morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2003-07-07
From: William Brian Memorial Shelter

To: Graymour Friary
Miles today: 15.2

The plan was to get to Bear Mtn. Post office in time to get to the friary for dinner head count, 4:30. again, our pace was slow because of the steep mountains. The first spring was non-existent, so we were crunched for water until Bear Mtn. It poured for 30 minutes before we reached Perkins Tower, beautiful, but locked. Bear Mtn. was more of a littered park than a town. The 4th left it in a state of disrepair. We got out humongous mail drop. Thank you so much to those who sent goodies. As we entered the zoo, we were bombarded with questions from tourists. I felt like we were an exhibit. The zoo was rather sad and miserable. As we crossed the Hudson, a gust of wind grabbed Bree¢s hat and we watched it sail into a tree. Then Lydia brightened her spirits by telling Bree that she found her hat in a tree. A couple more steep mtns and a crappy spring and we were at Graymoor Friary, much too late for dinner. Our feet were absolutely killing. We hung out in a pavilion to stay out of the rain. The friary was huge, with a few huge, dorm-like buildings. We setup our tarp in the pavilion. Sparky, Zapman, the Chief, and Twofiddy (south-bounding a bit) were there.                                                                 Flanders
Date: 2003-07-08
From: Graymour Friary

To: Clarence Fahnestock State Park
Miles today: 11.9

We slept in. I took some extra food to the hiker shelter at Graymour. Spiderman was there taking a few zeroes to let his Lyme Disease start getting better. At our first break we met Super Dave, a section hiker finishing his section this Friday. He was fun to talk to. We stopped at Dennytown Road for lunch. Right after lunch we found a pile of sodas left by Puffpuff and Snappy. We decided to call it a short day ¢ for a free hot shower. Super Dave, Bree, Lydia, and I all walked the 3.5 miles to the road to hitch to Clarence Fahnestock State Park. We fournd a cooler of trail magic before we waited 30 minutes for a ride 1 mile to the campground. Zapman, Spark, and the Chief are here. Bree got her bear rope and bag o¢ rocks caught in a tree. I got the rope, but the bag was stuck until I finally hit it with a rock.                                                                Flanders
Date: 2003-07-09
From: Clarence Fahnestock State Park

To: Morgan Stewart Shelter
Miles today: 16.0
Weather: mist

We woke up to clouds of mosquitoes. To hopefully avoid them we headed out to the road to hitch back to the trail and wait for Bree. I had just pasted my toothbrush when Lydia thumbed the first passing truck. He asked if we were hurt, apparently having never heard of the trail. We said, ¢nope,¢ and climbed in. We met Zapman, Sparky, and Super Dave on top of Shenandoah Mt. It started sprinkling so we all took our packs off and covered them. We got to RPH Shelter, where Zapman, Sparky, and Chief were stopping for the day ¢ at 10:30 am. As we left, it started pouring. We didn¢t mind at all as it was plenty warm. We walked off and on with Super Dave. We arrived at Morgan Stewart Shelter in the mid-afternoon. Hotdog and Wench were there. We¢d met them briefly, earlier in the day, but they were moving on. Bigpaw was cozy in one corner, and Not-the-Kennedys were in the other. Their names are John and Jackie, but surprisingly, their last name isn¢t Kennedy. They are a very interesting couple. John reminded us very much of Dag (of Dag and Mag fame) before we found out they had hiked with each other some of last year. Super Dave and Bree showed up, and although we had originally planned to move on closer to Pawling, NY (new shoes, yay!!!), we decided to enjoy the company. We talked of Not-the-Kennedys regatta coming up, and also our plan to start the AT tradition of exchanging Springer and Katadin, one rock at a time.                                                        Flanders
Date: 2003-07-10
From: Morgan Stewart Shelter

To: Wiley Shelter
Miles today: 16.6
Weather: overcast clouds

A really great day! I felt a little sick in the morning, but not for long. Wee headed down the trail past Nuclear Lake. It was beautiful and very inviting, but we decided not to swim as we had heard it was a superfund site. Bree soon caught up to us and we found a big patch of black raspberries and we all stopped and ate until there were no more berries in sight. YUM! We made a pact to keep berry picking a secret from everyone else. After some more walking, we came to Dover Oak, the biggest tree on the trail, at the hitch to Pawling, NY. Ned¢s new shoes were waiting in Pawling so we took Bree¢s picture with the tree and went our separate ways.        Pawling was very friendly. We hitched a ride with a school teacher and while we were trying on shoes etc. outside the post office, at least 3 people came up and talked to us, wishing us luck. One was an elderly gentleman who had attended UVA years ago. We ate pizza at Mama¢s Pizza ¢ topped with fresh mozzarella and tomatoes. Crream soda was our two liter choice and we were both very happy. The local pharmacy had the largest assortment of foot care products I have ever seen, but I bought only cortisone cream.        We hitched back out and had an awesome field walk, over stiles and under beautiful sky. The walking was easy so Ned put his poles away and played guitar as we walked. It was pure heaven ¢ a beautiful walk with my own private minstrel.        When we got to the shelter, Twofiddy was getting ready to move on. He was excited because he had won a 40 foot sandwich by calling in to a radio contest. He also gave us the sad news that Crystal (Peaches) has quit the trail. I am devastated about that.        Anyway, Bree, Super Dave, and Butcher all stayed the night. Super Dave is doing sections so tonite was his last night. To celebrate, we drank all his liquor, took his pain meds, smoked a cigar, and put a hole through his foot trying to jam his tent stake into the ground with a flip-flopped foot. Happy last night Super Dave!        Also, while we were all sitting around the picnic table, the shelter caretaker came up, found and ¢official NY license plate,¢ interrogated us (we knew nothing), and then left hastily, taking the register with him, and promising a return visit with the police. The police never came so we¢re guessing they didn¢t think the ordeal was as serious as he did.                                                        Chicken Feet
Date: 2003-07-11
From: Wiley Shelter

To: Kent
Miles today: 12.7

It was kind of raining when we got up so we all packed up and ate breakfast in the shelter. Because we thought it would be rainy all day we didn¢t pack as much water as we might have.        We crossed into Connecticut and loved it immediately! We stopped at the Ten Mile River lean to to read the register. No Puff Puff and Snappy, but we know we are closer to them. Will we ever catch them?        We stopped for lunch on top of Mt. Schaghticoke. I found a deer tick in my tummy and when I pulled him out his head and one leg stayed in me. Ned spent over an hour digging in my gut with a needle, but he finally got the head out and now I am no longer allowed to pull my own ticks.        We passed Big Paw on our way into Kent; he was headed out of the next shelter. Our first stop in town was to be the outfitter. Ned needed a headlamp (he lost his) and I need a new platy hose (mine is growing things). On our way we passed Matt who said, ¢Hey Flanders, I¢ve got a present for you.¢ He had found Ned¢s lost light and had carried it for him!! We will buy and carry some candy to thank Matt for that!        So we did the outfitter, talked some more with Twofiddy, who gave us denatured alcohol, did laundry with Bree, grocery shopped, ate Italian with Bree, and prepared to head out of town to camp in the pouring rain. But, on our way out, Spiderman told us the church hostel that had been closed, had just opened, so we decided to go there instead. We found Bree at the liquor store and told her the good news and there was much rejoicing. The store owner gave us each a free beer for signing his AT map and cranked up the music. What fun!!        When we got to the church, we found Fido Dido and Dirty Bird whom we haven¢t seen in FOREVER so we talked for a long time and eventually went to sleep very late.                                                                Chicken Feet
Date: 2003-07-12
From: Kent

To: Sharon Mt. Campsite
Miles today: 19.4
Weather: scattered clouds

We¢re finally over 12 miles per day! It only took us 122 days. We wanted to leave early, but Lydia was slightly tired. She was all set to go after a hot pocket from the gas station. We bumped into Cobra and Splash, drying out their gear. Cobra told us the latest news in the saga of their son, Spawn. On the next mountain, we bumped into an outdoor experience rock climbing class. It didn¢t look like they knew what they were doing. The next 5 miles followed the Housatonic River, flatly. Lydia was jealous of Fido Dido and Dirty Bird sunning on the river, so we had lunch by the river. Bree, Spiderman, Cobra and Splash all joined us. We had delicious cheddar tuna, and ranch sandwiches. Then we had another roller coaster, yielding 5 decent climbs, and several good views. We ate dinner at Pine Swamp Brook Lean to. It¢s a good thing we decided to buy the filter because the water was, well, swampy. Dinner was Ramen and Lydia¢s homemade egg powder, tasty, with a gritty texture. Even though we were pretty tired, we pushed another two and a half miles to make the walk into Salisbury, CT easier tomorrow. We found a great spot at the Sharon Mt. Campsite. Although the bugs were nonexistent all day, they swarmed at night. It brought not-so-distant flashbacks of New Jersey.                                                                Flanders
Date: 2003-07-13
From: Sharon Mt. Campsite

To: Plateau Campsite
Miles today: 14.2

Lydia¢s choke has been broken for a while, so she can be hard to start on a cold morning. She didn¢t think to put on her long sleeve capilene, so she didn¢t sleep well. I filtered water out of a nearby stream. I must say I prefer the days when springs were plentiful. We had another morning battle with the skeeters. They won. We weren¢t in too big of a hurry because we were meeting Lydia¢s cousin, Craig, and his family at 5. We took a long break at the first nice vista. It is truly wonderful to see real mountains and valleys again. The climbs were much easier than yesterday. We passed a hydroelectric plant. The guide book claimed there was a shower at the brick building covered in vines. The building was locked and it took us a few minutes to find the shower, hidden by the vines. As we were next to a road, we chose no to shower. We took another break at Great Falls. We stopped and ate lunch at Rand¢s view. It was a beautiful field with a view of (what we later found out) Mt. Everett, which we hiked back when we lived in Worcester, MA. Bree, Spiderman, and Matt showed up and stopped to enjoy the view. I like taking breaks with Spiderman because he has a small portable radio that we all listen to. We took another short break at Giant¢s Thumb, a boulder sticking out of the ground that looks like a¢¦. oh, never mind. Before we knew it, we were only 3 miles from Salisbury. I decided to play guitar for our 12 mile walk into town. Without thumbing, a guy stopped and offered a ride. We made a quick stop at the grocery store. Then Craig and Tammy, and their two kids, Dalton and Kristen showed up. We ate at a pizza place in Canaan. Thanks for dinner! They asked all kinds of questions. They seemed very interested, but with the exception of Dalton, it didn¢t sound like hiking was their cup o¢ tea. We went back to Salisbury for ice cream, and we hit the trail just before 8. It was a piece-o¢-cake mile to a vacant campsite. The skeeters were bad, so it was a quick setup and jump in the tarp. Race and Everett tomorrow!!                                                                Flanders
Date: 2003-07-14
From: Plateau Campsite

To: Hemlock Lean-to
Miles today: 13.2

Today was a very fun day. We hiked this section almost two years ago. So, we were looking forward to recognizing the views, and we got a great day for it. We climbed Lion¢s Head first. Bree and Spiderman were waiting at the top. They had gotten terrific trail magic yesterday in Salisbury, so they got a late start. Bear Mt. was next. Spiderman was looking forward to the rock tower at the top, and it wasn¢t until we got there that we remembered that it was just a memorial. It brought back a few good memories. We ate lunch at Bear Rock falls, where Mark, Lydia and I all played before. We wouldn¢t have found it had we not been there before. We also found our stealth campsite where we¢d accidentally left our cooking grill. In under two minutes, I¢d found it, a bit rusted, but still a keeper. Then we had the huge, long climb up Race Mt. The climb was spectacular as we could see Bear Mt. and Lion¢s Head behind us and Mt. Everett in front. The Everett climb was steeper and shorter than Race. Bree and Spiderman were waiting for us at the top. We were done with four big climbs and had just over a mile left. Crow was already there. After the standard evening chores and a quick dinner, we were off to bed. It was a great day for bringing back old memories.                                                                Flanders
Date: 2003-07-15
From: Hemlock Lean-to

To: South Mt. Wilcox Lean-to
Miles today: 19.7

We left early since we were the only ones going to town and we didn¢t want to lose the others. Lots of swamps today. We walked over puncheon (bog bridge) after puncheon. You know what swamps and puncheons mean? Skeeters. They were bad. Not New Jersey bad, but bad still. And the worst part- we found red raspberries for the first time. We managed to get a couple handfuls, but that was all I could take. At the first parking lot, near Shay¢s Rebellion Monument, we met a section hiker and a lady who, after finding we walked over 1500 miles, said the grocery store was two miles down would be a hop, skip, and a jump for us. We got to our hitchin¢ road around mid-morning. I spotted a trail magic cooler to drink while we hitched. The local outfitter owner picked us up in no time. He took us to his shop where Lydia bought a new hose (yeah) and a mushroom guide. We ate lunch at a bagel shop that wasn¢t as good as Bodo¢s, but had chocolate chip bagels. (YUM!!) Then we went to grab some food at the BigY. Guess who was there- PuffPuff and Snappy! We finally caught them, or maybe they just slowed down. We were so excited. We hadn¢t seen them since Trail days. The outfitter guy gave us a ride back, where we met up with PuffPuff and Snappy. We had a lot of catching up to do. We spent most of the day swapping stories from the last two months. When we got to Benedict Pong, the Pox and Trailfrog were there. We all stopped to hand out. Lydia and I took a quick dip, but it was pretty dirty. Then Spiderman, Bree, and Crow all showed up- they went to town after all. After a while, we all headed on. We wanted to camp near the pond, but there wasn¢t any tasty water. The Mt. Wilcox Shelter was crowded. Matt and the New Zealander were already setup. We found a spot to tarp beside the shelter. We ate dinner and went to bed to avoid the pesky skeeters.                 Flanders
Date: 2003-07-16
From: South Mt. Wilcox Lean-to

To: Upper Goose Pond
Miles today: 15.8
Weather: mist

It rained in the morning, so we all (Bree, Spiderman, The Fox, Puff Puff, Snappy, Ned, and me) were slow getting up. We packed up in the tarp-tent and then moved under the shelter. The Fox snored while we all chit chatted about Privy graffiti so we were happy not to be keeping him awake.         It sort of stopped raining so Ned and Snappy got water and then we started our hike into the damp hazy forest. It was hazy all day. It wasn¢t so bad that we couldn¢t see the mountains in the distance- just a light mist that made everything a little whiter. We hiked with Puff Puff and Snappy all day and saw the Fox off and on. The fox had a dog follow him for at least a mile before he walked it all the way back to its owners. We were impressed.        We ended up at Upper Goose Pond Cabin. It was PACKED. Flo, Space Monkey, Trailfrog, Harmon, Spiderman, Bree, Dudemachine, Red, The New Zealander, and many, many more. The huge shelter was full, there were at least 4 people in hammocks and we could barely find a spot for our tent. A lot of the crowd had zeroed there today so we were excited to finally catch up to Flo and Space Monkey- we hadn¢t seen them since PA.         We hung out at the pong with a big group for a while, catching up and watching Grampy, the caretaker, mull around the lake in his canoe. Ned and I ate pudding, jerky, tuna, and 100 Grand bars for dinner (we are completely out of food) and went to bed. Poor Ned could not handle the rock under his pad so we switched places and I slept on it. Chicken Feet
Date: 2003-07-17
From: Upper Goose Pond

To: Kay Wood Shelter
Miles today: 17.6
Weather: overcast clouds

Grampy makes pancakes each morning- $3 AYCE, but he only makes 2 at a time so we decided 20 plus and people all waiting for pancakes was more of a hassle than anything else, especially since we had to go to town anyway for groceries. So we left early, shocking each person who asked when we said ¢no, we¢re not having any pancakes.¢ Harmon left about the same time we did carrying the empty half-gallon glass container of Jim Beam they¢d had on their zero. We decided to take it with us two miles to Lee so he wouldn¢t have to carry it 21 miles to Dalton. We crossed the Mass Pike and then hitched to Lee of Route 20. a really nice guy picked us up and told us we had to go to Joe¢s Diner- the one Norman Rockwell made famous, so he dropped us off there. We were glad we didn¢t have pancakes! After the diner we walked to Price Chopper and then hitched back to the trail. This time, we got picked up by a canoer guy- who was planning to do a 4-week wilderness canoe trip in Canada next year. We were in traffic with him for a while and then started up the trail again at 10:30 with 16 miles left to go.        I guess everyone from the cabin was in front of us for we only ran into 2 NOBOS (northbound thru-hikers)- Blue and Red. They are just getting back on after a weeklong break- Red¢s sister had a baby! We met 3 SOBOS (south bounder thru-hikers) however. Meeting SOBOs is fun, but always fleeting, since we never meet again. The first was a fast mover from Northern Deland and the second two were name Cefus and Smokey. They were approaching as Ned came running down the mountain singing gibberish at me, guitar in hand. They were laughing at him before he even knew they were there!        Ned played guitar while the terrain was flat, and I identified some yellow mushrooms as Amanita Flavoconia using my new mushroom book. We stopped at ¢ The Cookie Lady¢s¢ for water and cookies. The ¢cookie lady¢ was actually the husband, but he still gave us cookies. We talked for a little while and I played with his adorable little mutt, Rufus. Rufus is the essence of love and affection and I wish he had followed us up the trail.        We got to the shelter to find that everyone except (Old) Red, (Young) Red, and Blue had gone into Dalton. We were not surprised, and though we are a wee bit jealous of the Wachusett Country Ale they are probably all drinking right now, we decided to stay.                Chicken Feet
Date: 2003-07-18
From: Kay Wood Shelter

To: Mark Noepal Lean-to
Miles today: 16.7

Up at a good hour, we had to get to Dalton to meet Puff Puff and Snappy for breakfast. We had carried a crumb coffee cake and the package was open. So, we decided to eat the 1+ lb. cake and still eat in Dalton. I did some laundry in the creek. Just before Dalton, we ran into Snappy, sitting in the trail. We ate at Duff + Dell¢s. Afterward, we did the ¢bounce box routine¢ in the Post Office since it had started pouring.                                                                Flanders        We headed into the woods just before a group of girl scouts. After 9 miles we walked to Cheshire (really just a gas station) and ate a pint of Ben and Jerry¢s each. After this ice cream dinner with Space Monkey, Red, Puff Puff and Snappy, we climbed almost 2000 feet to the Mark Noepal Lean-to. There was a large crowd there ¢ Spiderman, Bree, Harmon, Trailfrog, FLOWcefus, and a couple of section hikers. Flanders and Space Monkey played guitar for a while and Puff Puff played with birch and fire. Climbing Greylock first thing tomorrow.                                                                    Chicken Feet
Date: 2003-07-19
From: Mark Noepal Lean-to

To: Williamstown, MA
Miles today: 9.6

When we woke up we could count over 25 slugs attached to our tarp or slowly finding their way to our stuff. And those were just the ones we could see lying down. It had rained hard in the night and we had puddles here, slug juice (poop) there. Getting packed up was nasty business but eventually I overcame the yellow goo hanging onto my hiking pole grip and we set off for Greylock after reminding the hammock hangers they would probably miss the post office in Williamstown if they didn¢t get up soon.        The Greylock summit has a road, a lodge and a tower on top. We climbed the tower, checked out the lodge and decided not to shower for $6. We had a steep downhill (1500 feet in 1 mile) on our way to get to Williamstown. Spiderman passed us, and Bree and FLOW caught up and we decided to hitch to Chinese buffet. Just as they got a hitch, Puff Puff and Snappy arrived, so we all ate Chinese buffet, shopped, and decided to split a motel for the night. Space Monkey joined the party and FLOW decided to move on.        The motel ended up being far away ¢ we had to hitch all the way to Vermont, practically. But after everyone was there safely, we relaxed, got clean, and had a good time watching Austin Powers, Dumb and Dumber, Crank Yankens, and Saturday Night Live.                                                          Chicken Feet
Date: 2003-07-20
From: Williamstown, MA

To: Seth Warner Shelter
Miles today: 6.9
Weather: scattered clouds

Not surprisingly, we got a late start. We weren¢t looking forward to the hitch back either. We watched the weather channel long enough to hear a chance of rain every day. The hitch wasn¢t too bad, a nice girl with a huge van picked up four of us. Had a good breakfast at Friendly¢s, and got a few odds and ends at the grocery store. It was just four miles to the Vermont border. We had a quick celebration ¢ 11 down, 3 to go. We¢ll share the next 97 miles with the Long Trail. We stopped at the first shelter ¢ a mere 6.9 miles. There were a bunch of girl scouts in the shelter ¢ one of the few groups that seemed to be enjoying themselves. We camped, cooked, and played guitar with Puff Puff, Snappy, Hotdog, and Wench.                                                                Flanders
Date: 2003-07-21
From: Seth Warner Shelter

To: Harmon Hill
Miles today: 9.7

Happy Birthday Puff Puff! We planned a short day with an early start. Snappy gave Puff Puff her Bday spankings. We wanted to take a break at Sucker Pond, but we missed it. We got to Harmon Hill around 2. We decided to call it a day and relax for Puff Puff¢s Bday. Bree gave her Make-Your-Own Balloons for a gift. We got a pretty good view of Bennington before the clouds rolled in. Not too long after, Space Monkey showed up! Before too long, the sky opened up with lot of thunder. We hung out under Puff Puff and Snappy¢s tents. It passed pretty quickly and the sky cleared up again. We all made dinner. Monkey and I played a lot of guitar. We went to bed because another storm is approaching. We probably should move on, but it¢s hard when camp is all set up.                                                                Flanders