morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2007-08-20
From: Glencliff

To: Ore Hill Shelter
Miles today: 7.1

Glencliff!!!8/21/2007 6:49am Ok, I woke up with it being 38 degrees outside and took a hot outdoor shower, which felt so good. Keisha went to the post office and picked up the packages. I got my digital camera back which I'm quite excited about. We then ate breakfast (peanut butter and honey on bread), and packed up. While we were packing we talked to Fat Chaps for a while who told us about a place where we could stay with a person named Jan who loved thru-hikers. We set out on the trail by 11 o'clock hoping to still put in a big day. The terrain was so flat compared to the mountains we had been climbing. The day before when we came off of Mt. Moosilauke and saw green fields and flat land, it truly was a shock. We had not seen anything like that the whole trip. That is when we knew things were truly going to be easier from here on out. We made it to Ore Hill Shelter around 3:00pm where we met up with Half Brew again. It was a half mile to the road where Fat Chaps talked about that place. We decided to go for it. We walked down that road over a mile to get to "Dancing Bones". The book describes it as an "independent community". It was a letdown. There was no Jan. It was basically just a small community where people get together under a pavilion and dance on occasion. All they told us was that we could go to an open tent and camp. So walking over a mile was not worth it. Well, we need to head out. We're hoping to get pretty far today, but you never know. OK, bye
Date: 2007-08-21
From: Ore Hill Shelter

To: Hexacuba Shelter
Miles today: 7.3
Weather: overcast clouds

Not Good!!!!8/21/2007 6:33pm We hiked the mile back down the road just to get to the trail. After a couple miles and just before we got up Mt. Cube, I started to not feel too good. I managed to get up and over the mountain to get to a neat-looking shelter called 'Hexacuba' where we're spending the night. OK, bye
Date: 2007-08-22
From: Hexacuba Shelter

To: Trapper John Shelter
Miles today: 12.0
Weather: broken clouds

"Free Water"!!!8/22/2007 7:07pm We got out about 9:30 this morning. After several miles we hit the top of Smart Mountain where there was a real high enclosed firetower that offered a spectacular 360 degree view of the surrounding area. We went a little farther and ate lunch. Then right before we crossed our last road we came upon a clearing and saw a sign that said "free water". We went over to the house where we met Bill. He was the nicest guy who(as he does with all visitors) gave us an ice cream sandwich and good conversation. Now before I continue, I need to tell a side story. For the past couple days we have been kinda hangin' with a guy named Half Brew. We were talking and seeing how many calories we could possibly consume in a day. He had been trying to consume 10,000 in a day for the past couple of towns and urged me to try it when we got to Hanover. So I made a proposal. I would attempt to eat 12,000 calories in one day. If I succeed, he has to pay for the food; if I don't , I have to pay. We've been asking people to get their opinion and most say I couldn't do it. So tomorrow we will hike to Hanover and the next day the challenge begins. So anyways, back to today. We told Bill about the challenge and he got a kick out of it. He started pulling foods out of his house and checking to see how many calories various foods had. We finally left him after he gave us each a cookie. We then went just a little further to Trapper John's Shelter where we set up a tent. There are about a dozen people here, mostly NOBOers. It's starting to get dark now. OK, bye
Date: 2007-08-23
From: Trapper John Shelter

To: Hanover
Miles today: 16.7
Weather: overcast clouds

Hanover!!!8/23/2007 10:18pm We left Trapper John's in good time. Climbed over the first peak of Moose Mt. and stopped at Moose Mountain Shelter. At this location (as well as several others we've faced), the water source is completely dry. Because of this, there are people who carry water up the mountains for the thru-hikers. So when we got there, we found several gallons of good-tasting well water as well as a box of apple cider doughnuts. Trail Magic #3! Onward we continued into Hanover. The first stop was the Food Co-op where we bought enough to satisfy our hunger. Then we hit up a pizza place because we heard they gave a free slice of cheese pizza to every thru-hiker that stopped by. Next was the DOC. The Dartmouth Outing Club headquarters, it is open to hikers as a place to drop packs, check Internet, and hang out. Here we met up again with Half Brew who was waiting to be picked up by a guy named Ethan who ran a free hostel. Soon enough, there were over 17 hikers sitting outside the building waiting for the pick-up as well. That is when we decided it would be best to find another location to spend the night. We had heard about a college dorm-like building that allowed hikers to stay. Luckily, we were able to get a spot. We then dropped our bags and went to further check out downtown. We dropped by Ben and Jerry's, CVS, and a bookstore before heading back. I just took a shower,am writing right now and am about to go to bed. OK, bye
Date: 2007-08-24
From: Hanover

To: Happy Hills Shelter
Miles today: 5.8
Weather: overcast clouds

Vermont!!!8/24/2007   8:21pm   I woke up on the frat basement pretty early despite going to bed late, so I decided to go out. I stopped at the DOC for a while to check the Internet. Then I went to the Tru-value store and CVS before meeting up with Keisha at the post office. We then went back to the DOC and back to the frat house where we packed up our ton and half of food we just acquired. Then back to the DOC where we dropped our stuff and saw Half Brew again. We weren't gonna be able to try the 12,000 calorie challenge today. So after spending a little time in town at the library (which is suddenly my new favorite thing to do), I found Keisha and we were off hiking again. It took us a half mile and we crossed the Connecticut River into Vermont. So we're done with New Hampshire. I really liked that state and think it will remain one of my favorites. So, what I have to say about New Hampshire is:New England's WhitesHave Absolutely Magnificent Peaks Super High In Relative ElevationNew Hampshire had awesome views and far better terrain than Maine. I guess now we get to see what Vermont holds. We then walked on roads for a couple miles before heading into the woods. We went a total of 5.8 miles today to get us to Happy Hills shelter. It is a neat shelter cause it has a loft. We ate dinner over the fire we built and then roasted strawberry marshmallows and used a crunch bar to make a sort of smore. It was good. I am starting to notice that it is getting darker much earlier these days. When I started writing this it was already almost pitch black. Well, if we can fight off a couple ensuing mice, I think I'll try to get some sleep. OK, bye
Date: 2007-08-25
From: Happy Hills Shelter

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Hills!!!8/26/2007 7:11am   Yesterday we walked 4 miles to get to a deli for breakfast. Then we went 6 more miles to a farm that sold locally-made beef jerky, ice cream, sodas, and syrup. Then after hiking just a couple more miles a bad storm rolled in. Trees were swaying and thunder was crashing, so we hurried to find a place and set up our tent. It rained most of the night, but today looks better. It is amazing to see the differences in each state. Vermont is basically one hill after another, and in-between these hills we hit roads. We are starting to walk through fields and yesterday we saw a bunch of ripe blackberries. There are stretches where you actually walk down roads and through little towns. Yesterday the heat and humidity was unbearable for most hikers, but I was loving it. Farms and cows and delis right along the trail is quite different from what we are used to. Now if they could just eliminate all of these hills. I might actually like this state. OK, bye
Date: 2007-08-26
To: View Entry
Miles today: 11.0

A Swim!!!8/26/2007 5:52pm After the storm last night we found that many limbs had fallen down. In about 3 miles we hit a road and walked .2 miles to get to a farm store. They had a bunch of fresh vegis and ice creams available. We met a lady who offered to take us to a pond where we could take a swim. So we went to the pond and swam and visited the local general store. We discovered that the storm had caused a power outage in the whole area. We then met up with Jenny who gave us a ride back to the trailhead. We ended up going to a private cabin that allows hikers to stay. It has a nice lookout at the top of the house that you can climb up. We went about 11 miles today (got about 12 yesterday). OK, bye
Date: 2007-08-27
From: Wintturi Shelter

To: Gifford Woods State Park
Miles today: 14.0

Delis!!!8/27/2007 9:45pm   We went around 14 miles today. Checked out a pretty nice lodge, but we didn't stay cause we don't have any money. The lodge had a really fat pig (Alice) that was a sort of mascot. We pressed on to Gifford State Park where we paid and set up our tent. We then walked .7 miles to the small town of Killington where they had a convenience store with a deli. We hit up the deli for dinner and the store for snacks and hiked back to the park where we spent a while playing cards with 2 other guys. Now it's almost 10pm. Which is late. OK, bye
Date: 2007-08-28
From: Gifford Woods State Park

To: Cooper Lodge
Miles today: 10.2
Weather: clear sky

Quiet?!8/28/2007   6:16pm Silence can sometimes be a very good thing. We took our time this morning. We both had nice, well-needed showers at the camp ground before packing up and heading out. We decided to skip the town of Rutland and by doing so we left Halfbrew and Brian. We did an easy day of only about 10 miles and despite a late start we still arrived at Cooper Lodge in real decent time. It is a really neat stone shelter but unfortunately by the time we arrived, there were already 10 Yale students who are doing freshman orientation who were set up in there. So we set up a tent and are hoping to get our first good, quite nights sleep in a while. OK, bye
Date: 2007-08-29
From: Cooper Lodge

To: Minerva Hinchey Shelter
Miles today: 13.8
Weather: clear sky

Typical Vermont!!!8/29/2007   7:42pm Walked 14 miles and think it's an easy day, find some trail magic, eat at a restaurant, and get to the shelter in real good time: a typical Vermont day. So as we walked we found a couple acts of trail magic which consisted of some peanut butter crackers and sodas in a stream. After 11 miles, we walked .5 off the trail to Whistle Stop Restaurant where we had lunch and ice cream. I was able to get a lady to drive us back to the trail and we continued on to Minerva Hinchey Shelter. We built a fire, cooked dinner, and now it's bedtime. This is the first time in a long time that we've had a shelter to ourselves. It's pretty nice. OK, bye
Date: 2007-08-30
From: Minerva Hinchey Shelter

To: Peru Peak Shelter
Miles today: 19.6
Weather: few clouds

Never Mind!!!8/30/2007 8:12pm So we didn't really end up having the shelter to ourselves. At around 9:30 last night a group of college kids rolled in. They cooked dinner out side the shelter and despite trying to be quiet, were really loud. Seeing that there are 10 of them we figured they'd tent, but no. Instead they crammed into the shelter with us. Despite not getting much sleep, we got up well before them and headed out. We walked for quite a while. I saw a deer and it looked like it had a pretty nice rack. Too bad no gun. We reached Lost Pond Shelter (which due to a fire last year is really no more) at 4:00 and then decided we had it in us to go 4.7 more. Hitting Peru Peak gave us 19.6 miles on the day which I believe just might be the most we've done. This is supposed to be a pay site but no caretaker has shown up so I think we're off the hook. Tomorrow we are hitting Manchester Center to get some well-needed groceries and food. OK, bye
Date: 2007-08-31
From: Peru Peak Shelter

To: Spruce Peak Shelter
Miles today: 12.9
Weather: overcast clouds

An In and Out!!!8/31/2007   8:26pm After a mix up or two on the trail, we ended up making it to the road by 1:30 or 2. It took us a couple of minutes before a deaf guy in a truck decided to stop and pick us up. He was really nice and took us right to the grocery store. After some crazy shopping (never shop before you eat and are hungry), we ate our feast and packed our recently acquired food purchases. We hung around the shopping center while trying to get a ride back to the trail. Keisha finally found a guy who was willing to give us a ride. Three miles and 1 mix up later we got to Spruce Peak Shelter. The shelters have been really nice lately. This one is complete with windows, a porch, bunks, a picnic table, an inside table, a sliding door, and even a wood stove. We finally met back up with the Carnies. I built a fire and Keisha made an amazing tortilla cheese pepperoni wrap for dinner and a peanut butter-butterscotch wrap for dessert. That dessert was incredible. The singing coming from outside (despite having horrible taste) is actually rather refreshing. To bed it is. OK, bye
Date: 2007-09-01
From: Spruce Peak Shelter

To: Story Spring Shelter
Miles today: 18.3
Weather: overcast clouds

September!!!9/1/2007 7:57pm It's only the first day of September and it is already a lot colder. While we were walking on the path from the shelter to the trail, Keisha had a pretty bad fall. All was fine for eight miles and we had a nice snack break at Stratten Pond. But after that, Keisha's knee started hurting badly and it was slow, painful going for her to reach the top. At the top we were surprised to find a couple dozen people just relaxing and eating sandwich wraps. Come to find out, there is a gondola that can take people up and, being the weekend, a lot of people just day hike/ride up. There is a fire tower on top that offers an amazing view of the surrounding mountains that we have and will climb. After lunch we headed down the mountain to the road/parking lot area. Here we met several nice people and a lady gave Keisha a knee-brace. With the knee brace Keisha was able to make much better progress as we pushed ahead to the shelter. Here at Story Spring Shelter we met some section hikers and I cooked up a fabulous mashed potato dinner. We are going to have to wait till morning to see how Keisha is feeling to see how far we can go. OK, bye.
Date: 2007-09-02
From: Story Spring Shelter

To: Melville Nauheim Shelter
Miles today: 18.4
Weather: clear sky

Glastenbury!!!9/2/2007 8:30pm This is our tenth and likely last night in the state of Vermont. We hiked 18.4 miles today to make it to Melville Nauheim Shelter. On top of Mt. Glastenbury is a fire tower that allows you to see Bramley Mountain, Stratton Mountain, and Mt. Greylock. If everything goes according to plan, we should be in Massachusetts tomorrow. OK, bye
Date: 2007-09-03
From: Melville Nauheim Shelter

To: Sherman Brook Campsite
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Massachusetts!!!9/3/2007 8:10pm We hiked 18.4 miles and out of the state of Vermont today. Three states done 11 more to go. It seems like we were hardly even in Vermont and we are already out. Vermont, it can be best summed up by saying: Very Easy Rolling Mountains Offer Nominal Treats It is often described as the long green tunnel. The mountain or hill tops offer little or no views except for an occasional fire tower. But nonetheless I liked Vermont. The weather has been excellent and the terrain has gotten easier. It is a nice state will probably the most trail magic we will see all trip. I doubt it's my favorite state, but overall not a bad one. Now we get to see what Massachusetts has in store for us. It has already made us go down a ridiculous rock scramble and we've only been hiking in it for 2.5 miles. We are going to head into Williamstown in the morning to pick up our mail and then see how far we can get after that. OK, bye
Date: 2007-09-04
From: Sherman Brook Campsite

To: Mt. Greylock summit
Miles today: 8.1

Williamstown and Greylock!!!9/4/2007 8:28pm Got to the road. Went past the road. Realized we went past the road. Went back to the road. Got a fairly easy hitch to the post office. Got our packages and letters. Checked out some stores, ate a late breakfast at the deli. Hiked halfway back to the trail. Picked up some subs, stopped by the Rite-Aid. Hiked a little more. Got picked up. Got driven to the wrong spot. Got driven to the right spot. Hiked up the hill. Mt. Greylock almost killed us. It's not even that it was that extremely hard. It kind of felt like we were back in Maine. But for some reason it just kept going and it felt like the mountain never came. Half way up we ate our subs. I had to go get water and met up with Keisha near the top. At the top is a monument, lodge, parking lot and a warming hut. For the whole 2007 calendar year the entire place is closed down due to road construction. Though no camping is allowed, we had decided to stay in the emergency-only warming hut thinking no one would care. As we explored, a ranger showed up. We got to talking and he asked how our legs were feeling. We just mentioned that Keisha had a hurt knee and, though he fought the idea with himself, he let us stay. We never even asked to stay. He examined her knee, gave us advice, and even let us use wood and got the wood stove going. So we are on top of Greylock looking at the lit-up war memorial tower. Today we didn't go very far but did make it up Greylock, our last big climb for a while. Tomorrow we will have to go a little further if we want to make it to Dalton. OK, bye
Date: 2007-09-05
From: Mt. Greylock summit

To: Dalton
Miles today: 17.0
Weather: clear sky

Dalton!!!9/6/2007 8:23pm So I guess it's time to play a little catch up. Yesterday we got a good start and went our 9 miles to get into Cheshire at around 11:00am. We hit up Diane's Twist Restaurant where we split a sandwich and a banana split. Another 8 miles put us walking through the town of Dalton. For several weeks we've been hearing from northbounders about a guy named Tom Levardi who lets thru-hikers stay at his house for no fee. We had also heard about this lesser-known guy named Rob who does the same thing. We had been hearing so many good things about both places that we couldn't make up our minds about where to go. Turns out that I ended up hiking too far and we would have had to backtrack had we wanted Rob's, to Tom it was. His house is located right by the trail and wasn't hard to spot. He immediately offered us sodas and asked if we wanted to stay the night. He then drove us to the laundromat where we were able to do laundry before the place closed. We walked back to his place in time for the dinner he had prepared. About a dozen hikers gathered around the picnic table and had a wonderful time stuffing ourselves till all the food was gone. Most of the the hikers were other Soboers who we had been following closely for sometime and just now were able to meet up with. After dinner Keisha went to Walmart with a group and I talked on the phone for a bit. Then Keisha went to bed, most of the other hikers watched a movie and I talked to another hiker for a while before it was bedtime for me as well. Well that was yesterday and now I should probably write about today. OK, bye
Date: 2007-09-06
From: Dalton

To: Dalton
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Dalton again!!!9/6/2007 9:02pm So today I went to the diner with a crew of hikers (Keisha didn't go) for breakfast. While Keisha took a shower, I used the bike that Tom provides to ride to the Post Office to check for mail (there was none) and do a little shopping. I then took a shower and we hung around the house. We both left for the library around noon (when it opens), spent an hour online there, did a little more shopping, picked up some lunch and rode back to the house. After lunch we had to pack up all our stuff and search for a place that carries fuel. By the time we were all packed up and ready to leave, it was already 4 in the afternoon. We figured it was too late to try and still make 10 miles, so we opted to spend another night at Tom's. So we watched a movie then ate dinner and are now ready for bed. So we ended up taking a zero at Tom's, our second true zero of the trip. So, 2 nights in Dalton it is. OK, bye
Date: 2007-09-07
From: Dalton

To: Upper Goose Pond Cabin
Miles today: 20.6
Weather: clear sky

Our First 20!!!9/7/2007 8:51pm After taking a zero yesterday, we decided to make up for it by hiking over 20 miles and making it all the way to Upper Goose Pond Cabin today. We left Tom's a little after 8 and went the 9 or so miles to the Cookie Lady's. The Cookie Lady was not home but Roy, the Cookie Man, gave us some cookies and talked to us. We then spent some time picking a bag of blueberries from their blueberry patch. With my backpack and stomach full of blueberries we headed to Upper Goose Pond Cabin. We didn't know what to expect of this place and weren't even sure if it would be open when we got there. Exhausted, we showed up to find people here and the leftovers of a spaghetti-sausage supper still warm on the stove. What a relief! We ate, dipped our feet in the lake, relaxed by the fire, and now are ready to go to sleep on a bunk with a mattress. This is so nice. OK, bye
Date: 2007-09-08
From: Upper Goose Pond Cabin

To: Mt. Wilcox North lean-to
Miles today: 14.0

Water Water Everywhere!!!9/8/2007 7:19pm After a restful sleep,I went downstairs to find blueberry-chocolate-chip pancakes ready to be eaten. After putting away about a dozen of those it was time to pack up and go. We got a relatively late start and made slow progress because we were exhausted for some reason. With 4 miles and a decent climb to go, we got caught in a thunderstorm. We had also ran out of water and were thirsty. So we hiked 3 miles in the rain searching desperately for water. Oh, the irony. After we filled our nalgenes at the creek, our water filter broke which means we need to get one at the next town. We made it our 14.5 miles to our lean-to and are listening to the constant sound of rain falling and hitting the earth. OK, bye
Date: 2007-09-09
From: Mt. Wilcox North lean-to

To: Great Barrington
Miles today: 13.5
Weather: overcast clouds

Lizards and Frogs!!!9/10/2007 8:30pm So once again I find myself a day behind and have to play catch up on my writings. I have got to stop doing this. Anyways, yesterday we hiked 13.5 miles. It started to rain on us early, but that didn't last. Our destination was to get to the Great Barrington road where 6 miles from there is this organic farm we had been hearing about that offers work for stay for hikers. So when we were 6 miles from the road Keisha says that we should probably call this place. So I call and the guy says that their season was pretty much over and they have plenty of help. So no work for stay (which doesn't really make sense since people behind us we found were able to get it). So with no "plan B" Keisha offers the idea of splurging on a motel in town. This day was exhausting for both of us. The rain drained our energy and Keisha's knee was killing her. A motel it was. So we hiked our long 6 miles down to the road. Being right after a rain, the trail was littered with frogs and lizards. Keisha counted over 90 orange lizards on the trail just in this one day. At the road we walked .1 miles to the Corn Crib. Here we bought some fruits and called around for hotel rates. After hearing some ridiculously high prices,we found one that would do. We then found a customer who was willing to take us to the Travel Lodge motel. After getting our room, we hit up the Price Chopper and McDonald's for food. Then it was showers, eating, and TV for the rest of the night. It was so good watching some football. Well now I should probably write about today. OK, bye