morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2010-04-28
To: Troutville, VA
Miles today: 0.0

We're a third of the way done and celebrating DethMarch's "completion" of the trail. He got off here in '07 and so has done everything north of this spot, with the teeny exception of a few skipped miles in Maine. Taking a zero in Troutville to eat and sleep like kings (and queens). Eating salad, drinking beer, and watching baseball and bad TV.The last few days have been amazing--Virginia is truly knocking our socks off. We had Dragon's Tooth, a series of jagged triangular rocks jutting up from a steep ridge; McAfee Knob at sunrise (thanks for the tip, Strides); Tinker Cliffs, where Cole nearly leapt off a ledge in pursuit of a squirrel... and all in good weather. It's been fantastic, to say the least. We had some lazy days in there but also some big-mileage days, and cruised into Troutville like we were on a mission. Tomorrow we'll hike out after we get some mail from home and tank up on coffee and one last town meal, and before we know it we'll be in the Shenandoah.This trail is fantastic and going by quickly. Being one-third done means we only get to do this twice more. On that note, we've all but decided to end this adventure by hiking south on the Long Trail to Killington when we finish in July or August, so that we end up in central Vermont and truly walk home. The tough part will be getting a ride from Katahdin to North Troy, so if there are any volunteers, just let us know.Thanks for tuning in. More later.
Date: 2010-05-08
From: Waynesboro, VA

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Here we are in Waynesboro, VA, camped out at the YMCA and planning on taking a zero to rest up and then hit the Shenandoah National Park tomorrow. It's a good day for a zero because we're here for free, Cole's pads are getting a bit worn and could use a day off, Dethmarch got some new trailrunners and is healing his heels, and I've got poison ivy in some, well... uncomfortable places. So we're relaxing today and enjoying the warm welcome of Waynesboro. Great town so far. An all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet better than any I've been to, trail angels that take you to town and make care packages for you, a YMCA with a great shower, Kroger and library within walking distance, and SUNSHINE!The last few weeks have been awesome, weather-wise and hiking-wise. I've said it before, but Virginia is really beautiful. No bears yet, but we saw our first big snakes two days ago: a blacksnake and a rattlesnake(!) Somehow the blacksnake scared me more (as in borderline-panic-attack) and we walked around the very loud rattler without consequence. Apparently we're done with big, big climbs for a while, and looking forward to rolling hills and big-mile days. Although we're still in no hurry, as we want to be out here for a long time. We'll be seeing a friend in the Shenandoah and hopefully having another come out and meet us soon, so we're certainly not in a huge hurry, although it will be nice to eventually see some trail buddies who are ahead of us again.More soon. I'm working on pictures this time.[-SUGAR]
Date: 2010-06-10
From: outside Unionville, NY

To: View Entry
Miles today: 1336.0

Sorry we've been out of the picture for a while. Just haven't had much time to update the ol' journal lately. But thanks to our friend Anonymous (GA->ME '07), we had a nice night off the trail in Middletown, NY last night. Good timing, too, as it rained all afternoon. Nice to take a hot shower and dry out!It's been a beautiful few weeks. We hit a lot of milestones since last I wrote: the 1,000-mile mark, Harpers Ferry, the halfway point (see photos of the half-gallon challenge), the PA/NJ state line. This means 7 states down and 7 to go! We're exactly 1,336 miles into the trail, with 842 left to go. Somehow that doesn't seem like a lot.Good weather, although it's been hot and humid for a while. The cooler air has moved in, though, and as soon as we left the rocky ridges of Pennsylvania, our morale increased greatly. Cole had a few days off in PA to rest his feet and prevent them from getting more chewed up, and we collected him again in Delaware Water Gap, courtesy of my aunt and uncle. New Jersey has been pretty gorgeous so far, with nice views and finally some lakes and ponds. Sunfish Pond, just a few miles into the state, was the southernmost glacial pond on the trail and a beautiful lunch spot on a hot day. We've seen our first bears of the trip recently, as well (one in PA and one in NJ so far). Tomorrow we'll be in New York. The states are getting shorter now and it feels like we're making really good progress. Good to be close to home again-- for the family and friends and also just some familiar territory. It really feels like summer now, too. The flowers on the False Solomon's Seal and Canada mayflower have already turned to berries, and we've been feasting on serviceberries, huckleberries, blueberries, and even a raspberry or two. (They can really slow us down on a ridgeline! But well worth it!)Life is good out here on the trail. Check out our photos. I will try to update more often. Peace to all our friends and family...
Date: 2010-06-17
From: Kent, CT

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

We have been SO lucky with friends and family along the way, now that we are in the northeast. (And technically in New England now!) We are outside Kent, CT now, at Jeff's (Sugar's cousin's) house. Fantastic! We have clean clothes, a soft bed to sleep in tonight, and we have showered and eaten well. Jeff's lady Manuela owns a German restaurant in Brookfield, CT, where we stuffed our faces. Dethmarch had Sauerbraten and Hungarian Goulash, and I had Swedish Meatballs and Chicken Paprikash. Jeff had J¤gerschnitzel. Good beers and Linzertorte, Apfelstrudel, and Chocolate Hazelnut Mousse Cake for desert. Amazing. Best food we've had since we started this hike. Please go to CAFE LITTLE EUROPA if you live anywhere near Brookfield, Connecticut.To all of our buddies ahead of us on the trail: sorry that we are such bums and hiking slowly, but who could pass up opportunities like this??!? [Are you jealous yet?]See you down the trail...
Date: 2010-07-06
From: woodstock, vt

To: just past hanover
Miles today: 400.5

We made it home to SugarDaddy's and SugarMama's for the 4th of July weekend, had some company in the form of some hikers we hadn't seen since Virginia! (Mouse and Mellow Yellow). We took more time than we expected running around getting some off-trail things done while we had access to a car. Needless to say, we're VERY excited to get back on the trail today and head north to New Hampshire and Maine, the TWO states left. The hike is going really well and it feels like we are in the home stretch, although we've got a lot of beautiful terrain to come...
Date: 2010-08-15
To: THE END
Miles today: 298.6

Well, we're done. We finished the trail on Katahdin at sunrise on Sunday the 15th, and we couldn't have had a more perfect finish. We started at about 2:30 in the morning, had the most unbelievable night-hike up the Hunt Trail (A.T.), and got to the sign on top of Katahdin just as the first fingers of light were appearing in the east. It was an emotional end to an incredible journey. We sat and watched the sun come up, made a cup of coffee, drank a great beer together, and took a ton of photos. We even had the top to ourselves for a while, and the air was still and the sun was shining.Now we're back in what some people call the "real world." I can't think of anything more real than what we've spent the last five and a half months doing. We'll try to adjust to pavement and refrigerators and not being able to just throw down our tent wherever we'd like and sleep under the stars. In the meantime, we're mighty glad to have each other to lean on and relate to.Thank you also to those of you who've supported us along the way, or just kept tabs on our progress. It meant a lot to get words of encouragement and love as we walked, and we were glad to have company on our journey. Feel free to sign our guestbook whenever.I'll probably put up more pictures eventually, maybe when I'm bored and nostalgic. It was a great trip and we can't wait to do it again. Seriously. I wish today was just a zero day and we were going back to Katahdin tomorrow to start a southbound thru-hike. If only we could win the lottery...
Date: 2009-12-18
To: Full Speed Ahead
Miles today: 0.0

Okay, we are really going to do this! It seems surreal that we are finally here, two and half months out. My husband, (boyfriend at the time) , aka Didgeridude, and I decided to plan a thruhike of the AT back in May 2007,while at Trail Days in Damascus. I had taken him there to expose him to the crazy wonderfulness that is the AT community and he decided he was in. I guess he decided he was in in more way than one that weekend. He later told me he decided to propose while on a dayhike on the AT in Mount Rogers. A few months later, on a different coast, on a different long distance trail he did indeed propose and of course I said yes. He proposed to me on the Pacific Crest Trail- how could this hiker say no? So I'm Doodlebug, I have a few other journals on here if you are interested (AT 01, JMT 04, PCT 05). You might see a theme here, I like to hike long trails. I did all those as a single woman. This hike will be different, I have someone special to share it with.So back in 2007, we got engaged; in 2008 we got married and committed to sharing a path through life. I cannot put into words how thrilled I am that he wants to hike the AT with me. We were all set to go a year ago until I found a lump in my breast. It was cancer. I was 35. The last year has been a journey of a different sort. Surgery. Chemo. Radiation. Jasper has been there for me every step of the way. And finally a year later, we have come full circle. We are going! I had a co-worker ask me if having had cancer changed my outlook on life. I have to say honestly, no. Hiking the AT in 2001 changed my outlook on life. Life does not need to be as complicated as soceity makes it. All of this "Stuff" is unecessary. All I really need is my friends and family. I feel more alive out on the trail I think because life is simplified. Pleasures are many and simple. Having cancer reminded me of these things and made me want to get out there again even more.
Date: 2009-12-30
To: gear,maildrops,logistics,yada yada yada
Miles today: 0.0

My partner and I are such a good combo. He hates to plan things, I love it. Making spreadsheets and lists of mail drops- I am a nerd. 6 months before my first thru hike the plan was a 6 week section hike. A couple months before it had evolved into an open-ended hike due to my crew being shut down- when I set foot on Springer Mtn March 15, 2001, I honestly had no idea how long I would get to keep walking north- at least 6 weeks, maybe as long as 3 months. About 3 weeks into the trail, Katahdin fever hit, I was loving hiking, loving life and did not want to have to get off and go back to work! Around my required 6 week check in-I asked for a leave of absence until October. And the big corporate oil exploration company granted it and at that moment, I knew I was going the whole way. And I did. And it was awesome. I want to do it again.So this time around, I am doing lots of planning, perhaps to make up for my lack of planning the first time. I have about 39 resupplies planned for about 158 hiking days;all but a few of those will involve mail drops. Where there is a store available, we will buy perishable foods like bagels, tortillas, cheese and supplement our snacks for variety. It hit me the other day- we are really going to get to do this!
Date: 2010-01-30
To: 367 days cancer free and 33 days until the AT!!!
Miles today: 0.0

Hi I just wanted to announce I have been cancer free for 367 days! And in 33 days we will be on Springer Mountain! We leave in 17 days! the maildrops are 85% packed, the gear selection is 100% done, but I am still in the process of making the tent and I have a zipper to install in Didgeridude's sleepingbag plus several smaller sewing projects to tackle. He has his musical instrument complement completed- I will let him tell you about it in the next entry.Doodlebug
Date: 2010-01-31
To: I am Didgeridude, this will be my first thruhike
Miles today: 0.0

Well, it is inching closer: March 4, 2010. Not so long ago I would have never thought to do something like this. Not that I wasn't ever open to it, I would have loved the idea of it after college. I just never really KNEW about it until I met Doodlebug in late '04. We got married in mid '08 and I was ready to commit to a long distance hike sometime in the future as well. I had met some of Doodlebug's wonderful friends in some of her 2001 reunions, which was when I began to understand that I possessed thru-hiker candidacy. We went on some short hikes and that understanding had matured to a yearning to hike in 2009. We had gotten a tremendous start to being ready. My wonderful wife was diagnosed with breast cancer in late 2008, as you may have already read, and life sucked for a long, hike-less 2009. The upside: we have thermarest Neo Air's to start with this year instead of waiting 'til April last year for them to come out on the market. And oh yeah, our marriage grew stronger through it's time with us, we learned many recipes for lemonade, and our anticipation for this epic venture which began long ago and was dashed, has leapt up from the ashes into a burning drive that must get distracted into portioning large amounts of food into many many many small bags. Now this wait is finally ebbing away, and we will walk through that archway at the approach trail's start on March 3rd, just for the bonus pain.      Well alright. That being said, let's move on to the instrument complement that my better half has hinted at. I will be carrying one ten ounce didgeridoo, one 12.75 ouce udu drum, one .25 ounce bamboo jaw harp, and three, yes three, harmonicas weighing in at 2.25-2.5 ounces each. I made a video earlier today and posted it on youtube for your enjoyment and/or curiousity. Didgeridude
Date: 2010-02-14
To: The pre-trail adventure's beginning is close.
Miles today: 0.0

Wow. Weeks now remain for the trail adventure to start and only a couple days 'til we leave for the Florida trip that precedes it. I have had my share of dismal, snowy, wet weather from inside a comfortable warm house. I want to be right out in it! So long as I get to enjoy some hopefully good weather and some barefeet on the beach. So as you could imagine, the preparations for the trail and leaving a house have been something to endure. I am so spoiled to have these preparations orchestrated by such a capable planner as my wife, Doodlebug. The surrealness of it all builds up as the countdown ebbs away. And so, in celebration of such anticipation, I wrote a short poem about...WaitingAn Adventure will be starting.Time remaining flies by.Before our departing,some loose ends to tie.Then off to a landfull of sand and sun,seeing loved ones as planned'til February's done. At a friend's, we then will park,and finally end this craze.On snow or dirt we shall embarkand kiss that first white blaze!!!
Date: 2010-02-26
To: Orange Blazing on the FT
Miles today: 0.0

We did a shakedown hike on the Florida Trail the other day. We hiked in to a backcountry campsite from Silver Lake Recreation Area just off I-75. I have never hiked in Florida before. The vegetation sure is different but interesting. Lots of spanish moss and live oak, long leaf pines, weird white lichen. We took our sweet time getting packing up. Bob, a retired police officer stopped to talk to us for a bit. We finally shouldered our packs and hiked a few hundred yards to where we had to wade under the I-75 bridge at the edge of Silver Lake-just ankle deep for a bit, but resulted in wet shoes the rest of the hike.I found the trail map to be highly confusing, but we finally found our way 3 miles or so to the dry campsite under live oaks. Didgeridude built a fire and I put up the tent outside for the first time which had some learning curve to it. There is just so substitue for a shakedown hike for figuring some very basic things out. We had a great night, it got fairly cold. I went to sleep with the bag over me as a quilt and the fly door open, but woke up freezing and had to get all the way in the bag and shut the door. We slept in and took our sweet time packing up until it started to sprinkle, then we donned our mini rain covers over the balance packs of the Aarns and retraced our steps back to the truck. As we have planned this hike and gone through several stages of "deployment", I have gone through several stages of anxiety. I am a card-carrying procrastinator and today I have again hit a wall of oh crap I am never gonna get stuff done that needs to be done. just last minute logistical stuff- I have days where I just can't bring myself to do certain things. Mental block if you will. Today has been one of those days. I am trying to learn to be more forgiving of myself but its hard when I make my life so much harder than it needs to be with my procrastination. I just need to get out there and hike in a very bad way.
Date: 2010-03-03
From: Missouri

To: Nimblewill gap
Miles today: 6.0

Today's the day!!We arrived in Georgia yesterday. Last night was spent with Preacher (AT01) and Sandra in Gainesville, during which we had a blast playing Wii and hanging out and catching up as well as helping him plan his JMT trip in September. Getting up into the Atlanta area it was starting to snow a little. We talked to Bob and Mary Ann (Homeless and Unemployed AT 01) on the phone and they were seeing some significant accumulation up in the mountains near Suches. I didn't want for them to have to get out in it and suggested we just drive up to their place and then head over to Helen to drop off the truck tomorrow. Helen is about an hour of very mountainous driving away from their place near Suches, GA. But they have 4wd and we have 4wd, and we were all up for braving the conditions, so they met us at a crossroads and we drove up and left our truck at Willie Seay's (AT01) vacation home.         It was so good to see Homeless (Bob) and Unemployed (MaryAnn) again, the last time I saw them was in 2004 in South Lake Tahoe , California. We had missed each other by a few days when they were hiking the PCT and I was hiking on the JMT, but the innate serendipity of the long distance hiking world allowed to run into each other at a hiker hotel in a town neither of us had hiked to after they got off to go home for the birth of their first grand child and I had a few days to kill before I flew home. I first met H&U on the AT in 2001, just south of the James River during a short section I hiked sobo after my Memorial Day Washington DC break. We had both heard of each other through the trail grapevine, turns out we were both not only from MO, but both from St. Louis, and their daughters went to the same high school I did and one of them was even on the same swim team the year after I graduated.         We were not in any great hurry to get on the trail early as it was pretty cold. After a great breakfast fixed by Bob, they drove us about an hour to Amicalola State Park. We were greeted by the park cat Spooky which is a tortie that looks just like my mom's cat that passed away a couple years ago. H&U walked with us a bit. The paved path was still covered in snow , but had a lot of footprints. Near the beginning of the stairs, H&U left us to it and we climbed up and up and up snow covered stairs past the beautiful falls. The rest of the day was pretty slow going in the snow-once up on the mountain it was very windy and bitterly cold. We were passed by two young hikers flying by, I'm sure they made it to Springer tonight. We had hoped for Black Gap shelter 1.5 miles shy of Springer, but we were losing daylight pretty quickly, so we stopped after 6 miles at Nimblewill Gap. The wind was howling through the gap, but we walked a short distance down the forest service road where the hill blocked the wind and we pitched our tent on a wide spot on the side of the road. We tried to kick an area free of snow to put the tent. Didge melted some snow on the Jetboil for water for dinner. It can only get better from here...
Date: 2010-03-04
From: Nimblewill gap

To: Stover Creek Shelter
Miles today: 5.6
Weather: scattered clouds

Frozen shoes on the first morning! We slept with the water filter in our sleeping bags to keep it from freezing, but we left out the drinking tubes-whoops! It took awhile to get those thawed so we could drink. Didge melted enough snow for breakfast and to get us to the water source at the next shelter. I packed the tent up with frost on it and then hung it up in the sun to melt and then dry when we took a break at Black Gap Shelter. More climbing in about a foot of snow brought us to our goal finally: Springer Mountain. The sky was bluer than blue against the white winter wonderland surrounding us. We used the gorillapod around a tree branch and the self timer to take pictures of us with the plaque. Didge built a tiny snowman above the plaque and managed to find and clear off the other snow covered plaque with the hiker silouhette. We ran into another hiker taking a break at the parking lot a mile north.         Earlier this morning, we ran into Birdy hiking south, he had decided to go home and wait another week or so before starting, it was just too cold for him. He was another repeat offender (someone like myself who is out for another thruhike) and said it was about 10 degrees lower than his comfort zone. I have to agree, I really don't mind hiking in the cold down to about freezing, but when its below freezing during the day its really not much fun. There's no place to sit that's not covered with mud or snow, you can't really take a break without getting chilled.   Since we were alone last night, we both really wanted to camp with people tonight to get the trail experience. We were going too slow to make it the 7.6 miles to Hawk Mtn Shelter, so we stopped early at Stover Creek Shelter. There we met Gary from FL who had also started yesterday but took the side trail to the Hike Inn and had the folks there help him cull 8lbs out of his pack to send home. Also there was Hermann (Olof) , a strong hiker from Germany, who had come the 12 miles from Amicalola today, and Keith and Croft. We had read Croft's trailjournal online and it was fun to meet her in person. Keith and Croft are cousins from the Chicago area, both in their 50's or so.         Didge made a fire and we shared the marshmallows we had packed out. Hermann the German had never had fire roasted marshmallows despite having lived in the US for several years. He was most impressed. We slept in the lower part of the new two story shelter. We love our Neoairs. I'm glad I'm carrying the extra 21 ounces of my summer down quilt. I've needed it in addition to my 20 degree Western Mountaineering Ultralite, but I sleep super cold.