morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2006-09-24
To: Farewell to fellow hikers
Miles today: 0.0

today my parents and i tracked down slick b, mule, bofus and lebowski hanging out in their sleeping bags at the birches in baxter state park. we brought them dunkin donuts and shared stories from the past week. then i went to see feng shui and burner come down from katahdin. today was rainy but they were still excited about their accomplishment. Too much and Enough summitted today as well but i didn't get to see them. hopefully tomorrow's weather will be better for when #2, dirt diva, compass rose, carbomb, lichen, bofus, lebowski, windtalker, mom, slick, mule, identity crisis, treehouse, sumo & lush summit katahdin. tonight shebear, dirt diva, 42, g-man, jersey, baldy locks, #2 and i celebrated at the local bar in milinocket. shebear got some old guys trucker hat at the end of the night. it was great picking songs all night on the jukebox and eating popcorn and going over the last 6 months worth of glory. will anything compare???
Date: 2006-09-27
To: Hikers i met
Miles today: 0.0

North Bound hikers I met on the Trail:Beth, Baltimore Bill, Mouse Hat, Tipper, Marley, Skip, Nifty, Ball Pahk, Salt & Pepper, Mouse, Nick (Treehouse), Lance (Blind Monkey), John G, Blackfoot, Gator, Snail, Crutch, Searching Eagle (Mcgruff), granny franny, Trickster and What, Dirt Diva, Compass Rose, Trips, Pedro, Geezer(Torpedo), Dundee, Damp Dan, Kojac, Kat, Argon, Wild Poodle, Rama, Garrett (Eggshells), Mary (Barnacle), Sarah, Mak (Hitch), Daniel, Roni from Israel, CUP, Janice (Lightweight), Beer Nuts, Eagle, Harley Hogpit, 3 Dollar, Oba, Social & Dandelion, Lone Wolf, Marco Solo, Nopliers, Old Spice, Moonbeam, Jumpstart, Jellybean, Mr. K, Handlebar, Johnny K, Chuck Norris, Wolf Paw, Chewy, B-main, Soda Pop, Soul live, Fred, H-Bomb, Shasta, Spitball, Kenny & Julia, Squirrel Master & Contagious, AT, Lonestar, Uncle Art, Caveman, Rael, Lothar, Model T, Ranger Dawg, #2, Natty Boh, Rock Chalk, Samurai, Sue, & Lucky Dime, She Bear, Single Malt, Cornbread, Rapunzel, 42, Sun Crow, Sunshine Daydream, Birkenstock, Nokia, Cold Feet, Able Jack, Kentucky, Lonewolf, Puffy Nipples & Cheeto, Bright Eyes, Catch up, Double Zip, & Home cooking, Mud flap & Daisy, Path Sizzle, Orangutan, Stinky, Chow Chow, Birdman, Mike the Hike, Too Much and Enuff, Bofus, Lebowski, Crabapple, Montreal, Baltimore Jack, Rusch Hour, G-Walk, Brainfreeze, Mule, Slick B, Tek, Kanoho (Tears of Clown), Indiana, Cool Hand, Idenity Crisis, Baldylocks, Knock Knock, Bama, Little Wing, Wind Talker and Mom, River Weasel, FDR, Uphill, Sleepy the Arab, Cosmic Punchline, Yellow Belly, Feng Chui & Burner, Jersey, Gary, Pinata, the Professor and Jesse James, Cohiba, Otter, G-Man, F-Bomb, Rising Sun, Slip & Slide, Shenanigans, Jukebox, Delicious, Carbomb & Lichen, Brownie & Souleman, Sumo, Lush, K¢ache & Pi, Snickers, BP, Fiddlehead, Ameoba, Banjoman,
Date: 2006-11-03
To: Life After the Trail
Miles today: 0.0

well i'm living in norfolk, va with my great friend from high school. her parents moved to tawain and left the house for megan and her brother and they had an extra room...so i'm staying in it for a while. i'm working for the norfolk spca, a no-kill animal shelter, where i'm an adoption counselor. i also just took on another job at a movie theater called the naro that plays foreign films and focus films...stuff like that. i've been going to it since i was in middle school and went on field trips or went to skip school..haha. i have also been making appearances in public as cher from the "sonny and cher" era outside of halloween. i bought a long black wig...and i walk around town in it, go shopping in it, go out for sushi in it..the usual. i was formal cher for a weekend halloween party and then casual cher on halloween to pass out candy to kids with my friend lesley and then of course we went to plaza azteca all dressed up. lesley was a witch with green hair. when i dress up as cher i put on fake eyelashes..they are so kewl. i was hoping that treehouse would be able to visit norfolk before he set out on his trip west...but it didn't work out. i may be meeting up with some peeps out west in january (beth, torpedo, 42, and treehouse...mule if he still goes west). i'm going to have to get myself into a journey soon...
Date: 2005-12-09
To: WE'RE GOING TO DO IT
Miles today: 0.0

The kids are grown, the house is sold and now we're going to do it. Robert and I (Mudflap & Daisy), have been talking about thru-hiking the AT for several years. It wasn't until 2002 however, that it became an actual goal. Since then, we've read a lot, bought nice gear, hiked some and arranged our lives so that we're free to go. This is a once in a lifetime trip for us so I hope we make it all the way. Mudflap's goal is more absolute or resolute than mine: "We must make it to Katahdin". As for me, I'd like to live the lifestyle one day at a time until we hopefully summit Mt. Katahdin. Time and my knees will tell.   Sometime during the past couple of years we discovered Trail Journals and have enjoyed reading others' accounts of their own journeys. We learn a lot from the experiences others share, like gear preferences, cutting back on weight and just what to expect in general on a thru-hike. We would also like to share our hike with family, friends and whomever else might care to read it. It's a good way for our folks to track our progress and see some of the sights through our photos.   Robert's parents, Larry and Myra, have agreed to be our support team. They will be sending our mail drops and posting our journal for us. This is an invaluable service to us and we appreciate it very much. Besides that, I'm hoping my daughter Emily, who likes to bake, will send some homemade cookies or something along the way; nothing like homemade love to lift the spirits!   Meanwhile, we're living in a small, two bedroom apt. with one of my daughters and 4 year old granddaughter. Robert works too many hours, 6 days a week driving a gasoline tanker. I am occupied with 2 part-time jobs and watching my 3 grandchildren while my daughters work and attend college. My 19 year old son moved out when we sold the house in Nov. and does not yet have a clear direction in which he'll head. All this means we have'nt spent a whole lot of time focusing on and preparing for our up coming hike. March is fast approaching though, so it's time to break away from our usual routines and get ready for a big adventure!
Date: 2006-01-02
To: NEW YEAR/NEW GEAR
Miles today: 0.0

Happy New Year Everyone! Now that the holidays are over we can turn our attention to preparing in earnest for our hike. March is just a little more than 8 weeks away! we still have lots to do. We bought ourselves a food dehydrator for Christmas. We plan to supplement our noodles and such with some veggies and maybe even some chicken and beef. We will have those sent in occasional mail drops. Hopefully we can get by with just a few mail drops by using a bounce box which we will send ahead of ourselves as we go.    Family members were thoughtful this Christmas giving us gift certificates to stores like Sports Authority and REI. We'll use them to purchase some heavier fleece, some mid-weight pj's, and especially another MSR Hubba-Hubba tent. We already own a Hubba-Hubba but the year after we bought ours- you guessed it -they came out with a new and improved version. The reason we like the new model better is because it has two entrances. No more climbing over each other to get out and stumble over boots and packs crammed under one vestibule. Another nifty new item we picked up is Pocketmail. We'll use that to keep our journal up to date plus we can send and receive our e-mail that way.   In addition to gearing up, we also need to start some conditioning. That last hike in the Smokys really knocked the wind out of me. I know we'll be slow in the beginning so we just have to take it as it comes. Meanwhile, the excitment/anxiety is mounting as March approaches. We don't have an exact start date yet. We need to finalize our plans with Robert's stepdad Russ and his wife Kitty: they have volunteered to bring us from Brandon to Amicalola Falls State Park. Russ and Kitty have some good friends who live in Blairsville, GA so we may end up spending a couple of days relaxing in the area before we actually begin.   Between now and March we're trying to get in as much visiting as we can with friends and family. It seems as if we're going away forever! In three weeks we're taking the grandkids to Disney World then in February we hope to take them camping in Lake Kissimmee State Park. They're ages 3,4, and 7. We're very attatched to them. Sometimes I think the most difficult part of the hike will be missing them.   Speaking of camping, we just spent New Year's Eve out at Fort DeSoto State Park with my dear friend Danette and her 20 year old son Doug. Our campsite was on the water with many different wading birds to watch. We also had plenty of company in the form of RV'S and pop-up campers but it was quiet and very pleasant. Weather-wise it was foggy and humid. When I got up at 8 a.m. Jan. 1st, the thermometer read 70 degrees. Well I realize that to a lot of northerners that sounds great, but to me it always seems a bit unnatural to be wearing shorts in the middle of winter. I'm sure I'll soon appreciate it a whole lot on a cold, wintery day in March, on top of a hill, somewhere in the middle of the Chattahoochee National Forest.
Date: 2006-01-12
To: STEPS TO INDENPENDENCE
Miles today: 0.0

Okay-Now I'm even more excited about this hike! I've been keeping quiet until now because I didn't know if my plan was gonna fly. The plan is this: we will be doing our hike as a fundraiser for a local group home for adolescent girls. The place is called Brookwood and the fundraiser is called "Steps to Independence" ( try approximately 5 million steps ). There are currently two Brookwood sites in Florida, one in Coral Springs and the other in St. Petersburg. We are seeking to help the St. Pete site. This is a 50 bed facility that serves the needs of young women who are displaced from their homes for a variety of reasons. Many have been abused or neglected. I believe that when something extaordinarily difficult happens to a young person, it takes something extaordinarily positive to bring their lives back into balance. It is my hope hope to inspire these young women through example. I want to show them that they can reach their goals are follow their dreams if they stay committed to it.   After speaking with Pam Mesmer,PHD, Exec. Dir. and Diane Sunden, manager of research and development, we came up with a goal of $10,000. This is to go toward providing the girls with life enhancing/personal improvement opportunities like boating, horseback riding, bicycle trips, dance classes, maybe see the ballet and so forth. I believe that given the chance to experience these things that many of us take for granted, these young women can be inspired, find self confidence and maybe some physical fitness to boot. Brookwood provides comprehensive services so there are myriad ways contributions can be used. I truly hope many of you will join me in my journey to help help the girls at Brookwood strive to reach personal goals and become contributing members of their communities. Brookwood does not yet have a web site, so if they don't get one soon, I'll probably set up my own web page to update the fundraiser and recognize sponsors.    Anyone interested can send a tax deductible donation to:Brookwoodc/o Diane Sunden/Steps to Independence901 Seventh Ave. SouthSt. Petersburg, FL   33705-1998Please be sure to include "Steps to Indepedence" with your check.   This is both an additional challenge as well as motivation for me to finish my thru-hike. My previous fundraising experience includes selling Girl Scout cookies and doing car washes. I've decided to approach this in a few different ways. One, we will tell everyone we know and hope they tell someone else. Two, we're telling all you hiking enthusiasts out there. Three, I will contact local media and finally, We are planning a nobo "thru-hike" of the Pinellas Trail. This is a 35 mile rails to trails paved path that runs nearly the length of the county. We will wear t-shirts that say Steps to Independence and stop by businesses along the way and pass out fliers. I hope it works! Thanks in advance to all of you good-hearted people out there. Who knows, maybe there's a future thru-hiker living at Brookwood!
Date: 2006-01-19
To: PREP WORK TIMES TWO
Miles today: 0.0

Wow! The calendar is filling up fast with family get-togethers, dental appointments, meetings with reporters, a trip to Disney, a race in Daytona, and too much more to mention. We will begin hiking March 7th if all goes according to plans. We're still working out our mail-drop details. We want to have as few as possible, using a bounce box instead. We figure there are some places where we'll want to send ourselves some food like at Fontana and Monson. Otherwise, we will only need mail-drops to switch out summer and winter gear.    Friday the 20th we meet with Community News Publications to tell of our hike and fundraiser. I'm very excited about all this and am working hard to get everything done. My daughter, Alena, has been especially helpful in getting the flyer made up for the fundraiser. Plus, my friend's son, Doug helped us set up a website for the Brookwood fundraiser. It's not quite finished yet but we're happy with our progress. Check it out at www.geocities.com/mtkatahdin2006. This is truly a wish come true!    Today we watched the new AT video called "Walking With Freedom" and we also recently watched "Trek". I thought they were both very well done - well worth the watch!
Date: 2006-02-03
To: WEBSITE MAKEOVER
Miles today: 0.0

We Have just experienced extreme website makeover! I hope many of you will check us out at www.geocities.com/mtkatahdin2006. We were having trouble working with our homemade website, so I sent out an s.o.s. to my daughter's friend, who is a web designer, looking for some advice or instructions. Instead, Brett Mitchell of MetrologyDesigns.com hooked us up with a website that we are proud to send people to. It has a nice picture of Mt. Katahdin at the top with many pages that tell about our fundraiser as well as a page filled with A.T. facts. WOW---thanks Brett!
Date: 2006-02-06
To: GOOD TIMES
Miles today: 0.0

We managed to survive a weekend at Disney World and a weekend of camping with the little ones. We all had a good time and want to spend as much time together as we can before "Nana & Poppy's" big A.T. adventure.Other than playing with kids, we are dehydrating tomatos, carrots and greenbeans, plus breaking in new Montrail boots.f
Date: 2006-02-07
To: LOCAL SUPPORT
Miles today: 0.0

Thank you to all who have been contacting us since our story went in the St. Pete Times. It's good to know there are so many hikers and former thru-hikers in our area. Now, I wish we had time to meet everyone and make friends! We especially appreciate that people have a heart for the girls at Brookwood too. Donations are beginning to trickle in. Plus, Channel 10 news contacted us yesterday. We met them today for an interview while we hiked across the Friendship Trail bridge. The story is supposed to air twice tomorrow morning between 7am and 9am, and maybe again at noon. I think it went well. I almost forgot to mention about following Mudflap & Daisy on Trailjournals. I hope they put that on there. Thanks again everyone for calling, emailing, signing our guestbook and donating to Brookwood. It means a lot to us.
Date: 2006-02-18
To: SNOWY SHAKEDOWN
Miles today: 0.0

We never hiked in snow before so lucky for us we only had to go as far as N. GA to find some. We chose to do an overnight on the Coosa Backcountry Trail outside of Vogel State Park just up the road from Neels Gap. We went Feb. 13 and 14 during those very late winter snowstorms. We wanted to see if we had warm enough clothes and and if our sleeping bags were warm enough.The Coosa is a 12.6 mile strenuous trail like a rollercoaster of arduous climbs and knee-grinding descents. It snowed during our first day as we pushed our way up through 6-8 inches of powder. I thought to myself "won't it be fun to make a snowman when we get to our campsite!" By the time we arrived at the creek beyond Calf Stomp Gap, we were tired and cold. We had to clear away about a foot of snow to set up our tent. Then of course came the usual collecting water, making dinner and so forth. While Mudflap was getting water, he put his gloved hands in the icy stream and soon had gloves that froze solid. So much for building a snowman; he was about to become the snowman! We figure the lows were in the teens since Blairsville had lows in the 20's.The next day, Valentine's Day, we climbed up and over Wildcat Knob. As we approached the 4,200 foot summit, we had the rare priviledge of seeing a Wolf. The trail had disappeared beneath about a foot of fluffy white powder and we would stop to check for the yellow blazes marking the path. Shortly after one such stop as we began traversing the side of the mountain, I heard a loud rustling up ahead. I stopped again to listen and suddenly, about 150 feet in the distance a charcoal grey and black wolf dashed away from around the bend and down the side of the snowy hill. I had the better view with Mudflap behind me but he did catch a glimpse of it as it disappeared between the bare trees. It was the most awesome sight and I will never forget it. What a gift mother nature gave us that day!As we descended back down toward Vogel Park the snow was melting and had become slushy and icy. Needless to say, it was quite precarious in spots as the rocks were sometimes iced over. I fell onto my hip once, didn't hurt much, and stopped myself from falling a couple more times. Over all we did well in comparison to two years ago when we did this trail as our first mountain backpacking trip together. Back then, my knees were screaming in the end and I could barely walk straight. This time sore calves were the only lingering discomfort.We had dinner at a nice litte Italian restaurant in Dahlonega that evening; a perfect Valentine's Day touch. Then Mudflap bought me a pair of simple gold hoop earrings that I will wear on our AT hike. What a great time we had.Thursday the 16th, we were at the races in Daytona. The Gatorade Dual 150's to be exact. What a strange transition to go from Mudflap & Daisy and one lone wolf on a mountain to 150,000 fans rooting for their favorite drivers in the stands at Daytona. Good times!
Date: 2006-02-24
To: PINELLAS TRAIL HIKE
Miles today: 0.0

Total Miles: 12The Pinellas Trail is a paved "Rails-to-Trails" path that stretches 34 miles from south St. Petersburg to Tarpon Springs. We decided to "thru-hike" the trail as part of our A.T. training and to raise awareness for Brookwood. At 8 a.m. we began hiking the southern end of the Pinellas Trail in south St. Pete. near Gibbs H.S.. With loaded packs and wearing big signs on our fronts and backs, we attracted a lot of attention from passers by. Before long, a man stepped out from the back door of the building where he worked and spotted us coming toward him. He was curious and asked us where we are going. "Maine eventually" was our reply. At that, he asked "Hey, aren't you the ones who were in the paper recently"? "Yep, that's us!" and so began our long day on the P.T.. A Tampa Tribune photograper caught up with us in Gulfport to get pictures to go with the story that will come out on Tuesday. While doing our photo shoot, some guy asked if we were protesting the war. I guess he didn't read the signs.We stopped at Crabby Bill's in the Tyrone area for lunch. We were a bit of a spectacle making our way to our table with the cumbersome loads attatched to our backs. The servers and manager were quite interested in our fundraiser hike. When the manager told the owner, who just happened to be in, about our cause, he made an immediate donation. Thank you Crabby Bill's! Bay News 9 also met us there. We did our interview outside at the trail which attracted a few onlookers. Next thing we knew, Mudflap's stepbrother Jay, whom we rarely see because we live far apart, happened to be driving by and saw us. We were surprised when he stopped by to say hi while we were being filmed. After a coulpe of "takes" hiking on the paved path in front of the strip mall, we headed up and over the urban "hill" which was the overpass at busy Tyrone Blvd.. How strange it is to be backpacking through the city.About halfway through the day's hike, I started getting a blister on the ball of my right foot, my left hip began to ache and I was hoping all this was due to walking on pavement as opposed to softer ground. Mudflap was fine; of course he's not as whiney as I am either. After 12 miles I was more than happy to stop. Mudflap's sister Debbie, who shuttled us to the trail in the morning, picked us up and dropped us off at the St. Pete. KOA.As I sit writing this, I am contemplating how far a walk it is to the showers from here. This place is huge, my feet hurt, but a shower would be great right now.
Date: 2006-02-25
To: PINELLAS TRAIL HIKE - DAY 2
Miles today: 0.0

Today's miles: 12Total miles: 24After a noisy night of intermittent sleep at the KOA, Debbie picked us up and dropped us off at the trail in the city of Seminole where we left off yesterday. It was pretty quiet in the beginning of the day as we made our way north through the back sides of some nicer neighborhoods. There many bicyclists in their brightly colored cycling suits whizzing past as we plodded along. Some gave us quizical stares as they tried to read our signs while others gave us the "thumbs up" calling out "good luck"! We had few opportunities to hand out our fliers since the trail wound primarily through residential areas. I wanted to get rid of them for two reasons. One to raise money for Brookwood and two, to lighten the load in my pack!As we approached the half-way mark of the day, we were headed into downtown Clearwater. Once again, by this time my hip was aching and my blistered feet were protesting but we were pleasantly distracted by interesting murals painted on the sides of buildings. The St. Pete. section had great murals too. In the distance, we could see an elderly man slowly walking toward us with a sort of listing to the left gait. My first impression was that he was either homeless or drunk or both. As we neared each other, we could see that his skin was patchy and his clothes were well worn. He greeted us with a wide toothless smile and asked about our signs. When we told him we will hike the Appalachian Trail, he said "Be sure and stop by Qualla in North Carolina." Then he began to speak in what sounded like Cherokee. He said he was speaking in a combined Native American language. Charlie November told us of days gone by when he was in the Navy and other tales of life long ago. Then, when he found out we were hiking for a charity, he pulled out his wallet and insisted we take his two dollars. I don't think he really had it to spare. How generous was his offer: Thanks Charlie!About mid-afternoon, Diane Sunden and Danette Reid, both friends from Brookwood, met up with us at Sunset Point Rd. and took us to Main St. Dunedin for lunch. We had a long lunch at Sea-Sea Riders, an al fresco cafe near the intercoastal water way. After good food, good conversation and good dose of moral support, they dropped us off where we were on the trail. As we hiked through Dunedin later, there were still many visitors out seeing the shops and art galleries which gave us the opportunity to hand out a few fliers.Soon our hike was done for the day, so we called a cab to take us to a hotel. Originally, we planned to camp at the Dunedin Beach Campgroud, but it turned out to be a very nice R.V. resort with no vacancies. When our cab arrived, there were two drivers teaming up for the night. Tony and Laura, the drivers seemed like the laid-back hippy types. They were quite interested in our fundraiser/hike and gave us a break on our cab fare-cool!