morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2013-05-01
From: Laurel Creek Shelter

To: Niday Shelter
Miles today: 12.4
Weather: overcast clouds

I got another late start this morning because right after breakfast it started to drizzle and I thought I would wait and see if the sun would come out to dry my tent. The sun did not come out. So around nine o'clock I start to pack up and did not get out of camp till ten fifteen. But with only twelve miles on the schedule I knew I would be fine even though the weather stayed overcast most of the day. Even with the overcast day it still was a beautiful day. I got to see a three hundred year old oak tree called the "Keiffer Oak". This oak tree is the oldest tree on the AT in the south. A tree in New York is a little bit older. The trail skirted a ridge line with great views of the Virginia farm lands below. This part of the trail was pretty dangerous because you basically were walking on slabs of rock that are at a sharp angle. I sure wouldn't want to cross this part of the trail in bad weather. So I am thankful the weather is not raining and the sun is starting to break through the clouds. At lunch I decided to take advantage of the sun and slight breeze to dry out my tent. I used my bear cord, a cord I use to hang my food at night to make a clothesline. I am happy that in thirty minutes my tent is dry. So I pack my tent up and I am on my way. It wasn't till I got to camp that I realized I left my cord at the top of the mountain. Now I do not have a bear cord. I'm at a shelter so I will just hang my food with the others. Most people don't really use the bear bags so I'm not too worried. But I will get another cord as soon as I can. Another gear problem that happened today or really last night was my air mattress was leaking. I took some time I had this morning and used the repair kit to patch the small holes and so far I think the mattress is fixed. I guess that is not too bad after two months and only those few small problems. I'm very happy with my decision to slow down and take this week to let my feet heal. I have no pain my plantar area today so I'm sure by Monday I will be back in business. I can't decide if I will keep trying to do the fifteen mile day or cut back to twelve¢s. I guess I will have to see how things go. I do like the lower mile days, so I may have to adjust my finish goal date. Staying healthy and finishing strong is very important to me.
Date: 2003-08-29
From: Thistle Hill Shelter

To: Hanover, NH
Miles today: 14.6
Weather: few clouds

8/29 Thistle Hill Shelter to Hanover, NH - 14.6 milesToday was another race into town to get my maildrops before the P.O. closed. I hiked with Sleepy Floyd for the first 5 miles. I was cruising along so fast that I kept following the edge of a farm field and didn't even realize the trail turned. I started going downhill when I heard Sleepy Floyd yell "Blip". Good thing he was behind me or I would have kept walking the wrong way for a long time.I saw a red headed woodpecker. I had never seen one before, always heard them. This large bird just flew through the woods and it was black with white on the edges and red on its head. It looked so cool. Sleepy Floyd missed it but when I described it to him he immediatly knew what it was. I kind of felt silly for not knowing it myself.We stopped at Rick and Tina's Country Store at West Hartford for breakfast.Then we met up with Moo and 42, and their friend Camo. It was fun to hike with them as Moo went to Dartmouth so he was reliving a lot of college memories like jumping off the Connecticut River Bridge. We stopped at the VT/NH state line, celebrated and took some pictures. Then we went and sat on the Dartmouth Green. As we were there Granite drove by. That was so awesome. He ended up giving myself, Sleepy Floyd, Pipes and Phlem a ride to the P.O. and the Sunset Motel. It was great to see Granite, but sad to talk about the fact that he is off the trail, because he got called back to work after being laid of in December.After showers and watching the weather channel we all went to EBA's (Everything but Anchovies) for dinner. That is where I met Superman? and Torch. After dinner we went to the Nugget (that is short for a longer name) which is a local bar. There was a large group of us there. All talking AT stuff. Singalot started to talk about an AT book that she liked and a certain famous AT hiker who has hiked like 8 times in a row, started to say how the person who wrote the book did a nice section hike, not a thru hike because she skipped a section in MA. That got me upset a little as we are in a town relaxing, trying to have fun and this guy starts putting down those who skip pieces. I think everyone at the table has skipped a section so he was barking at the wrong crowd. I just don't like it when people feel the need to put others down for hiking their own hike.
Date: 2013-05-02
From: Niday Shelter

To: Pickle Branch Shelter
Miles today: 10.1
Weather: overcast clouds

This trail community is really amazing. As I say goodbye to good friends I thought I would be alone but not on this trail. Hanging back a day just puts you with whole other group of people. I am determined to stay with my plan this time and still hike my own hike. No more trying to keep up. There will always be someone coming up the trail. I hike alone the whole day and thought about pushing on to Catawba for the barbeque dinner but realized that I was pretty happy with my ten mile day. So I pulled up into the shelter around three thirty to have a nice afternoon by myself. The hike getting to the shelter was probably the easiest I had yet. The switchbacks were smooth and at a decent grade. I decided today that I need to start keeping a wild life log so I will remember all the siting so far. So to date four whitetail deers, cardinal, blue jay, turkey vultures, a newt, and I heard an owl. A hiker named "Hurricane", he is from New Zealand, said he saw a bear yesterday. I know I will probably see one soon, I just hope I will see the bear from a distance. As I was enjoying my fire, my first on my own fire, a group of hikers came up the trail. "Maniac" is from Maine of course and the others are from Vermont. I talked with "Mud Mouth" as we sat around the fire. "Mud Mouth" knits so she was very interested in my socks that I was working on. I finished one sock tonight! I will get started on the match soon. I will use them as camp socks as they are a cotton blend yarn and will be cool for the warmer weather. Another highlight of today's hike was seeing the Audie Murphy memorial site. Audit Murphy was the highest decorated soldier from World War II. This place made me pause and think about my family and all the people that have served in the military. From my Dad, my husband David, my brother John and both of my son's Tony and Alan. I also served when I was much younger. We are such a military family that our two cats are named "Audie" and "Murphy". So while I'm reminiscing about my family I have to take a moment to thank everyone who is supporting me on this incredible journey especially my husband who is holding down the fort while I'm away. I love you David!
Date: 2003-08-30
From: Hanover, NH

To: Hanover, NH
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Finally, a zero day. I have not zeroed since Bear Mtn., NY. I got to sleep in late. It feels good to have a day off, but I feel antsy too. I don't really know what to do with myself. I wanted to go see the movie Finding Nemo, but it is only playing at 7 and 9 pm.I'm sharing a room at the Super 8 tonight with Moose Munch, Sleepy Floyd and Pipes. We couldn't get a second night at the Sunset Motor Lodge as they were booked. Rumor has it that we are going to have movie night at Phlem's room at a B&B. That should be fun and relaxing. I got all my winter gear and my pack is soooooo heavy. I'm starting to wonder if I am losing strength and that is why things are feeling heavy. I have all the same gear I started with now, my food bag has alot more in it, but other than that everything is the same.There are alot of hikers in town right now. Many are starting to jump ahead as they are concerned about finishing and the weather.I'm just happy to have my warm and toasty 15 degree sleeping bag back. Hopefully I won't have to sleep in my rain gear anymore.I know I am a little behind on my journal, but that is something I am going to work on today, trying to update the past 9 days. VT was awesome, and I am really looking forward to NH. I was nervous about the White Mountains, but there are so many cool people around me right now that I know I there is no way that I will be alone up there. After a long afternoon at the library I walked back into town. Couldn't find my ride back to the hotel so I picked up some Ben and Jerry's and walked to the Dartmouth Outing Club building. I ended up finding Strider there. After waiting around a little longer I decided to go to dinner with Strider. We ate at Murphy's on the Green. By the name you would think it was fancy and expensive, but it was accepting of stinky hikers. We had a great meal (Jena - your dad drank a Guinness!!!!) and I had cheesecake. It has been a while since I had some of that. As we were leaving I ran into Pipes and Phlem and eventually we rode back to the Super 8. Sleepy Floyd and I ordered some Domino's pizza, did laundry and watched TV. It felt great to finally sit and relax and enjoy what was left of my zero day.
Date: 2013-05-03
From: Pickle Branch Shelter

To: Four Pines Hostel
Miles today: 6.7
Weather: overcast clouds

Today I had an unintended short day but I'm not complaining. I had planned on stopping at this hostel. I just didn't realize that the road for the hostel was five miles earlier than what I thought it was. I was lucky that I saw a sign that said "Four Pines Hostel point three miles¢ with an arrow pointing in the direction of the hostel. So I said, "That's nice, I'll just do those miles tomorrow". It will all work out and I will still get to Daleville on Sunday. This hostel is run by a guy named Joe Mitchell in his garage. The hostel is a separate garage off the house which is more like a three bay garage. And Joe takes you to an awesome restaurant call the "Home Place", which serves you all you can eat meals family style. We had fried chicken, roast beef, ham and the entire fix¢ ins with peach cobbler for dessert. On today¢s hike I had a neat experience climbing a rock outcropping called the "Dragon Tooth". I climb up to have my snack and as I sat looking at the scenic view below a helicopter flew by me at my eye level. So I waved at them. That was fun!
Date: 2003-09-17
From: Gorham, NH

To: Gentian Pond Shelter
Miles today: 11.8
Weather: clear sky

9/17 Gorham, NH to Gentian Pond Campsite - 11.8 milesA moose. A moose. I totally and completely missed my first extremely close up opportunity to see a moose. I got to the shelter at about 6:45. When Chilly Willy and Kilroy got to the pond right before the shelter (considerably earlier than me) there was a huge female moose feeding in the pond. They said she didn't seem to mind that they were there and they got a lot of good close pictures. There are 3 southbounders here tonight and they saw a bull moose earlier. Man, I was so close but yet not there in time. Oh well, I will get to see one soon. I did see lots of moose prints today in all the mud we had to walk through.The hiking today was beautiful. Several ponds, lots of pine forest and lots of leaves changing colors. At one point the trail was covered with red leaves. I felt like they rolled out the red carpet for me to walk as I cross into Maine. I took a break at Page Pond and just basked in the sun and looked for moose. It was such a peaceful spot I was very tempted to put my tent up. But Chilly Willy had already given a little talk on how Mahoosuc Notch was going to be tough and all 3 of us should stay together. So I continued on to meet them. Plus Crash Test Dummy told me Gentian Pond was a great camp spot. He was right. There is a pond, running water to fall asleep to, a great shelter, a great sunset and an amazing starry sky.Tomorrow I will be in Maine. My last state. Wow.
Date: 2013-05-06
From: Daleville

To: Daleville - Zero Day
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Town days are pretty busy days. You have a list of things to do but it takes a lot of time and energy to complete without a car getting you to places you need to go. Today I had to get to Kroger grocery store, for my resupply, and to the outfitters and to the Post Office. I had to walk a lot on my sore foot. At the outfitters I wanted to see if they had gaiters. Gaiters are shoe coverings that help keep rocks and debris out of your boots. What I wanted them for was to help keep my feet dry. When rain seeps into waterproof boots it can feel like your feet are in a swimming pool. At the outfitter there was a flier for a podiatrist so I made an appointment to get my leg checked out. I'm glad I did for my own piece of mind. I would've hated to walk three weeks on a broken foot or serious injury. Anyway I don't have a serious injury just a really bad strain. I did get a prescription for an anti-inflammatory. The medicine seems to be helping but I plan on taking a couple of days off since I'm in town and the weather is terrible. And I also have my friends here which is great.
Date: 2003-09-18
From: Gentian Pond Shelter

To: Full Goose Shelter
Miles today: 9.6
Weather: clear sky

9/18 Gentian Pond Shelter to Full Goose Shelter - 9.6 milesI'm in Maine!!!!!!! Woooooo - Hooooo!!!!!!!!! Only one state to go!!! 276.5 miles to go!!!!!!!!!Ok, enough excitement. Today kicked my butt big time. It took 10 hours to hike 9.6 miles (and take a few breaks). When southbounders said Maine is hard, harder than the Whites, they weren't kidding. There are no switchbacks. You go straight up and straight down the mountains. And the trail is sooooo extremely technical that it takes a lot of thought about where to place your feet and hands.I am very thankful to be hiking with Chilly Willy and Kilroy right now. I took a big fall today. It felt like I did a cartwheel down the edge of some big rocks. While I was falling my face was going towards a large rock and all I could think about was my teeth being scattered all over the trail. Something saved me, and my face. I don't know if it was my arm, my leg, my backpack or the extra padding from the two PB&J snack packs that I put in the side pocket. Amazingly, the PB&J packaging got squished, but nothing leaked out. Back to my fall....it was a crazy feeling toppeling head over feet. Amazingly I have no bruises, cuts or scrapes.The trail was so tough today that I kept saying I can't imagine what tomorrow (Mahoosuc Notch) will be like. Mahoosuc Notch is a 1 mile stretch of the AT that has bus and car size boulders that you climb under and over. Rumor has it that you can see icicles under the rocks. That 1 mile can take anywhere from 1-4 hours to navigate. Then after the notch is Mahoosuc Arm which on a map looks like a steep uphill. It is rumored to be tough too. I'm guessing it will give us more of what we had today. I'm hoping the weather will be generous and give us a decent morning to hike in.
Date: 2013-05-07
From: Daleville - Zero Day

To: Daleville - Second Zero Day
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Having two zero days in a row can get old really fast. "Leprechaun", "Fly" and I sat around and watched TV and eat and eat. I tried my best to take care of my leg. I iced every few hours and tired to rest my let. The injury seems to be getting better but still sore to walk on flat ground. Not much else to say about my zero days. I'm looking forward getting back on the trail!
Date: 2003-09-19
From: Full Goose Shelter

To: Speck Pond Shelter
Miles today: 5.1
Weather: overcast clouds

9/19 Full Goose Shelter to Speck Pond Shelter - 5.1 milesOoooouuuucccchhhh! My body is so achey. It took all day for myself, Kilroy, Chilly Willy and The Viking to hike 5 miles. We hit Mahoosuc Notch at 9:54 and 3.5 hours later we had completed 1 mile. I described what I heard about Mahoosuc Notch in yesterday's journal entry. It was pretty much what I described and then some. We had big death-defying climbs and jumps from rock to rock, crawling under and through cave like rock formations, doing the Catherine Zeta Jones hip shimmy (another no Pepsi move) to get through tight rock squeezes with my pack on. It was a lot of fun, but very slow moving. There weren't too many casualties. The Viking had just taken his pack off at one spot and then fell backwards on his tailbone. That was the worst fall of the day. I think everyone has at least one scrape or bruise as a souvenier of the hike. I have a scrape on my left hand from a 6 inch high tree stump that was hidden behind a rock and when I went by it snagged me.We made it through the notch just before it started drizzeling. As we hiked up the Mahoosuc Arm the rain increased and we hiked into the clouds. The wind also picked up and at one point The Viking and I were holding onto a big rock to keep from being blown away. Chilly Willy said the clouds were also doing some swirling thing and that it would have made for a cool picture.On the way to the shelter I saw a Martin which is reddish brown and looks kind of like a small ferret. New wildlife!When we got to the shelter there was a school group of 15. They were extremely nice and put up their tents so us thru-hikers could have the shelter.I am very tired and very achey, but happy to be laying down and resting. My arms and legs felt spent right after the notch and we still had almost 3 miles before the shelter. It's amazing how much energy the notch took out of me.
Date: 2013-05-08
From: Daleville - Second Zero Day

To: Wilson Creek Shelter
Miles today: 11.2
Weather: light rain

I woke up at 6AM ready to get going. Usually I have a hard time getting up but today I was ready. Hiking out of Daleville starts you off by crossing a major highway. Within a few minutes I was in the forest and then on a field with cows. My legs felt pretty good the first half of the hike but because it was raining all morning I could not really rest that much. So I stopped at this shelter even though it was only 2:30 in the afternoon. If it weren't for my leg I would have went on, at least six more miles. Just have to take it easy so my leg will heal. Soon after I settle in at the shelter many other hikers start showing up. This shelter tonight was filled with a bunch of older guys; much different group than the usual hikers for the AT.
Date: 2003-09-26
From: Poplar Ridge Lean-to

To: Caribou Valley Rd.
Miles today: 13.2
Weather: few clouds

9/26 Poplar Ridge Lean-to to Caribou Valley Rd. - 13.2 milesHad a rainy night last night but still slept great. The weather today was strange. It is hot when I hike uphill, but the minute I hit the top of a mountain I get cold and anytime I'm hiking flat or downhill I'm cold too. It is tought to have the rights clothing combination where you don't have to keep stopping and changing. But I got a system down. I wear shorts, a long sleeve shirt, my rain jacket and fleece hat. On the uphills I take my hat off, unzip my jacket and push my sleevesup. On the flat and downhill everything is back on. Chilly Willie has a theory that if you have your ears covered it will keep you warm but if you are getting hot, uncover your ears. It seems to work.While I was eating lunch at the shelter, Odyssey showed up and said she had just seen a male moose. She couldn't have been more than a half an hour behind me. Missed a moose again. I hiked over Sugarloaf Mt. today, but decided not to go to the top because the mountains were clouded over. No views again. Myself, Tank, Willow, Last Minute, Chilly Willie, Kilroy and the Viking are all camped at a spot in between the Carrabassett River and Caribou Valley Rd. Tomorrow morning Willow's parents are picking us up on the dirt road and are bringing us into town to pick up maildrops before the P.O. closes. That helped me avoid the Saturday morning P.O. run. This is a great camp spot right next to the river.Speaking of the river. We have had several river crossings which keep getting bigger and bigger. This last one had a board balanced on two big rocks but when I stepped on it, it was too shaky for me to be comfortable walking (or crawling) across it. So I rock hopped instead and made it across dry and safe. Rumor has it that there are afew big rivers coming up where we will have to take our boots off.
Date: 2013-05-10
From: Cove Mountain Shelter

To: Bryant Ridge Shelter
Miles today: 7.0
Weather: overcast clouds

I woke up today pleasantly surprised that I could put full weight on my leg with minimal pain. So I started off today feeling good about the miles ahead of me. I decided to go to the Middle Creek campground to get a new fuel canister. In the guide the campground is listed as point three miles off the trail. It really was one point three miles, UGH extra miles!!! I lucked out by getting a ride both ways. At the camp store a great couple, called "Body Parts" and "Weber", were just leaving after a section hike and were kind enough to give me, "Star Child", and "Already Gone" a ride to the trailhead and we also got a cold soda to boot. I don't generally drink soda but I couldn't resist a cold root beer. Later on up the trail, about seven miles, I come upon the most elaborate shelter on the trail. The shelter has multi levels with cool benches, a covered picnic table, and sleeps twenty hikers. I decided that I had many reason just stay here even though I had only done seven miles: 1. Great shelter 2. My leg needs rest 3. A five mile hill ahead of me4. It might rainThe other reason is I lost track of my days and did not realize that I was now scheduled to get to Glasgow on a Sunday. I have my new weather radio being shipped there. Once again I'm dealing with mail problems. So I am glad I can make my own decision now and I can stay. Soon many new hikers show up and the shelter is full.
Date: 2003-09-27
From: Caribou Valley Rd.

To: Stratton, ME
Miles today: 8.3
Weather: overcast clouds

9/27 Caribou Valley Rd. to Stratton, ME - 8.3 milesWe were all sitting on the gravel road by 7am waiting for Willow's parents to meet us. They showed up at 7:30 and brought all 7 of us into town. We had breakfast, got our maildrops and got hotel rooms.Willow's parents dropped us back off at Caribou Valley Rd and we slack packed the 8 miles over the Crocker mountains back into town. The terrain was great and slack packing or "freedom hiking" (as Paul from Pine Ellis calls it) helped make the hiking easier. Unfortunately the mountains were clouded over and we had no views.Later in the afternoon Chilly Willie and I went to do laundry. We saw an awesome full rainbow that looked like it connected the Bigelows to the Crockers. It was cool but the skies looked like it was going to rain.Our forecast calls for rain in the next few days and some very cold nights.