morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2015-07-16
From: Carlo Col Campsite

To: Full Goose Shelter
Miles today: 4.4
Weather: overcast clouds

Start 10:59End 4:19Best part - Enjoyable dayBiggest complaint - Got cold   I slept in till 8:48. I awoke earlier and the guys in the next tent site talking kind of kept me awake but I nodded off a few times anyways. The trail started out tough but today I was use to it and then on top of that the trail actually got a LITTLE easier. I learned a lot from the mistakes I made yesterday. It still took a long time because of the tricky sections. After a few miles we came to a section where we hit quite a few small balds and then an open section. I had lunch in the open section at a spot out of the wind.   I was only doing 4.4 miles today which still took me more than 5 hours but I didn't have the pressure of having to maintain a certain pace to ensure getting to my destination before dark which made for an enjoyable day. At one point above tree line I saw what may have been a grouse. I'm use to hearing or seeing grouse fly off into the woods but there was no woods to fly off into. This chicken like animal came out from under the short pink flower bearing bushes above tree line, crossed the trail and immediately went back under the bushes. It stopped and through a break in the bushes we were able to eyeball each other for a while. Then we both moved on.    It got cold in the evening. Not really a problem but I guess that was my biggest complaint. So far it's been a pretty enjoyable hike but the toughness of the trail has been the most unenjoyable aspect. Last year I asked a south bounder what the toughest section of trail was. He immediately said Mahoosuc. I thought he was referring to Mahoosuc Notch which the A.T. Guide refers to as the most difficult or funnest mile of the trail. I now realize he also meant Mahoosuc trail which lasts a few days if you're hiking as slow as I am. The amount of times where you're climbing up rocks, climbing down rocks and climbing over rocks is a lot even for Maine. It's like it's never ending. Yesterday I'd be upset when I'd see one coming but now I was just taking them in stride. Tomorrow I do Mahoosuc Notch which is a whole mile of hiking through huge boulders and big slabs of rocks. I'm doing a short day today to rest up for it.
Date: 2015-07-18
From: Speck Pond Shelter

To: Baldplate Lean To
Miles today: 6.9
Weather: light rain

Start - 8:13End - 3:33Best part - Zucchini muffinBiggest complaint - Wet rocks in the morning   It had rained during the night and it started raining before we were ready to leave. It stopped ten minutes later and we left shortly thereafter. When it rains during the night or especially in the morning all the rocks and roots are wet and stay wet quite a while. This makes the roots slippery and climbing up over and down the rocks more difficult and dangerous. I came through the morning unscathed. Unscathed is a word you here sometimes but you never anyone use the word scathed.   I left my rain gear on including my rain kilt. It never really rained on me all day but it did on others. I felt if I took my rain kilt off it would start raining so I left it on. I still had it on when I got to the road and in the parking lot there were four guys there that had just done a loop trail of 38 miles. I stopped to have my lunch and talked with them awhile. Before they left they gave me two cliff bars and two packages of Shot Blocks. One guy told me to eat three shot blocks when you're about to hike a tough uphill and the sugar boost will help you get up the hill. It tried it and it did seem to help.   I started hiking after lunch and about twenty yards into the woods there was a bag tied to a tree. It had zucchini muffins inside. Actually it had one zucchini muffin inside. I got the last one. I had it after supper as dessert. Gotta love that trail magic.   I forgot several things this trip. I don't know where my three tools in one compass, thermometer and whistle ended up so it didn't get packed. The thermometer part never really was useful because I always kept it in my pocket which made for irrelevant readings. I'm not really interested in what the temperature is in my pocket and I did not want to hang it loose. The only times I had ever used the whistle was to check and see if it still worked. The compass I used but as long as you stay on the trail you don't need it. I reckon you should have a compass in case you ever would get off the trail.   I also forgot my stocking cap which I wear when I go to bed and it's cold. It wasn't very cold this time of year and on the colder nights I wore a bandana on my head.   I also forgot my trail guide. I do have it on my phone so I was OK. Normally I take only the pages of the guide for the section I'm hiking. At the beginning of the day I take the pages I'll be using that day and fold them with the appropriate section on the outside and put them in a plastic bag in case it rains. Since I only had the guide on my phone I didn't check it every two minutes which is a good thing. Checking it all the time just slows you down. Forgetting things is useful in that it makes you realize what you don't really need.
Date: 2015-07-19
From: Baldplate Lean To

To: Pine Ellis Lodging
Miles today: 8.0

Start 8:13End 4:09Best part - Italian sausage subBiggest complaint - I pulled a quad muscle   I had eight miles to go to get me to the road and a ride to Pine Ellis hostel. After a couple hours I heard thunder. Later we had light rain for probably an hour and a half. I had to hike over Baldplate mountain while it was raining. You're basically crawling, climbing, making your way over rock face to get to the top. Of course then you have to maneuver down the same tough rock face while it's soaked from rain. A while after that while going down Baldplate but further down than the rock face section, there were still lots of areas where you were climbing down wet slippery rocks. I slipped on one and my right leg shot forward. At the same time my left leg got compressed and hyper extended my knee in the forward direction. My knee is OK but I pulled a quad muscle. I had done the same maneuver a day or two before without pulling a quad muscle but that probably contributed. Unfortunate yes and my leg was a little sore but I figured I'd be OK.    Later that day I was putting weight on my right foot and it slipped to the right. I caught myself but when I did that a shot of pain went through my left quad. It hurt a little more then before but I still figured I'd be OK. I was hiking down to the road and about a half mile from the road I had another situation where my right foot slipped forward and to the right and another shot of pain went through my left quad and that one really hurt. By the time I got to the road I was limping.   I stated thinking that I remembered a quad muscle strain is one that reoccurs easily. If I waited a few days for this injury to get better and started hiking in this tough terrain again the likelihood that I'd pull the quad muscle again was high.   I decided to call one of my two physical therapist nieces, Michelle. I told her my story and she agreed my chances of reinjuring were high especially with the tough terrain hiking. So ends this hike. I guess you could say today I was scathed. I'm resting for a day at the hostel and Tuesday morning I'll be shuttled to Gorham, NH for the start of my four bus bus ride home arriving in Akron Wednesday morning at 10:14. It was fun and since I'm not really anxious to finish the A.T. and have this adventure end, maybe getting injured was a good thing.
Date: 2014-12-27
To: And so...
Miles today: 0.0

I am lucky enough to live close to the AT in Virginia. I live about 9 miles from McAfee's Knob. This short drive allows me to hike McAfee's Knob, Tinker Cliff, Hawks Rest, North Mountain, and Dragon's Tooth. I have been trying to hike these trails quite often to get prepared for my 2015 Thru hike attempt. I am very excited about the hike and have been preparing for a few months now. I just finished training and running my 2nd marathon with a group sponsored by FleetFeet Sports Roanoke, VA. Now I'm in a program called "Winter Warrior." We run twice a week about 3-5 miles and hopefully this will help keep my body in shape. In less than two months, I will step off Springer Mountain accompanied by a friend of mine from Virginia, who will join me for the first week. And yes, I have done this before as I Thrued in 07 and made it to Maine but had to stop about 200 miles short. I did go back and finish as soon as I could. And still consider myself a Thru Hiker. I have all new equipment from my last hike and should be quite a bit lighter. I can't believe how much equipment has changed in the past few years. This time, I know a little more about what to expect from the trail but also know it will be a completely different hike. I'm really looking forward to meeting the 2015 hiker community as that is what makes the Trail different each time I hike. Knowing the Trail well is both an advantage and a disadvantage as I know how hard it is and what mental capacity you need to have in order to complete this adventure . As an older woman, hiking the trail, there also advantages and disadvantages. One being you tend to be more tolerant and accepting of others but your body does not allow you to put in huge miles. And so here we go again! Let the journey begin! I walked on the TrailTo notice the world's beauty It showed me the path
Date: 2014-12-30
To: Gear
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

I am excited to have mostly new and improved gear for this trip. Except for a few things that were on my 2007 hike, I have updated my equipment over the past few years. My new backpack is an Osprey XO's 58. I have only used it twice, once on a 10 day trip along the AT in Connecticut and on a three day trip here in Virginia. Both times it worked well and on the 3 day hike, I carried all the gear I plan on starting with. Another new item, an air mattress, I've used for the last few years. I upgraded to a 3/4 Neo Air and I love it. For those of you who use them, you know that they're noisy but it beats having your hip bones pressing into the ground.Next was my water system. I've probably used every system out there. I started out with pills, but didn't like putting chemicals into my body, then a filter pump, next a Steri pen, and now I'm using the popular Sawyer squeeze. This one seems easy, light and if it goes bad you just buy a new one. Over the last few years, I've purchased two new Western Mountaineer sleeping bags. My winter bag is a 10 degree and then my summer is a 35 degree. Both are light and the 10 degree will get me through March and April. I can change out bags when I get to my house in VA , and then have it mailed back to me when I get up north. My most recent acquisition is a new tent! I've been using a Big Agnes Fly Creek SL one tent for the last 7 years. I had to trash my Black Diamond tent from my hike as it was a single wall and leaked by the end. I have now switched to the B A Cooper SL one. I set it up in my living room and I loved it. The main difference between the two is the entry. I really like the fact I can get in it through the side and it has a lot more room inside as well.   We will see how it does on the trail. I have a new down jacket and just got a Montbell wind shirt weighing in at 1.4 ounces! It is so light and I think I'll wear it a lot. And of course I have new shirts, pants, socks etc. I belong to a running program called FleetFeet in Roanoke Virginia. I have just finished training and running my second marathon. It's a great group and I've decided since I have so many training shirts from them, I'm going to wear them up the trail.Boots or shoes are not something I enjoy buying. I have bad feet, so I have many pairs of boots/shoes. I have tried all different kinds of boots and trail runners. I really like the Hoka trail runners but they don't come in Gore-Tex. I want to have warm, dry feet during the early months so I'm going to wear my Patagonian boots or some new Oboz I just got. I live close to the trail so when I get here around the end of April or May I'll pick up some Hoka trail runners.I'll use the same kind of cooking system I've used for years, the ever popular Pepsi can stove using denatured alcohol. Simple, easy and light. So I think I'm pretty well outfitted for this adventure! The trail comes to meEach morning I rise and walkEyes finding the way
Date: 2014-12-31
To: Me???
Miles today: 0.0

And now for a little more info about who I am. I retired from teaching in 07 so I could Thru hike the AT. In 07, I completed all of the Trail except the last 200 miles, because of a few broken toe joints. It was very traumatic for me to have to stop that close to the end, but I did go back and finished it as soon as I could hike again. Since then, I've section hiked with a group of wonderful women. We have made it from Springer to Cheshire, Massachusetts. Those section hikes 3 times each year, became highlights of every year. When you section hike, you actually learn a lot more about the AT and its surrounding area because of all the planning and shuttles you have to secure. You also get to stay in many small towns, hostels, motels, and B&B's you don't do when you are Thru hiking. But the longing to be out there, to Thru hike, has increased to the point of obsession again! On one of my section hikes, I met someone I hiked with and he said to me, "Well, you know that the trail ruins you!" It gets into your blood and you just have to be out there among the white blazes. As I have said, I live near the Trail. I moved to Southwest VA years ago from flat Long Island. I immediately fell in love with the mountains. I went from feeling like I have to have my toes in the ocean to needing to have my feet in boots on a path. It started with day hiking but progressed to backpacking, after I went on a weekend hike with my two sons. I caught "white blaze fever." This past year, I took on the responsibility of checking on one of the shelters in the area. About once every month or so, I hike up to Fullhardt Shelter to make sure it is clean and to check the water system. My friend, Derry, who is going to join me for the first week, goes with me up to the shelter and I go with her to hike the Falls Ridge Preserve. She is a master naturalist and volunteers to help take care of an area. I've actually never stayed at Fullhardt, as it is only 4 miles from the parking lot and I was always hiking past it. But it is a good lunch stop. And it a good spot to stop, if you come out of Daleville later in the afternoon. We'll see what happens this time. I'm sure if you follow me up the Trail, you might learn more about me as a person than you want to know ??Walk to a shelter Set up your camp for the night Rest your weary bones
Date: 2015-01-09
To: Getting There!
Miles today: 0.0

Look what came in the mail today!! This makes the journey even more real. The guide is heavier than I thought it would be so I need to think about how I'm going to carry it. Do I just carry it and rip out the pages, do I photo copy pages and put them in mail drops? I actually like the idea of ripping out the pages as you hike as it gives you such a feeling of accomplishment! I've done a few hikes since New Years Day. My friend, Jan and I walk to Bottom Creek Gorge in Floyd Co. I had never been there. The trail ends with a view of a waterfall. There were three trails to choose from. We took the longer yellow blazed one. It went down near a stream before meeting back up with the main trail . It was a nice hike of about 4 miles. Then another friend, Derry, and I hiked Dragons Tooth the other day. It was windy and cold but a beautiful sunny day. NOBO's, we need to hike down this and it gets pretty tricky but doable. There is one place I always have to take my pack off when I go down. There is narrow ledge and it's hard to maneuver with a pack. I've done this hike many, many times but have only hike down it twice with the pack and each time I just got too nervous at this one spot. But it is a great hike for practicing as it has some rock-climbing, a few rungs embedded into the rocks, a lot of steps, beautiful views, and is just a really interesting trail.If you take the Boy Scout trail from the Dragon's Tooth parking lot, you can get to the AT pretty quickly. Then you go along a ridge that has some pretty steep rocks and then you can just take the blue blaze from Lost Spectacles Gap down to the parking lot. This is a short 3 mile hike but you get all different terrains and it's great for conditioning your legs. So I'm trying to do this short hike one day a week and a longer hike one day a week.I've also been running two days a week trying to keep in shape. I hope everybody is having a good beginning to 2015 and getting their bodies and gear ready for our adventure. A guide helps you walkAlong the Trail to Big "K."Follow carefully!
Date: 2015-02-27
To: Two More Days
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

This will be my last entry from home! The next one will be from the Hiker Hostel in Georgia. I traveled out west for a week with friends. We had a great time and even got a little bit of hiking in besides being a tourist. We started off in Las Vegas, with bright lights and noise that assaulted your ears! I have been saving all my pennies for my hike so only brought $20.00 to gamble with (unlike my friends who had $300.00 or $400.00 "play" money). They lost most of their money, while I walked away with $300.00. Of course, they played a lot more than I did as when I got ahead I just quit and cashed out. So now I have a few more hotel rooms in my future. Then we drove to Zion National Park in Utah with its magnificent mountains and glorious night skies. We hiked Angles Landing one day. It has a paved path for the first two miles but then turns into chains bolted into rocks and 1000 foot drop offs. This hike made my thighs scream, but I thought it would be good practice for those Georgia hills. On our last full day, we drove to Bryce National Park and went into yet another world. When you are in Zion you are on the bottom of the canyon but in Bryce you are at the top looking down on the world of hoodoos. We had been hiking in the heat the day before but at Bryce we had snow, wind, and freezing temperatures.   But the views made braving the cold well worth it.I came home to a broken furnace and frozen pipes. I guess it was fortunate to happen before my hike. I called some friends who worked on my furnace and they found someone to help me. They had to overnight the parts from Georgia (a sign), so I borrowed a few heaters and turned on my gas logs. I then snuggled down in my sleeping bag and spent the night. The next day the parts arrived and furnace was up and running. The pipes unfroze with no damage and I was glad it all had happened at this time.I have been volunteering at Eastern Montgomery Elementary School in a second grade classroom for the past 6 years. I work with a wonderful teacher, Patti Thompson, making a documentary of the students' year. Of course this year I won't be able to complete the project so have really worked hard at making sure the students know how to do the program. On Wednesday, I talked to them about my hike. They asked a lot of great questions and will be following along with my journal. They all signed a card and I told them I will see them in the spring on my way through the area as I live 9 miles from the trail. So now I'm just waiting and watching the weather! And reading Trail Journals, wishing everyone out there safe passage. Only 2 days until I leave here!!!! See you up the trail. Many friends carryYou up this foot path each day.Thank you all so much!
Date: 2015-03-01
To: Hiker Hostel
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light snow

Derry and I drove down to Top of Georgia Hostel today to leave her car and get a shuttle down to the Hiker Hostel. We were both so excited and talked non-stop the whole time. We got there early and had to wait a while before we caught the shuttle, but we finally left and arrived around 4:00 PM. The Hiker Hostel has four bunk rooms, each with four bunks, a single room, and two extra beds. It has two common rooms and a full kitchen for hikers. I would recommend it any hiker who wants to start the trail. One of the workers gave a pack shake down where they go through everything in your pack and tell you if you should keep it or toss it! I'm glad they didn't do mine with my many hand warmers and three bandanas. They did a young man's pack but he had done pretty well except for a few thing and four bottles of water and a lot of rope. Every one here is excited and tentative thinking about what tomorrow will bring. Each has there own story as to why they are here. We are all strangers with a common goal and that makes a powerful bond. Derry and I talked to Laura for awhile. She is a mom whose kids are in college and she wants to do this for herself and with the support of her husband she will!In our room tonight we have Ryan, Melinda, Derry (Swiffer), and myself. Of course I am the oldest and the youngest is Ryan just out of high school. It is time for lights out and some needed sleep. And the trek starts! Anticipation,Fear, excitement, joy,Fill my heart today!
Date: 2015-03-02
From: Springer Mountain

To: Hawk Mtn Shelter
Miles today: 8.1

Day 1 Springer Mtn to Hawk Mtn Shelter Today's Miles 8.1Total Miles 8.1After a poor nights sleep, we started the day with wonderful breakfast at the hostel. Then 12 of us piled into the van and headed out for the Springer Mtn parking lot. It took about an hour and a half to get there. When we finally pulled into the parking lot, it was covered in ice and very cold and foggy. We all put our packs on and headed for the .9 mile walk south to Springer Mtn. The official beginning of the AT. We quickly warmed up and were shedding cloths before we got there.We all took lots of pictures and then started our journey towards Maine, one step at a time! It turned out to be a beautiful day with blue skies and a gentle breeze. The trail was really amazing as it was covered in snow but warm enough for just a light shirt. Of course there were many places where ice covered the trail. One time, Derry and I couldn't stop sliding and we stopped to put our yak tracks on. They were amazing and allowed us to just walk on the ice. I'm glad I brought them. We stopped at Stover Shelter for lunch. There were a few hikers there and one was carrying a metal detector and pans to look for gold. There are all kinds out here. We hiked on for another four miles and reached the shelter around 4:00PM. Of course the shelter was full by then so we set up our tents. Laura, Kate and Melina from the Hiker Hostel and the young boys,Ryan and he young boy from Maine were there. Kate now Prof and Laura ate with us and we went to bed. Our tents were on icy ground so I had a cold night. Springer Mountain today,My first northern steps taken Toward Katahdin!