morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2003-08-10
From: Stratton Mtn Ski Resort, Vermont

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

sun,10aug,1012pm-new funny trail term for looking for a place to "use the bathroom";i.e.-brown blazing. thanks to siesta for that one. others-visiting the oval office, downloading a file (for the computer savvy), dropping off the kids at the pool. just a few of the funny things heard out here.for tonite, a ski patrol hut porch, just a few minutes from the gondola that i hope takes me back up hill in the morning, will be my bed tonite. its mostly starry out, so that might mean it wont piss down tonite, which would make things alot easier in the morning when packing up. but just in case, my pack is covered and i have the tarp and rain jacket within easy reach. if im lucky, in the morning i'll get a gondola ride back to the top of stratton mtn, so i can continue the hike.theres about 109 miles to go in vermont. 160 in new hampshire and 281 in maine. its neat to know how many hiking days that realisticaly translates into. 109 miles basically means a week. i see that goldberry is about 200 miles away from big K. so she's in maine. im guessing that twofiddy is in new hampshire, near maine. journey is in mass. im in vermont. i mention the names of these hikers because they and i started together on 15 march. we did pre-trip planning and kept in contact through the internet, and we even met each other at journey's house on a few occasions to look at each others' gear, go on short hikes together and practice cooking in the field. and, of course, to socialize and get to know each other. it was a great outlet to pass the cold winter months as springer drew near. i believe i'll look back on those days as fondly as i'll look back on this hike. i think it was an ingedient to our pending success. it must be...we're all still out here on the trail. we're all separated and have been since day #2, but we're all still out here. and i know that we'll all finish.
Date: 2003-08-12
From: Ore Hill Shelter

To: Big Branch Shelter
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

tue,12aug,954pm-for dinner i had something besides lipton noodle dinner and ramen. tonite was a big treat...stuffing! woohoo! and tang. i forgot how much water to use, but it turned out good.im in the shelter which is right on the trail, next to a loud, raging river i assume is named big branch. it wil be good for lulling one asleep. also, lion king and billy boy are here, along with sean-o skidmark and balloo and their poodle dog, frodo.i did 19.0 miles today. my boots are still wet and so are my socks, which also means so are my feet. impossible to keep feet dry when theyre in wet boots. its a job just getting to a shelter so you can air your feet out. and they need some serious airing everynite.there are sporadic lightning episodes, like summer lightning, going off every now and then as i lay here. i dont think even thunder will be heard because of the loud river.today asi was on bromley mountain at the peak, i discovered it as another ski hill. gondola/cable car set-up just like stratton mtn. there was a warming hut somewhere in the fog, and when i found it, i went inside. behold, there was a PHONE so i sent emails and called mom and dad. what a nice surprise! funny where you find phones out here.getting late now. its dark in the woods at about 815 pm now. its really noticeable how early it gets dark now. like my dad says, its like a light switch...one day its warm and the next day, like day 1 of fall, its cold. just like that. same with the sun.goodnite.
Date: 2003-08-16
From: Ore Hill Shelter

To: Thistle Hill Shelter
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: moderate rain

sat,16aug,244pm-just taking me a peanut butter/nutella break, listening to the thunder and watching the maple trees sway in the breeze. just a few miles back was the 1700 mile barrier, and i passed it. it wasnt an actual visible marking of any kind. but i know im past 1700 miles now.there must be a lot of reroutes in vermont that are not on my map. the map shows an elevation profile to show if youre gonna climb or descend. for the last 2-3 miles on the map, it shows a steady descent...why am i CLIMBING?i have about 9 more miles to the next shelter (thistle hill shelter).it looks like its about to um...you know, that R word again. oh hurray! (sarcasm). one good thing about R is that bugs cant fly in it so they cant bite.ill write more later.
Date: 2003-08-19
From: Trapper John Shelter

To: Ore Hill Shelter
Miles today: 19.3

total miles-1766.7tue,19aug,855pm-tonite, here at the ore hill shelter are oopala, sean-o, tipperary, sassafrass, bump (?), pokey dot, and 2 others i dont know. just 3 of us IN the shelter. the others are tenting.i wanted to write about last thursday and where i was during the big power outage of '03.well, thursday afternoon of he 14th, around 3pm, i emerged out of the woods onto vt100, on my way to find groceries to carry me through the next few days. so im walking toward killington, vt, about a .7 mile walk. 5 minutes into the walk, i hear a vehicle slow down behind me and i jumped off the shoulder so i wouldnt get hit by it. it wasnt that close, but im not having my hike end because of getting hit by a truck. "thru-hiker's hike ended due to getting hit by truck". wouldnt be good.anyway, its a a big white van, with alaska plates. i only know 2 guys from alaska and theyre both out here hiking. its oopala and his dad! so i climb in and we go to the other road and see sean-o and get him too. we end up in rutland, vt, and get a hotel room at the same place as oopala and gene (his dad). what a great surprise. i was able to get food, eat dinner, get some stuff i needed at walmart, swim at the motel pool, do laundry, watch some tv and make some phone calls. thats how i found out about the power thing. i was on the phone with spunky. she's back home. she was coming home from work and told me about the shutdown. so i watched some news about it. then i called my dad to see what it was doing there. his power was on.next day, we ate breakfast at a diner. and did some outfitter shopping. oopala did an 18 mile slackpack. sean-o's son and his son's wife came to visit him and gene drove me back to the trail. and to MARTY, i didnt get a chance to go into the inn at long trail, but on the way back to the trail, gene waited while i took some pics of the sign and building. but everyone i know who went in there, they talked about big rock they built the building around.today was a good weather day. it started a bit foggy and 56 degrees in the shelter. i could see my breath. and then it just got better. puffy white clouds. blue sky. breezy. nice. and i got some great views too.tomorrow, off to glencliff. about 7 miles. i need food again. and the PO should have packages for me from mom and tina and spunky's mom too. i cant wait. i expect i'll be stuffed after i open them. (:405 miles to go. its been a long trip. and one of the best things i ever put myself into. i learned alot. not even really that much about myself. i already know me pretty well. no surprises. but i learned alot about people. how you never know who you'll meet, and how close you can become to them in such a short while. and how genuine it is. it was worth the trip to learn this.well, 405 miles doesnt walk itself. so til next time, goodnite.p.s.-i am right behind dred and nimble. ill probably catch them in glencliff tomorrow
Date: 2003-08-22
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

total miles-1797.0fri,22aug,643pm-man, these white mtns. are TOUGH! i did 17 miles yesterday; i wont be doing miles like that again for awhile. straight up and then straight down. and rocky like you wouldnt believe. so rocky and impossible looking that after saying, "there is NO WAY i can climb THAT!" a hundred times, you just look, sigh, and then do it. no other way around it. but the views so far, not that im saying they are worth it, have been beautiful. these are real mountains, too. just like out west.i did about 7 miles today and right now am at lonesome lake hut, run by the AMC (appalachian mtn club). if youre lucky, you can do some work to stay for free. the hut is a dining hall, and tourist folks come here and stay for the weekend. they pay $60-70. im paying NADA tonite. but they have a wood pile outside and i split some wood, so i can stay for free. and get a good, free meal. not bad. and there is a lake that i already swam in to wash up.ive been getting some good video in the past few days since i finally figured out a way to attach my camera to my hip belt. good timing.another thing about the whites ive noticed...my knees feel it more here than anywhere on the whole trail so far. so im not gonna feel too bad about taking it slower through here.sat morn, 0724am-i slept outside the hut last nite on a cot mattress that the AMC 'croo' had extras of. it was so starry, and mars could be seen in the eastern sky, just above the horizon. very breezy and cool, unlike most of the nites spent out here so far.so far, my views about the huts and the AMC rumors are changing for the better. im not looking at it as if they are the bad guys, always checking up on you, trying to squeeze every buck out of you, trying to catch you camping for "free". we'll see how the rest of goes.im goin to go eat.
Date: 2003-08-26
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

total miles-1838.8tue,26aug,444pm-right now, im resting on a bench outside the lakes of the clouds hut, just a mile or so below the summit of mt. washington. im here with troutlilly, snakehead fish and siesta. we're doing work for stay. so it wont cost us anything...plus we get dinner and breakfast, too. we get to sleep on dining room tables. i wonder if the guests that pay $68 a nite here know that the tables have thru-hiker nastiness all over them. nice thought isnt it?last nite, after getting to crawford notch (they call em notches here and gaps in the south), i walked to the pay phone a mile away at the willey house to make some calls and to try to send emails on the p-mail. didnt work. the others went to find the 'stealth' campsite to set up camp. i found them later in the woods.938pm-its about bed time now. we did dishes and cleaned up the dining room and kitchen, and thats how we get to stay here and eat for free. this croo ("croo" is the traditional way to spell it here) is very personable.953pm-all the guest people are in their rooms now, and us hikers are layed out on the dining tables. at the foot of mt. washington. home of the worst weather. pretty neat.its 36 miles to gorham from here. the whites are beautiful, but im ready to get through them. lots of hard miles through here due to the terrain. im averaging about 10 a day.well, in the morning, ill be on mt. washington. looking forward to it.
Date: 2003-08-27
From: Lake of the Clouds Hut

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

wed,27aug,0731am-still at lake of the clouds hut, totally fogged in. the hut gets a morning weather report from mt. washington at 6am. peak gust was 78mph. temp 50. visibility 75 ft. may wait a bit here til its more visible.meanwhile, i'll update my notebooks, and look at the map for today. i guess yo-yo is just behind. and journey is almost here too.met tubbs here at the hut. he's working here as a croo member. he summitted on 9aug and started 15mar, same as me. 333.8 to go.
Date: 2003-09-01
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

total miles-1896.1mon,1sep,443pm-new month, new state...MAINE!!! crossed the border this morning. celebrated with taking pictures and video with jug, burn, oopala, bigfoot, moose, starbuck and 777. now im at full goose shelter, waiting for my water to get purified so i can cook dinner. which will be...(trumpets playing) lipton dinner and ramen! YAY!tomorrow is mahoosuc notch and arm. everyone's saying its really tough. but then, people have been saying that other parts are tough that ive already been through that werent so tough. just know this...the whole trail is tough. its supposed to be. thats why not many people hike it.constant motion was happy to have my tube of thera-gesic for today. it says to only use it 3 times a day...HA!! she said she used it at least 7 times.there's alot of us here tonite. me, constant motion, oopala, starbuck, wizard, commander in chief, cain and able, face and blaze, bigfoot and moose, and 3 women with dogs and a few others i dont know. temp is 52.4. might get chilly tonite. good sleeping weather.its weird now, as i read in the shelter registers, knowing that some of the people ive heard of who are ahead of me are DONE already. wow! am i really that close? there is an air of excitement that im noticing, especially now since we're in maine. tomorrow we'll pass the 1900 mile mark and cross the mahoosuc notch. today there was alot of boulder scrambling, up and down. pretty tough. and my feet and knees are feeling it tonite. but rest will fix em up enough for tomorrow. gonna try to do a 15. we'll see.hi-lites today...1.entered maine 2.almost stepped on a grouse. 3. met bigfoot and moose. 4.great weather 5.got some good video and pictures.its now 808pm. im fed and watered and in my sleeping bag. its hiker's midnite. and its dark now, just like back when i started in march. days are shorter. where did the summer go? im gonna try to begin at 7am. we'll see...goodnite
Date: 2003-09-02
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

total miles-1908.1tue,2sep,858pm-my knees right now havent felt this bad the whole trip. oww! the mahoosuc notch...wow. im surprised i was able to do 12 miles today. good thing i did the notch first thing this morning. got out at 0706. constant motion and i stuck together through the notch to take pictures with each other's cameras and to help if one of us needed help. we got some good pics. and we didnt get hurt.mahoosuc notch is basically a gently sloping ravine packed with giant boulders, spaced just far enough apart from each other as to make it very difficult to get a steady pace going through them. and so much full knee bending that you may need a full day to recover. but now its done. YAY.hi-lites today-1.passed 1900 mile mark 2.did notch and arm and am still here. 3.met 'paperclip' who was at ft. bragg and knows the same barracks i lived in. 4.my right hand hiking stick broke today in the notch, the one ive had since about mile 900. dont worry; a death picture of it was taken along with a GPS coordinate of where its "buried". i found another one after getting done with the notch...maple, too, same as the last one.its getting chilly. was 50 the last time i checked, over an hour ago before it got dark, and its a clear sky. the moon is a crescent, and its visible from the shelter as i lay in my sleeping bag.i read in the shelter register today about one thru-hiker who missed 'hike naked day' back on the first day of summer this year, and wants us all to do it again on the first day of fall. she may have a good point. it may be warmer this time. you never know. maybe it will become tradition, like mooning the cog railroad that goes up to mt washington. thats how these things get started i guess. just someone who wants to take their clothes off, then everyone else wants to, too. viva tradition!well its time to rest the knees and the rest of the body now. need everything working tomorrow. 264 miles to go.
Date: 2003-09-03
To: hall mtn shelter 
Miles today: 0.0

total miles-1922.1wed,3sep,824pm-the rain just began and im in the hall mtn shelter with jug, burn, hungry and a section hiker from buffalo named smiley. its chilly, too. did 14 miles today and it wasnt too tough. nice switch from yesterday. my knees took awhile to warm up this morning...luckily the terrain wasnt as bad as yesterday.hi-lites today-1.ease of doing 14 miles starting at 0750 and getting here by 530. 2.not having to hitch to andover to get food, especially looking as rough as i do. 3.caught up to oopala, jug and burn. 4.not falling.250 miles to go. start a new maine map tomorrow. in many ways, im noticing this adventure drawing near to a close; less miles to do, running out of maps, turning to the next page in the handbook, reading in the shelter registers how other hikers are feeling about the end getting closer and how everyone is beginning to put their email addresses in it. more pictures being taken. we all sense it. its coming.but maine is a pretty state and im determined to see a moose. or a loon. something maine-ish. i guess katahdin will do, too. but not too soon! these final weeks are to be cherished.today, thoughts of finishing and getting back to the world were creeping in, more than usual. yikes!
Date: 2003-09-04
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

total miles-1934.9thu,4sep,838pm-ahh! hiker's midnite again. in my sleeping bag, ready for bed. what a tough day. the trail had many surprises today. it seemed excessively narrow, very slippery from the all-night thunderstorm, full of shin-knee-groin height old cut-off trees hidden behind uncut pine boughs which acted as perfect stabbing weapons to the unsuspecting hiker. the map was way off, too. where it showed steep ups, it was gradual downs. plus, rain threatened all day. and it was chilly and windy. 12.8 miles of lots of unexpecteds. glad its over...til tomorrow. now its sleep time.i have one more day of food left which will get me to rangeley, maine, where i hope to resupply at a decent grocery store. also i want to pig out on pizza and steak and ice cream and drink some beer. im definitely ready.hi-lites today-1.getting to the shelter. 2.eating dinner. 3. being in my warm sleeping bag. 4.hanging with oopala all day, talking about this and that.since rain was threatening all day, my video camera and regular camera were inside my pack, in ziplocs. so no pics today. im glad i didnt see a moose now. or a bear. oopala was just ahead of me most of the day, and he showed me some bear tracks in the mud. maybe from a young bear, about 130 lbs. i guess thats a hi-lite too.i'll try to get an earlier start in the morning than today's start at 0854. that was due to the rain and waiting for it to end. because once you go out into it, youre gonna be wet all day. sometimes its best to wait til it quits. well, not sometimes, but all the time.this is the third night now where my right knee, when bent, aches. oops gave me some advil today for ibuprofen and it really helped get me through the day. its the first time i used it on the trail. now i want more. it just aches,though, when im lying still, like now. once i get it warmed up, it feels ok. its functional and that all i need it to be right now. its only got to get me 237.7 more miles to big K so i can finish. of course, i need it after this, too. but i figure it will fix itself when i stop walking on it with a 45 lb pack everyday going 15 miles over some wild terrain.off to dreamland...zzzz
Date: 2003-09-05
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

total miles-1947.8fri,5sep,823pm-its already dark except for the half full moon that's quite bright in the starry sky. myself and oopala are camped at little swift river pond campsite about 5 miles south of the road that goes to rangeley, maine. as i write, i can hear noises in the woods which i assume is from a moose. theres plenty of moose sign around here, including the almost-still-steaming pile of moose crap not 10 feet from where i set up my tarp, which i didnt see until i was collecting wood for making a campfire. i should get my video camera ready after i write and set it on night-shot. maybe ill get lucky and film one.at camp here, while i was eating my dinner of lipton noodles and ramen, a little mouse, that looked like a kangaroo mouse, came over to see if he could find something to eat amidst my dumped out food bag contents. it fit right inside a snickers bar wrapper, as i witnessed from 2 feet away! good thing i had a video camera! it is all on film! then, i opened up my empty peanut butter jar and layed it on its side...sure enough, he went inside. i even caught him and put the lid on. he didnt care...he just knew that he was surrounded by peanut butter and that was ok with him (or her, i didnt really look that close). then i took the lid off and he didnt seem to notice, and kept eating. eventually he walked out and scurried away. but he returned and went right back in there again. this entertained me and oops for a good ten minutes. what a bold little mouse.hi-lites today-1.getting to camp early 2.going canoeing in the pond. 3.eating at long pond at the beach sitting at some unique tables. 4.the above mentioned dinner-mouse incident. 5.seeing a bunch of spruce grouse and almost stepping on them (about 7 of them). 6.heard a loon on long pond. and i just heard another one as i wrote this! weird!rangeley, maine, tomorrow to resupply. id like to use the internet too and do laundry and use the phone. ill probably spend the night there at the gull pond lodge for $20. and i want to eat. eat alot. im hankering for spagetti and meatballs and garlic bread. and pizza. and ice cream. and steak. and wendy's, mcD's and/or burger king. whatever this town has, i wanna eat there.so, up at 6, out by 7. trail is a stone's throw away. weather has been very good. in a few days, from the top of sugarloaf mtn, i should be able to see mt katahdin. i'll let you know if i do.my estimated done date is looking like 20-23 sep. dred and nimble and "team SCIENCE" is looking at the 20th. oopala the 26th. constant motion the 22nd. its all winding down. next saturday i'll have been out here 26 weeks...6 MONTHS! hard to believe.
Date: 2003-09-15
From: Monson,Maine

To: Shaws Boarding Home
Miles today: 0.0

total miles-2058.1miles today-17.9@shaw's boarding home/hiker hostelmon,15sp,1142pm-i just took probably my final shower as an "almost" thru-hiker. im in monson, maine, at shaw's. its basically a house, with rooms upstairs and all the amenities of a house...shower, bathroom, tv, living room, kitchen, etc. i didnt know where i was gonna stay. im just happy that i got to the road, GOT A HITCH...BY MYSELF!!!, looking as grungy as a man can look (thank you michelle), and now i am with hikers i know again. oopala, wizard, skidmark, baloo, frodo and samarai. feels like home again. home on the trail i mean.my camcorder was approaching dangerous, critical running out of tape status, and that was priority #1 to take care of before leaving town tomorrow. in the process of checking in here with young keith shaw, his dad was about to shuttle hikers to the next town, to use an ATM. luckily, i got a spot in the car and even more luckily, there was a rite aid across the street from the bank. and glory of glories, they had the right cassettes! ahhh...so much of a relief. it would be tough to forgive myself if i wasnt able to record my final days on the trail...monson, the 100 mile wilderness, KATAHDIN. not to worry now. the charger is on and im ready to tape...everything i can.an amazing turn of events has occurred in the "getting leapyear home" situation. my good friends, ken and laurie g., are coming to maine in their gold C3PO-mobile to pick me up. appropriately enough, ken drove me down to journey's house wayyyyy back in march to get me started on this grand adventure. and now, he and his wife will make it a full circle. maybe they'll bring an R2 unit along just for kicks.its nearing the end and somehow, i dont want it to end. because to end means that this wont continue. the routine of waking up somewhere different each day, seeing new things everyday, meeting new people and seeing the ones you know. being able to eat everything you want and still lose weight. its gonna be different. i dont want the old routine of home life to be such that i wont remember every detail of this life. it will be sad when it ends.on the other hand, no more pack to carry everywhere you go, no more feet and knee problems. no more constant sweat, saturating everything youre wearing.so basically, i wont miss the physical strains. beds are nice. showers are nice. clean clothes are nice. the mental part may be more of a challenge. im sure it will.bedtime now at shaw's in a real bed, with a fan, and a showered and clean body. absolute luxury. but not for much longer...