morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2003-12-28
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

christmas is over. new years is this week. whats different now compared to last year at this time? i hiked the appalachian trail this year! yeah, i finally put everything aside and just did it. all the dreaming about it, planning for it, researching it, getting ready for it...there was just one thing left to do. DO IT! and look what happened. an adventure of a lifetime happened. my old life has new life in it. before i started the hike, i had covered every topic i could think of; where will i get food, how will i stay warm in the woods, what about any dangers? these and many more were thought about, written down, classified, organized, whittled down...to a point where preparation ended. i couldnt do anything more. nothing left to do...but GO.and now, i have memories and knowledge and experience that will no doubt guide me in my future decisions. i think if this adventure can stay fresh to me, i will be fine. out on the trail, i really tried to record/document basically every step, while still living in the moment and being aware of everything around me. i took lots of notes, lots of pictures, lots of video. already, since finishing the trail, i find myself paging through my beat up wingfoot book, mentally going through the whole trip step by step. remembering where i was and what it looked like, who was with me, what the mood was, what the day's goal was, everything. now, to say that i miss the trail would be an understatement. i dont just miss the trail, but i miss having the freedom of experiencing something like it on my own, un-societally influenced terms. what do i mean? by un-societally influenced? i mean not being relentlessly bombarded by everything that our society uses to divert your attention from being who you are, what you are. i just thought of how to better describe what i mean. but you have to be a star trek next generation fan to see my point....example of the BORG. the borg are a race of half human/half machine beings that live in a giant cube that floats around in space, assimilating all that it comes in contact with, making it part of themselves. and they are all part of the collective mind. there is no individuality. each individual cant operate on its own, of its own will. they are part of the collective. ANYWAY...they hear all these voices in their heads, of the others and it drowns out any chance of them having their own thoughts, much less even recognizing that it was their thought.how does this relate to the trail?easy. you are on your own on the trail, you have to do the walking, the planning, the hard work. on your own. soon, you dont hear the "voices" of society. so what fills that space? you start hearing your own voice, and it takes care of you. because it IS you. i think thats when you really begin to see things as they are. and if you dont think youve ever faced yourself this way, youll never really know who you are.
Date: 2003-12-31
To: nowhere
Miles today: 0.0

today is new years eve. last day of 2003. no snow outside. did you hear that? NO SNOW!!! for the end of december around here, this is rare. very rare. 2003...what a year. year of the trail. over half the year was spent hiking it. i havent actually creeped around at night in town, painting trees and telephone poles with white blazes yet, to help me feel more "at home", but im short on my new year resolution list...maybe this could be added. hmmm.the tv is on, theyre playing hilites of the year, as they always do on new years eve. im glad i dont recognize most of them. us "hiker trash"-types had tons of our own hilites. seeing bears, moose, deer, snakes...finding trail magic where it could be found...meeting tons of new people, hanging out with them...getting rained on, snowed on, baked, bit, wore out...skinny dipping, mooning the cog railroad, hiking naked, or wanting to at least try it...freezing, melting, climbing, descending...eating, walking, EATING, WALKING....WALKING...(: all of these things are hi-lites. what a memory-rich year. so, to say some final words to summarize what a year its been, i will say this. obviously, hiking the AT was the hilite of my year. if youre a dreamer, who wants to do this trail, the great AT, listen to this voice. its saying it for a reason. something's telling you that you need it. that you need to feel ALIVE. you can do it. i'll never regret doing it.
From: jenkins shelter

To: Helveys Mill Shelter
Miles today: 13.8

staring loc-jenkins shelterdestination-helveys mill shelterdaily miles-13.8total miles-580.9i see its been awhile since ive updated you all on the hike so far. my apologies. here we go...tonite, i am here, lying on top of my walmart blue foam mattress which is on top of my big piece of tyvek house wrap, underneath an 8 x 10 ft tarp. today i made it to bland, va, and i am now at the helveys mill shelter, which is at 580.9 miles. well, im not in it, and i havent seen it, but in the dark, me and spunky arrived in the area of it, as we found librarian and kneepad already camped out.i was able to get to the post office in time to send home another package of stuf im tired of carrying, along with another full camera memory card. so im very hopeful that you will be seeing pictures soon. good luck this time, sis.oh, on the way to bland, on the trail, about 45 minutes into it, my survival instincts took over and sprung me into the air to avoid probably the biggest snake ive ever seen in the wild. it was right on the trail, and i was in front of spunky, and we were talking about whatever, when it appeared to her that i looked like i was about to fall down as i side-step/leaped out of the way of the snake. it was just a black snake about 4 foot long. i took a pic of it too. also i saw a tom turkey as it flew out of its roost and crashed its way through the upper brush to get away.next day-10 may 03-700pm-spunky and i are at jenny knob shelter for the night. the other guys here are named nimble, just dan, lemming, spiderman II, booble, sticks and spielberg. tomorrows plan is to get on the trail early and try to do 22.6 miles to docs knob shelter. then we will have hiked 613.3 miles. we're looking forward to a dip in dismal falls before lunch. i hope its as warm as it was today. had to be over 85 and humid. LOVE IT!!!can you believe it...i cant. i've been out here 8 weeks today. wow. im still not believeing it.i have met alot of people out here. its quite a social experience. you meet people on the trail, people who pick you up, people in towns. very interesting. so if you like to hike and camp, and be around people that like it too, this is something you might want to pursue. thank you sharon for having us stay with you. it was wonderful. ive already talked with other hikers who know the story already of how we met at walmart. it is a legend in its own time. we hope to see you at trail days. we're starting to hitch this thursday back to damascus.spunky's mom, it was nice to talk with you on the phone last nite. we finally got a ride out to the trail and got to the shelter at 10pm. im glad you like reading this journal. thank you for saying so.ok, this might be it til i get back to damascus. so stay tuned. the camera card is in the mail. new pics to come!
Date: 2004-02-20
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

today, im off early from work and reading some entries of thru-hikers i met on the trail last year. has it really already been almost 5 MONTHS since it all ended? i cant believe it.i felt like updating everyone on what ive been up to and whats next for me here in the greatest country in the world. my father and i recently joined the VFW, so now we can go to a building and drink cheap beers and chat with other veterans, which so far seem to be those who were in the "Big One" (ww2), korea and vietnam. also, tonite im going to see about joining the CAP (civil air patrol). another project im working on is becoming a licensed new york state guide, as is my cousin john, who is starting an outdoor pro shop; his specialty being walleye fishing, of which he has a wall full of fishing tournament awards. he thought the shop needed a camping/hiking guide...hence my current pursuit. getting certified in first aid, cpr and water safety by the red cross is whats left to do. my minivan is acting up so i have to figure out what that solution is. meanwhile, i have a work van i drive home from work and keep here. im also currently doing a daily exercise routine that i keep to religiously. its one of those video exercise programs that i never really got into. its not quite the trail (not at ALL), but its something im doing and have no trouble being consistent with. "why dont i hike? why not jog? why not go to a gym?....". too snowy, too icy, too far away. plus its been too frigid recently. i kinda want to enjoy strenuous activity, not freeze to death doing it. this week loa sent me a letter of where she is and what she's been up to. also she sent summit pics. i love them. i made a video for karma of loser's nighttime guitar songs he played at the gathering. its all in night vision. and it was at 'billville'. i havent had much free time to make video copies of the hike for those trail friends of mine that i said i would make them for. i havent forgot about them at all. just need more free time.well, i have to go to the bank and barber. yeah i said barber. i know, i know. i didnt know what a barber was while on the trail. but thats then and this is now. ): (i miss my beard)
Date: 2004-03-18
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

        A Year Ago Todayi just read journey's most recent journal entry. i like her title of the entry...one year ago today. i also have been thinking alot of where i was a year ago today...all this week so far. a year ago yesterday, at neels gap, on a rainy, dreary sunday afternoon, i scrambled down from blood mountain excited to get dry and to walk through the only building the AT goes through. i dropped my pack outside near the store door, next to the hanging scale, and went inside the building. much drier and warmer in there. the older guy that worked there was doing something business related, and there was just one other person in the store. a very cute young woman who i found out was also a hiker who started the day before me. how could i have known at that time that this woman and i would become trail partners and great friends in a relatively short time. who who who am i talking about? SPUNKY!!!         a year ago today i left the walasi-yi center at neels gap around 1130am, and it was foggy. just behind me at the start was molasses, and after a few times of glancing back over my shoulder i noticed she wasnt there. i wanted to get to low gap shelter before dark. so i was alone that whole afternoon and i remember the wind and drizzle just hammering at me all day from my right. non stop. i didnt even take a break til i actually got to shelter area, which i guess was packed, seeing all the tents set up before i even got to it. so i followed suit and set mine up too. i didnt bother bear bagging either. i hadnt seen or heard even a bird all day. would a bear come out in this? i didnt think so.         the first week on the trail was basically that--windy and drizzly and foggy. it seemed like it at least.        since the middle of january this year ive been a guest speaker for 3 different social groups and i talk about the trail. i have a video i made that is one hour long, that touches on the hi-lites. i bring my pack with most of the gear i used. also i made a collage on a 2 x 3 foot piece of cardboard with trail pics, my ATC certificate for thru hiking and a copy of the newspaper article they did on me. so i can easily take up 2 or 3 hours just having a nice presentation that everyone seems to enjoy. one meeting was cancelled due to SNOW!         last nite i found out that the trail this year is 2174.1 miles. in a hundred years i wonder how long it will be.        looking forward to hiking with spunky, her mom and dad and her uncle and cousin on the AT next month and then trail days in may. im glad spring is almost here. buffalo winters are always too long.
Date: 2004-10-09
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

so where do i stand today?just over a year has passed since ending the big hike, the appalachian trail, of which i hiked the entire length...2,172.6 miles, never slackpacking (always having my pack on my back for every single mile). thats how i wanted to "hike my own hike". i look around the small apartment i now "live" in, and have realized ive come to learn one thing about myself that the trail hasnt changed about me...im still a slob. maybe i should delve more into this topic, as i just had a new revelation. remember how straightforward it was, when we were on the trail, that everything you owned was right there, with you, either spread out on the ground drying in the sun, or within reach when you were bedded down for the night in your tarp, tent or the shelter? that amount of stuff was manageable, and yet you were still debating about what you could get rid of. fast forward to now, look around your place, and wonder as i am (shaking my head) what i need all THIS stuff for. the trail is a microcosm of life back in "this" world. life back here is just having a much larger "backpack". your sleeping bag is now a bed. your trail is now a road. your boots are your car. so in a sense, we're all just camping. but on a more elaborate scale. so to summarize this entry, the year that just was wasnt quite as exciting as the trail. there were definitely exciting parts during the year, but they were more spaced out. i made it a goal to do something "big" every month. things like---canoe/camping trip in the adirondacks--motorcycle trip to montana (made it to minnesota...a story in itself!)--drive from texas to new york with my nephews--at least 10 airplane rides--going to trail days--hiking on the AT a few more times in VA--meeting up with and visiting friends from the trailso, instead of following a trail thats marked, knowing where it goes, life in the past year has gone in many different directions. i wonder where ill be next year?
Date: 2003-09-15
To: North Carolina- far as possible !
Miles today: 0.0

It all started 4 years ago with my father and I's hike on Isle Royale. Little did we both know that point, it would become a yearly father and son event. I will leave out the fun we had that year, with the rain, the foxes, father not bringing the right hiking shoes, but it was ALL worth it. A little about my father, he's a GM retiree, 64 years old this year. I also work for GM and am 34 years old-trail name: Lightening My parents live in Georgia- in the northern corner, not far from Springer mountain. So the next year after Isle Royale, it only made sense for us to use our equipment again and take a stab at the AT. Since my vacation is limited, we only section hike. The word of the hike for this year was RAIN, my father decided to go back to this warm bed after 3 days, I continued on for a couple more- ended at the Walsi Center this year.Year 2 on the AT, we pickup at the Walsi Center, weather was much better. The memory of this adventure occurred the last day, when my father decided to quit early the last day and I continued to hike on but I messed up my calculations. What I thought to be a nice day hike 13 miles ended up being close to 20 miles and I nearly didnt make it. My parents picked me up at Dicks Creek , when I came "crawling" down the AT trail, at near darkness, and a little scared (I had unloaded my pack earlier the day when mom picked up dad and didnt have anything I needed to spend the night on the trail)Year 3 starts on 8/20 !! Just a few days away !
Date: 2003-09-16
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Continued-- This year I have upgraded much of my equipment.   I have changed over to the Tin Mans Denatured stove, which I think is brillant. That alone saved me at least 2 lbs.   I upgraded to a Marmot sleeping bag versus my extra long, extra wide and extra heavy, negative 40, sleeping bag.   Upgraded my tent to Sierra, but never had any issues with my Northwest Territory.   Gone to Duofold on most of my clothing. Due to dads age, I need to carry most of the equipment in order to keep his feet turning on the trail. I cant tell you how much I am looking forward to the hike this year, hopefully hurricane Isabel wont be an issue !!
Date: 2003-09-17
From: Detroit 

To: Nashville
Miles today: 533.0

Well, the road trip begins in minutes !   I leave for Oprland, Nashville Tennesee for a 3 day business conference.   Then start the hike on Saturday- cant wait !!   Isabel can not rain out this spirit !   To think, I will be staying in a 5 star hotel for the next 2 nights, and then to 5 star shelters! Golfing all day tommorrow- wish me luck; need a hole in one to be next CEO.I will update my hike upon my return. Thanks for reading- happy trails !!
Date: 2003-09-20
From: Dicks Creek

To: Bly Gap
Miles today: 8.6
Weather: clear sky

At 7am we drove from my parents house in the Blue Ridge mountains to Dicks Creek.   The sun was shining-   We start our hike at about 10am and what a day. I had done some homework before I left, which gave the AT a trail rating of 3 for this section, what a joke that became. I would swear that every mile between Dicks creek and Bly gap were uphill, with a steep slope. Nearly crawled the last couple miles- to compound our fun, my father's math is not what it use to be- the 2 miles to cross the NC border was really 6 miles, 6 long uphill miles which prevented us from making it to any shelters for the evening. This part of the trail didnt have any clear scenic views. But we made it, and I crossed my 1st state line of the AT after 3 years of hiking.   yaaaaahhhhhhhhooooooooooooo.   Plenty of water at Bly gap, and cingular cell phones work from there. Bly gap does have a heck of a sunset though and would presume in the fall, when there are no leaves, it would be a great place to camp. We made camp for the evening, ate dinner, and had my usual fire- left plenty of wood for the next hiker ! P.S. Father brought some self-heated, MRE's this year, plenty of weight and trash , for barely warm dogfood !!!! I will take Mac an Cheese any day - or even bark for that matter.
Date: 2003-09-21
From: Bly Gap

To: Standing Indian Mountain
Miles today: 8.7

We slept in until about 8am and this morning I got a chance to use my new Tin Man burner- awesome, weighs nothing and works as good as anything Ive seen. We made breakfast (pancakes & sausage MRE) which was by far the best of all of the MRE's- it actually heated the sausage to an edible temp. The hike started with another uphill long stretch, but the trail got better as we hiked. Not many views again, trail crosses a few roads not marked on the map for any of those planning a hike. Right before Standing Indian is a major road crossing. We hiked up the 2.5 uphill hike to reach the top of standing indian, passing the Standing Indian shelter (what a mistake this will be- read on) Standing Indian shelter is pretty nice- a table, seats, not many mice.   No bears seen today (which is always a goal of my hike- to see bears) but my dad crossed trails with a timber rattlesnake- very large, I now keep my eyes glued to the trail, for I walked right by it before he saw it. Many many bear droppings- where is good old smokey ?? We made camp for the evening, once again in the tent. I brought a radio with me, and rain was predicted- 50/50 chance. Had another NASTY mre, dont think even a hungry bear would have eaten it. Very very windy this evening, fire burnt fast, weather on the horizon.................verizon and cingular cells both work from theStanding Indian shelter Only Verizon at the top.
Date: 2003-09-22
From: Standing Indian Mountain

To: Low Gap- Retreat !!
Miles today: 2.5

At about midnight, the 50% chance became 150% chance.   RAIN AND MORE RAIN AND MORE RAIN- with heavy wind gusts. Woke up to the pounding rain and tried to block it out "it will be gone by morning". It stopped, or should I say slowed, few times- only to tease me. About 7 o'clock, my pillow is getting wetter and wetter. Took a look out the tent window to see Lake Standing Indian around the tent. Picked a darn good flat place to place my tent, in the lowest area around. The tent did rather well, considering. A few hours went by, but the rain didnt. Came time to make some decisions- do we continue on? In a torrential downpour? Head back to the shelter? The rain did not stop but it slowed for a 1/2 hour- time to pack up gear. We jumped out of the tent- to add to my pleasure, my backpack was soaked. The rain fly was on the pack, but I didnt do a good job. EVERYTHING was wet and by the time I packed up the tent, it might as well have been dunked in a creek. Radio continued to broadcast heavy rains- Dad is too old for these conditions and Im too lazy. RETREAT- we went back to the Standing Indian shelter and called mom- SOS !! Mom made her way in on the dirt road and we met. It rained the entire day- anybody in Nashville will remember this day-5 inches of rain, major flooding. We went home, dried out, ate a great dinner, and repacked to start again tomm !!
Date: 2003-09-23
From: Low Gap

To: Albert Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 15.0
Weather: few clouds

Original plans have been changed- I took another day of vacation to make up for the rain day. Taking the day off was worth it, completely dry, slept well and back for more. Only problem is, have to rehike the 2.5 miles---- uphill - Standing Indiana Mountain. Luckily the trail had switchbacks and slope was not vertical. The hike went fast- it was by far the best day yet. Sun shining, high 70 degrees and it seemed like it was mostly downhill. The climb up Albert Mountain was not the easiest, but WELL worth it. One 1/2 mile section of this hike, is almost vertical! Dad kept commenting that he once heard a blind man hiked this trail, we laughed and laughed about that one- yaaaa right !!! Reached the top to see some spetacular views on a rocky outcropping- after resting to complete satisfaction- hiked another 100 feet to find an awesome fire tower- WAY WAY up there and fairly new, how they get these things up here must be a feat in itself. STRONGLY suggest anybody in this area camp on top of Albert Mountain- but no water- bring it because thats what kept me from staying there. Its flat and sunrise and the stars must be A numero uno. We continued on the Alberts shelter, pretty nice, no visible mice, but a little dark. But it does have a privee !! Thanks Nantahala trail club ! Cingular cell does not work from here.   15 miles today- dads largest ever and from what he says, permanent record. Made a fire, cooked mac/cheese with Tuna - WAY better than any MRE. No bears spotted- This shelter area appeared highly used during the regular season.
Date: 2003-09-24
From: Albert Mountain Shelter

To: High Gap
Miles today: 9.0

Great nights sleep at Albert Mountain Shelter, wake up and make coffee/hot chocolate. No one else joined us during the night, not even a bear.- in fact, we saw no one on the trail yesterday. Today is our our last day of hiking. The hike was pretty easy, with only 1 real pictureesque spot. At the top of one of the mountains, a short trail was cut off to the right, were there was a small rocky outgrouping with an excellent view. The same ridge was covered in magnolias, which felt like a tunnel as you walked through them. Mom was coming to pick us up on highway 64 (I think). Saw 1 hiker, when we got close to a main road and that was it for the day. That hiker stated he had just seen a bear with its cub, which I never did see. Also saw the AT emblem, chainsawed into a fallen tree- pretty neat.   I had studied the map, Im 60 miles from Fontana dam, which I refer to as the 1st real AT crossing- if you hike Springer to Fontana, you can safely say, you have hiked a portion of the AT. Almost tempted to take another day off and try to hike 60 miles in 3 days but common sense from last year tells me I better rethink. While waiting for mom to arrive, I hiked at few more miles north on the AT (just cant get enough) which will be my memory until next year. (Starting uphill again it looks like)