morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2017-06-18
From: Dalton, MA

To: Wilbur Clearing Shelter, MA
Miles today: 20.5
Weather: broken clouds

I had a good night's sleep and didn't wake up until 6:15. I had a breakfast of pancakes and muffins with orange juice and an apple in the breakfast area of the motel. Then the manager called a taxi for me, and by 8:07 I was back on the ol' AT.It may have been the fact that I was going uphill immediately, but I felt tired. My backpack weighed heavily on me. This always seems to happen after a zero or a break, and I've heard others say the same - that you are dying for a zero, but after it, you're dying. After a 900-foot climb, there was the scenic though badly-named Gore Pond. Frogs croaked all over it. Then there was a descent into the town of Cheshire. I stopped at Diane's Twist, a little store by the side of the road, and had an ice cream cone and a tuna sandwich, in that order. I chatted with Ray and Jackie, two cyclists. Jackie is keen to go hiking, and gave my pack and poles a thorough examination. She had many practical questions. I had to get moving as time was going by. The climb out of Cheshire to the top of Mt Greylock, the highest peak in Massachusetts at 3,491 feet, was about 2,500 net, but of course was more than that as the trail as always occasionally dropped downhill. I hate that. It's those ATC sadists, of course. David "AWOL" Miller, in his book about his 2002 thru-hike, invented the term 'PUDS' as a way of expressing his frustration at the 'pointless ups and downs' that are sometimes built into the route. (By the way, in his book, he refers several times to another Tipperary who hiked that year. It turns out that my brother John knew the man, Paudie Moloughmey, and had even played golf with him. Like me, Paudie came from Tipperary.) The first mile of the climb was the worst, going up steeply through meadows in the blazing sun. Once back in the woods, the heat was less and the climb was moderate but long. The distance from Cheshire to Greylock's summit is almost 8 miles. I met no NOBO thru-hikers. At the summit, there is the very striking Veterans War Memorial Tower, and views that on a less hazy day would have been even more impressive than they were. I didn't linger long there as I wanted to reach Wilbur Clearing Shelter in daylight. When I got there, I met Scooby again, and tented beside Freebird, a young recently-graduated native of Front Royal, VA. She is a William & Mary alum, like my wife. At the shelter were three more young folk - Joe, Hot Mess and Wiki (who shared some of her cookie dough biscuits with me). We talked for a while before I headed off for water. I took a shower and cooked my meal. As an experiment, I used the broth from my stroganoff to try to rehydrate some pasta overnight. Tipperary
Date: 2017-06-20
From: Congdon Shelter, VT

To: Goddard Shelter, VT
Miles today: 14.4
Weather: scattered clouds

After a quite pleasant night in the shelter, I packed up (much simpler when no tent is involved) and hit the trail at 7:58. It was warm and sunny. My plan was to hike the 18.7 miles to Kid Gore Shelter. But when I stopped for a snack and to enjoy the sunshine at a parking area where the AT crosses VT 9, I got talking to a couple visiting from Ohio, and they asked if I wanted a ride into the town of Bennington, 5 miles away. On the spur of the moment, I accepted.Pe±a and Brian are professors at a special needs college. He enjoys hiking. They dropped me off on Main Street. I bought supplies, and went to a diner for a late breakfast. I spent some time there catching up on two days of journals as my phone was cooperating after being dried out in the sunshine. It was well into afternoon by the time I left.I hitched a lift with Ashley, who delivers blood and medical supplies in the area. By the time I got back hiking, I decided that Kid Gore was not a viable option and aimed for Goddard Shelter instead, four miles closer. When I arrived, there were quite a few tents already up in an area where AWOL's guide says there is "limited tenting". My site was narrow (constricted by trees) and a bit sloping, but acceptable. I dived into my tent as soon as I had it up and zippered it tight, as the black flies were feasting on me in droves. I swatted six of them in one slap on my leg. But here I am, safe. A man's tent is his castle. See, this is me, waving from the ramparts.Milestones: today saw me completing 13 weeks  on the AT. That's a quarter of a year. In the last week or so, I have gone through two more states - Connecticut and Massachusetts - leaving three to do; I've completed 74% of the distance; I hiked through an all-day thunderstorm; and I've started in on my third pair of boots and hope they will take me the rest of the way to Katahdin. Tipperary
Date: 2017-06-21
From: Goddard Shelter, VT

To: Stealth camping after Stratton Pond Shelter, VT
Miles today: 20.1
Weather: overcast clouds

I woke to chilly 49 degree winds. At least it meant no mosquitoes as I took down my tent. By the time I got on trail, it was 8:15 - I'm getting more easygoing as I get closer to finishing. There was a long, gradual descent of 1,500 feet spread over 12 miles, then a 1,700-foot climb up Mt Stratton in just under four miles. The common denominator was mud - that black, squelchy mud formed by rotting leaves. It has begun to dry out after recent rains, but even so some of the stretches of mud were long and testing. Successive waves of hikers have gradually broadened the paths in such places to get around those mud holes, and in doing so have simply made the mud holes wider. The ATC begs hikers not to do so. I tried to be good, and to hop from rock to rock or log to log, but sometimes it was a choice between having dry boots by skirting guiltily around the edge, or wet boots as you obeyed the ATC. Dry boots usually won.At a shelter where I stopped for lunch, a young man called my name. It was Leaf, whom I recalled last seeing in North Carolina. Funny how so many of us who started together are now only a few days apart. I also later met a young male hiker, who, when I asked him what kind of hiker he was, responded "I'm thru-hiking - on the Long Trail". I felt a bit miffed at this use of the 'thru-hiking' accolade, which until now I'd never heard applied to anything but the AT. But the AT and the Vermont Long Trail run together for 105.2 miles from when we crossed into Vermont. The LT continues on for nearly 150 miles more after the trails diverge. So I suppose it's fair to say you are 'thru-hiking' the LT. Sniff.The views from the fire tower on top of Stratton were gorgeous (I could see at least four ski resorts), but there were strong and cold winds that helped me keep my stay up there very short. I had been aiming for a campsite on a lake, but when I got to the fork in the trail for the campsite, I opted to avoid the 0.5-mile hike to the site and just keep going. I found a very marginal and rather damp spot about 0.6 miles further on. Given the recent bear activity at some shelters, I was annoyed at the usual problem - one is surrounded by trees, but not one of them has a branch protruding low enough to use for hanging a bear bag. I used a less than perfect small tree that a big bear might be able to bend down close to the ground to get at the bag.*Rich, I included the photo of the plaque at the fire tower as I know you will enjoy identifying the apostrophic typos. Sorry it's on its side. Tipperary
Date: 2017-06-23
From: Griffith Lake Tenting Area, VT

To: Greenwall Shelter, VT
Miles today: 14.0
Weather: moderate rain

I woke round 6:15 and proceeded to write up yesterday's journal. I visited the privy and took down my bear bag. I was back in my tent when a few spatters of rain hit. I decided that a speedy breaking of camp was in order. I was still dead late leaving - 8:36.I was pleased that the trail was easy and undulating and mud was minimal compared to previous days. After 2 solid hours' hiking, I stopped in at Lost Pond Shelter to enjoy my Zoey's ham sub, finally. A hiking couple joined me and we chatted a while. I quietly pushed on when she rather gratuitously and dismissively questioned the value of raising money for cancer research. As many of you know, I participate in the Pan-Mass Challenge annually, and this year the event is targeting $48 million. A couple of miles later, the sun was baking down on a tumbling river that was so inviting that I shed my boots and shirt and bathed in a rock pool. Antman came by and rinsed off his shirt. He is an aircraft maintenance technician who previously worked for the military on cargo planes and then crossed over into the civilian world. We hiked together for five more miles and reached Little Rock Pond. Across the lake were rocks and what looked like a cliff that would be great for jumping from. We looked at each other and I said "Let's swim over". He said "You're crazy!" but soon was in the water with me. I struck out for the far shore. The water was pleasant but not warm. Upon reaching the rocks, about 300 yards away, some bathers there said that my buddy had gotten into trouble but that somebody had rescued him. I went back. Antman was sitting on a rock by the shore. We went up to the nearby shelter with his rescuer, Chris, and Chris' two young sons. Antman said he'd misjudged his ability to reach the far side, and panicked. His pulse was still racing and he lay down to recover. After about ten minutes he was looking better. He embraced Chris, who left. We chatted about staying put. Getting the ten miles to the Minerva Hinchey Shelter was no longer the smart thing to do. We agreed we could go five more miles to an intermediate shelter, Greenwall. But first we went to look for Antman's sandals, which he'd been wearing when he started swimming but had kicked off as he got into difficulties. They were now floating off across the lake. I swam out and retrieved them. The water felt much colder on my third time in. We continued to the shelter without incident. Two hikers I'd not met before, Woods Strider and Dana, were already there. It had started to rain about ten minutes before we arrived and soon was a downpour, which was depressing to me. My back was hurting me and I'd been looking forward to a peaceful dry night in the privacy of my tent. In a break in the rain, I rushed out and set up my tent down the hill and was pleased at how dry it stayed. Antman also set up. Other hikers arrived to stay at the shelter. I cooked up ramen and did some stretches for my back, which seemed to help. Tipperary
Date: 2017-06-24
From: Greenwall Shelter, VT

To: Cooper Lodge Shelter, VT
Miles today: 19.2
Weather: overcast clouds

It had rained a little during the night but when I packed away my tent it was almost dry. And only one slug in residence. I got on the trail by 8:32. Just as I was leaving, Antman emerged from his tent. He was still feeling the effects of his swimming incident and talking about doing a 10-mile day. I wished him all the best and headed out.There was an immediate descent of 1,000 feet, followed by a 1,000-foot climb. The trail was nice - a lot of it flat and covered in dry leaves as if all the recent rain had missed it. I was annoyed that the trail gods had not allowed for even one vista point on this section of the AT, as it gets boring being stuck in the green tunnel all day. I stopped at Minerva Hinchey Shelter to lie down for back relief. There I met Downward Cow, a young man missing his fianc©e, who had written in the shelter register about not getting up until noon.Right after the shelter, there was a view out over Rutland Airport. The trail then drops almost to sea level at 820 feet, at a point where it crosses a gorge via a suspension bridge. I saw a family swimming in a pool below and went down to join them. I was able to swim against the current as if I was in a finger pool. Shortly after getting out, Antman showed up, and opted to just cool off his legs in the water. He was followed by Downward Cow, who really seemed to relish the swimming. I went off on my own to tackle the long 3,100-foot haul up to Cooper Lodge Shelter, near the top of yet another ski mountain. Antman passed me, then I passed him when he paused at another shelter, and then he roared past me again. I eventually reached the shelter at 7:12. It was cold. I climbed the 0.2 to the summit to check out the views but came straight back down from the winds at the top. Antman and Downward Cow opted to stay in the shelter (which had a door because of the aggressive porcupines) while I set up on a tenting platform. I ate my food in the shelter and then went to bed. I was too exhausted to even get my phone out of its rice-bag, let alone type up this journal. During the night it was cold, and I put on my puffy jacket. Can't remember the last time I had to do that. I ask again, don't Americans get to have a summer?Tipperary
Date: 2017-06-25
From: Cooper Lodge Shelter, VT

To: Stony Brook Shelter
Miles today: 16.3
Weather: clear sky

I slept late. Everybody did. But I was the last to leave, at the indecent time of 9:56. Within a few hours, I had hit the 1,700-mile mark. Shortly after that, the AT and the Long Trail parted company. And not long after that, I hit a blue-blazed side trail. My offsite trail coach and Leukotape provider, Lumberjack, had highly recommended that I invest the 0.5 miles to reach the Inn at Long Trail, or more specifically McGrath's Irish Pub inside the Inn, where Bob the bartender confirmed that the Guinness Stew was definitely available. I had a great meal and a chat with Bob, who has visited Ireland (including Tipperary) and who challenged me to translate an Irish phrase, which I got 50% right - something about shaving a sleeping mouse's whiskers. I gave my devices a little extra charge which will help me until I get to Tom's on Thursday. Bob told me that Lucky Cub, my Northern Irish fellow-hiker, was in the pub yesterday. Maybe I will catch up to him after 1,500 miles! I also saw Geezer had signed the Inn's hiker register. Okie, the genial manager, showed me a box of Irish and Scottish LPs he had saved from being thrown away. Most were compilations with titles to make you wince, like "Folk Music of Ireland", but he had one or two gems, like a very early Boys of the Lough recording that I don't think I have in my collection. Okie lives in a part of Vermont's forest that has no mains electricity - everything is run off propane. So now he has bought a turntable to play these LPs.I called my wife and my mother and updated them on my progress. They both seemed glad I'm still alive. I got back on the trail and felt really strong. The trail was lovely too, and lent itself to longer strides and more speed. Along the way I met Grateful and Stove Top, whom I've run into twice before. They were key-swapping, which means they had each driven to opposite ends of a section of trail. Then they would each hike along the trail to the other's car. When they would meet up roughly halfway along the section, they would swop keys so that each of them could drive to wherever they had planned to go. I also met Charlie Holland, a colorfully dressed trail maintainer, aged 71. And to cap it all, as I was crossing a deserted gravel forest road, along came a battered old Jeep, driven by...Okie, who was heading home. He stopped for a further brief chat. Really, it's amazing I ever get anywhere on this AT, with all the distractions. I reached Stony Brook Shelter just before 8pm. There were only three people there. I did my usual set-up and bathed in the nearby brook. I ate nothing as I was still full from the Inn and it was just too much hassle.Tipperary
Date: 2017-06-26
From: Stony Brook Shelter, VT

To: Thistle Hill Shelter, VT
Miles today: 22.2
Weather: clear sky

Another relaxed start - it was 8:41 before I hit the trail. Straight away I was climbing. In fact, today's hike included over 5,800 feet of climbing. But at least the trails were nice - leaf-covered, or even better, pine needle carpet, with low levels of rock or root to bother with. That said, in the first half-mile, an ordinary aluminum extendable ladder had been tied to one rock face as without it getting down would have been very difficult. About an hour into the hike I met eight members of the Vermont Youth Conservation Corps out maintaining the trail. Their truck plus trailer was parked at a trailhead a couple of miles further on. Around midday I took a side trail to reach The Lookout - a privately-owned cabin with a widow's walk on the roof. The owners encourage hikers to use it. It has fabulous views. I joined day-hikers Geoff and Lisa, recruitment consultants for Vermont businesses, on the roof where the sun made it quite comfortable. I retired to the cabin to upload yesterday's journal and to have lunch (a big block of chili cheese I've been lugging around for days). This all set me back quite a bit. Not too long after I resumed hiking, the threatened rain began. There was a little thunder but not for very long. My main disgruntlement was not with the weather but with the poor quality of the trail maintenance when I came to the first of many unmowed fields. In dry conditions it's less of an issue (although ticks remain a threat). But in the rain, the grass very quickly utterly soaks your legs and boots. It wouldn't take a lot to run a mower over the trail to clear a few feet of ground on either side. But that aside, all went well.I got in to Thistle Hill Shelter around 8:30, and the rain had stopped an hour or so before. Camber, my neighbor from last night's shelter, was already there and set up. In the shelter were Pi±ata and Rash, whom I'd last seen at The Captain's Place, and Snap, whom I'd also met there, but I'd subsequently run into her at the ATC in Harpers Ferry. There was also Doc Bowman camping beside me. From Waynesboro in Virginia, he played on the same volleyball team as my brother-in-law Mark at Virginia Tech. Small world. As I lie here in my tent, my hips are sore and my legs also - the 'growing pains' discomfort I remember from when I was a small boy. I can find no way to sit or lie to get some ease. Time for Ibuprofen. Tipperary
Date: 2017-06-28
From: Trescott Rd crossing, NH

To: Smarts Mtn camping site, NH
Miles today: 18.8

It was with regret that I left the home of Bill Schults and Betsy Maislen. Bill gave Powerhouse and me a lift to our respective starting points. I was on fresh trail by 7:58. Straight away it was climb, climb, climb. Up 1,400 feet (on good trail), back down and re-climb, back down and re-climb. But this last time was 2,400 feet, and there were rock slopes so steep as to have wooden steps or rebar rungs fixed to them. In total I did over 6,300 feet of ascent. My legs were screaming at me when I finally reached a camping spot on a cliff on Smarts Mountain around 7:20. I had it to myself. At a nearby shelter were Lucky Cub and Lioness, both of whom I hadn't seen in months. There was also the Frenchman, Froggy, whom I'd met a couple of days ago, and who had opted to take the lookout cabin way up at the top of a fire tower as the place to lay his sleeping bag.I went to the privy and found upon my return that something had nipped into my tent and eaten a corner of a Snickers bar I'd left lying there. Lesson learned - eat the damn Snickers bar once you take it out of the chain-mail bag. And maybe zip up the tent opening?Tipperary
Date: 2017-06-29
From: Smarts Mtn camping site, NH

To: Road crossing at NH25A
Miles today: 10.4

By 8:10 I was on my way. It was overcast, cool and breezy. To reach the spot about ten miles distant where Tom would be waiting for me, I had to drop down off Smarts Mountain, climb roughly the same distance up Mt. Cube, then drop down again to the paved road and Tom's car. When I started, I was pleased that my back felt good. The first descent and the start of the climb went by at what was for me a blistering pace; I think I covered about 4.2 miles in 1.5 hours. The blazing of the trail has been a bit less frequent from time to time, as people had warned me about. However usually you can be fairly confident that you're on the AT. But it's nice to get that confirmatory white stripe after a spell without. The climb up Cube featured some very rocky stretches, a small foretaste of the Whites. But mostly it was friendly terrain, and included a fair amount of careful traipsing across continuous bald rock near the top. Then came the descent off Cube. It started to rain, which complicated matters. I had several slips on slick tree roots, and a scary moment when I stepped on a tree trunk boardwalk only to find out that it was not level but sloped downhill slightly, and was slick. I slid right off it but managed to control things so that I didn't end up falling. Perhaps because of these incidents, my back started to send me messages. At a brook near the bottom I stopped and shampooed my hair and had a bath in a pool. I changed into a clean tshirt. I was a bit later than planned so I ran the last 1.6 miles on easy trails to reach NH25A and Tom's car. He drove me to Walmart for supplies and then off to where he and Liz live on Squam Lake. I am being treated like royalty and may take two zeros here. Or I may move in here permanently.Tipperary
Date: 2017-06-30
To: Zero day
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Today I took it easy at Tom and Liz's. I unboxed and packed food supplies, read emails and the New Yorker online, and chatted with my hosts. In the evening their son Bill and his wife Lee showed up bringing dinner, as well as their two daughters. I ate a ton of food - there were no leftovers. Later when everybody had left or gone to bed, I stayed up reading, and ate a big carton of ice cream. Not sure if it was a half-gallon, but it wasn't far off. My back continued to hurt.
Date: 2017-07-01
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

I had a rough night. My back continued to hurt and if anything was getting worse. I lay on the floor and sat in a chair in efforts to find some position that would ease the pain enough for me to sleep. In the morning Tom drove me to "the kids' house", which his children get to use, and picked up Bill, Bill's younger daughter, and their Labradoodle dog, and drove us to the 'boat livery' so that Bill could get his boat and bring it to his (Bill's) dock. I rode in the boat. It started to rain as we were docking. Tom came back for me and insisted that I go to a walk-in clinic in nearby Laconia. There I was prescribed steroids for muscle inflammation and something else as a muscle relaxant to help me sleep. We stopped in at a hardware store on the way home where I bought 12' of light rope for use in hauling my backpack after me on some of the technical sections of the Whites - if that works better than pushing it up ahead of me. I can also use it as a washing line. Back at the house, I took a steroid and went for a short nap. In the evening, Bill and his family, and his sister Suzanne and her family, came over for dinner. Lee had prepared all the fixings for shrimp tacos which were exquisite. I had several. It poured rain while we were eating but the forecast for the next week is looking the best since I've been on the AT.