morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2014-08-05
From: Spruce Peak Shelter

To: Manchester Center, VT
Miles today: 2.8

I heard months ago about how the Green Mtn House hostel is a must go to place. Would have entirely missed it but I was tipped off by Stacey and Amber to make a reservation. That was 2 days ago or so and I needed to get a resupply in Manchester anyway. Sprout and I made it (2.8 miles to the road crossing, life was so hard) and now we're stuffed beyond all recognition. I really want to do some push-ups or something but it's not going to happen. This house is truly one of the cleanest places you could stay off the trail. Full kitchen you can use and a grill. Naturally I got a whole watermelon, grilling our own burgers, salad galore, and so much fruit I've been pissing nonstop. I can't move but there's a complimentary Ben & Jerry's ice cream waiting for me in the freezer. Along with whatever else I got from the grocery store.
Date: 2014-08-06
From: Manchester Center, VT

To: Big Branch Shelter
Miles today: 16.5
Weather: scattered clouds

Dreamed about the AT last night. Not the first time and I'm sure it's not the last. This one seemed to last several days which makes it harder to recollect most of it. I just know the main message from my subconscious was that I need to indulge in more things/opportunities related indirectly to the thru hiking experience. The end is near and I fundamentally should focus on the traveling aspect. I obviously did not come to the trail specifically just to walk past every single white blaze but there is a limited amount of time to get to Katahdyn. There was a sense of urgency due to weather complications. Other hikers from the figment of my imagination generally were serving as distractions from maintaining balance. Anything that went wrong was directly related to how I could have done something better.I woke up meditating on that thought as I gave myself ample time to stuff my face. Opting for the 9:00am shuttle back to the trail, I still found myself in the kitchen at 6. Time to eat 2 breakfasts? Yes please.The hiking itself couldn't have gone better with ideal weather, beautiful scenery, and only a few bugs around. Getting back onto the trail was very refreshing because I felt my time in Manchester was extremely unnecessary. Either way, the feeling that this is exactly where I'm supposed to be was crystal clear. Missing last night's evening showers from the safety of a nice house was definitely a nice bonus.
Date: 2014-08-07
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Hit a trail speed bump. Discovered a package (that contains rain gear and what not) ended up in New Hampshire somehow. It was supposed to be in Massachusetts days ago but I passed that town and thought I had it forwarded. Little did I know the package never made it to the post office that I wanted it forwarded from. Have to wait for the package to arrive in the second wrong place and call in the morning to have it forwarded to the new right place. I blame Sprint. This is 2014, I thought technology enabled me godlike powers. Unfortunately my godlike powers have serious blind spots and limitations. Such as no cell service and electricity. May be held up for a couple days before I get back to serious hiking.Oh yeah I stepped on a frog today. I felt bad but then I realized that this was probably a suicidal frog. It pretty much did the equivalent of a human jumping in front of the bus. For reference, search "deranged penguin" which is a bit from one of Werner Herzog's documentaries. I guess I can relate to your troubles Mr. Frog but please don't involve other conscientious beings into your deranged schemes. It causes me to blog about it and waste precious calories thinking about the quintessential questions of life in the grand scheme of mind altering realizations of the universe.
Date: 2014-08-09
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Still in Rutland. And still at the Yellow Deli. Finally figured out the needed package will be at the Wallingford Post office on Monday which is over 25 trail miles back south. And then some getting from trail to town. Decided I will stay yet another night at the hostel and trek/trail run SOBO on Sunday towards the post office. Not sure if I should just leave my pack in Rutland but I'll figure it out later. Either way I will be catching a bus back to Rutland to finally resume hiking again once I get my dam rain gear.At least this mess has allowed me thoroughly enjoy Rutland. Got to indulge in the Art in the Park event, check out the farmers market, and watch a movie. Today I even went rock climbing with Flash and Sprout.Now I'm sitting at the theaters about to watch teenage mutant ninja turtles.
Date: 2014-08-11
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

*Sigh*The package still isn't here. Should have just had my parents send a new package with the backup raingear I have laying around but I also need a contact lenses resupply because hiking in glasses gives me headaches/nausea with all the bumping up and down/looking around.At least people behind me will catch up. Back to Rutland it is I guess. I'll hike a bit forward without my pack and catch a bus back.
Date: 2014-08-12
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Since entering Rutland, VT I had a completely unexpected series of zero days (if you don't count me getting stir crazy and trail running Killington a couple times.) Filled the days in doing work for stay at the Yellow Deli and catching up with the hikers passing through each day. I did spend much of the weekend fruitlessly heading back to Clarendon/Wallingford with blind faith that my package would arrive. Over 27 miles repeated for nothing. So I caught a bus back to Rutland. More movies were watched, did some rock climbing, and more work for stay.Ultimately, I caught up on news regarding other hikers. Saw a lot of people that I haven't seen in ages. Some I haven't seen since North Carolina. But I was dismayed to hear about an alarming amount of people who got lymes, broken feet, rabies, other sicknesses, and crazy situations. It was also strange to see the Appalachian Trail thru hiker statistics get very real. A lot of people hiked in groups of 4+ people from early on and only 1 or 2 of those groups have made it this far. Some groups entirely disappeared. New groups have formed nowadays of course but it was interesting to reflect on how things have turned out 1700 miles in. Drama between people has caused quite a few rifts too. Maybe just as much as injuries or sickness.Reflecting on the different kinds of hiker mentalities were also interesting. Hanging out at the Yellow Deli for a week at this time meant seeing a huge mix of SOBOs, NOBOs, long trail hikers, previous thru hikers, and even Rainbow Gathering attendees. So there was a diverse group of people with a very wide variety of experiences in different stages.Seems like most of the people around this point of the hike are those who have slowed down and looking to make it last. A good handful of people I started with have finished but they were generally more schedule oriented. Others have just been consistently chugging along. My pace has been extremely erratic. With my biggest day at 50miles and now my new record of a weeklong zero.Looking forward to the Whites!
Date: 2014-08-14
From: US 4 Rutland

To: Stony Brook Shelter
Miles today: 10.0
Weather: broken clouds

Extremely full house at the Yellow Deli last night. Didn't realize it until this morning at breakfast when I looked up and saw that we filled every seat. About 40 hikers or more. A few girls had the tough job of building blanket forts to make overflow space. How often do you get to make forts for work for stay? I was happy chopping wood yesterday though. AKA man stuff. Except Voodoo was having a blast too. So we will just call it grown up stuff. When I was done with breakfast I got excited when I tracked my backup package and learned it had arrived. The first one is still MIA. That's okay. Drank some mate, did a quick pack up, and headed to the post office ready to finally get a move on. Except... The lady at the post office returned from the backroom empty handed... NOOOOOOO!!!! She called the supervisor at the sorting facility for me and I ended up on the phone with him giving the tracking number. Basically was told to wait to see what happens and come back in one hour.Figures. I headed back to the deli and had some more mate nostalgically watching other hikers trickle out ready to hit the trail. Most of us just hanging around we're relaxing in the common room as some people had a jam session. Southbounder apparently is packing out an electric guitar which is impressive. Next thing I know was that a pot of coffee was getting passed around so I had that on top of the mate. When enough time had passed I bid a semi farewell and gave the post office another try. And praise Abba! It was there! Other one still without update but whatever. I caught the next bus to US 4 and breezed through the next 10 miles. I decided to just stop here even though it was only 4pm. Didn't feel like doing a 20 miler day just to reach the 2nd shelter and I didn't have confidence in finding a good stealth camp spot in this Vermont section.
Date: 2014-08-15
From: Stony Brook Shelter

To: stealth camp
Miles today: 17.6

Nice and chilly today. Think I slept for about 11 hours. Felt like a short day and not a whole lot happened today. Kept coming across empty coolers for left out trail magic which reminded me how SOBOs were raving about Vernont being full of trail magic. Have not had any except for the really nice group if people day hiking Killington when I was trail running it. Except that seemed more like theu didn't want to carry the weight dnd I looked like a sweaty hum n garbage disposal.The Lookout Cabin was cool. Helped Simba so her Lion King thing there. That is all.
Date: 2014-08-16
From: some stealth camp

To: Happy Hill Shelter
Miles today: 12.7
Weather: overcast clouds

Slept forever again Intent was set to stop short of Hanover and then I realized I should stop before Cloudland market so I don't have to ration (I don't ever really plan out my food and just carry whatever - it actually works out really well for me). Correctly assuming the store isn't open early in the morning so I took my time getting there. Think I got there around 9 so I sat around reading and charging my phone. Sandwich was delicious, ice cream fattening, and there were rocking chairs ... Oh mah gerd
Date: 2014-08-18
From: Hanover, NH

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Hanover trick or treat day. Spent most of yesterday running around like an overstimulated puppy on an elementary school playground. So today I took advantage of the perks of being a hiker. Hanover is very hiker friendly with local restaurants that hand out free stuff like some kind of hobo support program. Free pizza, donut, bagel, coffee, wifi, computer use, buses, and probably more.First things first though - leave no trace! Think I was the first one up minus Blu hanging out of his hammock puking his guts out. I scrounged up every bit of trash I could find stepping over hikers like it was a minefield. A couple people ended up cowboying with just a sleeping bag but more hikers showed up after we had already gone to sleep and basically just slept underneath their unset tents. Consolidated a game plan for the day with base camp peoples and we threw together our perma hiker funked laundry.First stop was the Community center which is not open on weekends. But it's just about the only open place to get laundry and a shower done without booking a pricey hotel room or yoging someone's home. So I went here first to get cleaned up but it took all morning with all the hikers jumping in line.Rest of the day was... Interesting. More to come. I promise I'll keep hiking haha.
Date: 2014-08-19
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

You know what's weird? Hiking feet tend to swell but since I started thru hiking my feet have shrank 1 whole size. I was wearing 10.5 in Georgia. Now I'm in New Hampshire I'm on my 4th pair of shoes and wearing a 9.5 wide.Strange huh?Anyways I'm finally back on the move. It's been a lot of fun but I had another dream... I gotta get to the Whites. More to come
Date: 2014-08-20
From: Hanover, NH

To: Bill Ackerty's
Miles today: 13.0
Weather: mist

Glad I cowboy camped because I woke up to the woods in heavy fog. Which means extra condensation on anything not breathable. Dew still moistens everything but it's not like we've been seriously rained on for awhile. Yesterday I decided to get some sturdier shoes for these last two states instead of attempting to get by with minimalist shoes. I've had no problems at all with them but there are a lot of downsides and potential problems that would come up in the Whites and Maine. I sent home my trekking poles as well while I was at it since one was completely broken since the Shenandoahs way back in Virginia. Just never cared to get them replaced. Hardly used the semi intact one anyway but after 1700 miles even that one has been grinded down to the state of FUBAR.Within the first 2 miles of hiking today I made some good old fashioned old school hiking sticks. They are sticks.Not much to note about today beyond the new usual of running into people I haven't seen in a long time. Spent a lot of hiking time thinking about how ridiculous societal and cultural norms can be. This was a result of an encounter with a lone hiker in the woods, a kind of scenario that repeats over and over even in regular life. More to come about that... Going to get some sleep. Well no promises - I'm falling behind on writing even though I've cut down my mileage. Writing while hiking is becoming far less of a priority as the end nears.Emotional state: far from down in the dumps. More like ecstatic with mixed moods. I've been listening to more podcasts at this point and that occasionally leads to very depressing subject matter not relevant to my thru hike. I mean have you ever read a really good book that put you through an emotional trauma while you were sitting in a beautiful park surrounded by joy?escalate that oxymoron in comparison to walking in the woods by yourself thinking deeply about whatever troubling thought you're suddenly exploring without any distractions from daily life that splits your day up into schedule routines.Oh... And yes I'm well aware of the frequent grammatical errors and weird wording even though no one ever mentions it. I tend to hammer out these journals in one shot without really going back and editing. As a result my trail journal is a disorganized wreck in several ways. The mileage is all messed up for example and I really don't feel like going through it all and fixing it. But I do have intent to consolidate everything into one simple, easy flowing thing when I'm done hiking. that's when I'll do some editing, maybe some foot noting, and possibly include more personal details that I tend to leave out on a daily basis.If you're truly interested in what mile I was at today, start by figuring out whatever mile Hanover, NH is on the AT
Date: 2014-08-21
From: Bill Ackerty's

To: Stealth camp
Miles today: 13.0

Nora V and I were the first ones up at Bill's place this morning. We quietly got our things together and did our own thing in silence as people slowly woke up. While making breakfast Bill came out with a tray of coffee. He soon learned that today is Simba's birthday so he promptly went back inside to produce something birthday worthy with candles. I later learned he crushed everyone in croquet after I left. But Global Leader had a problem that Bill couldn't remedy himself. Global Leader had broken his glasses and all of our combined efforts failed to Harry Potter his spectacles. He ended up slapping on some electrical tape which made him look like a pirate with an eye patch. So an idea was crafted for him to head back to Hanover to get a free eyeglass repair job. Nora V being an adventure junky went with since she hardly saw Hanover. Mosquitos were driving me crazy so I was driven out around 10am.While moving forward I thought a lot about the importance of objectivity. It's a key concept I always try to keep in mind while making observations about anything. Later part of the day resulted in my mind going down a rabbit hole about morality. I've decided a long time ago that certain deliberate degrees of selfishness are extremely important to my own mental health, sanity, and personal happiness. Just can't help the occasional self debate on whether or not I have a duty to being more selfless. Fortunately for me, I've loop-holed my consciousness into a guilt free zone in which I have convinced myself that it's of the utmost importance I first take advantage of my remaining "younger" years while I can.
Date: 2014-08-23
From: Hikers Welcome Hostel

To: stealth camp - cemetery
Miles today: 2.3
Weather: light rain

Spent most of the day eating and watching movies at the Hikers Welcome Hostel. Didn't get laundry done last night so I waited in line this morning splitting up the load with any other hikers who still had some to put in. Also didn't get the opportunity to dry out my gear from the unexpected rain the other night. Everything dries way better during the day in sunlight anyway. Seems like things just get wetter if you hang it up overnight.Anyways, I finally watched Deliverance after so much hype about that old movie. It was overly hyped after trekking through the South so much that I actually thought it would be an enjoyable movie (I know, how could it be?) after that was finished I left the Hikers Welcome hostel right before sunset. Had just enough sunlight to figure out a ninja worthy route across the brook without getting my feet wet. By the time I passed a shelter and did a few stream crossings, the trail took to a road crossing and it was dark. Ended up following a path which intuitively felt like the AT but it led to a dead end cemetery. Turning back left me in a perplexed state trying to figure out where I'm supposed to go. The only trail marker I could find was for Southbounders going back the way I came. I walked farther up and down the road finding no trail markers. Using my headlamp to search for fallen trees or branches blocking the white blazes proved I didn't miss anything. By this point I walked around the entire cemetery and up the road 4 times. Mosquitos were coming out in force and attacking my head so I figured I might as well stealth camp in the graveyard and wait for a human ant line in the morning to see where the SOBOs are coming from. I mean there's nothing more peaceful than sleeping in a cemetery, right? It's a place to rest in peace.I was about to fall asleep when I hear a crying kid in the woods. Nobody was out here and I didn't see any lights. Of course this happens right after watching Deliverance for the first time. Memories of rape murder scenes in San Diego came up where people used speakers projecting crying infants outside the door of private homes. The audio was used to lure unsuspecting people out and unlock their doors.As the crying kid got louder I started hearing an adult going shhhhh at which I start thinking "oh good, now I don't have to walk out into the woods looking for a crying kid and get raped. Now I know there's at least one adult who may be molesting a child in a graveyard." Or the crying baby scheme got more intricate and they're trying to lure me into a trap!It turned out okay. They had a dog too and it was just a family going back to their cabin about a mile away. They never knew I crept up around them and spied on them.It was indeed a good night sleep after that.
Date: 2014-08-26
From: stealth camp past Lonesome Lake Hut

To: Mt Galehead peak
Miles today: 14.5
Weather: scattered clouds

apologize to all the fans of this trail journal. No I'm not quitting , I can't get enough of the thru hiking experience! But I feel like my journaling has gone downhill and it's the only thing I have difficulty keeping up on. It does seem like my mental sharpness has been declining which further makes writing more tedious after the monotony of eat, hike, eat, hike, eat, sleep, and repeat. Sitting down and talking to other hikers also takes energy (I'm an introvert) so by the end of the day my mind is spent. I forget things and other events I'm not sure if I should mention it publicly so I don't.I guess I'll have to do the legal sneak around and alter names like just about every book out there one day haha.Anyways. Didn't push a pace today otherwise i think I would be hurting right now. The hiking was excellent with all the amazing views. I can see that I truly lucked out in hitting the Whites at the most perfect time possible. We've got a great forecast, I'm hiking it during the weekdays which means less crowds, and it's relatively dry for having notoriously bad weather. I'm actually physically tired as I write this from inside my tent. I've packed more food than I need for the Whites for various reasons. But now that I'm out here I've just been eating as much of it as I can and skipping past the huts for the most part. Could have gotten work for stay at the Galehead Hut but I opted for climbing a side trail for Mt Galehead. No one is going up that mountain because there's no views, it's not one of the Presidential 4,000 footer, and it doesn't count for anything if your counting something. Sounds like a good stealth camp to me! Hello peace and solitude.Last night I stealth camped up the trail past Lonesome Lake Hut. Stars were amazing and the night was deathly silent. We'll see how it goes tonight.
Date: 2014-08-30
To: Gorham, NH
Miles today: 0.0

Done with the Whites. Ran out of food. Resupplied in Gorham. Want to go to sleep but I'm too full and need to rehydrate. Zero cell service as usual but I think it's been over 8 days since I have even had 1 bar of signal. Don't think I'll be able to update this journal about the Whites until I get to Maine so I'm sorry but all of you curious readers will have to wait!Thank you Joe and Tom for getting my ass to Gorham. Big thanks to the AMC croo who will never read this. High fives to the biggest volunteer network of 'Murica - the Appalachian Trail, especially if you're a trail angel.If you're the confused 10 year old on the cog rail, I'm sorry you got mooned. It's called collateral damage.
Date: 2014-08-31
From: Gorham, NH

To: stealth camp
Miles today: 13.0
Weather: broken clouds

Bummer. I wrote nothing about this day and I'm writing about it 8 days later. Wouldn't have remembered anything but I marked where I stealth camped on my AWOL guide. Maybe a half mile south of Imp Campsite. This was probably because I was trying to get set up before a forecasted thunderstorm. I do remember the climb out of Pinknam Notch was not something I looked forward to first thing in the morning. If in not mistaken my ride back to the trail was in the back of a pickup truck full of guns. NRA guys. Nice people who gave me 20 bucks.
Date: 2014-09-01
From: stealth camp

To: Cascade Mountain
Miles today: 14.0

Sorry I really slacked on journaling for this portion. Forgot about it as I continue to fall behind on writing at least a short note. My notes for today at least give one good excuse. My beloved coconut oil finally betrayed me and exploded in my food bag. The time that would have been allocated to writing a few comments of the day was spent trying to clean out my new and improved bear bait dry bag. It was just particularly warm today and I figured this section at this time of the year would be chilly. Truth of the matter was that I sweat out crazy amounts of fluid in these rugged parts when it was probably in the mid seventies. Maybe 80s because my coconut oil was obviously not solid anymore. It melted like ice cream in the sun. The explosion part may have been a result of slipping down a boulder. The thing about slipping is that all you need to do is lean back and your pack catches you like training wheels on a bicycle when going down these steep mountains.Anyways I stealth camped at mile 1900 on this night. Someone used pine cones and sticks to mark it out. I took the creative liberty of painstakingly gathering moose droppings to make my own 1900 mile marker in what I believed to be the more accurate location. I've done stranger things.