morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2012-07-02
From: Great Barrington Ma.

To: Great Barrington Ma.
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: few clouds

Well, obviously we didn't hike today! Nothing wrong, we just really needed a nothing day. We woke this morning with the intention of hiking but we soon decided it wasn't to be. It's been a long time since we just rolled over. We did get a few things done though. First we bought hair clippers and Suzie buzzed my head. Seems strange you can buy clippers and use them once and it is cheaper than paying for a haircut.    Suzie also was able to put up our pictures. We hadn't been able to upload them since Harper's Ferry W.V. The rest of the day was spent putting food in our bodies. All in all, a very relaxing day!    Last night we began to look forward in our maps at the White Mountains which are coming in New Hampshire. Truly we had only glanced at them before. What an intimidating profile. Suzie and I will take whatever time needed to make it through these rugged mountains. As we have gotten closer to the end of this journey we have been trying to figure out when we will be done. We now know we will be done when we! are done. Whatever it takes!
Date: 2012-07-03
From: Great Barrington Ma.

To: Shaker Campsite
Miles today: 17.5
Weather: few clouds

What a great day off! We woke at 5:30 and grabbed a shower. I walked down to McDonald's and grabbed us some breakfast, then finished packing up and ate breakfast. We had made arrangements with the motel owner to run us back to the trail head for 10 bucks. We loaded up and before long we were hiking up the trail.     A couple deer watched us as we made our way across a cornfield. They weren't quite sure what to think of us.     The trail was much better today and we made good time. We swung into the first shelter to check the shelter log and take a break. A bit later we came across several women hiking together and got the twenty questions. They were very nice and we enjoyed their interest.    I think we have decided to do the rest of the trail with Aqua Mira drops for our water purification. We have been using it for the last few days and it seems to be working fine. Not to mention they are much lighter than our filter. We really didn't want to spend the money for a new filter either.    They are calling for rain tonight and tomorrow so that should be fun!
Date: 2012-07-04
From: Shaker Campsite

To: October Mountain Shelter 
Miles today: 18.8
Weather: light rain

It drizzled all night until we woke at 5:30. We broke down camp and headed out towards Upper Goose Pond. We had hoped to be able to stay there for an afternoon. There is a shelter there and you can swim and take a canoe out. Unfortunately we gave that up when we took the zero in Great Barrington. There is a mail drop in Williamstown, Ma. waiting for us. We need to get there by Saturday before noon as the post office closes then and we would have to wait until Monday.      We had a couple big climbs right off that made us wish we would be swimming in the pond. Cobble Hill was first followed closely by Baldy Mountain. We were soaking wet with sweat and sucking air by the time we hit the top.      Upper Goose Pond was beautiful and inviting but we walked past headed for the last 8 miles of our day. The rest of the day was filled with gnats and mosquitoes that just about drove us mad!       We are all set up and relaxing in the tent away from those nasty creatures. We will be asleep before the first fireworks light the sky. We will probably sleep right through. We hope everyone has a great day and take a moment to say thanks to our forefathers for giving us this wonderful country to live in. Remember it's up to us to keep it great ...
Date: 2012-07-05
From: October Mountain Shelter 

To: Crystal Mountain Campsite 
Miles today: 16.0
Weather: clear sky

We were able to hear the fireworks going off in a nearby town last night before we dozed off. For the first time since Virginia I heard the coyotes howling last night. It felt like being back in Myakka State Park in Florida.    We were hiking by 7 after our morning break down and our Deet bath. We were a little skeptical of the map for the day. It showed a nice flat run all the way to Dalton. That usually means there is something else wrong with it like rocks or dumb little ups and downs. Today we were treated to a very nice trail. One we could make good time on. What a nice bonus!      We stopped for a while to watch a red squirrel having his breakfast. He was sitting right on the trail and wasn't concerned with us at all. The trail was so good we blew right by the road crossing where the Cookie Lady is. Yup! We missed free homemade cookies! Dummies!   We're starting to see a smattering of southbound thru hikers now. We met Angry Bird and Dave today. It will be nice to glean info about what's behind them.   When we hit Dalton the plan was to not miss Tom Levardi and his ice cream cone he gives hikers as they pass his home. We stopped out front but it didn't look like anyone was there. Bummer! 0 for 2 on the trail magic. As we were checking the map to see what we wanted for lunch a car pulled up. The guy welcomed us to Dalton and then gave us 10 bucks toward our lunch! The magic was back! We headed into the Mill Town Tavern and had lunch and a couple of beers.   After lunch we grabbed a couple extra snacks and made our way back to the trail. We were at our destination by 4:30. Very early for us. We set up and crawled into the tent. The evening was spent listening to music and relaxing. Tomorrow we climb Mt. Greylock. Our highest since southern Virginia. Not as high as what's coming but a good warm up!
Date: 2012-07-06
From: Crystal Mountain Campsite 

To: Wilbur Clearing Shelter 
Miles today: 16.3
Weather: clear sky

The night before last was the coyotes, last night was the owls. Wow, what a cool experience. There must have been 5 or 6 within fifty yards of the tent. A couple were right outside. They went back and forth with their cackles and clicks. It lasted about 30 minutes.   We were hiking by 6:30 on our way to town. The only thing we really needed was more deet but we will always take more town food. The trail goes right through Cheshire so no need for a hitch! The one place we wanted to stop was closed so we moved over to Reynolds hardware. We got our deet and they had a small food section so we grabbed a couple of sodas, some chocolate cookies, and a pint of Cherry Garcia ice cream. We sat on the front porch and enjoyed our calories!      We were still looking for a deli where we could get a couple subs to carry up to the summit of Mt. Greylock for lunch. We found it at the local Shell station. We also grabbed a couple honey buns and another soda. You can never have too many calories out here.      All filled up we headed out on our 8 mile climb to the summit of Greylock. As we got closer we would get little glimpses of the top with its lookout tower. On the way up we were in a lot of pine and fur trees and the air was thick with the smell. Once there we got a couple lemonades to have with our subs. The sun was warm but the breeze made it feel wonderful.   We finished up with a 3 mile downhill to the shelter. Another good day even with the long climb.      On a side note, every 4th of July James Taylor does a concert at a local town here in Massachusetts. This year was no different except after the concert a man was walking home when a tree fell on him and killed him. Remember folks, all of our days are numbered. We just don't know what number today is. Don't waste any!
Date: 2012-07-07
From: Wilbur Clearing Shelter 

To: Seth Warner Shelter 
Miles today: 9.9
Weather: light rain

Headed to town by 6:30 to do a quick resupply and to pick up a couple mail drops at the post office in Williamstown, Ma. or so we thought.     We were at the grocery by 8:30 and had the resupply done and in our packs in an hour. Now on to the post office. We tried hitching a ride but no one stopped. We then saw the local bus service coming so we flagged him down. He dropped us off right around the corner from the post office.     In we went to get our 2 packages. The one from home was there with our cold weather gear. The one from Environeers, the outfitter at home, was not there. The package contained Suzie's new hiking poles. Suzie called Environeers and got a tracking number. Some how the package was delivered to the North Adams post office even though it was addressed to Williamstown. Now we had to catch a bus to North Adams before noon! We walked in the door at 11:30 and retrieved the wayward package. Thanks to the folks at Environeers for getting a tracking number or we never would have found it. We grabbed a couple items out of the other box and then forwarded it to ourselves in Hanover N.H. so we don't have to carry all the weight until the start of the Whites     Back to the bus stop for yet another bus ride back to the trail. By now Rich the bus driver had become a close friend! He dropped us off right at the trail head. So at 12:30 we started hiking. Up to now we had only hiked 3 miles. Some days you just have to roll with the punches.    There were some bright spots in the day though. It was supposed to rain and it didn't, we had cookie trail magic in the morning, and thank God there was a bus service in town or we would have been sitting until Monday for our package. Oh yea, we also crossed into Vermont!    Tomorrow we will work on getting some of the lost miles back from today.
Date: 2012-07-08
From: Seth Warner Shelter 

To: Campsite @ m1611.6
Miles today: 17.1

Just a sprinkle last night but the tent was dry in the morning. Our first climb put us in the fog for the first time in a while. The ponds up on these ridges are amazing, not to mention the work being done by the beavers. One pond in particular had a dam that was probably 50 yards across and 4 feet tall. Hard to believe an overgrown rodent can do such work. We were walking on a boardwalk around the dam. Suzie stopped to take a video of it and while doing so stepped off of the boardwalk and into the mud with one foot. This was no ordinary mud. She had sunk in to her ankle and couldn't get out. I had to come over and help drag her leg out while we were both laughing. There's a reason they call this state Vermud!    The climb down to Bennington, Vt was steep as was the the climb back up from the road crossing to the shelter. Just after we crossed the road we came to some trail magic. A cooler full of sodas and a box full of Doritos. The sodas still had ice on them! Thank you to the parents of Moose 11 for the magic.    We stopped at the Melville Nauheim Shelter and cooked dinner. We wanted to get more miles but knew we would have to stealth camp without a water source so we filled up with water after dinner and headed on. We had planned on hiking until 6:30 and then find a spot to set up the tent. At 6:22 a perfect campsite presented itself and we took it! A nice breeze and view of the Green Mountain Range. Pretty sweet!
Date: 2012-07-09
From: Campsite @ m1611.6

To:  Campsite @ m1627.7
Miles today: 16.1

It was kind of a start and stop day. Sometimes the shelters are spaced well and sometimes they're not. We were going to pass 3 shelters in 13 miles and then nothing for another 10 miles. Keep in mind we don't always stop at every shelter but we do like to keep track of where our friends are so we stop to read the shelter log.    Starting off we had 4.5 to the first shelter where we stopped for water. When we arrived there were still people just crawling out of their tents. I hadn't mentioned it before but since we entered Vermont we have also been hiking on the Long Trail simultaneously. Most of the ones still there were L.T. hikers just getting used to the trail. For those who don't know the Long Trail runs from Vermont's southern border to the Canadian border.    Right after we left the shelter we came to a fire tower. I went up to try to get signal to upload the journal and Suzie followed. I was surprised by that because she doesn't like heights. About half way up she started asking herself what she was doing . She made it up and back down with no problems but I'm not sure she enjoyed the view!     The next shelter was just over 4 miles and the one after that was 4.7. Like I said, a start and stop day. At the third shelter we ran into Indiana who we hadn't seen since right after Easter in Tennessee. It was fun comparing hikes with him. We wanted to do 5 more miles but only made it 2.7 when a great spot right by a brook appeared so we called it a day. One more day and then a walk in to Manchester where we will be staying at the Green Mountain House thanks to a recommendation from our friend Fireweed.
Date: 2012-07-10
From:  Campsite @ m1627.7

To: Spruce Peak Shelter 
Miles today: 15.6
Weather: few clouds

We woke to 45 degrees this morning. Suzie asked me to check the calendar to make sure we hadn't slept for 6 months. She finally crawled out with a little prodding. 7 o'clock found us on the trail headed for Stratton Mountain. As we crossed a gravel road we saw moose tracks in the mud. Now to see a moose!   We reached the summit of Stratton and took a break to upload the journal. As we get further north the ability to upload will be harder. We spent some time talking to Hugh, the caretaker of the fire tower. He has been the caretaker since 1968.      We made it to Stratton Pond but it was a little too cold to swim. From there we just moved on to our final destination, Spruce Peak Shelter. Nice shelter and just 3 miles from town. Tomorrow a shower and clean clothes!
Date: 2012-07-11
From: Spruce Peak Shelter 

To: Manchester Vt
Miles today: 2.8

We stayed in the shelter and had an easy pack up in the morning. We were headed to town so there was a quickness in our pace. We made it to the road and the Lion Killers and Bobcat were already there trying to hitch a ride. We decided to start hiking to town and hope for the best.    We had hiked about a half a mile when a truck pulled over. It was Jeff from Green Mountain House where we were staying. He had just dropped off hikers at the trail head and had also picked up the Lion Killers. He dropped all of us off in town so we could do our resupply and eat. He would return for us when we were done. He was even kind enough to take our packs back to the hostel.      We had breakfast at Up For Breakfast and man it was wonderful. We hit the outfitters for a couple items and then went to the grocery to resupply. We also bought ingredients to make dinner at the hostel. We love cooking together but never get to on the trail other than boil water. We made our bow tie pasta with Italian sausage and onions and peppers. We made enough for everyone and it was a big hit.    We are here tonight with the Noodleheads, Nitrous, Trog, Dos who we haven't seen since before the Shenandoahs, and T who we haven't seen since Maryland!    During dinner the Noodleheads decided we needed individual trail names so they researched famous mule names. Everyone decided our individual trail names were going to be Bright Angel or "Brighty" for Suzie. There was apparently a movie called Brighty of the Grand Canyon where the mule worked on the trail down into the canyon. My trail name is Gus. You know, that football kicking mule in the Disney movie! So there you have it, Brighty and Gus.    Many thanks to Fireweed for suggesting Green Mountain House. What a great place!
Date: 2012-07-12
From: Manchester Vt

To: Big Branch Shelter 
Miles today: 16.5
Weather: clear sky

We were up and had breakfast before heading out on the second shuttle to the trail at 7. Jeff dropped is off at the trail head and off we went.      Our first climb was up Bromley Mountain with the last half mile being on a ski slope. You can see 5 states from the top. Our next climb took us up Styles Peak where we took a break. There was a rock outcrop and a little red squirrel who was used to being fed. We had to keep an eye on our packs to keep him from getting inside.As we made our way across to Peru Peak we started seeing moose pellets. Obviously there is a decent moose population in Vermont. We, however have not seem one yet. Our only other climb of the day was Baxter Peak with a rock scramble at the top.     We settled on Big Branch Shelter and are tenting by the river. The river is loaded with giant boulders that create alot of small waterfalls so the sound is soothing to these tired bodies. Today marks 4 months on the trail. It's crazy to think how far we have come in such a short time. Tomorrow afternoon we will be dining at the Whistle Stop Cafe. I wonder if they'll have fried green tomatoes? Maybe!
Date: 2012-07-13
From: Big Branch Shelter 

To: Clarendon Shelter 
Miles today: 16.9
Weather: clear sky

Hiking by 6:40 we were moving at a good pace. The terrain wasn't bad and before long we had arrived at Little Rock Pond. What a beautiful spot! We stopped to water up and took some pictures of the salamanders in the water. We spent some time talking with War Cry, the caretaker at the pond. He thru hiked in 2010.   The next climb was up to White Rocks Cliff. At the top people have made cairns all over the place. Very creative and very cool!    One more climb up and over Bear Mountain put us in line for the Whistle Stop Cafe ... or so we thought. We walked up to the restaurant and found it had closed at 2:30. Some hikers were there and said there was a gas station just down the road. So off we went. There wasn't much there to choose from but as we were ready to check out the lady told us the restaurant reopens at 4. Well we drank our mountain dews and ate our carrot cake. Back at the restaurant we ordered a 2 liter of root beer and a large pizza. Soon Nitrous, T, and Five Pair showed up. We visited for a while then headed for the shelter a mile away. Full bellies at the end of the day are a wonderful thing.
Date: 2012-07-14
From: Clarendon Shelter 

To: Inn at the Long Trail
Miles today: 17.1

Most of our morning was spent climbing. First off was Beacon Hill. Not long but enough to get the heart pounding. We made our way down to Cold River road where we ran into Santa's Helper giving Trail Magic. We stopped and enjoyed sodas and snacks.      Next up was our big climb up Shrewsbury Peak. As we began we came to the reroute of the trail. We took the trail instead of the reroute. The devastation from Hurricane Irene last year was impressive. We came close to getting lost but made it through and saved about a mile and a half. As we were working our way through we came to the sign reading 500 miles to Katahdin. What a milestone! Hovering around 4000 feet we stopped at Cooper Lodge for lunch. It was at that point we decided we were going all the way to the Inn.       We still had to finish climbing over Killington which took us to 4000. We kept working our way down to US 4 where we were we had planned on going another 2.3 miles. After drinking a mountain dew trail magic we decided we were done hiking and took the road walk to the Inn. We set up the tent on the property across from the Inn and then went in and found McGrath's Irish Pub. I had Guinness Stew and a Guinness. Suzie had Shepherd's Pie and a Guinness. About then the music started. Irish music by Donal O'Shaughnessy. A great evening and a wonderful night!
Date: 2012-07-15
From: Inn at the Long Trail

To: Stoney Brook Shelter 
Miles today: 9.5
Weather: overcast clouds

A frustrating morning led to a low mile day. The plan was to catch the bus to town, resupply, get dropped off at the trail head and get going. Should be easy, right? Well, not for us!   We had called the bus company and they told us the first bus was at 7:15. Turns out that is when they start. They don't get to the Inn until 8:20. We found that out at 7:30 and decided to go inside and grab some breakfast before catching the bus. Mistake 1. The service was slow and we missed the bus. Next bus was at 9:20. By the time we made it to town it was 9:40. We hit the Walmart and got most of the resupply but needed a couple more items. On to the Price Chopper grocery store. The place was a zoo. By the time we got back to the bus depot we had just missed the bus again! Well we had an hour to kill. Let's grab a sandwich ... another mistake! By the time the food hit the table we had 10 minutes left. We choked it down, now to get the check ... 5 minutes later we pay the bill and hit the door. By now we figured we had done it again. When we rounded the corner the bus was still there! Finally something went right.     So our resupply took 5 and a half hours. We started hiking at 12:45. The only good thing about a short day is not too many climbs. We did have one nasty climb up Quimby Mountain. About that time it decided to start raining.     We made it to the shelter around 6 and it was full. We set the tent up and then fixed dinner and hung out. Good group tonight, Five Pair, Thunderstorm, Nutter Butter, Yellow Tail, and Alpo! Hopefully the rain will be over by morning.
Date: 2012-07-16
From: Stoney Brook Shelter 

To: Campsite @m1723.3
Miles today: 17.4

The rains fell hard last night but were gone by morning. 6:45 found us on the trail headed for a series of ups and downs that weren't big but very energy draining. Most of the morning we felt like we were barely moving.     We came to an area that had a 12 foot aluminum ladder you had to climb down which Suzie liked a lot!     Somehow we had 10 miles done by noon, don't ask me how. We were cruising along and came upon a covey of grouse that made quite the exit in all different directions.    We did stop in at the On the Edge Farm and enjoyed some cheese and smoked chicken breast for an afternoon snack followed by a pint of ice cream for each of us. Now the trick was to find a campsite for the night as we wouldn't make it all the way to the shelter. After a couple maybe spots we found a spot along a power line by a stream. Suzie made dinner and we called it a day
Date: 2012-07-17
To: Hanover N.H.
Miles today: 18.8
Weather: scattered clouds

We decided to start getting up earlier to give ourselves more time to hike. We want to reset the body clocks for the Whites. We will need all the time we can get. So we were hiking at 5. For those of you not up at that hour it is light out. We were on top of our first climb by 5:30 and stopped for breakfast with a great view of the morning sky.   We were trying to make it to Hanover N.H. by 5 to get our package from the post office. We really motored and made great time all day. We stopped in West Hartford Vt. for a second breakfast and it was great. We talked to some southbounders about the Whites and got some good information. We are seeing alot of Sobos now.   We headed on and the trail was pretty easy. We made it to Norwich Vt. By 2:30. As we made our way down the hill we passed several homes with trail magic out front. The heat in town was much worse than up on the mountains. We crossed the Connecticut river and entered New Hampshire! 12 states down, 2 to go. The post office had our package so we have warm clothes for the Whites. We stopped by the pizza place and got our free slice of pizza and uploaded the last 2 days of journals. Suzie was on the phone with her folks and they mentioned that someone had offered us a place to stay for the night. We checked and made the call to Betsy. Since there are supposed to be severe thunderstorms tonight we made arrangements for her to pick us up at 8 so we can spend the night at her home. The trail has been so good to us!