morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2011-06-10
From: Winturri Shelter

To: VT 12 
Miles today: 3.5

Start Winturri Shelter, VT, mile 1713.0Stop VT 12, mile 1716.5Hiked 3.5 miles NorthboundSleep Quality InnCell goodOld Goat's notes:One thing I forgot to mention that happened yesterday. At one point on the trail the terrain dropped 8 feet over the edge of a huge rock. There was no way to safely go around it so someone placed a 12 foot extension ladder there. It looked brand new, like it just came out of Home Depot. The person who left it there tied it to a tree on the top to keep it in place. We took another short day today only 3.5 miles, all down hill NOT. We had our car parked at the first road and had planned to stop there. We stopped at a Quality Inn and asked for a room for two nights. They only had room for tonight so we took it. Dartmouth College is in the next town and tomorrow is their medical school graduation. We were going to slack pack, day hike without overnight gear. That would have allowed us to hike longer distances each day. We will now hike 3 days to reach New Hampshire instead of 2 day hikes. I had to put my wet clothes back on this morning to hike out in. My pants and shirt dried out okay but my shoes and socks didn't. We're waiting to check into our room in a little while. The room was't ready and we were told we'd have to wait until 3 pm. We were hot stinky and tired when we heard that and we wanted a shower. We were given keys that gave us access to the pool area and the showers in their restrooms. We showered and took all our dirty clothes to the laundry room. Now our clothes are clean, our bodies are clean and soon we'll be in a room. Check 6's notes:Last evening was military history night! Crank is prior Navy 12 years - got out to try and save his marriage. That didn't work, so he'd like to get back in. Then "Swagman" (a section hiker) was at the shelter and he's also prior Navy (23 years). Do all Navy guys like to talk so much about their experiences? :-) It was interesting to hear of their experiences (Crank the night before, Swagman last night), but both evenings were quite one-sided. We did talk some about our military experiences, but neither asked about our experiences. "It's all downhill from here.". NEVER believe it! Even if the map makes it look as if it is! Swagman assured us the 3.5 miles today truly were all downhill...NOT!! There was a lot of much easier terrain, but definitely not all downhill. Crank is a very fast hiker. It took us 8 hours to hike the 9.9 miles yesterday...and it took Crank a little under 3 hours. Today he asked if we could give him a ride from our car into a nearby town, and we agreed. We suggested he not start hiking until an hour after we left at least. He did wait an hour and got to the car only about 10 minutes after we did. We're in a motel for the night now. Spent some time drying everything out and washed all our stinky hiking clothes. Sort of a lost cause if you think about it. Within 15 minutes of hiking we're sweaty already! :-)Sent from my iPhone
Date: 2011-06-23
From: VT 12 (Woodstock, VT)

To: Thistle Hill Shelter
Miles today: 8.1
Weather: light rain

Start VT 12 (Woodstock, VT), mile 1716.5Stop Thistle Hill Shelter, VT, mile 1724.6Hiked 8.1 miles NorthboundCell ok (one tiny bar)Old Goat's notes:Last night we left a car in a Dartmouth parking lot, I called ahead and gave them our license plate number. When we parked the car we weren't sure if we were in the right lot. Fortunately a campus security car came through to check the lot. He reassured us we were leaving the car in the right lot.By leaving the car at Dartmouth we were able to drive right to the spot where we left thetrail last week. We started up with a climb up Dana Hill a nice 500 foot warm up then we went right back down the same amount of elevation. The rest of the day was all up and down, none of it was major but it still kicked our butts. The sky was dark all day with periods of rain. Once we got wet we never dried off. We're hiking in low cut trail runners (basically sneakers). We went through a lot of wet areas and our feet were wet too. At one stream crossing, Check 6 thought the rocks looked too slippery so she forded the stream by walking through it with her hiking shoes on. It's raining now but we're in a shelter nice and dry. Unfortunately, tomorrow morning we will be putting on the same wet clothes we took off when we got here. It does't pay to put dry clothes on because we'll need them tomorrow night. Backpackers save weight by carrying very few clothes and reuse over and over again. Besides it would't take long for the dry clothes to be wet if we left the shelter in them. No pain, no rain, no Maine!"Check 6's notes:Cold, rainy, dismal. The morning started out okay, and then the drizzle rain started around noon. So we got soaked to the skin and had to get into dry clothes after we got our water at the shelter. I can see my breath right now. I thought I heard once that when you can see your breath it's 50 degrees or less out. Feels like it. We met "More Abraham" on the trail. His trail name is because he's becoming more like Abraham every day he's out here - beard, hiking staff, back to nature. Interesting guy. He's at the shelter with us tonight - playing his Clarinet. I love it when hikers have instruments and play them. "More Abraham" is hiking from NYC to Hanover, NH, then he's meeting a friend and they're going to travel the country (by car mostly, with some hiking). It's been nice to meet you, "More Abraham."Sent from my iPhone
Date: 2011-06-25
From: Happy Hill Shelter

To: Hanover,New Hampshire
Miles today: 5.8

Start Happy Hill Shelter, VT, mile 1733.4Stop Hanover, NEW HAMPSHIRE (another state finished!!!!), mile 1739.2Sleep hotelCell goodOld Goat's notes:Vermont is now in the books and New Hampshire is the next state to conquer. Check 6 likes to answer people who ask us if we are hiking the AT, her answer is "We've hiked every mile from Georgia to here". It is a great accomplishment no matter how long it has taken us to do. I hope this is the year we reach Katahdin. We will now be moving into some of the most beautiful part of the AT, The White Mountains. Most of the trail is above tree line and the views are spectacular. We will not get to the Whites for another week, in fact we may have jump ahead to do them. Instead of getting ahead of myself I'll wait until we do a section to write about it. Check 6's notes:Whoo hoo!!! We're now in New Hampshire!! Only 2 states left to finish the AT! By the last book we were using, we have about 439 miles left of 2178 miles. By the new book (and most current), the AT is now 2181 miles long, so we have 441.1 miles left. Not many when you look at the big picture. Today's hike was nice again. Real nice terrain in the miles we covered yesterday and today. It would have been even nicer if everything was dry, but rain is part of the experience. The only problem with putting on the wet clothes today was that I got real cold when we stopped because of the wet clothes. We're in a warm hotel room now and clean and dry, so I'm fine now. When we entered Norwich, VT, a man asked if he could take our picture. He's a writer for the New England Business Journal and had just written an article about the AT. He thought it would be nice to include a photo of a hiker and we came along. We were at our hiker's best...filthy, stinky, hair askew...good thing you can't smell a picture! :-) You certainly wouldn't want a picture of pristine perfect hikers. I loved that we happened to be the hikers he came upon. Wish I had thought to ask when his article would be in the journal.                                                                                                                                                                                    This was a wonderful day! Except for the wetness, I wish every day could be like today with the beautiful hiking. Sent from my iPhone
Date: 2011-06-28
From: Hexacuba Shelter, NH

To: Trapper John Shelter
Miles today: 12.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Start Hexacuba Shelter, NH, mile 1767.9Stop Trapper John Shelter, NH, mile 1755.9Hiked 12 miles SouthboundCell minimalSleep shelterOld Goat's notes:Another lucky day of hiking, the weather forecast called for afternoon showers. It didn't start sprinkling until just before we reached the shelter and the leaves on the trees kept most of it off us. We are now safe in the shelter and if rains we'll stay dry. Today we would read a distance sign to the next major point, then we'd estimate when we should arrive at it. We met or beat every guess which told us we are reaching our hiker stride. There seem to be a number of hikers who have started a day or two ago. They make us feel good with the progress we are making. A few of them are trying to start with 15 mile days and they are ending their day sore and tired. We may do a big day tomorrow and slack pack the next day. The mountains are difficult and with the two cars we can take that option. These are the hardest mountains on the AT so we'll use any advantage we can get. A thru hiker (Raisin) called them The Big Boy Mountains, I agree.Check 6's notes:Great day today. We felt good hiking and made good time considering the mountains we hiked over. Stops-A-Lot did stay at Hexacuba last night. We enjoy his company. We're now wondering if he'll be at this shelter tonight. If he gets here, we expect him to get in late. Stops-A-Lot is a High School Math teacher. "Flash" was at the same shelter last night, but in his tent. He thru-hiked in 2001. He's 70 years old and hiking a long section of the AT this year. We came upon a young lady waiting for her husband to come by. He's thru-hiking ("Gobbler") and she's supporting him. He carries just a small water sling that has a couple small pockets. He expects to finish the entire AT in 70 days. His wife (Kadra) meets him at the road crossings she can get to and resupplies him with water, snacks, and anything else he needs. Then she scouts out a place for the night, picks khim up, and they go there. Very nice couple. We so enjoyed chatting with them. A hiker we met in 2009 is tenting by this shelter tonight..."Walking Man.". We had only met him briefly on 2009. He said he comes out and hikes part of the AT often. He hopes to hike to Katahdin this year. I made an interesting observation today. Moose are very considerate. They poop on the trail often, BUT 98% of the time their poop is off to the side of the trail. Just thought you might like to know that little tidbit of information. Sent from my iPhone
Date: 2011-06-30
From: Hanover,NH

To: High St, NH
Miles today: 1.3

Start NH 25, NH, mile 1782.6Stop High St, NH, mile 1783.9Hiked 1.3 miles NorthboundSleep motelCell goodOld Goat's notes:Wow what a big day 1.3 miles! Actually today was a logistics day. We bought a few items at the food store and clothing at the EMS store. We then traveled to Glencliff to retrieve our car. The hike out of Glencliff goes into the woods for about a mile and then comes out on a road for a .3 mile roadwalk before it starts up Mount Moosilauke. We hiked that section so that tomorrow we can start at the higher parking lot. We're in North Woodstock for the next two nights. We will slack pack Mt. Moosilauke and come back here tomorrow night. The mountains are tough and we are going to take every advantage we can. Check 6's notes:We didn't hike much, but it was a productive day. In addition to taking care of some logistics, we helped a few hikers. There were 3 thru-hikers at the EMS store when we got there. We asked them if they needed a ride anywhere, and they did need to get back to Hanover, so when they and we were finished at EMS we took them there. They are "Lego," "Grad School," and "Redwood.". Lego has a little Lego guy hanging from his pack. Grad School just graduated from grad school. And Redwood used to live in CA. We were surprised to learn Lego and Redwood are from Ithaca, NY, a town about an hour or so South of our town. When we went to get our car from the hostel on Glencliff where it was parked over the last few days, we were surprised to see Flash there. He has decided to hike less miles each day than what he originally planned. He planned to hike 15-18 miles each day, now he's saying 8. "Afternoon Delight" (a section hiker) was there and needed to pick up some food, so we took him to a nearby store. We enjoy helping hikers. And we know how good it feels when someone offers to help. Sent from my iPhone
Date: 2011-07-02
From: NH112, Kinsman Notch,NH

To: Mt. Lafayette, NH
Miles today: 6.5

Start Franconia Notch, NH, mile 1808.5Stop Mt Lafayette, NH, mile 1815.0Hiked 6.5 miles NorthboundSleep bed in a hut Cell okayOld Goat's notes:We had an excellent night at the AMC Highland Lodge in Carter Notch. The stay included dinner last night and breakfast this morning. The meals were plentiful and good except for the barbecue tofu faux spare ribs that I mistakenly took.We left the Highland Center and drove to Franconia Notch which is actually one notch south of where we were, the other car is on the other end of The Whites. Our hike started with a .9 mile to the trail from the parking lot, the only flat terrain hiking we did all day. The rest of the day was either climbing or descending mountains. We went over Mount Lincoln and Mount Lafayette over Franconia Ridge. We are in the Geenleaf Hut tonight. This hut is 1.1 miles off the AT on a very steep downhill side trail. The worst part about the side trail hike was we could see the hut most of the time and it taunted us the whole time. Check 6's notes:I think the hut will be noisy tonight. There are a bunch of families with kids here and lots of noise right now. We were lucky to have arrived early enough to get 2 bottom bunk beds. The bunk beds are 3 high. We're awaiting dinner. A reservation in a hut has dinner and breakfast included. Two of the thru-hikers we've met (Tree Beard and Storm Song) are here on a work for stay program. They'll do some form of labor to be able to sleep on the floor of the dining room and eat any left over food. The mountains today were high, rocky, and hard. In many places I felt as if we were on Mt Katahdin. Good views so far. Dark clouds blew over all day. They seem to be gone right now We hope we have a string of good days so we'll have dry rocks and beautiful views. I don't have much to write right now. I'm just plain exhausted. Supper should revive some of my energy. Sent from my iPhone
Date: 2011-07-07
From: Crawford Notch, US 302, NH

To: Mizpah Hut, NH
Miles today: 5.9
Weather: scattered clouds

Start Crawford Notch, US 302, NH, mile 1836.3Stop Mizpah Hut, NH, mile 1842.2Hiked 5.9 miles NorthboundSleep bed in hutCell minimalOld Goat's notes:We took it easy and didn't rush to leave the lodge this morning. Our first order of business was to get a ride to the trail 4 miles down the road. We lucked out with a ride from three people who were heading for the same trailhead. We were off to a good start. We knew we would be climbing for quite a while, but what we didn't know was that for some of our day we would be rock climbing. We actually had to grab hold in crevices and pull ourselves up at times. Doing this kind of climbing didn't bother me and I guess that is why I forgot about it from my 2006 thru-hike. C6 had a hard time of it partially because of her short legs and partially her fear of not getting a good foot hold. She actually did really great at it, there would be many people who would turn around and go back down, she kept climbing. A funny thing happened when we were at the trailhead. A car pulled up and two people got out. They walked over to the sign to make sure it was the AT and then started back to the car. I recognized the woman from my 2006 thru-hike. She was the white haired lady I kept crossing in Virginia. Back then she had a white dog with her; she didn't today. She's staying at the hut we will be going to tomorrow so we'll cross each other sometime tomorrow. The AT is a small world and the community of people a breed of their own. Check 6's notes:I thought we were hiking. Turns out we were hiking and rock climbing today! There were times we'd look straight up the rock face and see a white blaze 20 feet up on the rock! Thank goodness for rock edges for finger holds and trees and roots to grab. I was overwhelmed a lot of today with how many rock climbs we had to do. There were a few of the climbs I did in tears of frustration and fear, but I did do them and we're at the hut. There were times I would loved to have quit, but there's no quitting partway to the destination on a hike. Then we had to go back down the other side of the mountain top. Going down was slightly easier, but I'd swear the rock faces going down the other side weren't as steep, severe, or as often! I don't know that for sure...I just know it felt like thatThis hut sleeps 60 people, but they only have reservations for 16 tonight. The building is huge and quite nice. Since so few people are staying here tonight we have a small bunk room to ourselves. These huts are a nice place to stay. Especially when you get to the hut mid-afternoon. OG is taking a nap. I'm enjoying the warmth and quiet. I wish I had thought to bring a deck of cards though. The deck I used at the last hut was missing 4 cards; the deck I wanted to use here is missing 2 cards. Oh well. I'll read my book after I finish this entry. By the way, for our friends and family who get these updates as emails and don't go to our Trail Journal, as of right now we have hiked 149 miles of our last 502 miles so far this summer. 353 to go!Sent from my iPhone
Date: 2011-07-08
From: Mizpah Hut, NH

To: Lake Of Clouds Hut, NH 
Miles today: 4.8
Weather: fog

Start Mizpah Hut, NH, mile 1842.2Stop Lake of the Clouds Hut, NH, mile 1847.0Hiked 4.8 miles NorthboundSleep bed in hutCell goodOld Goat's notes:Wow 4.8 miles in 3 hours. We left Mizpah hut at 8am and arrived at Lakes of the Clouds Hut at 11am. The day was sunny but a cool breeze kept blowing all morning. Some of the hiking was in the tree line and some above it in the Alpine zone.We started with a steep climb (500 foot) out of the hut to go over Mount Pierce (aka Mt Clinton). That got us sweating and got our shirts all wet. When we emerged into the wind the sweat on our clothes would evaporate and we'd feel cold. We stayed warm enough as we hiked because we were generating heat. When we arrived here and slowed down we both started to get cold. The huts sell soup for lunch so we both had two bowls each. We're now in the hut wearing our down jackets and dry clothes. This is one of the nicest parts of the AT when the weather cooperates. The hiking is above tree line and the views are spectacular. We had great views all around but we couldn't see the top of Mount Washington because it was still in a cloud. We can now see the top as the cloud burned off since we arrived here. This morning's weather reports calls for improved visibility for the next few days, let's hope they are right. This may sound like a lazy hike with all the stops and someone else hauling up and cooking our food. I can assure you we are earning every mile, this is no walk in a park. Check 6's notes:Today was a much nicer hike. Not any rock climbing, only a couple places that were challenging. Those rock climbs really got to me yesterday. I'm happy to have it easier today. Still not a stroll...we went over mountains, but so much easier than the past 3 days have been! Tomorrow is Mt Washington. From far away it's daunting. It's not as daunting looking up at it from the hut today (real close to the top - 1.4 mi). We'll work for it though...there's no easy way to climb a big mountain. The hut we're in tonight can accommodate 90 people. Wow! It will be interesting to see if it's full. Apparently it fills up on weekends because it's easy to get to and because it's so close to Mt Washington. Since we've entered New Hampshire we've been hearing a lot of French spoken. A lot of people come to the Whites from Canada apparently. The views here in the Whites have been spectacular. We've been very blessed to have such good weather here so far. Sent from my iPhone
Date: 2011-07-10
From: Franconia Notc, NH

To: Lonesome Lake Hut, NH
Miles today: 3.1

Start Franconia Notch, NH, mile 1808.5Stop Lonesome Lake Hut, NH, mile 1805.4Hiked 3.1 miles SouthboundSleep bed in Lonesome Lake HutCell noneOld Goat's notes:Today was another shift day, we are now 43 miles south of where we were yesterday. When we changed plans yesterday due to weather and we couldn't resume today where we left off we decided to go back and pick up our skipped section. We drove back to Franconia Notch and picked up our van, we then drove to Kinsman Notch and parked the van there. We then drove back to Franconia Notch and started hiking south, towards the van. We are hiking south because we would never have made it to the hut in time this evening. We'll hike to the van tomorrow and head into town for the evening. Then Tuesday we'll drive back north and continue the journey north. We have reservations for Madison Spring Hut on Wednesday. We are hoping for good weather on that day so we can hike the exposed ridge. If it doesn't we will probably take the bad weather trail for our own safety. The hike today was pretty good only 3.1 trail miles and another .9 to get to the trail. The terrain was fairly easy and we made good time getting here. We will pay for this good fortune tomorrow when we started the day with a wicked climb followed by a wicked decent. We'll have to take our time and keep our head in the game all day. We've done climbs like this before so we should do fine. We are at the Lonesome Lake Hut tonight. As the name implies there is a lake here near the hut. It is a pretty place with a great view of Mt Lafayette and the Franconia ridge. We both looked at the ridge and said "Thank God we don't have to climb over that again". This hut is really a series of cabins instead of one building like the rest of them. There are two bunkhouses and a main building with the kitchen and dining room. There will only be 10 guests here tonight and if I counted the number of bunk rooms right we could each have a room to ourselves. Of course that won't happen because C6 are together. Check 6's notes:Forgot to write yesterday that the President of the AMC (Appalachian Mountain Club) was at the Lake of the Clouds hut the night we were. He was hiking with a group of people. He made it a point to introduce himself to each hut crew member and chat with each one for a while. For any readers not familiar with the AMC, it's a huge organization throughout the US hiking community. The huts, and the 2 lodges we've stayed at over the past week, are owned and operated by the AMC They also have facilities in other parts of the US. Check it out online sometime (www.outdoors.org).There are only 10 people here at the hut tonight. Made for a very quiet (and somewhat uncomfortable) dinner because it's just us and 2 families and the others were very inhibited and quiet. It will be a quiet night though, which will be nice. There are 2 bunk houses. The other 2 families are in the lower bunk house, so we are alone in this upper bunk house. We like that. Sent from my iPhone