatwarm, sunny, the trees are tricked out in spring colorsi am a lonely painteri live in a box of paintsi'm frightened by the deviland i'm drawn to those ones who ain't afraid                                          -joni mitchellgatlinburg is funny and crazy and one hopping place. imagine the blue hill and bangor fairs and all of bar harbor in july, then add a dash of disney world and vegas, some elvis impersonators, a mid-atlantic bridge tournament for 4000, a roadster rally for another 4000, and top it off with a school spring break crowd with another 1000 teenagers easily. did i mention the space needle that reaches up over 200 ft right next to our motel?we catch a trolley crosstown for laundry and groceries. working one of the registers is charlotte. she looks to be in her late 50s. she's on crutches, standing there, working. i wonder to myself, sprained ankle, perhaps? i ask her if she knows when the next trolley will be by, and throw in that i'm walking the A.T. from georgia to maine. she looks me in the eye and with complete seriousness she says, "i'm sorry, i don't think it runs that far," and only then does a twinkle show in her eye. i say,"thank you charlotte, for playing along, and i'm sure we must have a nice parting gift for you," and she breaks into a long, rich, deep laugh. and then i notice she's missing her left leg, and my heart wells up in wonder at her courage.
Date: 2004-04-16
From: gatlinburg

To: tri-corner knob shelter
Miles today: 15.6
Weather: scattered clouds

day 23 fri apr 16   15.6 mi 219.4 mi totalto tri-cornertenn-nc borderlandssunnywizard takes off early ahead of me from the microtel. yesterday i took the trolley to pigeon forge to access the internet at their library. we actually went into dollywood. i was not prepared for the scope of her complex. the traffic wuz so thick and slow, i walked almost all the way back to gatlinburg, about 8 miles. thru the main stretch of pigeon forge, i was passing the cars and trucks! and now this morning, i go to shoney's for AYCE breakfast, back to motel, call a friend back home, check out. the desk clerk has no record of wizard paying for his share of room, so i pay in full; no sense in arguing. (wizard compensates me a few days later.) i see turtle don twice on way out of town. get a new pad at outfitter. catch a ride with joann from long beach, ca, retired teacher. the man driving is a cpa from knoxville, who closes shop the day after taxday. he's funny, and takes mock offense at much of what joann says. frinstance, she say east coast bears are not as smart as west coast bears. i stay right out of it.we talk about the civil war and politics and cold mountain and honor and desertion. i start hiking after ten and feel jet propelled from all the good town food.at charlie's bunion, a fellow name of smokey offers to take my pic, just as didi comes from behind. she and i pose, then hike together, trading stories to tri-corner shelter. there's hawk, wizard, hitriler, hot rock, chef 1 and 2(aka van gogh). hitrailer shows me his pocketmail. i'm tempted to get one, but what i've done up to now has proven adequate. what a great day!
Date: 2004-04-17
From: tri-corner

To: standing bear hostel
Miles today: 18.1
Weather: broken clouds

day 24 sat apr 17   18.1 mi 237.5 total mito standing bear hosteltenn-nc bordersunnythe vistas in the northern smokies are rugged and beautiful. hiked alone all day; it was nice. got to s.b. hostel 5:45, raked by the setting sun in a charming hollow. there's hawk, beagle, moojuice, palmtree, then wizard walks in; he's changed his mind about staying at mtn momma's. there's seven small rustic bldgs here, forming the hostel, next to curtis's home, including bunkhouse, shower hut, kitchen, laundry and internet hut. the windows, doors and porch railings are of different 'crazyquilt' designs and sources. we eat pizza and ice cream in the dark around a great campfire. this is a wonderful place.we hear mouth's friend had heart trouble and has to stop hiking. then i read nuffy from australia has given up in the erwin area; she took 3 days off, was still hurting, and decided to quit hiking. it's still early in the season. perhaps if she rested another 4 days, she could have continued, but then again i don't know the extent of her pain.both my sisters back home left messages in my webpage guestbook. awesome!tomorrow some of us will try for a campsite near max patch bald some 13+ miles north.
Date: 2004-04-18
From: standing bear hostel

To: max patch bald
Miles today: 13.6

day 25 sun apr 18   13.6 mi 251.1 total mimax patch baldsunny, near 80...princess kept a viewwhile all the women came and wentbarefoot servants toooutside in the distancea wildcat did growltwo riders were approachingthe wind began to howl                        -bob dylan   with a little help from my friends beagle and moojuice, i tried my cellphone for the first time; got thru to the riverside restaurant, and talked to jane and skip baker and barb. that was a great treat.   on the trail, on top of a grassy bald, we found a strange looking facility that professed to be FAA property. but we were not fooled. we knew, without a shred of doubt, that it wuz really a transfer substation with trans-umbilical connections to the alien mothership up over rozwell, NM. FAA, indeed.   later i caught up with slowpoke and learned something of his life story. he's has some hard knocks over the years. slowpoke, i hope you make it, man.   i hiked alone for most of the day, and tho i try to be present and aware of what's around me, occasionally i let my imagination run free.                                       *   i am tien shan. i have seen all of 19 years in this life. i am apprenticed to the great shaman of the blue mountain, the Master of the Crag and the Ten Brooks, just outside of Xian, in what you now know as northeast china. our era is what you know as early 7th century A.D.   my master, in his wisdom, has sent me to accompany xuan tsang on his great trek to nalanda. he has done so in part to broaden my education in the presence of the greatest chinese buddhist scholar of this hundred year span, but also because he has seen through his crystal that xuan tsang may well face some mortal danger past peshawar.   up and behind peshawar lies the small rugged aerie-kingdom of ichthystan, where king xer cheng holds court in an incredible mountain fastness with his daughter shih may. she is astonishingly beautiful, and as hard as diamond. she's is practiced in shaolin, with two instructors who trained under ba tuo.   i have been here but a week, and she has treated me very well. we have word that xuan tsang may arrive very soon, with a single escort. shih may and xer cheng hope that xuan tsang will stay for a time and teach them some of what he knows. we are high up in a parapet on the tower wall. we hear a tiger in the forest below. shih lends me her long glass, and to the west, i can see two men on horseback, with a raging duststorm seeming to pursue them out of the desert beyond. i hear the high kiayah of a falcon, and suddenly i am back on the a.t.,with a pack on my back, heading up max patch bald.   wizard, palm tree, brian, kate and i set up camp on the lower north shoulder of max patch bald at about 4400 ft. there's some kids with kites, and the most wonderful panorama spread out before us; the smokeys to the south, and mount mitchell to the east, and hundreds of mountains everywhere we look. we cook dinner, and go to the summit for the sunset. oh, wizard, this was a most excellent choice for camp. well done.