morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2015-09-30
From: Wyman road mile 2071.8

To: Shaw's in Monson, Maine 
Miles today: 0.0

Master Yoda for Scout and Tumbles:Maine recieved a lot of rain. The flash flood warnings and swollen rivers causing many hikers to stay in town. There is a film crew working on a new REI documentary in town this week, and they graciously bought the fixings for a huge Chili Feast at Shaw's. All the hikers in town were invited. Miss Janet arrainged the event and the chefs decended on the kitchen. Tumbles was excited because they made sure the Vegetarians had something for them. Scout spent some time trying to plan the remaining 117.4 miles to Katahdin. They made arraingements for a mid 100 mile Wilderness resupply. Many of the SoBo hikers coming into town are advising of uncrossable creeks and rivers. Some of them had to bail out at a few of the rare road crossings. There is a lot of talk about when it will be safe to enter the forrest. To facilitate a safe return to hiking, Scout and Tumbles are going to try and arrainge some slack packing options in the less dangerous reachable protions of the Southern end of the 100 mile Wilderness. The excitement is building.A Congratulations to all the hikers that have finished recently: Cyndi Loppers, BonBon, Cleanshaven and Dopple are all a few of the Trail Family that have hiked with Scout and Tumbles. They send their congratulations. Good job.
Date: 2015-10-01
From: Shaw's in Monson, Maine 

To: Little Wilson Stream
Miles today: 9.7

Master Yoda for Scout and Tumbles:Many of the hikers decided to do some slack packing, some got back on the Trail. Scout and Tumbles opted for the slack packing since Miss Janet was going to be close to the Little Wilson Stream to pick up hikers. It was a little wet, but still a good day for a stroll in the woods. When they got done they headed back to Monson. They went out to eat with some friends and when Scout went to pay his debit card would not work. The card expired on 9/30. He did not expect this to be a problem when we talked about it 2 months ago because he figured they would be done by now. Tumbles had left her wallet in her backpack, which was still in Miss Janet's van. Miss Janet had gone to pick up a hiker who called from an hour and a half down the Trail. Thankfully their friend, Possible, paid for their meal. Tomorrow they plan on picking up where they left off and pushing through the rest of the 100 mile Wilderness. Keep in mind that our contact with they may be sparse, so I will update as I can. Thanks all.
Date: 2015-10-02
From: Little Wilson Stream

To: Stealth Camp mile 2088.2
Miles today: 6.7
Weather: moderate rain

Master Yoda for Scout and Tumbles:Scout and Tumbles are hiking with Phizzy, Waldo, and Possible. They are using caution on the stream crossing, which are still flowing pretty good. After a cold, wet day, the hikers stopped early and dried out.
Date: 2015-10-03
From: Stealth Camp mile 2088.2

To: Stealth Camp mile 2095.2
Miles today: 7.0
Weather: light rain

Master Yoda for Scout and Tumbles:We finally heard from the intrepid Thru Hikers. They are still hiking with Phizzy, Waldo and Possible. The going has been slow. Lots of roots, rocks and water. This portion of the adventure has been exciting and very educational. Many days they have had to stop a little early to get themselves warmed up and dried off. The biggest concern that Scout has right now is the status of the hurricane headed up the coast. They are hoping it will miss them and they can pick up the pace. Might be too late in the season for that. As of right now I will leave this Thursday to drive up and pick them up. It should take a few days to get there, so I hope to time it with their exit from the 100 mile wilderness. We will pass on more as we can. Thanks for following along and for all the words of encouragement. Congrats to Soda on finishing, good job.
Date: 2015-10-04
From: Stealth Camp mile 2095.2

To: Carl A. Newhall Lean-to
Miles today: 15.4
Weather: overcast clouds

Master Yoda for Scout and Tumbles:Today was a great day. The five hikers decided to push on just a little more today, and ended up doing some night hiking. The weather was good and the stream crossings have receded and become easier.
Date: 2015-10-05
From: Carl A. Newhall Lean-to

To: Stealth Camp mile 2121.7
Miles today: 11.1
Weather: scattered clouds

Master Yoda for Scout and Tumbles:The group of five hikers are running low on supplies and have decided to pull the trigger on the resupply they arraigned. At a spot with cell service, plans were made with Miss Janet to get the resupply delivered tomorrow. Today's hike was designed with tomorrows resupply in mind. They will meet mid day tomorrow. Note from Master Yoda for our readers:A lot has happened in the last week. First, sorry for no reports, I know that can be frustrating. Many of you may have caught the Icecube, Scout and Tumbles mother has been pregnant. We found out at the end of March. Scout and Tumbles were already gone. We told them when we went to Grandmas in Virginia; they were still in Tennessee at the time. This last Monday, Icecube took herself to the hospital with complications, she was at 34.5 weeks. I was able to leave work a little early, then put myself on Family sick leave. The Docs stabilized Icecube and the Baby, and told us they would try to get her to 36 weeks and do a C section. The baby did not want to wait, things became critical and she was delivered Thursday at 9:30 pm. Scout and Tumbles have a new baby sister. Her name is Joyce Sierra Dawn Boyd, and she weighed 3lbs 12oz. She is obviously in NICU, but is doing well. She does not need help breathing, and is developing nicely. Icecube is also doing good and may be released this Monday or Tuesday.Miss Janet and others have suggested I not worry about keeping the journal up, and I agree. I have been juggling the family and staying at the hospital nights with Icecube. A huge thank you to members of our Church family, Jasper Seventh Day Adventist and other family friends from Boy Scouts, etc. I will probably leave the remaining entries to Scout and Tumbles when they get home. For those wondering, weather permitting they will summit tomorrow, Sunday, October 11,2015. We still do not know how they are getting home, since I canceled the trip to Maine to pick them up. We are looking at getting them tickets to Nashville out of Portland, but the logistics of getting them to the Portland Airport has been troublesome. Sadly, nobody will rent a car to Scout, he is too young and Irresponsible (heh). We have not committed to buying plane tickets yet, just in case they have to wait to summit. They received a lot of rain, sleet and snow up there Friday. Thanks for following along.
Date: 2015-10-06
From: Stealth Camp mile 2121.7

To: Jo-Mary Road Mile 2133.2
Miles today: 11.5
Weather: few clouds

Master Yoda for Scout and Tumbles:The Awesome River Trail Family, as Tumbles calls the group, broke camp early and headed to the rendezvous point. They would meet Miss Janet at Mile 2126.2 Kokadjo-B Pond Road. Miss Janet brought their resupply packets and some things for Waldo's birthday. I think Possible helped put that together. Once the hikers finished there, Miss Janet slack packed them to Jo-Mary Road. They were able to charge their devices while they hiked. Also, Scout mentioned a day hiker sleeping in her car at Jo-Mary that night who let Tumbles and himself charge up the rest of the way. Note from Master Yoda:I decided to write a quick note to let folks know how things went. Scout and Tumbles did Summit Katahdin yesterday, October 11, 2015. The picture is theirs to share, so I will hold off on that and let them do so. How are they getting home? First, thank you all for your support and encouragement. I have been spending 16+- hours a day at the hospital with my wife and new daughter, so I am sorry I have not had much time to attend other responsibilities. We are a God Loving family, and believe he puts us were we need to be, as well as brings others into our lives as we need. David Martin, on the Trail known as Iceman and his wife Barb just happen to be in Andover. Today, while Dave finishes a section, his wife is driving to Millinocket to pick up Scout, Tumbles, and I think Waldo too. They will drop Waldo off in Massachusetts. Tomorrow they will continue to Lancaster, PA. Wednesday, a Family friend, Wayne Smith will fly his airplane from Knoxville to Lancaster and pick up Scout and Tumbles. From there, they should land in Jasper, TN about half a mile from our house after a 3.5 to 4 hour flight across the Appalachians. I want to extend my thanks to Gene for also offering to help get them home. If you don't mind, we would like to keep that option open just in case weather or other factors force a change of plans. Thank you all for following along. Keep all the travelers in your prayers.
Date: 2015-10-07
From: Jo-Mary Road Mile 2133.2

To: Wadleigh Stream Lean-to
Miles today: 17.8
Weather: overcast clouds

HELLO! Tumbles here to finish up our Journal! We made it! Let me catch you up.At six in the morning, Phizzy started throwing pine cones at everyone's tents to wake us up. We ate breakfast with Kat, the hiker that let us charge our phones. Kat started at Springer Mountain in Georgia this year. She made it to Harpers Ferry and got off Trail because of injuries. She is photographing the Trail this year and she is driving along taking hikes and pictures. I had oatmeal and a granola bar. We took down camp and hit the Trail. We were all sore and had wet shoes. The Trail in Maine has a lot of roots, rocks and Mud. Our group spread out early. We have developed a check point system. We would pick a spot to stop and wait for each other. This way we always knew how each other were doing. For lunch, we stopped at Potaywadjo Spring Lean-to, we just called it the Potato Lean-to. Our method was to hike for a little while in the morning and decide at a check point how far we would go for the day. This gave us a chance to warm up and walk the soreness off before deciding how far to go. Everyone was feeling good, so we decided to push to Wadleigh. Every night, in the 100 mile wilderness we had a fire in camp to help dry us out and bring us together. I miss the nightly fire and our evening unwind. We would discuss our day, laugh and joke. We all had very mixed emotions about the end. We miss our families, but know soon we will miss this family. We are ready to be done, but don't want to be done. It is sorta confusing. Pizza Jeep!
Date: 2015-10-08
From: Wadleigh Stream Lean-to

To: Stealth Camp mile 2166.1
Miles today: 15.1
Weather: overcast clouds

After relaxing around the campfire last night, we went to bed a little before hiker midnight, at 8:30 pm. We decided to get up early again and push to Hurd Brook Lean-to. At 5:30 am a lot of alarms started going off. Since we were all in the shelter, we had no choice; It was time to get up. More oatmeal, uggghh. By six, we headed out of camp, hoping our muscles would warm up soon. Usually, the order of arrival at our check point would be something like: Scout first, either Phizzy or me or both of us together, Waldo, and usually last was Possible. We started sitting quietly and staring at Possible every time he walked into the check point. He would always say, 'Oh, not this again' and we would start laughing and say 'Hey, it's Possible'. He would say 'Hellz ya it is Possible!'. This became a ritual at the check points. We snacked at our check points today, so kinda skipped lunch. Even though we just had a food drop, we were all rationing our food. Our food drop was a little short and Waldo did not have a food drop. So we all spread our supplies among each other and made sure nobody was missing meals. Rainbow Lake Campsite was one of our check points and by the time we all got there, we decided to hike a few more miles and stop for the day. We found a good stealth site and lite our campfire. Phizzy started talking about having a Zero tomorrow in the middle of the woods. It was kinda silly. We told him he could if he wanted, but we were going to keep hiking. Today was a lot of rocks and roots. We all headed to bed by 7 pm. At about 11 pm the rain started. Pizza Jeep!
Date: 2015-10-09
From: Stealth Camp mile 2166.1

To: Millinocket, ME mile 2174.1
Miles today: 8.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Rain. I got up, and was first out of camp. The plan was to hike to The Birches Lean-to and summit tomorrow. Our first check point was Abol Bridge to meet for lunch. When I reached Rainbow Ledges I turned on the phone and got a text from home. My baby sister, Joyce Sierra Dawn was born yesterday! I cried; not sure if it was because of the rain, or just happy about my sister. Scout did not know yet until he got to the Ledges and I told him. Both of us really wanted to be home right now. We hiked together to Abol Bridge and waited for the rest of the crew. We went inside to find snacks and some gloves. We had heard from Master Yoda that Rocky Mountain High was working there. So we asked, and she was standing behind us, and said 'That's me!' Even though we had read her prep journals and had followed along sometimes, she did not seem to know who we were. We got a picture with her and continued to wait for our Trail Family.Phizzy got there first, then Waldo. Finally Possible arrived. We did our ritual, then got to adjusting our plans. We all decided that the Rain was terrible. If we got a ride to The Appalachian Trail Lodge, we could drop our stuff off and head back out to slack pack the remaining 10 miles. Then we would go back and stay there for the night, Summiting tomorrow. We called a taxi and squeezed all 5 of us into a tiny car with the driver and our packs; we looked like we were a car load of smelly, wet clowns.Sooooo, that shower felt good. Our plans failed. We stayed in town out of the heavy rain. We went to the AT Cafe, were we found Toasty and Downhill. They were so sweet, they decided to Zero tomorrow so we could all Summit together. Taco Rice with Pizza Jeep!
Date: 2015-10-10
From: Millinocket, ME mile 2174.1

To: The Birches Lean-to mile 2184.0
Miles today: 9.9
Weather: overcast clouds

Today's Katahdin Summitter's woke us up at 5 am. We were hoping to sleep in, but were excited for them too. We would have plenty of time for breakfast before our ride back to Abol Bridge. We visited the AT Cafe again. No oatmeal this morning, I got two pancakes with maple syrup and a fruit salad. We started hiking around 9:30 with the Trail Family sticking together for a little while. The trail leading into Baxter State Park was beautiful. After the rain, the Fall Colors really seemed to pop. It was surreal to be hiking the last 10 miles to the foot of Katahdin. The thought of summiting tomorrow was exciting! We soon found ourselves in our normal order of hiking, with Scout in the lead and Possible in the back. The two fords that we had today were not bad. The first ford was up to my hips, but not so swift, just cold. The second one we rock hopped across. We finished up around 2:30, so we hung around talking with the Rangers and other people while we ate our lunch. The shuttle was not due until 6 pm because of the Summiting gang.Dinner was PIZZA! We sat around Angelos Pizza chatting the night away. Our Trail Family was torn, the forecast for tomorrow was not ideal for Summiting, so some people wanted to take a Zero. Scout and I both wanted to Summit and get home because of everything going on. Waldo had stayed at The Birches Lean-to so he could save money, so he expected us back to summit with him in the morning. I saved some Pizza for Waldo and gave it to him for breakfast. So in the end, our Trail Family decided to stay together and finish tomorrow. Pizza Jeep!
Date: 2015-10-11
From: The Birches Lean-to mile 2184.0

To: Mount Katahdin mile 2189.2
Miles today: 5.2
Weather: broken clouds

Our bags were still packed from yesterday when we woke up at 5 am. I wanted to sleep till 5:30, but was too excited! After five and a half hours of trying to sleep, I gave up and started the day with a granola bar. I could not eat anything else. Scout had two pop tarts. It was hard to contain our excitement. We grabbed our packs and went outside to wait for the 6 am shuttle. All the rest of our hiker family was also up early hanging around outside. When our shuttle dropped us off at the Ranger station, Scout went to collect Waldo from the Birches. We all left together about 8 am. Our group consisted of Downhill, Toasty, Phizzy, Waldo, Scout, Tumbles and Possible. We all gathered at the Katahdin stream waterfall 1 mile in for our first checkpoint. Later, we stopped at the Cave, ate a snack and hydrated. We decided the final group check point would be the tree line. From there we pushed to the Summit. When we got to the Tablelands there was rain, snow, and ice. We even got to ice skate a little! We could not see the sign until we got really close, it was too foggy. I cried and kissed the sign. It is so hard to explain how I felt. Some of the non Thru hikers looked at us kinda silly, until we explained what we had just done. Seven months and over 2,000 miles, all ending just like that. It was very cold and already approaching 3 pm, so we hurried back down the mountain. The shuttle would pick us up at 6 pm.Back in town, we celebrated at the AT Cafe. Not much else is open on Sunday. Blackout came into town that evening also, and would summit with Dora, Chief Two Sticks, the Choir Boys, Chewbaca, As They Say in Mexico, and a few others. Now to figure out how to get home. Pizza Jeep.
Date: 2014-10-10
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: moderate rain

So here we are. After thinking and talking about this for oh, about 16 years, I finally am going to do it. Starting March or April of 2015, I haven¢t quite decided yet. I am hoping it will take me around the average of 5.5 months, which would have me finish some time in September.I will be 46 when starting, and though I think most of the hikers tend to be on either the older or younger end of the spectrum, I have seen a fair amount of people in the 40s and 50s age bracket on the various forums. Part of the reason I am going next year rather than when I retire is that I think it will be harder as I get older. Well, that and I am impatient. I will be hiking solo, such as it is. My husband will likely join me on a few sections, and I am hoping others will here and there as well. And since I will be starting with ¢the herd¢, I am sure there isn¢t all that much solo to it unless I really want to.Right now I am researching and purchasing gear, a fairly daunting endeavor in and of itself. And hiking, I am doing a lot of hiking. I haven¢t done a lot of backpacking yet, but my pack and tent are set to arrive next week (maybe even tomorrow, yay!), so there will be some overnight trips in my future. Probably just one-nighters, as I won¢t have much opportunity to take time from work before I quit in March. Work doesn¢t know yet, but I have told a lot of non-work people. Reactions are usually positive, though the better people know me, the more I get the ¢well you have been saying that for years¢ response. Mmmm¢¦.
Date: 2014-10-11
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

My tent and pack arrived today from Zpacks. The box sitting on our porch when i got home from work was remarkably small, considering what was in it.The tent took some prepping, cutting the included string (rope really is too big a word) and attaching it to the various loops. My poles had arrived earlier this week, and I used stakes from one of my other tents, so I went ahead and set it up in the yard. It is very cozy! I ordered the olive drab color and it looks quite light and transparent, definitely more so than i expected. I thought maybe they had sent me the wrong color. But once inside i really liked it. I put my z-rest and sleeping bag in and may sleep there tonight. . I will be curious to see how my 20 year old down bag holds up. I would like to avoid having to buy another bag, so I hope it is still warm enough. The pack is a different material than the tent, a bit thicker it seems. I am still trying to figure out how to adjust the frame tension but am hoping to take both out on an overnight trip next weekend. I had a few questions during the order process and Zpacks was super responsive and very helpful, I was quite impressed.
Date: 2014-11-04
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

This past Sunday, fellow class of 2015-er Treehugger and I went on a short practice hike near Luray VA. The forecast earlier in the week had been good, but kept deteriorating to the point where it was 32 degrees and sleeting at the trail head. Given that this is not likely the worst we'll see on the trail, we forged ahead anyway.As we hiked, the sleet stopped, the sun came out and despite the fierce wind, all was well. The lesson of the day for me was that thin running gloves are not going to be good enough, especially when you need to hold poles. My rain jacket did work well as a wind breaker, probably because it was cold enough that sweat build-up was not an issue.Hiking with Treehugger was a lot of fun! We chatted the whole way and back and it made the time go by very fast. I also heartily approve of the spirit of the Victory Beer tradition (see Treehugger's journal for full explanation), even if I don't actually like beer. When we got back to the parking lot, it looked as if a group of young hikers were getting ready to box in my car! Fortunately we got there in time to prevent them from doing so (and I am not sure they would have, but it looked suspect.) but WTH were they thinking?!The other not-so-good thing was that my left ITB was bothering me a bit on the way down. I haven't had any issues for a long time but I have been lax with stretching. I guess this was my wake-up call to get back to it!All in all, a very nice hike, beautiful views and fun company!
Date: 2014-11-20
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: few clouds

I have been quiet on the prep front as I travelled to Holland and Germany to meet my new niece, but I did go for a long walk while I was there. It was predominantly on side walk, with the last 4 or so kilometers on the beach. Because of that, and the flat-as-a-pancake-ness that is pretty much inevitable in Holland, I wouldn't call it a hike so much as a walk, but it was nice all the same. About 10 miles total. And, actual dutch pancakes at the end for lunch, so what more can you ask for!One of the Kindle books I had to read on the plane was about Grandma Gatewood and it was quite interesting! Given her age and gear, I am amazed she completed. Let alone three times. Tough lady, obviously. Her life prior to hiking the AT, which I knew nothing about, wasn't exactly a bed of roses and I think that probably was a big help with the mental aspect of things. I was happy to discover a heretofore unknown (to me) AT book that I enjoyed. The Kindle sample feature is nice to weed out the not-so-great-ones though. I am undecided as to whether to bring my Kindle on the trail, but am leaning against it.Since I have been back, I have (pre)ordered the AT Guide for 2015. Both a loose-leaf copy for myself and a bound one for Gary to follow along as necessary. I am excited to start pouring over the first states, but unfortunately they won't ship for another month or so. And just a few minutes ago, I ordered a NeoAir mattress from REI (dangerous place, even online!). The 2.5 inches of NeoAir sound really appealing AND it weighs less than my z-rest. How could I not buy it! I am hoping to go for a short hike this weekend, then a longer one on Thanksgiving Day. With pack, naturally!