morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2003-07-14
To: View Entry
Miles today: 28.4

total miles-1306.2daily miles-28.4yep, 28.4 miles. believe me, i didnt plan to do that many. i just wanted to do 24, to the shelter. so i was at about 22.5, just cruising along in my new boots (not the crappy SPONGE-TEX ones i had to get in port clinton, but new HI-TEC ones like my last pair), enjoying the day in a new state, just eating up the miles. its around 7pm and i feel like im pretty close to getting to the shelter, when what do i see as i start to come down a little rise, but a bear cub. then 2 more cubs...ok, where's mama? there she is. right next to the tree with a white blaze on it at a confusing trail intersection. so i talk loud and move around, which scares the babies away, but mama just keeps turning rocks over and logs, looking for food. she aint moving anywhere. great. so i circle this way. then that way. and while im at it and she aint moving, why not snap a few pictures of her? ok, so i do that. no response. well, i got around her and back on the trail. but it put me somwhere past the sign leading to the shelter. so i missed the shelter and ended up going about 4 miles further ahead. to a main road. where 'jest bill' met me. so we got to branchville and split the motel cost. i needed a shower anyway. i was really itching all day. when i looked in the mirror before the shower, it looked like hives and bites all over my upper body. What the hell is this? jest bill said maybe it could be heat rash. whatever that is. so i showered and went to bed. now its all gone. whew! thats good.well, its almost checkout time, and i want to walk outside to look for somewhere to get a little cash and maybe some food. the motel owner is gonna shuttle us back to the trail, about 3 or 4 miles away. he brought us here last night. so its cool that he'll take us back.i love my new HI-TEC boots!
Date: 2003-07-15
To: Vernon, NJ
Miles today: 0.0

tu,15jul,1140pm-expected me to be writing from the trail tonite didnt you? trail magic has reared its lovely head once again. i have a giant bowl of neopolitan ice cream and a cold pop in front of me as i lay on a carpeted floor in front of a FAN. my favorite way to sleep (minus the ice cream and pop). im showered, clean, laundered and burger kinged too. what am i talking about?? this is trail magic.so i left the PO and climbed back up the 1.1 mile hill back to the trail. hiked about 2 miles to another main road and as im about to cross it, a car pulls over and backs up. the guy gets out and says there is a hostel justdown the road and its FREEE (well, donations are accepted). bob was his name. very nice man who really cares about hikers. so i decided to go to it after i did another 2 miles. and there he was waiting for me in his car. and next thing i know, im being shown the inside of a church activity area. tv, FANS, fridge, hiker box, shower, laundry, bathroom, kitchen, internet...THE WORKS. dave is the guy who runs it for the church. he showed me around. by the way, im in vernon, nj. so i fell short of my days's goal by 4 miles. considering the 2 hour side tour to the PO in glenwood, id say getting this far is pretty good.so, tomorrow is new york. cant wait. nj is another state gone.i love trail magic! one minute everything points towards a really uncomfortable evening, with mosqutoes eating you alive, and no breeze, and being all sweaty. then you just get lucky.
Date: 2003-07-15
From: High Point Shelter

To: New York
Miles today: 15.1

total miles-1337.3tu,15jul,511pm-good news first...THE MAPS ARE HERE! THE MAPS ARE HERE! Thanks Mom! i guess guaranteed overnite delivery really works. now i wont be blind for the next 300 some miles. today is a hot one. what kept me going today over unfamiliar terrain (due to my last map ending about 8 miles ago) was the chance that the new maps were here. i actually had to put my faith in the postal service. thats saying something. the walk to here from the trail is 1.1 miles. i got here with 15 minutes to spare before it closed. unfortunately, they had already closed down the debit card cash back thing. i wanted to send home the maps i am done with. but i had no cash at all. so, in a gesture of compassion, the clerk lady gave me a wink and said since the machine was already off, that she would "take care" of sending my maps home. how nice of her. totally unexpected. i just hope that "taking care" doesnt mean "filing in the circular file".so as it stands now, im sitting in the shade at the post office, writing this. no money, low on water, hot weather. 1.1 miles uphill to get back on the trail. will someone give me a ride? will there be cold pops or beers near the trail intersection? might i end up at someones house for dinner, a shower and a good nite's sleep? believe me. as far fetched as this may sound, it has happened before. so i dont totally discount it. (is discount one word?) my feet say to just camp here at the post office. feet always say silly things like that. i dont really think they want to go to maine. TOUGH! YOURE GOING! so, back into the boots and lets get going. i should be done with new jersey and into new york tomorrow. yikes. new york? well, at least it aint winter. plus im just passing through it. im dying for a cold drink! ill just keep repeating that to myself...special mention to fiona from new zealand and dagan from israel, whom i met at the high point shelter last nite. they gave me spagetti and pringles and their good company. they are the leaders on a camping trip for 4-6 young girls who were also there sleeping in tents. also to jean in unionville, ny, who really hooked me up today with juice, doritos and a huge sub sandwich! we got to talking outside the PO there. very nice lady. thank you jean!
Date: 2003-07-16
From: st thomas epis.church hostel

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

figured ill do 17 miles today and that should be easy enough...once i get to the trail. it looks like it may be raining out there soon, and im in here; a nice dry building with cable tv, internet, etc. its tempting to linger here a bit longer. its never fun to go rushing out into a downpour when everything you got is dry. hmmm,...i guess what im doing right now is...lingering.
Date: 2003-07-17
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

th,17jul,624pm-comment on new york, or the trail which runs through it...very giant boulders, which you mostly end up climbing and no good streams for water. if it werent for nice people who leave gallons of water near the trail at road crossings, we'd have died of thirst by now. not a cloud in the sky. hardly a hint of a breeze. tough climbs. i mean, you see in front of you a vertical bare rock face about 100 feet straight up, and you think, "no way!". then you see a white blaze on it. then, look up further, and you see another. and another. forget the fact that you are absolutely parched. you just get a numb feeling as you take this in. then a deep breathe and a sigh as its exhaled. "no use in prolonging the inevitable", i tell myself. i dont know where i get the strength sometimes. i guess i think of the scene from the movie 'hamburger hill' and that impossible mission of having to take it, even though the enemy is throwing grenades down at you. and its muddy. and then your own helicopter guys are shooting at you, because youre so muddy they cant tell what side youre on. climb...climb...CLIMB! whoa! im back now to reality and you know, this hill aint that bad. compared to that. plus im here having a great experience. AND, noone is shooting at me. ahh, perspectives. i still feel that new york knows im back and it hasnt forgotten all the bad things ive said about it. now its getting me back. i better hurry through this state.
Date: 2003-07-23
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

total miles-1417.2w,23jul,122pm-sitting outside the deli off of ny52, just ate lunch...not the most nutritious of course. are hiker meals ever nutritious? i know mine arent. filling is more important.pretty active around here. looks like a quarry across the street. someone weed whacking. cars in and out of the parking lot. pizza place next door. looking like some blue sky peeking out. and 11 more miles today to go.met up with flash, rambler and litewalker at the rph shelter last nite. it was good to see them again. flash said he just got back from the tom brown survival school in new jersey. wow! ive been wanting to go to that for 20 years. he is only the second person i know who went there. the other was doulous, another thru hiker. spunky and i are aiming for meeting atwanabe in connecticut this weekend. it will be great to see her again. havent seen her since the shenandoahs. about 500 miles ago. it happened again...my aqua mira blue label bottle ran out before the pink label bottle...again. this is about the third time. it is a mystery because they both have the exact same amout of liquid. any chemical scientists out there wanna help explain this? one is phosphoric acid and the other is chlorine dioxide. the chlorine dioxide is the one that runs out.today is day 2 of wearing a sheet magnet on the bottom of my foot. its been hurting, and ive tried this method years ago and it helped. it is helping now too. i dont understand why it works, but it does. ill report back if my foot becomes magnetized.well, back to the trail.
Date: 2003-07-29
From: Salisbury

To: Pine Swamp Brook Shelter
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

tue,29jul,815p-finally ive been seeing southbounders from maine. morning moose, rigg and 2 brothers today. they started mid to late may. 2-2 1/2 months ago. it makes it more real to guage how long it will take me to get there. instead of guess-timating. kinda makes it easier though. takes it out of the realm of speculation.over the weekend, atwanabe came out to do trail magic and to see spunky and i. we were in kent, ct. nice town, but quite expensive...everything. at least $100 a room per nite. if you could find one. journey emailed me on the pocketmail, saying she was in kent getting new boots, so atwanabe and i tracked her down and finally found her in the library. so we all went to lunch and chatted about this and that...burger, fries and pop, $10.55. so journey and i hiked together yesterday and today and tonite are at the pine swamp brook shelter, mile 1467.4. im trying to get to cheshire, mass, by 1130am saturday to make a PO stop to get maps. its 95 miles or so. so i have some hiking to do. journey and i enjoyed hiking and talking together after not seeing each other almost since day 2. we did see each other in the shenandoahs for a day. and that was it. until now. everyone in our start group of journey, goldberry, two-fiddy and i are still on the trail. there must be something to that. at least i think there is.the mosquitoes are pretty bad tonite in the shelter. but im halfway into my sleeping bag and the top half of me is covered in DEET, so there not biting me. its still about 70 degrees. big mile day tomorrow. i should try to sleep now. its almost dark now at 830pm.
Date: 2003-07-30
From: Pine Swamp Brook Shelter

To: Salisbury
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light intensity shower rain

im just around 3 miles south of where you get off the trail to go salisbury, ct, and im waiting for my water to purify at a stream, which is on the map but which i dont believe is in the handbook. its hot and mosquito-ee, but hey, its not snowing. which makes it just perfect weather to me.i started today at 0555am from pine swamp brook shelter, mile 1467.4 (i think), and am around 1480 now. i did 4 straight hours of hiking and suddenly noticed to my right, through the trees, a wide and high waterfall. it looked like it was formed from lava, because the flat, smooth rocks had round pockets in them, as if it solidified right as a lava bubble popped. there was a dam built above it. i dropped my pack and scouted around. numerous bathtub-sized depressions with moving water caught my eye on this cloudless, sunny day...add a 4 hour hike...and noone else around. my clothes were off in seconds as i slid into the cool water. wow! so refreshing. i hope to find this kind of luxury again.im going to salisbury next and will buy some more groceries to last me til sunday. monday, ill get to the cheshire PO to get the maps from my sister. ill cross the ct-mass border today. excitement at every turn...water is ready!im in salisbury now and got some groceries. really historic looking town. lots of old buildings. im gonna eat my ice cream now and send this from the pay phone.
Date: 2003-08-04
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

mon,4aug,753p-this morning, i left the kay wood shelter and was on the trail at 0740. it was just less than 3 miles to dalton, mass. i stopped at tom's house, right on the trail and sat in the kitchen as he made siesta and i club sandwiches with chips and root beer!thanks tom! never expected that sort of kindness. thats just it. you never do. thats why its so special. trail magic. a bit later, he drove us to rob's, just down the road. rob is great too. these guys deserve awards of some kind. they know what hikers need and they take care of you.i was gonna just hike on through today so i could get to the cheshire PO to get my maps. i ended up getting a ride from another hiker whos been here a few days and actually has his car here. beast is his name. also, i got the aqua mira and deet i needed at a mall at the EMS. and i figured i only need 1 day of food for tomorrow to hike over mt. greylock, instead of 5 days worth. its going to be a climb since its the highest point in this state. and theres a grocery store .7 miles off the trail just a few miles north of the point. so im set. day by day. step by step. so much easier to work with this way. and really, why does it need to be more complicated than that? should be in vermont in a few days. ive been passing more southbounders too. 5 more today. its feeling more real now, that i can actually see this im sitting outside at a mcdonalds in daleville, virginia. my morning when we hiked 9.4miles to town. got to town about 1145am and went to eat at pizza hut. then we decided to get a room. all our stuff was soaked. then later the sun came out and we dried everything. then we grocery shopped, took care of chores and called family and friends. my partner called her mom today about 5pm and found out her grandma is in a coma. so we couldnt just keep hiking. we are at the mcdonalds, so we ate and there is a phone nearby so she can call at 9 to see whats going on. she may go home if things are bad. i hope not.>my sister is having computer trouble again, so she hasnt been able to update my trailjournal or all my pictures. so just today i sent some journals to her work email address. we'll see how that works. also i sent her another box in the mail with a cd of pictures that they made for me at walmart from my digital camera. that may help her too. i hate not being able to update that thing frequently. it makes it seem like i dont care if anyone is following me or not.
Date: 2003-08-07
From: North Adams, Mass

To: Vermont
Miles today: 0.0

total miles-1576.6th,7aug,1013amless than 2 hours away from being in vermont-state #12 out of 14-and im in north adams, mass, just finished with grocery shopping, sitting next to the pop machine eating potato salad from the deli. dessert will be ice cream bars with milk, then back to the trail.yesterday, at mt greylock, the tallest point in massachusetts, there is a lodge with a gift shop, restaurant, phone, etc. and i couldnt find a reason to avoid it, since it had a pop machine with cold drinks. folks were asking if i was a thru hiker, i guess because i might look like one by now; dirty, scruffy, ragged. who did i meet? who else but the "braidy bunch"! it was their last day on the trail and they were gathered in the lodge to wait for their ride home. it was good to see them again.also, the shelter where i met them at a few nights ago, named the kay wood shelter...well, guess who else i met at the lodge? yep, Kay Wood herself! nice lady. i also met !/3's parents, who were trying to figure out how to get a hold of her. luckily, i had the phone number at rob's where she was and they were able to talk.vermont, here i come. (after the potato salad).
Date: 2003-08-07
From: Congdon Shelter

To: Vermont
Miles today: 0.0

th,7aug,625pm-i am officially in vermont! my first time here ever. when i crosed the border in the woods, i took pictures and video and signed the register there. there are 4 signs on the trees there. two behind you welcoming you to massachusetts and two more with "long trail" and "green mountains". nothing actually saying "welcome to vermont". although a stapled-on paper says words to that effect.the first 97 miles into vermont from here are also a part of the 'long trail'. here are my thoughts and comments about the long trail so far...it must be called the long trail because it seems to take forever, or LONG, to make any progress on it, to get any momentum, because every 20 feet you have to trudge through 50 yards of quicksand. did they make it this way on purpose? they must have because its been consistently like this since the border. however, a sobo-er said it would be like this for the next 2 days, then it will get really nice. nice is good. i like nice. nothing wrong with nice.its quite piney so far, too. not so many deciduous trees that i see as i sit here taking a break. but plenty of green bushes everywhere. like a jungle. and there are beaver ponds, too, and dams and bogs. today i passed a bunch of half-chewed through trees near a beaver pond. i think im pretty close to the congdon shelter, within 2 miles. thats where ill be tonite, either in it or camped outside near it. i like to shelter hop. i guess because there's usually people there and its good to socialize. plus there's usually water nearby. and it sort of feels like a home. so, up and back to hiking. a little more to go.
Date: 2003-08-08
To: Story Brook Shelter
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: moderate rain

total miles-1614.0fri,8aug,953pm-today was quite nice as far as weather goes; cloudy, some peeks of sun, minimal bugs, no rain. still the vermont long trail mud, but not as bad as yesterday. i saw something on the trail that im still not 100% sure what it was. piles of what looked to be nut-like, oblong, brown objects. i just figured this is the way squirrels or other local critters collect their winter food; by making piles of nuts and then moving them into their home later, when the pile is big enough. however, when i looked closer and jabbed my hiking stick into one of them, it sank into it. ahhh, poop of some kind. deer poop, only way bigger. could this be MOOSE poop? thats what im thinking it is. there's plenty of swampy spots around that would be good for moose to be in. maybe so. i hope i to see some (moose,not more poop).today, i passed the 1600 mile mark. my feet feel like theyve done more, but theyre holding up fine. the only bad pain is from when my feet are wet and they get all dishpan hand-like, because thats when they are easier to get rubbed wrong from wet socks. another little landmark today is that 15 years ago i quit smoking. i remember distinctly...the place-honduras. why-the army. 8-8-88 just seemed like an easy date to remember. and it was just as i got done signing the register at harmon hill that i realized it. it was 8:00am that i wrote down. then tipperary came by and signed the register. he said, "eight, eight". thats what triggered it. actually hearing it.tomorrow ill probably make it to manchester center, 21 miles away. then hopefully find a pay phone to call spunky. she may meet me this sunday there. maybe ill be able to stay overnite in town somewhere.well,this shelter, story brook shelter was packed when i got here at 757pm, so i am sleeping on the picnic table. i hope i dont roll off. its muddy down there!
Date: 2003-08-09
From: Story Brook Shelter

To: Stratton Mtn Ski Resort, Vermont
Miles today: 0.0

sat,9aug,343pm- im at the stratton mtn ski resort in vermont. the AT goes right to the top and theres a firetower you can climb and see all around (which i did climb and videoed some views). theres also a trail that leads to a gondola, or cable car, that is used to bring people up the mtn to ski. i heard there was a phone i could use down here in the stratton village, so i decided to go check it out.i found the building that operates the cable car and the guy let me use the phone in there. the weather got bad, so he had to shut down the cable car. i wanted to get down here to the village, so i had to walk. not like i dont know what thats all about! so it took 45 minutes to walk downhill. i just followed the cable car posts all the way down.just before i got all the way down, it started to rain. so the last few minutes were wet. i went to a building to get myself out of the rain. this place is a resort, and obvioulsy in the off season, because there is no one here, doors all open, wire laying all over, just a mess. and an alarm that keeps beeping. i keep expecting to see someone who works here to say,"youre not allowed in here". it reminds me of "the shining". BIG TIME. weird. but at least im out of the rain. and drinking a root beer. and next to about 10 pay phones.coming down the hill, it looked exactly as you would imagine switzerland or germany to look like. big mountains in the background, fiords/reservoirs/lakes visible here and there and right down in the middle of it all, a little swiss-looking village. it didnt look deserted from up there. it looked like a place where you could expect to pay $10 for a hamburger. and a drink with that for $20! stratton mtn wasnt very hard to climb at all. it took just under 2 hours. 3.6 miles. yesterday after i got to the story spring shelter, i took my boots and socks off to find my feet experiencing a new level of deterioration. serious dishpanhanditis. some of my toes had rub marks on them and they hurt. so this morning, after they had a nite to air dry and return to normal, i got them ready for today's hike. bandaids and duct tape. they feel fine now. plus a dry pair of socks and liner socks.well, i think i may cook something here out on the covered porch area. maybe that will draw some authority figure so i can ask whats going on here. like patrick mcmanus, the outdoor humor writer, once wrote..."if you ever get lost in the woods, and want to be found, just strip yourself naked and you can be sure someone will show up." good thing im not lost right now. (: