morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2012-07-21
From: Copper Brook Falls Lean-to

To: Abol Bridge Campsite
Miles today: 44.6
Weather: broken clouds

Today was SO epic! If you noticed the daily miles you'd know why. Me and Fancy were looking at the map and noticed that the terrain for the next 50 miles looked glorious. Neither one of us and really been able to push ourselves to the max while we were healthy. So we decided to start walking at 5:30 am and don't stop till we're too tired to walk anymore. So all day was some of the funnest terrain on the whole trail, it was all flat and had gorgeous views of Katahdin all day! One tragedy today though, planned on going to White House Landing to get a 1 lb burger. I called the boat over and everything, but the kitchen didn't open for an hour and when you're trying to walk 45 miles in a day you just don't have an hour to kill. So I bought some snacks at least and went on my merry way kinda pissed off and hungry. But the day turned around and I kept walking. About mile 35 I got really tired and stopped for an hour in a shelter to eat a lunch/dinner. Apparently I had passed Fancy when he went to an overlook I hadn't (he didn't go to White House) and he showed up to the shelter as well. So we decided to press on after some food. About 41 miles in, we ran into a SoBo about to go to sleep and he wanted to talk so we took a break. He was kinda shocked we'd walked as far as we had, and he was more shocked when we said we were gonna keep going. It was about 9:00 pm now. He was complaining about the terrain and how hard it was, we didn't have the heart to tell him it was the easiest on the entire 2,000 miles of trail... So finally we cross Abol Bridge, our goal for the day. We high five each other and start looking for a place to crash. Then by the grace of God, an older man named Fred was having a drink on a picnic table and asked us if we were thru hikers and we needed some food. Naturally we were ecstatic to get a real meal after doing 45 (47 with White House) miles. So Fred cooked us some chili and had bread, and he also made some hot dogs! SO GOOD!!!!! He let us camp by his spot and we were asleep around 12:30ish I think. Altogether we hiked about 15 hours. Not bad, we maintained a 3 mph pace for 45 miles. I feel beast. Don't even need a zero tomorrow...
Date: 2012-07-22
From: Abol Bridge Campsite

To: The Birches Lean-to
Miles today: 9.9

Today was awesome. We hung around Fred's camp till like 1:30 pm. He cooked us eggs and bacon. It was glorious. So we waited on Daypack, Whistler, and Other Brother. Sure enough they had hiked their 30 something miles yesterday (Other Brother's first 30!) and met us at our campsite. The campsite has a gas station/food place, we all ate a little something and got a day's worth of resupply. Today is the last real day of hiking!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So weird to think about, I can't really describe it. It's very relieving, but I know I'll miss this lifestyle a lot. I've de-stressed SO much on this trip and learned a lot about what I'm capable of. But lets just get up that mountain before we reflect =] Met a couple new thru hikers today. Balls and Sunshine: Sunshine is a 12 year old girl who has already hiked the PCT and is now finishing the AT. Next year she, plans to hike the CDT with her father Balls. If she does it, which I'm sure she will) she'll be the youngest triple crowner. Ever. That's awesome, props to you Sunshine!So we made it to the famous Birches campsite and signed into the Ranger Station. I was the 75 thru hiker to sign in this year. Now that does include section'ers and blue blazers, yellow blazers, etc. But I started as #161 at Springer, then I was #101 in Hot Springs, now I'm the #75 thru hiker! YYYYYYEEEEEESSSSSSSS! We've made it! Summit day is tomorrow, how freaking crazy is that?! The end was always such an abstract thought for me, I would always see this huge number on signs saying, "Katahdin- 637 miles" you know? But now, I'm literally at the base of the mountain... Tomorrow is the LAST day on the trail, tonight is the LAST night on the trail...
Date: 2012-09-03
To: Reflection
Miles today: 0.0

Hey all you Trail Journal readers, if you're still there I just wanted to let you know I'm still alive and well and am going to continue to post on here for a while to come. First off I wanted to answer Mike Griffith's question "what would I change or do different?"My answer in fairly simply an easy to learn from. Unfortunately I am just a poor kid with a thirst for adventure. More unfortuneate, adventures cost money. When I hiked I had to be extremely frugal and also hike very fast. A fast hike is a cheap hike as we say. So if I ever thru again I will save LOTS of money and allot ample amounts of time so I can go whatever pace I feel like. One of the worst parts of the trail was I would meet all these incredible people, however they'd be traveling slower so I would have to leave them and never see them again. So, save money and have extra time! Good luck with your thru hike Mike. I'm sure you'll be fine if you keep an optimistic attitude. Never forget, you're doing what some people only dream of!Stay tuned for some posts on my trip to Europe September 11.
Date: 2012-09-11
From: Chicago O'Hare

To: London, England
Miles today: 0.0

The flight into London was today. It was difficult to sleep knowing a whole other kind of adventure was about to begin and also we had to get out of bed at 4:30 am. Naturally me, Carrie (my sister), and Robbie (Carrie's friend) went to bed about 1 checking the packs and documentation. Once at the airport everything went very smooth, kissed momma goodbye and soon we were flying out of Nashville to Chigaco and finally a jump over the pond to London. The flight was actually not that bad at all. I got super lucky with my seat and got to sit at the front of the rows and could stretch out as much as I wanted. Best seat in all of coach =]So once we were in England, we had to go through customs of course and this is where my first problem of the trip arose. I really think the border patrolman didn't like me. At all. Now before I go of a tangent ill clear a few things up. I am a student now taking time for this trip so I don't have any careers obviously and I am living at home for the time being. Also, we only have a one way ticket because I didn't know how long I want to stay exactly, where I want to fly out of, etc. this trip is meant to be open and spontaneous. I guess the trail gave me a weird mentality towards travel. Anyways, the border patrol at London was ridiculous. He asked me,How long will you be in England? Two days. Ok. What are you doing? Sightseeing and basically waiting for our plane to Greece. That's it? What are you visiting? I don't really know, Big Ben, Buckingham, Trafalgar Sq, the normal. *sigh* Well do you have a job back in the States?I did but I had to quit to come to Europe. Why?I'm gonna be gone like 2 months. When exactly are you leaving?I don't know exactly, sometime end of October probably. Why didn't you buy a return a ticket?!Cause I don't know exactly how long how I can stretch my money. Now you're telling me you're gonna run out of money while in Europe?!No, I have money SET ASIDE for a ticket. I just don't know when that'll be. *sigh* The only reason I'm letting you into MY country is that you're gonna be gone in 2 days and then you'll be Greece's problem. Ok, great. Thanks!What a power trip!
Date: 2012-01-01
To: 2012: Marking 75 years since the AT's completion
Miles today: 0.0

The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.-Franklin D. Roosevelt, Inaugural Address, March 4, 1933Well, here¢s the thing, and let¢s get this out of the way right up front, I have one overwhelming fear heading into this project. I¢m not afraid of bears. I¢m not afraid of falling off a mountain. I¢m not afraid of freezing to death. I¢m not afraid of snakes (much). But I can imagine nothing more embarrassing than this: months and months ahead of time, the potential through-hiker begins a stream of preparation journal entries recording every possible planning detail for the upcoming adventure. With each posting the anticipation builds - ¢it¢s only five months until,¢ ¢it¢s only five weeks until,¢ ¢now only five more days ¢I¢m so excited,¢ and finally ¢at long last, tomorrow I start my epic adventure of a lifetime¢¦¢ And then nothing. Not a word. Like someone disappearing from the face of the earth¢¦ Finally, weeks later here comes one ending post: ¢Well, I¢ve cancelled my hike. I didn¢t realize the mountains would be so tough. I didn¢t realize I¢d be so wet. Or so cold. I couldn¢t sleep on the ground. The mice got in my trail mix the first night out. It just wasn¢t anything like I imagined it would be¢¦¢ What a wimpy thing to have documented out there in front of the whole (hiking) world. Why, it¢s enough to overwhelm me with such a paralyzing fear that months go by without me hitting the first key stroke of this journal¢¦But here we are on the first day of a new year, and as 2012 marks the 75th anniversary of the A.T. as a continuous marked trail from Georgia to Maine, in its honor, I am going to set as my new year¢s resolution the posting of 75 preparation entries during the final 100-day countdown to our through hike attempt. That way, by April 10th there will be so much pre-hike verbiage posted, all potential readers will have long since lost interest and fled this journal, so by the time we step off from Springer, there will be no one left to look down their virtual nose at us if this hike ends somewhere around 2183 miles from its intended completion. OK, that fear problem is solved: on to the next play¢¦-N
Date: 2012-01-02
To: In Search of the Perfect Trail Names
Miles today: 0.0

Part I - Kitty Hawk &Mr. WrightDuring the summer of 1975, I was making a living giving interactive first person history programs portraying airplane inventor Orville Wright at work in his temporary workshop/ hanger. Early in the season I met my future bride when she approached the information desk at the Wright Brothers National Memorial, and I asked ¢May I help you?¢[Editor¢s Note: Over 36 years later, we are still dealing with the ramifications of the answer to that simple question¢¦] We began talking about a through hike of the Appalachian Trail shortly after that, and since then the idea has always at least simmered on our back burner. ¢Kitty Hawk¢ has a nice ring to it for a female trail name (at least certainly better than ¢Kill Devil Hills¢!). And, although she ostensibly arrived to do a summer internship, Ms. Hawk would later admit coming to the beach that year to look for Mr. Wright¢¦ "Orville Wright" at work in his shed (circa 1975): -N
Date: 2012-01-03
To: In Search of the Perfect Trail Names
Miles today: 0.0

Part II - Bright Angel & the Dirty DevilOn August 15, 1869, in the depths of the Grand Canyon, John Wesley Powell made the following entry in his journal: ¢Early in the afternoon we discover a stream entering from the north - a clear, beautiful creek, coming down through a gorgeous red canyon. We land and camp on a sand beach above its mouth, under a great, overspreading tree with willow-shaped leaves.¢ Powell names the stream ¢Bright Angel,¢ a sharp contrast to a muddy stream his exploration party had found and named a few days earlier ¢ ¢Dirty Devil.¢ Today the name ¢Bright Angel¢ (¢B.A.¢ for short) is synonymous with hiking and the Grand Canyon, and a name aptly suited for the distaff part of our team, as anyone who knows her can attest. The contrast between the two creek names seemed excellent for a pair of trail names, not to mention the fact that ¢Dirty Devil¢ connotes not only the mascot of my alma mater but also my condition after a few days in the woods. -N
Date: 2012-01-04
To: In Search of the Perfect Trail Names
Miles today: 0.0

Part III - North Kaibab & South KaibabIf you¢re hiking in pairs, it always seemed to us you need trail names that somehow go together. And depending on other people to come up with two such great, connected names for you at the same time was leaving a lot to chance. So choosing trail names became an important part of our A.T. preparation. From our days at the Grand Canyon we had developed a certain fondness for the cross canyon Kaibab Trail, and, based on the location of our childhood homes in different parts of the country, we thought the trail¢s two sections offered appropriate trail names ¢ ¢North Kaibab¢ and ¢South Kaibab.¢ We could have been very happy using these names, and they stayed in the mix a long time¢¦-X
Date: 2012-01-05
To: In Search of the Perfect Trail Names
Miles today: 0.0

Part IV ¢PsiCig & DotSomsPeople say I'm crazy I got diamonds on the soles of my shoes Well, that's one way to lose These walking blues Diamonds on the soles of my shoes¢¦--Paul SimonSince the Graceland album came out in 1986, this has always been a favorite song. And its image seemed to offer a sure cure for walking blues on depressing days in the Green Tunnel. So I went through a long stage of leaning towards using an acronym for a trail name: ¢DOTSOMS¢ for ¢diamonds on the soles of my shoes.¢ Even started signing shelter registers with it. Even started using a long version: ¢PsiCig DotSoms¢ as in ¢People say I¢m crazy I got, etc., etc.¢ During those times when my wife¢s interest pendulum swung towards ¢Oh, alright, I¢ll go hiking with you,¢ I tried to divide the full version and give her half ¢ I¢d be PSICIG and she¢d be DOTSOMS. Which she always thought sounded stupid¢¦This idea was finally laid to rest once and for all when I settled on a pair of A.T. hiking shoes and discovered they had not diamonds, but little delta shaped wedges on the soles. Perfect little deltas that would always point the way to Maine, but, alas, no diamonds anywhere¢¦-N
Date: 2012-01-06
To: In Search of the Perfect Trail Names
Miles today: 0.0

Part V ¢Jah-knee Ho? &Tato PaniA brief word about our trip to the area of the ¢third pole,¢ and our little used, but well earned Nepali trekking names: Prior to heading to the other side of the world, my husband took a stab at trying to learn the Nepali alphabet until he finally admitted there might be good reason 60% of the country is illiterate: it is a difficult language to learn, especially after 60 plus years of a person using only ¢English¢ or ¢Southern¢... But, in any case, after three weeks of trekking in the Himalayas in ¢09, we were only able to retain two phrases of Sherpa talk, although they both were very important. (And perhaps all that was needed.) Early each morning a member of the kitchen crew would arrive at our tent with a pan of hot water, which he would announce by name ¢ ¢Tato Pani¢! It was always appreciated, almost as much as the soon to follow cup of hot tea¢¦ At each morning¢s start, and after each hiking break, ¢Mr. K¢ (as none of us could master correctly pronouncing his full name of ¢Kale Gurung¢), our most affable guide, would ask the question ¢Jah-knee ho?¢ ¢ ¢Are you ready to go?¢ The correct response (I believe) should have been ¢Ho!", but as a group we always just parroted back our reply ¢¢Jah-knee ho!¢ Post Nepal, these two phrases have become an indispensible part of our back packing vocabulary...At about 12,000 feet, X climbs out of Namche. Nepal¢s Namche Bazaar is the perfect trail town, and will literally take your breath away like none on the A.T. can: -X
Date: 2012-01-07
To: In Search of the Perfect Trail Names
Miles today: 0.0

Part VI - Major Powell & Emma DeanSomewhere along the way these two names had to come up on the list of possibles, based on our multiple connections with Civil War veteran/ explorer/ adventurer John Wesley Powell. However, although it would have been a great fit for my husband, I was afraid people would not know if I was being named after the major¢s wife, or after the rowboat he used on his first Grand Canyon expedition, which also bore the name ¢Emma Dean¢¢¦-X
Date: 2012-01-08
To: In Search of the Perfect Trail Names
Miles today: 0.0

Part VII ¢ Eye-snur & Ma-hoot This one proved not to have much staying power, but for three days in 2010, boy, it seemed really cute. However, looking back on it in Wikipedia two years later, this pair of names seems more appropriate than ever: The Isner¢Mahut match at the 2010 Wimbledon Championships is the longest match in tennis history, measured both by time and number of games. In the Gentlemen's Singles tournament first round, the American 23rd seed John Isner defeated the French qualifier Nicolas Mahut after 11 hours, 5 minutes of play over three days, with a final score of 6¢4, 3¢6, 6¢7(7¢9), 7¢6(7¢3), 70¢68 for a total of 183 games.The match began at 6:13 pm British Summer Time (17:13 UTC) on Tuesday, June 22, 2010. At 9:07 pm, due to fading light, play was suspended at two sets all. After resuming on Wednesday, June 23 at 2:05 pm, the record for longest match was broken at 5:45 pm. The light faded again, and so play was suspended at 9:10 pm, with the final set tied at 59 games all. Play resumed at 3:43 pm on Thursday, June 24, and Isner won at 4:48 pm, the final set having lasted 8 hours, 11 minutes.Both players broke numerous Wimbledon and tennis records, including each serving over 100 aces, with the match being referred to as ¢the endless match¢.Now, doesn¢t that sound a lot like two folks on an A.T. thru hike? As do further reports of the experience: During the overnight breaks, John Isner drank a "recovery shake" and took an ice bath. Fellow American Andy Roddick brought take-out food for him and his coach, including "three boxes of pizza, all sorts of chicken and mashed potatoes." Isner said later that he was so hungry he could have eaten "12 Big Macs", but reported that drinking coconut water helped him rehydrate and avoid cramping as he had experienced in the past. After day two, he slept for less than four hours before arising. Mahut also slept for only a few hours, and had a cold bath and a massage¢¦ Commentator John McEnroe speculated the match might have shortened Isner and Mahut's careers by six months. A sports surgeon said the players had risked dehydration, hyperthermia, and kidney damage during the long match, and that one or both might suffer "some sort of injury or persistent problem over the next six months - shoulder problems, tendonitis, and recurrent knee problems, as well as the inability to "get into a groove" mentally for up to a year.Yep, sounds like a thru hike to me¢¦Ultimately, we had to discard these excellent potential trail names, as we could not agree on which of us would get to be ¢Ma-hoot.¢-N
Date: 2012-01-09
To: In Search of the Perfect Trail Names
Miles today: 0.0

Part VIII ¢ Lanterne Rouge I & Lanterne Rouge IIThe Lanterne Rouge is the competitor in last place in the Tour de France cycling race. The phrase comes from the French "Red Lantern" and refers to the light hung on the caboose of a railway train, which conductors would look for, in order to make sure none of the couplings had become disconnected. Although its route changes each year, the total distance for the three week bike event is similar to that of the A.T. After those 2,000+ miles, the Tour de France rider who finishes last, rather than dropping out along the way, is accorded the prestigious distinction of ¢Lanterne Rouge.¢ With our planned late starting date, and our projected slow pace while on the trail, we would like to think we have at least a shot at the last place A.T. finish in 2012.-X
Date: 2012-01-10
To: In Search of the Perfect Trail Names
Miles today: 0.0

Part IX - At long last¢¦ The Troverts:We arrived at the Hiker Hostel for our final pre-thru hike shake down sans perfect trail names. We said, well, OK, let¢s pull several from the short list of possibles and try a different set out each day to see if we can find a pair that works.And then the next morning when we woke up, low and behold, we discovered, somehow miraculously overnight, we had become the Troverts ¢ ¢X¢ and ¢N.¢ How it happened, we can¢t explain. It¢s a mystery. But then it would be hard for us to deny it¢¦ Guess we¢ll need 3514.8072960000004 more kilometers of hiking to field test and find out for sure if they are the perfect names, but for right now our search is over¢¦
Date: 2012-01-11
To: The Cost of Procrastination 
Miles today: 0.0

I knew we should have hiked last year!Disturbing news from last month:December 12, 2011, ¢The A.T. has grown by 3 miles! The official Appalachian Trail mileage for 2012 is 2184.2.Every year, after trail updates to the A.T. Data Book are compiled, Appalachian Trail Conservancy publishes a new mileage figure. The latest A.T. Data Book is now available from ATC¢¦¢To which we respond by reciting an old Hiker Prayer:¢Oh Lord, if more distance is added to the A.T., please don¢t let it be with any new miles on the Webster Cliff Trail¢¦¢New Hampshire¢s Webster Cliff as seen from Crawford Notch:(Although in person we remember it being much steeper than it looks here...) -X
Date: 2012-01-12
To: Fear ÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂ Part II:
Miles today: 0.0

¢Pack weight is determined by fear.¢-Trail WisdomAnd here we¢re talking about (to paraphrase F.D.R. again) nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes all needed efforts to reduce to a minimum what you¢re carrying on your back. If you¢re afraid of being cold, you¢ll carry too many clothes. If you¢re afraid of being hungry, you¢ll carry too much extra food. If you¢re afraid of missing Facebook, you¢ll carry too many extra smartphone batteries. If you¢re afraid of being stranded in the Smokies due to bad winter weather, you might find yourself lugging a few extra pounds of snow shovel¢¦So, imagine my elation at finding under the Christmas tree a scale that measures down to 1/20 of an ounce! Bring on that gear list. We¢re ready to chip away at that pack weight and get it down to size, a fraction of a milligram at a time¢¦And, wow, look at this ¢ according to its accompanying ¢Eat Smart Guidebook to Calorie Counting,¢ dry roasted peanuts are 5.85 calories per gram, while dry roasted pecans are 7.10 calories per gram. Obviously, considering the nutritional value, we need to upgrade our recipe for trail mix to "gorP" with a capital "P" (good ole raisins & Pecans). Guess it¢s time to head out in the yard and fight the squirrels for those nuts!-N
Date: 2012-01-13
To: The Most Important Item in the Alaska Survival Kit
Miles today: 0.0

Some thoughts onThe Most Important Item in the Alaska Survival Kit:Not all of it is applicable to the Appalachian Trail, but we learned many things about being in the great outdoors on our first trip to Alaska. Like how to tell the difference between a native Alaskan and a ¢Lower 48¢er¢: Watch when the bear arrives in camp. The Lower 48¢ers will all rush to get behind the guide. The native Alaskan will rush to get his camera¢¦But the most important lesson we learned about how to pack an Alaskan survival kit came at the mouth of the Aniakchak River. The Aniakchak National Monument and Preserve are America¢s two least visited national parks, with combined annual figures for both less than two dozen folks finding their way there each year. Our plan was to fly to Surprise Lake inside the Aniakchak Caldera by float plane, then raft the 25 mile river to the Pacific Ocean, where the pilot would land to pick us up.However, the closer we got to the coast, the more weather conditions deteriorated, and at the Pacific we found ourselves stuck in the fog and wind and rain through four days of unflyable conditions. It was then we learned that ¢The Most Important Item in the Alaska Survival Kit¢ is a deck of cards. For 96 hours our recurring pattern was play a round of hearts, then go outside to check on conditions, look at the combination wrist watch/ barometer, and then come back in to deal another hand¢¦Finally on the fourth day, the clouds lifted and we saw we were surrounded by some amazing scenery. But the most beautiful thing we saw was the returning plane¢¦