morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2017-08-09
From: Thistle Hill Shelter

To: Hanover, NH / Swan Family home in West Lebanon
Miles today: 14.7
Weather: clear sky

I am clean, very well fed ¢ both in terms of food and great conversation ¢ in a bed with clean sheets, and I want to write, and I want to read, and I want to post blogs, but I think the need to sleep will win. I planned to meet up with my friend from grad school, the great cartoonist Isaac Cates, in Hanover. But I arrived too late in the day to meet him and the places to stay near Dartmouth were very expensive. I feel so fortunate that Isaac arranged for me to stay with his friends in West Lebanon, the Swans - who I met at his wedding. Morgan Swan was also a librarian at Yale while I was at the Beinecke doing archival research for Poetic Salvage: Reading Mina Loy. It was such a treat to catch up with him and to stay with his family (and their four delightful kids, who taught me how to play Dragonwood). A homemade meal, laundry, cocktails, conversation...what a lovely surprise! Thank you!!!My last day of hiking in Vermont was varied and gorgeous and full of trail magic. I must've hit at least three trail magic stations plus the Hart family of West Hartford, who invite hikers onto their porch for scrambled eggs and watermelon and coffee and sodas and beer. I enjoyed talking Star Wars with the two young boys there and chatting with their father.The walk into town was HOT. I crossed into New Hampshire on a concrete bridge and took a photo with the state border sign.I am nearly asleep, so the rest will have to wait for a coffee shop tomorrow.
Date: 2017-08-10
From: Hanover, NH / Swan Family home in West Lebanon

To: Moose Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 10.2
Weather: broken clouds

I am lying in my tent on this crazy sloop for no good reason except for the fact there was a nice bit of clearing, good light, and a bit of a view. It struck my fancy. I also like sleeping in little nooks. It's comforting to me. This may change tomorrow morning, we'll see! I didn't realize the shelter has no water, which sucks. Luckily I have enough to get started tomorrow.I slept super well last night and spent the rest of the morning talking to Kristin Swan and playing with the kids. The eldest,Henry, made me scrambled eggs and his sister Stella, after she heard that I wanted to see a moose, drew a moose for me.After saying goodbye I caught the (free!) bus to Hanover, where I did a few blog entries before Isaac met me at the Dirt Cowboy cafe. I also had my first round of drinks and pastries. God did I eat today!It was so good to talk to Isaac! After we exhausted the coffee shop, we headed to Base Camp Cafe and had Nepalese food! Oh my god, my first taste of momo. It's a bit like xiao long bao....sooooo good. Again I had so much food.I didn't want to leave, but it was getting late. I think we left the restaurant about 2:30 and that's when my hiking day began!I feel so grateful for the friends from college who have come out to meet me. Gish and Isaac from Hopkins, Sara and Tanya from CGU. I'm hoping Kristin from NUI Galway will be the next!
Date: 2017-08-11
From: Moose Mountain Shelter

To: Hexacuba Shelter
Miles today: 18.9
Weather: broken clouds

Today... was not a good day. I massively underestimated the climb up Smarts Mountain, as I think several people did. I heard a few say it took much longer than they had anticipated. It started raining lightly on the way up, which was no big deal, but which contributed to the record-setting three falls in succession I had today!I was tired and hungry and had to "hit the privy" but couldn't because there were people behind me...As usual, I didn't fall on the hard parts, I fell after. I fell into a mud pile. I hooked a foot in a tree root and went down on my knees, again in the mud for #2 just ten minutes later. And then I slipped on a wet rock and went down on my butt (that's new!) for fall #3. That time I just sat for a bit and cried with frustration.The terrain was too steep for an 18 day. Oh yeah, and there was no water at the campsite last night, so no coffee, no oatmeal this morning. Just all kinds of things stacking up to be awful. I want to get to the hostel tomorrow, which is also why I was pushing. I was walking for 12 hours again. And only did 18 miles.I'm worried about the Whites.It was a really discouraging day.When I got here (steep, not worth it), I recognized the lady in the shelter - Tiny, who I split a room with at Vanessa Breton's in Connecticut before I left for the wedding!Side note: I saw teeny frogs today the size of grasshoppers.
Date: 2017-08-14
From: Kinsman Notch / Terodactyle's House in Lincoln

To: Eliza Brook Shelter
Miles today: 7.5
Weather: clear sky

I did a totally short day because I can! Odd benefit of booking the hostel for tomorrow ¢ no sense in rushing there, since you can't check in early. And there's another big climb tomorrow. So get in early, set up a tent on an embankment right above the river, enjoy the sound of the water, the play of sunlight on the tent, read The Black Stallion. There really is no rush at all, because I made the schedule generous. . . I'm right on time. ("And when I needed her she was right on time!" - Have to quote Eliza Hamilton when I'm at Eliza Shelter!)Also: The logbook at the shelter is super old and still has the 2016 hikers. And there is a drawing by Atlas!!! It made me so happy to see it!There are 10 pads here, so smooth and flat, and the way my tent is staked out I can see all around it from inside. And I'm protected from the relentless mosquitoes! I don't know where they came from ¢ all day it was bug-free.My tent is so pretty in the sunlight!I love the shifting light on the tent, the shadows of pine needles, the way the crinkles in the fabric make it look like vellum. I totally just took video with my phone of the interplay of light on the tent!It's so nice to be able to sit in the tent and gaze out at the water below. There's a patch of mossy bank with four perfectly placed gold mushrooms. There are fallen logs bleached white like bones. Smooth gray boulders surrounded by water reflecting the fading light from the sky above. It's getting dark on the forest floor but you can see the treetops are still bright with sunlight.So far it hasn't been cold enough to warrant any of my extra gear, but that may change as I hike higher up. For now the puffy jacket serves as a new pillow.I love being lazy and having all this time! I made the spaghetti Mountain House for dinner. It's so simple, it is currently my favorite dinner, a bit like Beefaroni.I hope I can get up early and get an early start tomorrow. There's supposed to be rain tomorrow afternoon, but hopefully after I finish the climb. It's strange, looking ahead in the book, planning to where I will get off trail. I feel a twinge of sadness already about the hike ending.
Date: 2017-08-15
From: Eliza Brook Shelter

To: Franconia Notch / The Notch Hostel
Miles today: 9.7

It got chilly last night so I slept in the puffy. In the morning I was out early and ran into Wanderer, Pegasus, and their crew, and later, Finnisher (a professional dancer and choreographer from Finland...get it? Finnisher?).It was fun to sit on the ledge of North Kinsman mountain with them, watching the clouds rise, eating snacks, and talking.Finnisher was also coming to the hostel, so he and I found the pick up location together and came over.The hostel is really nice ¢ they thought of everything. It's the first one I've seen with a separate pack room - so you don't bring all your smelly gear in. They took us all in a shuttle for $2 Taco Tuesday. Kickstand bought the ladies dinner and a round of beers. Thank you!Finnisher showed me some of the dances he choreographed on YouTube. Good company, good hostel, a good sleep ahead!
Date: 2017-08-17
From: Garfield Ridge campsite 

To: Stealth site by stream
Miles today: 12.5
Weather: few clouds

Choosing a stopping point is tricky in the Whites because there are limited available places (especially when you get above tree line), so your miles are kind of set. We could've continued to the next campsite, but that would be those obnoxious tent pads again, and really wouldn't change the mileage much tomorrow. I'm almost a day ahead of where I thought I'd be, so I'm not feeling the miles pressure.I was happy to stop because I was tired and it's a nice spot by the stream. Much warmer than last night because of the lower elevation.Last night the wind was so strong and cold. And I could feel the cold draft from below my tent - between the slats of the tent pad. The top of me stayed warm but the bottom got cold. And my arms got sore from being in the bent / fetal position, and it's hard to straighten them out in the bag. This is a 34° bag. I wonder what it got down to last night. Our big climb today was in the morning. Up to 5000 feet, South Twin Mountain. I fell pretty early on, a flat section with roots and rocks. Scraped my left forearm, no biggie. Mother Nature thought it was funny that I called out, "I'm fine!" even before I hit the ground.Later in the day, I encountered a woman with a bleeding elbow. Apparently the strong wind just blew her over and she fell into the bushes!There was a steep climb down too - one so bad that we had to go down backwards, facing the rock, like a ladder. There was also a real ladder of sorts today, made out of logs.Side note: every time we pass the signs alerting us to the fact that we're entering the Alpine Zone, I sing "Welcome to the Alpine Zone!" to the tune of "Danger Zone" from Top Gun. This amuses me greatly.We stopped at two huts today ¢ neither had the soup or pastries. The first was a huge disappointment. I was looking forward to pancakes like the ones we got for free at Lonesome Lake Hut. Instead all they had was cold, gray oatmeal. Plain oatmeal. Which we ate anyway, because hello, hiker hunger.Afterwards I was craving something sweet, so I ate the entire Trader Joe's dark chocolate bar I had. I'm not even a dark chocolate person in real life. It was soooo tasty.The second hut had a little leftover bread, which Mother Nature and I devoured.I can see the sun starting to set out the front of my tent. It's nice. Maybe I'll have some time for The Black Stallion.
Date: 2017-08-19
From: Mizpah Spring Hut / Nauman campsite

To: Madison Spring Hut
Miles today: 11.8
Weather: fog

All day we've been passing day hikers. We keep wondering: where are they coming from? Where are they going? And then once we started getting giddy from fatigue, we passed this huge cairn at Thunderstorm Junction, and then Mother Nature came up with her theory that rock cairns are nests for day hikers.We had such GREAT weather today! Which was surprising, because it rained all night. I was pretty much resigned to another day of walking in the rain. What a surprise! We had a clear view of Mount Washington as we approached it, which was so neat - To see the radio towers on top of it slowly growing as we grew nearer.The ground was glittering on the way up from all the mica. My shoes sparkled with it too.We made great time up Washington. It wasn't as hard as parts of yesterday, just long. When we got up there, it was a ZOO - tons of tourists head up there by car and train, and it was a Sunday afternoon with good weather. On top of that, a bike race had just finished, so the line to get a photo with the summit sign was filled with people with bikes. We decided to grab food first, wait for the line to go down. A slice of pizza, a bowl of lobster bisque, a chili dog, and a yogurt parfait ¢ that I washed down with an ice tea. I haven't felt that close to full in a while. The summit was clouded over when we got there, but we didn't mind. We had loads of views all the way up.Mother Nature took a fall early today ¢ banged up her knee pretty bad, along with her thumb and forearm. We cleaned up in the bathroom at the top of Mount Washington and hung out in the bathroom for half an hour or so, charging our phones and cracking jokes. We laughed a lot today. . . and got lost coming down the mountain. There's cairns on multiple trails, not just the AT. And there are basically no blazes and often the AT isn't even listed on the signs except for when another hiker has hand-carved it in.On the way here, I started thinking about asking for Work For Stay. I didn't ask last night because so many people were in line for it and it took the hut croo so long to choose and meanwhile tent sites were filling up. But we were the first out in the morning and no thru-hikers had passed us, so we had a good shot and I was determined to ask. I got here first, so I went in, introduced myself, and asked. Initially they said they only had two spots and they were full ¢ so I headed to the bathroom but by the time Mother Nature arrived, one WFS decided to buy a bunk from a cancellation, opening up a spot. They said we both could do WFS! Free food! A warm place to sleep! A classic AT experience! Yes!
Date: 2017-08-21
From: Pinkham Notch / Joe Dodge Lodge

To: Randolph / The Harris home
Miles today: 0.0

The night that I had booked for Joe Dodge Lodge / Pinkham Notch, Mother Nature was invited to stay with friends of her aunt. I was invited too - but Joe Dodge wouldn't allow me to cancel my reservation without losing all my money. (One of many reasons why hikers call the Appalachian Mountain Club, or AMC, the American Money Club).So last night I stayed alone in the bunkroom at Joe Dodge, and Mother Nature was at a magical country log cabin with Santa and Mrs Claus (more on that soon). But she decided to zero for the next day - and they offered to come back and get me to join in the fun!!!When Mother Nature told me to look for someone in the parking lot who looked like Santa, I thought she was kidding, or at least, being helpfully descriptive. But the magnificent Stephen Harris of Quincy, MA doesn't just look like Santa - he has Santa business cards! He appears as Santa at parties and events!Yes, Virginia, Santa is real - and he has one heck of a Boston accent. :-)Lovely Jean Harris, who is actually Mrs. Claus, and Mother Nature picked me up and whisked me off to Randolph, where they have a cabin at the bottom of Mt Madison - that's right, from their backyard you can see the crazy mountain we climbed yesterday morning!I am in awe of everything. How beautiful it is at the log cabin Santa built. The fact that I laid for hours reading and writing in a hammock on the porch overlooking wild black-eyed susans and blueberries. These big-hearted, hilarious people who don't know either Mother Nature or myself, but welcome us in their home. It's pretty incredible.We walked down to the stream on their property, which they said was recently dammed up by beavers, and I kept thinking, I want to live somewhere where you can just walk out and see the work of beavers. They even had a bear in their garden this morning.We just had such a relaxing day full of fun! It was the day of the solar eclipse, which wasn't complete here in New Hampshire, but no matter - we traded glimpses into carefully-constructed cereal box viewers to watch it (and in all honesty, looking at people looking into cereal boxes was more fun then looking at the eclipse). We tried other methods too - Mother Nature held a colander, which threw concentric rings of eclipse crescents all over the deck, and Jean figured out how to project the eclipse using a telescope and paper.Mother Nature and I ate lots of food, picked blueberries, tried to catch up with our trail blogs....We met some of the Harris' friends and neighbors, had a huge meal (I made the baked mac and cheese!), shared s'mores over an enormous fire out back. Christmas in August!
Date: 2017-08-22
From: Randolph / The Harris home / Pinkham Notch

To: Stealth site south of Mt Hight
Miles today: 8.0
Weather: broken clouds

This morning I made blueberry pancakes for Mother Nature and I, then packed up a couple to take with me as a snack on the trail! The Harrises' neighbor Rhonda drove us back to Pinkham Notch, where my food box was waiting!Inside were fresh homemade brownies from Mr. AT-AT Walker! Which we naturally dug into immediately.We didn't really have a plan for today ¢ I fell asleep early last night without looking at the map and Mother Nature was binge-watching Game of Thrones. We roughly figured we'd walk until we got tired or the rain started, then we'd camp. We were doing the Wildcats today and have heard different things about how hard they would be.It was a climb all right, especially after resupplying. We stopped at the last hut, Carter Notch hut, for water and coffee (and the last of the brownies) and then tried to decide what to do. We knew a storm was coming but there were limited stealth sites sites ahead. We noted a few, then started the crazy climb out of there ¢ 1000 feet over a mile. It was tough going, especially since now I was loaded down with 3 liters (6 pounds) of water in anticipation of stealthing somewhere without a water source. My heart was working hard on the way up ¢ which morbidly made me think of the list of White Mountain fatalities I saw at the visitor center in Pinkham Notch and how many of them were heart attacks. (To be fair, a decent amount of the fatalities on Mt Washington were actually car accidents)We passed one bad looking spot with dead trees, and kept going, and just as the rain started, we found a better stealth site just at the edge of treeline. There were two other tents plus a hammocker already there. We hurriedly set up in the little space that was left. I'm on a goofy slope, but don't really care. Unfortunately the air is really moist. I'm getting condensation inside the tent already.We did the Wildcats in one day. Huzzah! The last of the Whites climbs are done!
Date: 2017-08-23
From: Stealth site south of Mt Hight

To: Rattle River Hostel near Gorham
Miles today: 13.2

The wind was strong this morning, nearly drying my tent of the water from the night before. Conditions were muddy, so we ended up with wet feet.There were some climbs, some views, one Israel Story episode, and one huge ear-popping dissent.We landed at the Rattle River hostel (formerly the White Mountains hostel) and I hit a Chinese buffet and ate my weight in Chinese food (and sushi). Normally I would be hesitant about eating sushi at an all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet...in New Hampshire.Shower. Laundry. Tenacious Tape to hold my big toenail together after I stubbing my toe on a rock. Reading a new YA book I found at the hostel - The Golden Compass.Starting to feel really sad that I only have¢¦ 4 days left?
Date: 2017-08-24
From: Rattle River Hostel near Gorham

To: Gentian Pond campsite
Miles today: 11.8
Weather: few clouds

Mother Nature and I slept in a bit this morning, had waffles (and coffee!) at the hostel, took our time soaking up the last bits of wifi, and hit the trail a bit after 9:00. The trail was freakishly smooth. . .trail-like. Soft leaves and dirt. Actual trail! We haven't seen trail that was non-rocks in forever. But we were still tired climbing it. After-effects of the Whites, maybe.We passed a gorgeous pond of water lilies and the 1900 mile marker. I was zombie-walking at the end of the day - leaning heavily on my poles, my feet moving mostly out of inertia. This is normally when I fall, and sure enough, down I went.I'm falling with such regularity, it's no big deal anymore. Mother Nature had to help me get back up, though, because I fell backwards onto a stick that was poking into my lower back when I tried to get up.The water source here is the pond, and I'm not a fan of the iced-tea-colored water I brought up in my platypus. But it smelled fine and tasted okay in my coffee and dinner.We had a long conversation about Gremlins over dinner. :-)More pin-holes are appearing in my tent fabric. My pack is also starting to show serious wear and tear, especially the back pocket fabric, which is tearing open from all the times I keep sliding down rocks on it. I'm patching everything with Tenacious Tape.Right now there are cute juncos hopping around just outside my tent! There was lots of mud-dodging today. People talk about Vermont being muddy... this has been so much more than we saw in Vermont.Tomorrow we walk into MAINE!!!!
Date: 2017-05-08
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Just over a month out from my start date. Sitting up late on a Sunday night scrolling through social media and seeing a constant stream of posts begging for attention - desperate for any sort of affirmation that people mean something to other people. I have been no different. Most of my life has been consumed by this need to impress. Unresolved childhood shame has instilled this mindset where me within myself = inadequate. So, I do *extreme* things with the hope that maybe accomplishing them will validate my existence to others and also to myself. Rockstar copycat hair colors, bright skinny jeans, wild eye makeup, running marathons, competing with CrossFit, jumping out of airplanes, traveling abroad... thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail... The past few years have altered my head and my heart very much. I'm not sure if my mind is still in that same space as before. At this point, I'd like to believe I simply ache for adventure and light and energy in this quiet life. Then again, maybe one doesn't have to walk 2,200 miles to embrace those exact things right here and now... I look forward to spending time with myself - having nothing but time to acknowledge and sit with both the ugliness and the goodness of me. My thoughts, my demons... the society-based "significant" things becoming less, and the understated miracles of nature becoming more / blowing me the f*ck away.  Maybe I'll have some revelations. Or maybe I'll just be grateful to get through each day without falling victim to swarms of insects. :)
Date: 2017-06-16
From: Katahdin Stream Campground

To: Abol Bridge Campground 
Miles today: 10.0
Weather: light rain

Day 1 and I've already experienced what it means to plan on not sticking with the plan.... Originally, I had my heart set on summiting the famous beast Mt. Katahdin today. However, due to monsoon-like weather predictions, my dad and I were persuaded to knock out a less ball-busting part of the trail instead, saving Katahdin for tomorrow. Hopefully. With a 5,000+ ft elevation gain, the 10.4 mile Katahdin hike is no joke and is apparently pretty miserable when the weather isn't ideal. So. Here's to hoping for a little sun tomorrow. The rain came down heavy for the last 5 miles of the trail today. It took everything in me to refrain from attempting to run over wet rocks and tree roots while hauling a 30lb pack. Just wanted to get the hell out of there after awhile. My shriveled raisin hands were slipping on my trekking poles and snot was sprinting down my nose and mosquitos were swarming and my clothes were soaked through and I had to pee like a mofo. BUT. The first 5 miles were lovely (see photos!). Despite the cold and despite the downpour, the 10 miler today was ultimately really beautiful. Flat-ish and deep green and alive. My heart raced when I saw the first white blaze trail marker in REAL LIFE. Plus, I learned that my packing skills are supreme because even though every god forsaken inch of me was drenched, NONE of the gear inside my pack got wet. (S/O to Osprey for making a bomb rain cover). Not every day will be a rainstorm. Fingers crossed, anyways. "You've just got to take it day by day. No need to worry about tomorrow yet."