morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2016-07-16
From: Wintturi Shelter

To: Thistle Hill Shelter
Miles today: 11.6
Weather: few clouds

Day 32: The shelter and tent camping area were packed last night. As we said in the last entry, the thru-hiking bubble has caught up with us!! We felt bad about making the first early noises, though not so bad when we were the 4th and 5th people leaving, at 6:40am.The trail started out with a short climb before it made a roller coaster descent. 4 climbs of significance today ranging from 400 to 700 feet.What was nice and different, was all the farms we saw and all the grass hay fields we walked along the edges. Today's photo shows one of them. We even topped some hills, covered in weeds, instead of forest and got fantastic views.In one case, we could see back to tall, conical Killington Peak, which we climbed to near the top, several days ago. It still amazes us how far we go in a day just hiking.A special treat for us later in the afternoon was ice cream and root beer! At one of the road crossings was a sign inviting hikers to walk up .2 mile to Cloudland Farm market/restaurant. Three other hikers were there when we got there. We bought our treats and sat out on the porch, enjoying the chairs and sunshine.We finally arrived at our destination shelter at 6:35pm. It is not as crowded as last nights.Spider did okay today but still issues with his knees left him struggling to keep up with ET. Resituating braces on his left knee allowed him to go reasonably pain-free as long as he didn't raise the foot higher than 3 inches. Fortunately today's trail didn't require that. However no adjusting of braces could solve the downhill issues with the right knee. While typing this, it aches and is slightly swollen. It may need a doctor's attention.
Date: 2016-07-17
From: Thistle Hill Shelter

To: Norwich Inn, Norwich, VT
Miles today: 13.2
Weather: scattered clouds

Day 33: Spider finally cried "Uncle" and we have ended our hike for this year. His right knee is progressively hurting more and he doesn't want to do any permanent damage (presuming he hasn't already!!). Also looking ahead on the trail, there are some steep ups and downs coming up in the next couple of days: 1200 feet Holts Ledges, 2400 feet Smarts Mountain and 3700 feet Mt. Moosilauke. Neither knee would probably do well based on their current condition. The other advantage of stopping now is that the AT in traversing a major urban area with the associated transportation services that can get us to an airport so we can fly home. Hanover, NH is just across the Connecticut River from where we are now and is the home to Dartmouth College....so lots of services around.Back to the trail...Our beautiful nighttime was interrupted by rumblings of thunder from a thunderstorm that rolled in at 1:00am and lasted until 6:00am. That meant both of us jumping up and out of the tent to finish setting up the rain fly. We normally prefer to sleep in the tent without the rain fly. Our tent has "windows" (just netting, rather than tent material) on four sides. It offers great views, in all directions. But, because rain is a constant concern, we usually put the rain fly on top neatly arranged for quick completion. We just hook it to the frame on top, stake it down at the head end and leave the stakes handy. So last night, we put just-in-case into practice: pulled the rain fly over and staked out the four sides, so that the rain, rolled off and away from the tent. We finished the faintly set up and jumped back inside just before the first squall hit. The only consequences of rain in the morning is we have to pack our bags in the tent vestibules (tight quarters) and have to pack and carry a wet tent.Our trail to start was mostly downhill for a change, to the White River. We started hiking at 6:50am and enjoyed our usual breakfast on the trail to blue skies. Along the way, we hiked through and topped hills of open meadows, like we have the last few days. We noticed lots more wildflowers blooming, like the huge patch of Black-eyed Susan's, shown in our photo for today.Once we made it down, then of course we had to hike up and over another mountain (1000 ft. climb and descent) to the Connecticut River. We told ourselves that if we made it to the Happy Hill Shelter at mile 8.8 by 3:00pm, then we would call for a hotel room reservation and continue to Norwich. (Spider was hiking at 3/4 speed!) We made it by 1:45, so on we went.We arrived at the Norwich Inn at 5:15pm. It was just .25 mile off the AT and .9 miles to the Connecticut River, which forms the boundary between Vermont and New Hampshire. We plan to walk that .9 miles tomorrow, so we can finish our fourth state in this year's section hike, about 375 miles and 3/4 of our planned hike.We will spend the next day or so figuring out how to get home and make the appropriate reservations. It's too bad our hike this year had to end early but better safe than sorry, so Spider can hike another day!!
Date: 2016-07-19
From: Norwich Inn, Norwich, VT

To: Howard Johnsons, Newark, NJ
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: moderate rain

Day 34+1 - ?We finally got moving at 6am. We finished the last of our packing...amazing how much we spread out in a hotel room if we spend a couple of days there!! Today's picture is of the Norwich Inn. We went to the Inn's continental breakfast when it opened at 7am. Then back to the room to grab a couple of things and out to the bus stop to catch the 8:07am free bus back to Hanover, NH.We picked up our rental car in Hanover, returned to the Inn, packed the car, checked out and hit the road by 8:45am. We headed north on I-91 with partly sunny skies. Our hope was to get a look at the mountains we would be hiking next year as we drove northeast, but clouds hung low covering the mountain tops. As we made the final turn about 2 hours later and headed up into the mountains toward our destination of Pinkhams Notch, the weather transitioned from mostly sunny to light rain. Nearby Mt. Washington truly generates its own weather.We went to the Visitor Center and picked up the box we had sent with our clean traveling-home clothes. So now we had officially "unwound" ourselves from this hike...time to head home!!So back on the road heading south. We retraced our route driving by Norwich, VT where we had started 4.5 hours earlier. Our strategy in getting to Newark Airport was to head south until we started hitting the major populated areas, then head west far enough so that we could approach Newark from the west and be counter-commute (since we would hit this area during commute hours). The plan worked pretty well...until we hit stopped traffic on I-87 about 90 miles from Newark. It turned out that a crane had collapsed on the Tappan Zee Bridge where I-87 crosses the Hudson River and blocked ALL lanes going east. The result was a traffic jam of colossal ?magnitude...and we were in it!! Ironically we only had about 5 miles to go before we exited I-87 for another freeway, but it took us 1.5 hours to travel that 5 miles.The result was that we didn't get to our hotel until 8:30pm...a long day!!...and we still needed to drop off the rental car!!? So, we unpacked the car and Spider headed out to drop off the car at the nearby airport. Through a combination of a maze of highways with poor signage, closed gas stations, confusing signage, Spider's unfamiliarity with Newark Airport and slow hotel shuttle service, Spider did not get back to the hotel until 10pm. With the hotel's restaurant getting ready to shut down, ET order burgers as take-out.So finished our day with a romantic dinner of burgers and fries in our room at 10:30pm...then to bed. Tomorrow we fly home!!
Date: 2016-07-20
From: Howard Johnsons, Newark, NJ

To: Home
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Day 34+2 - We awoke at 6am, packed up and headed to the lobby to catch the 7am shuttle to the airport. There were about 20 people waiting for the shuttle..and the shuttle only handles about 12 people!!. Fortunately part of the group was a large Indian family who elected to wait for the next shuttle...so we got on.Arrived at the airport about 15 minutes later. We used our United miles to book business class seats, since that is what is available and this also gives Spider more leg room to stretch out the beat up knees. Of course this also made check-in much faster, as there were no lines. By 8am we were at our gate.After some coffee and a pastry, we settled in for the wait for our plane. It arrived on time and we got to board early. It turned out that his was a plane set up for international flights, since it was continuing on to New Zealand after its stop in San Francisco. So our seats were small pods with individual TV screens, upgraded headsets and fully reclining seats. Spider loved the leg room and the power foot rests that supported his knees.Our flight left on time and was uneventful. We both took advantage of the free libations by starting with mimosas!! The lunch meal was outstanding (particularly when compared to freeze-dried meals!!) and we both had a chance watch a movie we had been hearing about. We landed at SFO at about 1:20pm.Our packs were one of the first items off the conveyor belt, so we got jump on the crowd and headed to BART. We were picked up at our local BART station by our daughter-in-law...Thanks, Kate!!...and we arrived home at 3:30pm. It's nice to be home!!
Date: 2016-07-25
To: Home
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Day 34+7 ¢ We have been home for 6 days and have started to fill our calendar. We have also reflected on our AT hike and find it a mixture of joy and pain. It was certainly much harder than we had expected, based on the sections from Georgia we have already hiked¢¦.and we haven¢t even tackled New Hampshire yet. We will have to take that into consideration as we plan next year¢s hike. We loved the people we met, the trail magic and the views (when we had them!!). We also enjoyed the physical shape we worked ourselves into. We didn¢t like the rain, the steep, slippery rocks and roots, or the mud.We arrived home to find the ET had lost 8.5 lbs and Spider had lost 14 lbs¢¦.the AT Diet Plan worked!! We kept track of how many times we fell¢¦a slip down to one knee doesn¢t count, but a fall landing on your butt or back does. ET won this one, falling only 4 times in 4.5 weeks, where Spider fell 5 times.We evaluated what we took along and will probably make some changes. We brought a tarp that we sent home after 3 weeks. We had some clothing that we decided we could do without¢¦the continued quest to reduce the weight of our packs!! We never had a chance to test our colder weather gear selections, so probably won¢t make any changes there.Spider went to the doctor the day after we got home. The results of X-rays show that he has mild arthritis in both knees and suffers from bursitis and inflammation due to overuse¢¦no permanent damage. So he is now on mega-doses of Ibuprofen to knock the inflammation down. The left knee is already pretty much back to normal. The pain still persists in his right knee.So that¢s it for this year. The plan is to be back next year and hike 200-250 miles of the AT, focusing on shorter miles each day to save the knees and ENJOY the challenge!!
Date: 2016-03-17
From: Lance Creek 

To: neel gap
Miles today: 7.4

made it to Neel gap, dropped the two man tent 5.8 lbs., bought a new tent 2.8oz needed to drop some weight, it was tough climbing with my heavy pack. I was able to get my pack weight down to 38lbs.recieved some chick flay burgers and some soda's [trail magic), food and drinks donated by past AT thru hikers, what a blessing. met Jordan from Texas, Spaghetti legs-cotton-just to name a few of the thru hikers that I have met.
Date: 2016-03-18
From: neel gap

To: Whitley Gap Shelter
Miles today: 6.7
Weather: overcast clouds

pictures will not always be from the same day, hiked 1.2 miles off trail to shelter, met up with Bees-Bones-Crooked foot and silent Bob, sleep in my new tent, very nice.Starting to get toes jammed into boots, so many gaps and summits some times 200ft to 1000ft up and downs, it crazy.
Date: 2016-03-20
From: Low Gap Shelter

To: uicoil gap
Miles today: 9.7

Stayed at The Top of the mountain Georgia, also with Puma,flipper, eric,bees, and bones / had to buy a new stove / met Sir packs a lotnow completed 52.9 miles of the trail only averaged 7.3 miles a day this week and a long way to go.
Date: 2016-03-26
From: Rock Gap Shelter

To: Franklin,Va
Miles today: 0.0

Not much of a hike down to the gap from the shelter to get picked up by Ron Harper and Baltimore Jack who shuttled all of us into Franklin to the budget inn, owned and operated by Ron ( former 1970's wrestler ) Shared a cottage room with crooked foot and shadow, magic pizza night. resupplied , enjoyed pancake breakfast at the church, great service provided with a picture and post card. Gave my tablet and beats head phones to shadow along with my heavier charging pack to reduce my pack weight. No more movies at night in my tent, it was hard to let go of and at the same time good.
Date: 2016-03-27
From: Franklin,Va

To: Silver Bald Shelter
Miles today: 8.0

The start of week #3 Easter sunday, had a great breakfast at the church in Franklin this morning, hiked onto the trail with Katie today later to be given the trail name of Pluto, at the start of trail Tic put some trail magic eggs with chocolate in the along side the trail. Trail magic also left in a cooler , enjoyed a V-8 and banana. Crooked foot, shadow and many other hikers at the shelter tonight, kickit and larrybird also.Someday I will get all the pictures to line up with these entries.Toes are getting pretty sore from all the long steep down hill gaps.
Date: 2016-03-30
From: A. Rufus Morgan Shelter

To: sassafras gap shelter
Miles today: 7.7
Weather: clear sky

NOC center stopped in here today, outfitters to print out my Smokies permit only 1 mile from the shelter then 6.7 out to Sassafras.Met up with bees and bones again, along with shotgun carried a bag of wine up to the shelter (likes to party, former air line stewart ), happyfeet(german)tumbleweed formerly with pluto now hiking with shotgun. Lots of trial buddy changing going on, this trend will continue.
Date: 2016-04-27
From: devils fork gap to Uncle Jonny's

To: Damacus
Miles today: 32.6

made the challenge from the Vandeventer Shelter down into Damascus Va.Left the shelter at 5am and arrived in town at 8;15 just before the down pour and storm hit,stayed at the place the first night then stayed at the Woodchuck hostel in a teepee on my zero day.
Date: 2016-05-31
From: Priest Shelter

To: Reeds Gap[
Miles today: 15.5
Weather: broken clouds

Hiked into reeds gap with Cheddar and hitched a ride into Devils Backbone brewing company, they let hikers camp for free, great place , great food, and they tell me that the micro beers here were great too. Enjoyed the fellowship with they other hikers about 30 of us stayed here for the night, they also made us 5 a 5 dollar breakfast, it was outstanding. Will post some pic's later.
Date: 2016-06-04
From: waynesboro, Virginia

To: Blackrock Hut 
Miles today: 20.7
Weather: overcast clouds

Headed out of town, enjoyed a great stay at the church, met up with T3,Shiv, and Nature for start of a new pak of hikers " THE NAT PAK "Saw a section hiker group also heading out with a toilet seat.Ended up putting up my tarp before my tent because of the rain.
Date: 2016-06-15
From: Keys Gap

To: Happer's Ferry 
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

Hiked into town with T3 and Shivtotal miles at this time into the ATC head quarters was 1023.1 what we call the mental halfway point for the northbound hikers going to maine. Feels great to of reach this place, found a brand new pair of hiking boots in the hiker box, they said someone left them because of the blisters they started to get with them and that they were not able to return them, what a blessing , and to think that they were the right size for me. My salmons were really getting wore down, i was not sure they would of made it the rest of the way , and i did not have the money for new ones, but the lord does provide.
Date: 2016-06-22
From: Duncannon, Pa

To: Duncannon, Pa
Miles today: 0.0

Stayed a second night at Mary's Joker and Snickers and Elsa and Dreamer hiked on. This was a nice little town, but old with the Doyle bar and resturante if you want to call it that. They rooms for rent , but we still stayed at Mary's, heard too many bad things about the rooms at the Doyle.
Date: 2016-06-23
From: Duncannon, Pa

To: Duncannon, Pa
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

One more night, Nat pak broke up today as planned, Nature had to go to a wedding for a friend to return to the trail on Monday, and Shiv and T3 are working on their way to Germany and plan to return to the trail in 4 weeks and my catch up to me.Shiv and T3 were married back in February and then started vthe trail as part of their honeymoon.
Date: 2016-07-20
From: Duncannon, Pa

To: Kent CT.
Miles today: 12.7

Left the Wiley Shelter this morning to hike into Kent Ct for a re-supply with Nature, it was a pleasant day of hiking. Picked up a ride from the parking lot just as we were leaving the trail.I have a lot of catching up to do with my journals, but this is not the time.1454.0 to 1466.7 miles hiked through 9 states in # 10 right now.
Date: 2015-10-28
To: Mountain Home, TN
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: mist

Just opened this journal.....preparing for my 2016 thru hike of the AT, planning a departure date of March 5, 2016. Attending Appalachian Trail Institute Nov 1-5, 2015, at the Appalachian Folk School. Still working on getting in shape and losing weight.
Date: 2015-11-07
To: Sound bites from ATI
Miles today: 0.0

I enjoyed attending the Appalachian Trail Institute, learning many things, meeting wonderful people, and capturing truisms of the trail. Here are some of them which resonate with me:1. walking the trail is not recreation, it is an education AND a job.2. Don't fight the trail, you have to flow with it.3. If your goal is to hike the entire trail, then do it. No point in cutting corners with blue or yellow blazes.4. The trail is a trial....liked this one....the Trail cannot be changed you must change to the trail.5. Be a smart hiker, not a strong hiker....given my age and starting physical condition, I'll have to be smart.DECISIONS (want to record these to see how they pan out during the hike):a. I choose to wear heavy boots. I need the ankle support and structural support for my feet.b. My goal is to carry 10 days worth of food with 17 mail drops. I'm still finalizing the list.c. I will filter my water with iodine back up...I view this as risk mitigation...I've come to hike not endure diarrhea.d. I am starting early to avoid crowds with March 5 as the date...I recognize I will experience cold weather and my pack will be heavier.e. As Yoda says: "Do or do not, there is no try". My goal is Katadin with three key benchmarks:   - Damascus, VA...from this point on, it is psychological...do the miles   - Skyland Resort in Shenandoah National Park...meet my wife.   - The Whites - got to get through the Presidentials...then onward to Maine
Date: 2015-11-07
To: Appachian Trail Institute
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Attended the Appalachian Trail Institute in Mountain City, TN....receiving perspectives from Warren Doyle.   It was a great week. Learned much and solidified my position on approach to the trail after discussions of risk and comfort. Jennifer Pharr Davis also spoke and was great. It was a watershed moment for me, with all the aspects of preparation coming together.I plan to take a bus the evening of March 3 to Gainesville, GA, arriving around 1130 on the 4th and then get picked up by the folks at the Hiker Hostel. Then a shuttle ride to the AT 41 years to the day I arrived at USMC Boot Camp. Another training event I am sure.
Date: 2015-11-14
To: Food and Cooking
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

I have been working on my maildrops and organizing food menus...spent some time wandering the grocery store...I already have over 200 Mountain House dinners for two that I'll use for dinner.Been reading Travel Light-Eat Heavy by Bill McCartney. I like his ideas...nothing to cook or simmer....prepare meals that require water and let them cook in a bag...no dishes..he also recommended a cook hat to use for the bag so you can mix the ingredients without burning yourself and keep it warm until it's ready...very cool ideas.OVERALL GOAL: All meals are cold or prepared with hot water in a bag that can be disposed of later..no dishes.
Date: 2016-01-06
To: Mail Drops. yes or no
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

I had an interesting question in my Guest Book about why not buy in town and not use mail drops....I have struggled with this choice and here are my thoughts:1) I have a significant amount of freeze dried food that will expire in 20172) I choose to carry 7-10 days worth of food to minimize my contact with towns. Want to stay on the trail.3) I choose freeze dried food to keep the weight down because I'm carrying 7-10 days worth of food.The final debate came down to what's the cost of mail drops of freeze dried food versus purchasing in towns along the way....still think I can do better with mail drops, saving time and money.....very open to thoughts and experiences
Date: 2016-01-27
To: Back to Virginia
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

Long but safe trip back home to Virginia...anxious to go....still have some work to do...finalizing mail drop boxes...lose a few more pounds off my body..finalize gear...still debating about the amount of clothes to take but in the end: it will be what ever's in my backpack.Good training in AZ, some altitude work..I am truly a flat lander, sucking wind at 5000 feet, up hills were a bear...slow and steady for this old guy.
Date: 2016-02-18
To: Shakedown Hike
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Just a quick shakedown hike with all the gear I plan to take...6 miles, hiked a little to fast but the weight felt good. Got home and realized I left my tevas out...10 days worth of food weighing in at about 8 lbs...doesn't include lunches..hmm..the pack is growing vertically but I can still get my rain cover on it.Watching the weather in Dahlonega and then subtracting 10 degrees...just saw a note from a hiker who started on the 16th...he was hiker number 92 from the Lodge.
Date: 2016-02-19
To: touched
Miles today: 0.0

I was out on a training hike today and encountered two ladies my age hiking with their dog...they queried me about what I was training for....the AT of course and we had a wonderful conversation...then one of the ladies put her hand on my shoulder and prayed for success, safety, positive experience and wonderful hiking friends. It was truly a spiritual moment...thank you madam...peace be with you.
Date: 2016-03-01
To: Final gear check
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Weighed my final pack and it comes in at 40lbs 4oz.. (thanks to Tom for the luggage scale). Gear check reveals I am missing my paracord for hanging bear bags...hmmm..list of gear:pack - Osprey Xenithtent - Big Agnes REI 20 degree sleeping bagSleeping bag linerRain pantsrain jacketthree pair of socks with liners (I am old school)two pairs of long johns (Smart wool and poly)two tops both small wool...medium weight long sleeve and light weight short sleeveone fleece topREI down jacketbalaclavahoo ragNorth Face beanie5 days of food (5 lbs)stove with fuelKatadin Hiker water filteriodine tablets1 liter for water (saving the 3 liter camelback for down the trail)small first aid kit with Swiss army knife1/7 of AT Guide1/7 of Pilgrim's ProgessiPhone with charger (Guthook ap installed)Headlamp with extra batteriesvery small flashlightskipping:larger First Aid kitTevasmore foodsolar/USB charger for phonemore clothes
Date: 2016-03-06
From: Hawk Mountain Shelter

To: gooch mountain shelter
Miles today: 7.7
Weather: clear sky

Hiked 7.7 miles today with a climb up Sassafras Mountain. The challenge comes in two days.   Everyone is talking about Blood Mountain. Wonderful surprise today at Coopers Gap. Macgyvr and no name were there with hotdogs and fruit. Water buffalo (tank) there with water. Battery running low. May not be update tomorrow.