morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2003-05-23
From: St. Mary's , Cheshire

To: Mark Noepel Lean-to
Miles today: 4.4

Today was a late starter, I spent the morning talking with the owner of the cafe across from the church and then I watched the diversity parade the local school children were taking part in waving all the flags from round the world to show what the make up of the country is.So I did not manage to get very far which is probably a good thing so I can rest up my injury.The rain started just as I left the church to hike out and stopped just as I reached the shelter , on arrival at the shelter I was suprised to find 4 ladies who were out for the night 2 from Boston and 2 from Vermont.1 of the ladies from Vermont has hiked the trail before but she done it in a different manner from the way I am doing it because it took her 16 years to do it in sections ,but the way things are looking I could be in the same boat.The 2 girls from Boston got a fire going but it didn't last to long because the other 2 complained about the smoke coming into the shelter , this sort of thing must happen a lot and it is a bit of a dilema because camp fires are a big part of staying out in the great outdoors and everyone has the right to build a fire but I suppose it comes down to respecting your fellow hikers wishes.All the same it does put a dampener on the night without a fire.
Date: 2003-05-25
From: Wilbur Clearing Lean-to

To: Seth Warner shelter
Miles today: 9.9
Weather: broken clouds

Got going same time as yesterday ,I hiked down to the road with Jen & Mary and then I made a beeline to the Supermarket 0.3 mile down the road for some much needed supplies , I stocked up on some goddies and made my way back to the trail where I got eaten alive for the rest of the day by the black flies.I crossed over my final state line today into Vermont and met another hiker at the start of the long trail , I forget his name but he was a big Dutchman from Wissconson.I introduced myself and he said "Oh your the Flying Scotsman" its amazing how word travels along the trail !! It turns out he was staying at the upper goosee pond cabin a few days ago and he was treated to some good old New England Hospitality by Pat & Kathy(which I was lucky to recieve also) ,Its sounds as if he eat pancakes until they were coming out of his ears.I must stop there next time !!!!!I started a fire when I got to the shelter to try and get rid of the bugs and thankfully it worked.My foot was again giving me crap today which prompted me to decide on finishing my hike as it is impossible for me to finish this year going at this rate.This saturday I am going to hike my last miles on the AT for this trip , It has been one of the hardest decisions I have ever made to finish my hike but for various reasons I have came to my conclusion to finish on Saturday.My main reason for finishing is that I fear that if I keeping on pushing myself I am going to put my foot out of action for a long time which is something that would drive me crazy because I love being out here hiking but not just hiking on this trail but all the trails I have hiked before and all the trails I have ahead of me.I have been planing to go to Spain for a while with my Dad in september to do a 500 mile hike across the Pyrnees called the Pilgrims trail so I must also think of my fitness for that.So I am going to take my flight a week on monday back to the Motherland , but before I go home I wi! ll spend a week in Stamford with family to relax and enjoy thier company once again before I leave the good ole U.S.A..........I am going to finish my hike by going up Stratton mt which is the place where the idea of AT was born by a man named Benton Mackaye who says he first thought of the desirability of a eastern continental trail while sitting on a tree up on the summit.While up on top of the summit I will think back over the last 20 weeks of the solitude, fun,adventure & new friends his good idea has given to me.I will come back to finish one day but when I don't know , because I have learned so many things while hiking this trail and one thing I learned is not to plan too far ahead because you never know for sure whats up and over the otherside of the mountain.
Date: 2003-05-28
From: Bennington

To: Goddard shelter
Miles today: 10.1
Weather: light rain

I got up and went with Jim for breakfast in NY state since it was cheaper than Vermont because there is no tax on the food.Who said he's a cheap Scotsman ??.After I got my pack organised and then made tracks and hitched back up to the trail.Well it rained on and off all day and I am sure this is good aclimitisation for heading home , the views were pretty non existant since I was in the clouds all day.The one good thing about the rain is the fact that it keeps the black flies away.I reached the shelter to find 4 others already there , all 4 were guys from PA mark,tony,ricky and nicholas up on a section hike.We had a good laugh talking about bears , snakes and spiders !!!! where else could you laugh about this sort of stuff ???I started to feel not quite right as I was coming up the mountain and now I feel as if I have the same type of virus as before coming on !!! my stomch is like a washing machine stuck in its final spin !!! this is all I need on my last few days.
Date: 2003-05-29
From: Goddard shelter

To: Story Spring shelter
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

I had to drag myself out from my sleeping bag today , the clouds were down low and it was raining on and off so I needed extra motivation to get trucking.In fact I was still in my sleeping bag when Paul & Laura arrived at lunchtime , I got up and organised myself and enjoyed the walk through the rainy cloudy day up and down the green mountains of Vermont.I saw only one other hiker , 1 gossee , 2 frogs and 3 salamanders .....Oh McDonald had a farm e i e i O'......Oh how can I forget one of the most bizzare things happend to me as I was walking along the trail I spotted 2 girls standing and as I got closer I noticed another girl crouching down and looked like she was peeing , I tried not to look but as I was standing only 10 ft away from her and she started to join in on the conversation I was having with her friends it was hard to keep looking away , we were talking for about 5 mins and then she butted in to ask for toliet roll !!!! I was speachless.....I stood talking with !them all for a while and even shook her hand as she left without even thinking about it ...They were all in thier 20s and studying at Williams College and came from Seattle I suppose it must be pretty primitive living out there. The miles were not made easy by my foot and the virus I have seem to have picked up ,I am sure I got it from the water I drank from the stream when I shared the shelter with the big Dutchman from Wissconsin , the Dutchman left me a note in the register at one of the shelters I passed today and it read something like this "if its not Dutch its Cra__P" now if he was talking about Dutch beer I must agree with him but anything else forget about it.I have walked up steeper & higher hills behind the shelters to collect wood for the fire than any hills they have in Holland and maybe we wear kilts in Scotland but they walk about with big clumps of wood on thier feet + the fact all of the apartments they built in Amsterdam seem to be leaning to one side and they can't seem to grow anything but flowers.I am sharing the shelter with Paul & Laurie tonight both are doing a section hike , they introduced me to Smores tonight and couldn't believe I have never tried them before I also done something I have not done in about 10 years.....cooked marshmallows round the camp fire mmmmmmmmmTommorow is my second last day on the trail !!!! time has gone so fast , I wish I could rewind the whole trip and it was january again and I was down in North Carolina standing in 2ft of snow freezing my ass off looking for the shelter in some snow storm......they are the best memories and times that I had on the trail.
Date: 2003-05-30
From: Story Spring shelter

To: Branch Pond Douglas shelter
Miles today: 14.0

My last full day !!! I didn't get going until 1000hrs and the sun was suprisingly shining for me.I had a spring in my step well at least in my right step , the scenery is just starting to really change the last 30 miles with the mountains starting to rise higher&higher and lots of the flowers are poping out he ground with everything all around me getting cloaked in green.I met Paul & Laurie at he bottom of Stratton Mt talking to a couple of good ole boys from TN , the accent brought back some good memories and so did the difficulty of communication....I said to them "you aint from around here boy".The black flies were so bad we did not spend much time with small talk before we all split and I steamed ahead up the trail towards the summit of Stratton Mt......the wierdest song came on the radio just as I was reaching the top , its a song better than any other song I could have imagined to finsh my hike; "500 miles" by the Proclaimers!!! So on I marched to the top singing "I would walk 500 miles and I would walk 500 more just to be the man who walked a 1000 miles to fall down at your door...da da da da" So I reached the top and found there was a fire tower and I climbed up to the top and the views all arund me were so good and all I could think about was how much even more amazing they must be the further north from here.I spoke to the GMC caretaker on top and she told me about a couple who had been asking if I had passed by last weekend , she says they were from NH but I cant think of who it would be? I decended the mountain listening to another fitting tune "Beautiful Day" U2, !The sun was shining for me on the way up and down but as soon as I got near the pond shelter it started to rain so I stopped off in there and had a siesta......after the black flies ate me alive !!!! I got wakened up by a couple of young guys who were out doing the long trail , I was thinking about staying the night at the shelter but as soon as these guys took thier boots off and I caught a whiff of their feet I thought I would make like a TREE and LEAVE.....I walked through the rain 4.7 miles towards Douglas pond shelter thinking about my lucky escape !!! I could have fallen into a deep sleep and woken up to that pungent stench.I made it to the shelter to enjoy some more company of the black flies and Paul&Laurie who now have the trail names of Jack&Jill , they gave the names to themselves but I thought they were perfect because they insited on carrying 4 bucket sized nalagene bottles full of water from shelter to shelter even although the springs are running stronger than they have been in years.They were a nice couple and that was the 2nd night I spent talking with them ,although I was a little disturbed when Jack asked me if Dublin was the capital of Scotland.....*&%^&*&%#@(*.
Date: 2003-06-05
From: Branch Pond Douglas shelter

To: SCOTLAND
Miles today: 0.0

I will be posting my last entrie in a few days , I am very busy getting things ready for going home to Scotland on monday and I am getting post-trail deppression.........I have got a recruit to track down Wild Turkey....My friend that I started with and who busted his knee after a few days has arrived back in the USA and is catching a bus up to Maine tommorow to start a southbound thru-hike.His name is Mat Hazley and he will be filling in all the gaps for "if its nae scottish its cra__p".......only until he meets up with wild Turkey on the trail , so he can finish the way he started !!!!!!!!!!!! reading my Cra__pAnyway I am sure many of you will bump into Mat on the trail and have fun.
Date: 2003-06-09
From: AMERICA

To: SCOTLAND
Miles today: 0.0

Well my trip has came well and truly to an end since I am sitting on a Virgin Atlantic flight heading back to where I belong , I thought this would be a good place to do my last entrY ;32,000 ft high and travelling at 572mph......only if I could have had one of these planes on the trail !!!Time has passed so quick and I am now starting to reflect on my time in the USA , it all started when I got a bus down from Canada to NY with the intentions of finding some work for the summer and then travelling down to South & Central America.But how things changed and I ended up on a trip that turned out to be the biggest adventure of my life.....!!So I spent 6 months spending time to get to know America with family in Stamford C.T and I had a great time while there and I got to learn what I thought America was like but my real education to the country as a whole was when I first put foot on the mountains of the Appalachains.....It seems like so long ago that I was down at Springer Mt full of hopes & fears of what lay ahead of me , I always said that I would finish the trail and would not return home until I did but over time this obviusly changed changed......I must admit to being something of a purist when I started but after Damascus that went down the tubes and I decided it was not all about this crazy idea of just followng the white blazes , it was about getting from A to B and not just following in the foot steps of everyone else (not that many people were around).The trail was in the end totally different to what it was at the start , in the begining I was ploughing through the snow day after day and not bothering to think about much else except from sleeping in my not so warm sleeping bag and eating.When the snow dissapeared all I was thinking about then was doing the miles and doing them fast but in the end after I went to traildays I really saw what the trail is for the majority of the hikers...mixing with other people day in day out and getting to know them.I only really got to spend time with Rocket for a long period of time and I also hung out with Bono ,Shennandoah Snail , Patience and Mineral Mark but only for a week............so I never got out of the trail what most others get.I did get many things which some hikers probably wish for some days ..Shelters all to myself most of the way or sharing with a few people , I also got the feeling of true solitude and being totally cut of from people and what was going on beyond the mountains.I met so many kind and friendly people it would take too much space up to mention them all and none of them did it for recognitionThank you all so very much....
Date: 2003-01-05
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

OK   ...OK   ...so I thought my gear list had been finalized! About a week ago I was reading over some journal entries and my wife (BA Turtle) came into the room. She was looking over my shoulder as I read the entry from Moose about his Nomad Lite tent from Wanderlust. I commented to her about how I had been looking at that tent for quite a while and totally out of the blue she said   ..."well then, I think you need one for your thru this year". Is that a fantastic (and understanding) partner or what ?? She literally went right downstairs, made out the check to Kurt Russell at Wanderlust and put it in the mail.Now all I can hope for is that Kurt's backlog will allow for me to receive my new tent before I head on toward Atlanta on 3/22. Even if it doesn't arrive in time, I'll start off with my Walrus Zoid I and then Turtle will send it to me when it comes in.The really good news is that the Nomad Lite, at 1 pound 11 oz, cuts over a pound off my total pack weight and as we all know   ...every once counts !Everything else is coming along great. I have my "food" mail drops all worked out and I have started to break down my maps into packets that coincide with various mileage points along the trail. As with most 2003 hikers, I have begun to get pretty antsy to be out there on the trail. I plan to work at my current job until the beginning of March   ...that is unless my employer shows me door sooner. Truly looking forward to setting foot on Springer again and starting my journey of a lifetime. Best regards to my 2003 AT family. Be seeing you all very soon now !!GA -> ME 2003
Date: 2003-01-09
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Well   ...at long last I have chosen a new trail name. As funny as this may seem to some people, I really wanted my trail name to have some special significance, at least to me. After a search into words related to walking, hiking and marching I stumbled into the word "Footslogger". I liked it immediately but had no real idea as to its meaning or derivation. Naturally I turned to the internet for answers. One of the first hits was a website dedicated to ex-POW's. Being a former Airborne Infantryman myself that appealed to me, but when I actually dug into the website I realized it was one of those things that was just meant to be. Rather than paraphrase, I am just going to paste below the poem that I saw as the page appeared on my monitor ...-------------------------------------------------------------------------The Footslogger Here¢s to the ¢footslogger¢ of the Infantry.Who in battle has nothing in front of him, but the enemy.You will fight, take, and hold the ground, Roosevelt said it.You will win the war, but the Wac, Waves, and Air Corp will get the credit.For us, there is no wonderful speeches or renown.We are the queen of battles, but have no crown.Come all you footsloggers roll your packs,and put them high upon your backs.We have a long hike ahead and we have no pay,But when the day is done all you¢ll want is to stop and hit the hay.You don¢t need money, you¢ll never get it spent.For where you go none of our fighters have not yet went. To take that last cool drink from that French well,Go out and meet Jerry and by God give him hell.For with your faithful M1 and bayonet,You¢re the toughest fighter the world has seen yet. Through artillery shelling and Air Corp bombing, Jerry will stay,But to hear the tramp of your advancing feet,he will runaway.To see us coming is what they really dreadThey even leave their stinking, uncovered dead.Your buddy is killed, dead and gone,But his act of heroism will forever live on.We have just one more long, long trekAnd that is on the somewhat lonesome road back.We gave them hell wherever we went,They learned we were the toughest yet.The war is now over, Forever finished and through?Or will we allow them to rise up and start anew?If we still have the infantry you can bet,We¢ll again be the toughest they have ever seen yet.So salute the footslogger of the infantry,Who in battle had nothing in front of him but the enemy.--------------------------------------------------------------The above poem was submitted by the wife of a POW in Germany during WWII.In taking this as my trail name I have decided to dedicate my hike to all present and past POW's. May their memories live on and let us never forget about them !! Thanks for stopping in and reading my journal. Stay tuned for additional entries as the calendar winds down to 3/29 and I take my first steps north from Springer Mountain.Safe Hiking   ...and Happy Trails
Date: 2003-01-24
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Tonight was a very special night and one worthy of an entry in my journal. It has nothing to do direclty with my upcoming hike. Rather, it was a reminder of just how special a thru hike can be. About 3 hours ago we heard the doorbell ring. As we opened the door we realized that a couple with whom we had hiked the AT in 2001 were standing on our doorstep. Yep   ...that's right, it was "Slow" and "Steady", thru hikers from the class of 2001. They were on their way from Kansas City to Park City Utah for some skiing and decided to pay us an unannounced visit. We hadn't seen them since last year in Damascus at Trail Days. After reminiscing about our mutual experiences and leafing through our album of AT pictures we went downtown and had a nice dinner.They are gone now and headed for their ski vacation and I just had to sit and reflect a moment on their visit. For all those among you who have hiked the trail and enjoyed this type of friendship my entry here is nothing new. For those just setting out on the trail for the first time I wanted to share with you that this is just one of the wonderful things you can expect. And finally, for those of you who will will never hike the trail and wonder sometimes why WE do it, I wanted you to know that this is one of many reasons.
Date: 2003-03-02
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

My last day of work is 3/14. Got my flight to Atlanta. Now things will really start to fall into place. I've given myself one week to tie up all loose ends here in Wyoming and then on 3/23 I'm outta here. I'm staying with my old hiking partner Ed (thanks Ed) and planning to spend the next 4 - 5 days visiting family and friends. Then on 3/29, Ed will shuttle these old bones up to FS42,where I will hike to the top of Springer Mountain, sign in and begin my journey.Little by little the living room is again starting to look like a living room, rather than a D & D sale at REI. My initial mail drop box and my "bouce box" are just about ready to be sealed and mailed. Since I am flying into Atlanta, I have taken a lot of stuff out of my pack that might draw unwarranted concern from airline security and sending it via UPS ahead of time.The wheels are in motion. There's no turning back now. This is an experience for which I have planned and prepared over the past several years. It's rare for 5 or 10 minutes to go by now and find me not thinking about some aspect of the trail or my hike. I have begun to take stock of the many comforts and conveniences I will be putting aside for the next 6 months. Most of all I have started to come to terms with being away from my partner, best friend and soulmate during that period. Of all the things I will be giving up during my hike I will miss her love and companionship the most. I haven't even left yet and I am already looking forward to May, when Leslie will meet me in Virginia to attend the Trail Days event in Damascus and then hike along for a month, before returning to teach her Fall semester classes. Last night Leslie bought me a little surprise for my hike - the 3rd book in the Lord of the Rings series ..."The Return of the King". I wasn't originally thinking of taking anything to read with me on the trail but I must admit, I'd like to have that book read by the time the movie is released later this year.I am actually starting to believe that this thru-hike will happen. The process has boiled down to a check list of "Things to Do", which ironically seems to be growing rather than shrinking   ...but I WILL GET IT ALL DONE !!Stay tuned. I still have a few more weeks to add an update or two to the "Preparation" section of my journal, before the real fun begins.
Date: 2003-03-23
To: Saying goodbye is never easy!
Miles today: 0.0

Set the alarm for 5:30 AM and woke up at 4:45. Went ahead and got up and took a shower. Did a final e-mail check. I sent out a message to everyone in my address book entitled "This is it!"Les got up in the meantime. We buttoned up the bags and loaded the car. Headed out and stopped at McDonald's in Laramie for breakfast. After that we made a bee-line for Denver International Airport. We made great time since E470 is now open. We had to pay tolls but really smooth sailing. The lines were long at the airport check-in, but they moved quickly.Les and I had avoided talking much about me going to cut down on the tears, but when we got to concourse security there was no holding it back. I've left and flown away before but nothing like this. Leaving someone you truly love is hard as hell!All for now. I'm sitting at the gate waiting for my flight to be called . . .