morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2010-08-18
From: VT 9

To: USFS 71
Miles today: 20.5

USFS 71, 20.5   When we were getting ready to head out this morning Bluesky told me that Bismarck had the dry heaves. They are going to take a zero day. They are also going to move to a different motel because she thinks this is a dump. I don't think it is that bad. I have stayed at worse places along the the trail than this place.   The morning started out cool with clear skies. I can tell now that within the next two weeks that the morning starts are going to be brisk. I have a feeling that the Whites are going to be cold.   At the start of this hike it was something I knew I was going to regret. I was right in that thinking. I regret it. I hurt all over, I am sore, tired, exhausted, miserable, depressed, and I do not ever want to do miles like this again. In fact I refuse to do miles like this again. If there is a section that I have to slack packing like this again where I have no option but to do big miles I will consider skipping it. While doing this today the thing that laid heavy on my mind was quitting and going home. I hated having that feeling of wanting to quit. I am sure that will pass by morning.   When I got back to the motel tonight Chili and Pepper where here checking in. After they showered checked in and showered we all went to Burger King. When we left Chili and Pepper left before I did. I got a kick as I watched a young couples expression who were watching them walk out. I put myself in there shoes, thinking what it would be like not knowing anything about the AT community. It would seem strange to see a father and son walk into a Burger King in kilts that looked more like a dress.   Tomorrow I will be in Manchester and have reservatoins at The Green Mountain House hostel.
Date: 2010-08-19
From: USFS 71

To: VT 11/30
Miles today: 19.6

VT 11/30, 19.6   I contacted Bismarck and Bluesky and they are taking another zero day because Bismarck was not feeling better. Chili and Pepper went back to VT 9.   I went back to Stratton-Arlingtoin Road. When I got there Babalu was sitting at the trail head reading a book. I asked Babalu if he was going into Manchester and he said it was an 18 mile day and he did not want to do that much this last in the morning. I told him it was a 12 day and we both relooked at the books. He was right, it was about an 18 mile day. I was pissed. I had calculated it wrong. I was planning on a 12 mile day. Now I was stuck doing a 18 mile day. I could not change my mind now. and then started north. The climb up Stratton Mountain was pretty easy, I was really surprised beacuse there were no steep climbs, it was all a gradual assent all the way to the top. The fire tower was still standing at the top and open. I went to the top of the tower this time with just a little issue with height this time. I was very nervious though.   After taking pictures from the top of the tower we sat and had some snacks and then I moved on north.   As I arrived at the entrance to Stratton Pond Shelter there was a group of people trying to carry a large plastic tub about the size of a bath tub. They said they were trying to take it out. I don't know where they were heading with it but had a long ways to go to get it out of the woods. I made a quick stop into the shelter. This was a really nice shelter. I moved on.   The day started out nice without a cloud in the sky. The clouds slowly started rolling in throughout the day. It did however stay sunny all day.   At the road crossing at VT 11/30 there was a note there dated 8/18 that was from Tarzan and Sk'rabbit telling Skidmark, Lefty, Gaint, Piss Flaps, Squid, Mandurkin, T-Rex, ect to find them at the stream. That means I am only a day behind them.   I decide to go to The Green Mountain House hostel. When I arrived there I was surprised to see Llano here. Ziggy Stardust and Thin Mint also rolled in later. Also here are Sparrow and Rocket. This hostel is fantastic. The whole house is just for hikers. Jeff the owner has his own house next door to this place and it seems smaller than this house. I aplaud Jeff for this place and for keeping it, clean, tiddy and organized.   I am planning on a short day tomorrow. My chest is all congested and I have been caughing. I have been taking medications for it but do not want to do a lot of miles because of it. It really hindered me today. Then plan is to slack pack south from Mad Tom Notch to VT 11/30, with a total of 5.5 miles. That will give me time to get back into town to get laundry done, get a new batter for my head lamp and anything else that I need to get done in town.
Date: 2010-08-20
From: VT 11/30

To: VT 11/30
Miles today: 5.2

VT 11/30, 5.2   Three of us decided to do a real easy day slack packing south today from Mad Tom Notch. Hopper, Llano and I did a six mile up over Bromley Mountain. The assent was very easy come from the south. We crossed paths with Rocket and one Wayfarer before the summit. The warming hut was open on the summit and we all went in and had lunch and, chit chatted and signed the register. There were several groups of day hikers that came up and climbed the observation tower while we sat eating lunch. After lunch we also climbed the observation tower. On our accent down the north side we ran into Babalu. We stopped and chatted with him for a while because it had been a long time since Llano had seen him.   We stopped at Bromley shelter to check it out and sign the register. Then mad our way down to VT 11/30.   Once back at the hostel I cooked burgers on the grill and we watched the movie Avatar while we did laundry. By the time the movie was over we only had 1/2 hour to make it to the outfitters before they closed. I got a new pair of socks and new batteries for my head lamp. While in town we got some chicken strips, rolls, and salad material.   When we got back to the hostel we marinated the chicken in italian dressing and cooked it on the grill with squash and zucchini. We invited Deep Dish who is a southbounder to eat with us. We ate like kings.   After dinner we watched Pirates of the Carribian and Llano made chocolate chip cookies. This has been a great nero day.   I could not sleep tonight so I was looking at the guidebook and trying to come up with when I think I would reach Katahdin. I came up with a summit date of 03 October. That is not figuring in an zero days between now and then. I know of at least two zero days in towns I want to take. That would make it 05 October. There may be other zero days that maybe be unplanned or shorter or longer days that may change the date. It was just something to do while I could not sleep.
Date: 2010-08-21
From: VT 11/30

To: USFS 10
Miles today: 12.3

USFS0 10, 12.3   Llano and I started out at a good pace this morning. We reached Styles Peak and we that it was Peru Peak and I was a little disapointed that I had two more miles to go to get to Peru Peak. When we got to Peru Peak I had another disapointment when the peak was covered by tree cover. We decided to go to Peru Peak Shelter for lunch.   After a relitively quick lunch break we moved on another 2.7 miles to Baker Peak. We stopped for a quick snack and to admire the view and moved on.   We stopped at Lost Pond Shelter and again at Big Branch Shelter to sign the registries. Then on to USFS 10 to end our day. Llano moved on and I got a ride back to The Green Mountian House hostel. This is my last night here. It is suppose rain tomorrow and Monday, I think I hear a zero day calling me.   Bismarck and Bluesky told me yesterday they would be here tomorrow but Jeff told me that they never made reservations. With the rain coming in they may not be able to get in if hikers start rolling in.   Here tonight are: Chili, Pepper, Power Nap, Cervasa, Swift, Tiger Lilly, Wingin It, ?, ?, ?, ?. I cannot remember the names right now, I will fill them in later.
Date: 2010-08-22
From: USFS 10

To: VT 140
Miles today: 8.3

VT 140, 14.6   I decided to take a short day today. The factor in this decision was the rain. The other factor stems from the blister on my left heal. I starting wearing a new pair of boots yesterday and that is where the blister came from.   Not much to write about when you doing nothing but trudging along in the rain and looking forward to getting to someplace dry. That is all you think about when your hiking in the rain.
Date: 2010-08-23
From: VT 140

To: VT 103
Miles today: 6.3

VT 103, 6.3   It rained all morning. I am tired of the rain. I know I should not complain. It is nothing close to the rain the thru hikers experienced in 2003.   Not much to say about the walking today. Just another day in the Vermont mud, hence the nick name us hikers have given the state, Vermud.   It sure was nice to go to a dry place tonight. Four of us hooked up later for the Chinese buffet. Llano, Hopper, and Babalu.   I received some very bad news today from a good friend of mind. His wife passed away on the 20th. I received the email on my cell phone while I was in WalMart. I was very shocked. She had just written to me on my facebook account less than a week ago. I lost it right in the middle of the WalMart store. It took me a little bit to compose myself. I would have like to be able to go home for the funeral but it is on the 26th and I don't have the time to make arrangements for that. I feel really bad that I can not make the funeral, I was the best man at there wedding. I wrote to him and he said he understands but I still feel bad about not being able to attend.
Date: 2010-08-24
From: VT 103

To: VT 103
Miles today: 17.4

VT 103, 17.4   Climbed up and over Killington today. I did it slack packing in a southbound direction. The peak of Killington was worth the detour off the AT. The weather today was beautiful. I could not of asked for a better summit day. I could see for miles around. I only hope my summit on Katahdin is like today.   I ran into Irish and Cowboy who were day hiking today. They thru hiked the AT in 2002. They told me that they had not run into any hikers today. I told them that I knew of two northbounders that started behind them today. They told me they gave one northbounder a ride to the hostel in Rutland yesterday. I told them that it might have been Babalu. They perked right up and said it was.   I ran into Babalu today and another nouthbounder I had not met before. Her name was Weazer. I have heard the named mentioned before but never was able to put a face to the name until today.   Later I ran into a northbound hiker that was hiking the Long Trail and he stated that he thru hiked the AT in 2002. I told him that I ran into Irish and Cowboy ahead of them who also hiked in 2002.   At the trail head at Upper Cold River Road today I was lucky enough to run into trail magic left my Madhatter. I met him last year at trail days. I also ran into Plans to Much who maintains 30 of the AT in this area. He also helps hikers out with shuttling.
Date: 2010-08-25
From: VT 103

To: Chateauguay Road
Miles today: 16.7

Chateauguay Road, 16.7   Today I hit the thru hiker wall. I got out and hiked today but not because I wanted to. I need to keep putting one foot in front of the other. I know if I quit now I will regret it for the rest of my life. I will finish.   I though when I came out here I would find myself. I don't think I am any closer to that than before I started.   I came upon Thundering Falls today. I came here two years ago when mapping the reroute for Appalachian Pages and there was not much water flowing well. The water over the falls today was flowing great after last nights rain.   The climb after the falls was a pain. When I thought I had gone two miles I looked at my guidebook and realized I had only gone one mile.   When I arrived a Stony Brook Shelter I was greeted by two SOBO's that were slack packing north today. They were Ragmuffin & Megamo. I asked them some questions about the Whites and we talked about the Whites for a little bit.
Date: 2010-08-26
From: Chateauguay Road

To: VT 4
Miles today: 19.4

VT 14, 19.4   The first mile of the day started out fine. However after the first mile everything went to crap. I lost all my energy. I felt like a battery that was getting ready to run out of charge. I could not keep a two mile an hour pace as I have always been able to. I was barely keep it over a one mile per hour pace. I feel so drained and tired. I don't understand it. I ate a good dinner last night and had a good breakfast. I know it is not my food intake. I have been able to do 20 and 23 miles per day in the past and then I lowered it to 15 miles per day. Now I get so worn out after a mile or two. I will look into taking some multi vitimans to see if that will help. I will wait though until this cold I have clears and see if that helps.   It gets to be a routine every day now. Once I get past the first hour of hiking it becomes hipnotic and I just keep trudging along without even thinking. The only things that will break me out of this hipnotic state is tripping or falling, pain, another hiker, or something eyecatching.   Several times today I had to walk through old farm fields that were all grown up with golden rods and other things that were chest high. They were so close together at times the only way you knew it was the trail was by looking down at the at the base of the stocks were you could make out a foot path. I had to hold my hiking polls out in front of me to spererate the weeds so I could pass through them.   I passed by a section of stone walls that ran alongs what apeared to be an old road. They looked amazing, a lot of time must have been spent back in the day building these stone walls. They were at least three feet tall or more and were perfectly square and out in the middle of nowhere. May back in the day this areas was not considered the middle of nowhere.
Date: 2010-08-27
From: VT 4

To: Hanover
Miles today: 9.8
Weather: broken clouds

Hanover, 9.8   Today started out a lot better than it did for me yesterday. I was able to pick back up with my two mile per hour pace.   I did notice a few things about the trail today that in my opinion should be taken care off soon. There were two different areas when the old trail was rerouted but you could see the white blazes from the new reroute. This could be a potential hazard for a hiker in the future. These blazed should at least be removed from the view of the main trail.   When I arrived at Happy Hill Shelter I went to to sign the register and as I always do I went back about a week reading who had been here. I got to one writing by Jaybird. He went on to rant and rave for two and one half pages about Baltimore Jack, calling him Baltimore Jackass. From what it said and I understand he had a run in with hike at VT 12.   Two days back at Stony Brook Shelter I ran into a southbound couple hiking the AT for there honeymoon, Raggamuffin and MEGEMo. They were staying at VT 12 at a place there in a barn. They told me about a cookout they were today (27th) and have been telling hikers about it and iviting hikers to come. I have been looking forward to this for two days. When I got to the place today I ran into Llano, Skid Mark, Weaser, Cearvasa, Power Nap, Raggamuffin and MEGAMo.it was a great time sitting around chatting and having a few drinks with good friends. The trail is about the people you meet sometimes more than the hike itself.   After talking to Skid Mark I realized that the other day when I met Weaser that it was his girlfriend and he was a little ways behind and I never did see him on that southbound slack pack that day. Who knows how I missed him. It could have been when he got off the trail to us the bathroom or he could have been at a shelter I passed without stopping in.
Date: 2010-08-28
From: Hanover

To: Lyme-Dorchester Road
Miles today: 20.7

Lyme-Dorchester Road, 16.1 + 4.6=20.7   All I have been thinking about for the last three days is the climbs coming up. Tomorrow (Sunday) is Smarts Mountain and Mt Cube followed Monday by Mt Moosilauke, Tuesday is South and North Kinsman Mountain. Wednesday is the start the White Mountains. The climbing is about to start. I am not looking forward to this at all.   I just realized that because of my one reservation at Zealand Fall Hut on 02 September that I am going to have to jump ahead two days. I will have to skip Mt Moosilauke and South and North Kinsman Mountain. I will come back and get them when I finish the Whites.   I had my winter gear picked up at the post office today. I need to thank my support team at home for all the help in mailing and receiving gear though the mail. If not for my wife and her support I don't know how this hike would have been possible. Thank you Donna. I will be home soon.    I got my laundry done this afternoon. It will probably be the last time I get it done until after the Whites.   We came around to Glencliff to the Hikers Welcome Hostel for the night. After getting settled in at the hostel. Fat Chap the hostel caretaker talk me into going out for a quick five mile slack pack to knock off a section that would get me ahead a little.   I stopped into Ore Hill Shelter during the five mile slack pack and ran into T-rex, August Rush, 151, and three section hikers. I reconized the hiker by the name 151 from back at 501 Shelter from an article that was left there. The were two threaded one inch polls with a large nut on the top. The polls probably weighed 20 or 30 pounds each. There was a note on the polls challenging anyone else to carry the up the trail. The note also said that he had carried them 200 miles. I thought at the time it was a gag. I asked him today if he really carried them for 200 miles.   When we got back from the later afternoon hike back at the hostel I ran into Sandman, Chef, Puma, Timone, Rock Steady, Mini Muffin, Touris.   I have not seen Rock Steady since before Hawassiee. As fast as he was back then I though he would have finished the trail by now. He explained that he has been taking four days off here and four days off there.
Date: 2010-08-29
From: Lyme-Dorchester Road

To: NH 25A
Miles today: 14.0

NH 24A, 14.0   At one point in the night Forest was sleeping under his tarp and we heard him jump out of his tent yelling "what the f#*!". He woke up to a skunk next to his face.   I slept in the carport last night. It is a canvas carport with about 10 beds under it. During the night last night we had a visitor come in and vist us. A skunk tried to get into Sandman's food bag. We all woke up to the sound of it trying to get into the bag. We shewed it away but it just went under one of the beds. Sandman moved his food bag and we all fell back asleep.   When I got back today I heard a couple talking out by the showers and when I walked around to see who it was I was very suprised to see it was Lisa of Two of a Kind. We gave each other a big hug and then her partner John came over and we gave each other a big hug. I was very happy to see them again. They were always one day in front of me. There were times when I knew we were in the same trail towns but had no way to contact them. We made sure we had each others phone numbers and email addresses right away. I met these two way back a Fontana Dam. We have been in and out of contact with each other three or four times since then.   Here tonight are Two of a Kind, Toiboks, Yum Yum, Herro, Purpose, Hopper.
Date: 2010-08-30
From: NH 25A

To: North Woodstock
Miles today: 0.0

North Woodstock, 0.0   I spent the first part of the morning organizing and getting all my winter gear back into pack. I start the Whites in two days. I am more concerned about the weather in the Whites than I was about the weather in the Smokies. It can be really windy in the Whites and I will be in a hammock. I do have my under quilt for the hammock and I will also carry a rubber foam pad too. It should be enough but I am a cold sleeper.   We all had a good morning sitting around this morning chatting. Two of a Kind went across the street to the post office to get there winter gear. The last time we ran into them they were in Pearisburg switching out there summer gear for winter gear. Now they are doing the opposite. Both times they have had massive amounts of boxes. It is a little comical to watch them unpack.   Pac Rat was at the hostel during out stay. I have known Pac Rat for a while now. He is the owner of the hostel and lives in CT. We caught up before I left.   The hostel is a very nice place but the outside apearance is misleading. It has all the nessesities a hiker needs for a stay. There are no stores close by for resupply but for a place to shower and relax and being close to the trail it is ideal.   We headed to Gorham, NH today to pick up one of Hoppers mail drops. For some reason one of her items she needed did not make it to her mail drop in Glencliff. She is crossing her fingers that it is in the Gorham mail drop. I don't know what she will do if it is not there. She is going into the Whites. I am going into the Whites the day after her.   While in Gorham we went to The Barn to talk about aranghements for Hoppers car. She is going to go back to full pack until Katahdin. I was able to make arangements with a friend of mine to shuttle Hoppers car to Millinocket for her.    While I was at The Barn I ran into Fog who was waiting for a ride back to the trail head. Last time I saw him was prior to Fontana Dam. He thought he broke his foot that day. He told me that he did break his foot but did not know it until he went home for a visit and saw a doctor. The doctor told him it would not heal until he stopped walking on it. He said he kept hiking. I asked him if it hurt, he said not really. His ride back to the trail showed up so we had to cut our chat short.   I realized after I got all settled down in North Woodstock that I left my hiking clothes on the clothesline at the hostel in Glencliff. I was upset because now I have to drive back to Glencliff tomorrow just to get my hiking clothes. Hopper told me that if I left early enough that she would go with me as long as she got on the trail around lunch time. I will probably take her up on the offer.   I would like to head into the Whites tomorrow but because of the reservation screwup I made at Zealand Hut I have to prolong it one day. I am not happy about it at all.