morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2007-06-27
From: Norwich, VT, The Norwich Inn

To: Velvet Rocks Shelter
Miles today: 3.0
Weather: clear sky

Slept late since I have a "nero" (near zero) day planned. Only a mile to the Vermont / New Hampshire border and I was crossing the bridge at the border at 9:30 a.m. It wasn't long before I was at Main Street where I could see Dartmouth College. The trail goes right through town. Stopped at Lou's Restaurant for a big breakfast, went to the drug store to make a CD of my pictures to mail back to Kelley, then to the outfitters across from the Post Office to buy a new pair of socks. I have worn holes in one pair. Went to the hardware store to get fuel for my stove, then passed by Ben & Jerry's and got a cold smoothie. It has been really hot here, probably in the 90's.On the way out of town, I stopped by the co-op and bought food for the next four days. Also got a sandwich and some Gatorade so I won't have to cook supper. The shelter was only about a mile from the market but all uphill so I just took my time. Thought the bugs would be bad, but it was so hot even they didn't want to move.Got to the shelter at 4:30 p.m., but no sign for the water and it is 0.2 miles away. I brought enough so I won't have to go looking for it. It is 6:00 p.m. and clouds have moved in and I can hear thunder in the distance. Rain will cool things down. The shelter is new but small and it has a clear plastic roof, that should be interesting to watch when the rain comes. Hung a line to dry my clothes, got to get them in, the thunder is getting louder.Fell asleep at about 6:30 p.m. listening to the rain hit the plastic roof above. Today was my last day in Vermont, only two more states to hike. Here are my thoughts about Vermont. I see why they call it the Green Mountain State with all the pine, spruce and fir tree-covered areas. Loved hiking on the duff pine needle trails. Saw moose tracks and moose poop (scat) almost every day but never saw a moose. Exciting to hike over Bromley and Killington Peaks. Loved staying in Manchester Center with all their good restaurants and had a great stay at the Inn at Long Trail.
Date: 2007-06-28
From: Velvet Rocks Shelter

To: Moose Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 9.5
Weather: clear sky

At about 11:30 p.m. the rain stopped and it cooled down some but the mosquitoes had found me, they made it difficult to get to sleep and sleep for the rest of the night.Got up early and was hiking at 6:20 a.m. It was cooler today and an easy hike. Hiked down to the Etna General Store to get some water, something to eat and Gatorade. The book said the store was 0.2 miles down the road but it is really about a mile. Started thumbing back to the trail at the store and the first car that came along stopped and picked me up. His name was Tim and he was driving only a mile up to the church that was near the trail. They were preparing for his father-in-law's funeral today. I felt sorry for the young man and thanked him for his kindness for giving me a ride.Got to Moose Mountain Shelter at about 12:30 p.m. and ate my lunch and took a short nap. It was starting to get warner. The next shelter was 5.7 miles away with a 1400 foot mountain to climb and with the weather getting warmer, I decided to stay at Moose Mountain Shelter. A 14-year-old boy with his grandfather out for a day hike stopped by and ate lunch. A little later a thru-hiker named Hasty stopped by. He lives near Daleville, VA. He said he saw someone selling Gee-Haw Whimsey Diddle Sticks at Trail Days in Damascus, VA. He moved on to the next shelter.At about 5:30 p.m., Stick, a northbounder, came hiking in and a little later his buddy, McRib, arrived. I had started a fire to try and drive away the mosquitoes with the smoke. This worked out good for McRib because he had brought all the makings for homemade chili. It took him about two hours to cook the chili and it was about 8:30 p.m. when they started eating. I had set my tarp tent in the shelter to protect me from the mosquitoes. It started getting cooler which made for better sleeping.
Date: 2007-06-29
From: Moose Mountain Shelter

To: Firewarden's Cabin
Miles today: 12.4
Weather: moderate rain

Stick and McRib were still asleep when I left the shelter at 7:20 a.m. It had been really cold last night, in the upper 40's.With the wind blowing it was really cool hiking. It was not an easy day. I had a 1300 foot mountain to go over, then a 2400 foot mountain to climb to get to the shelter. It has been dry and hard to find water and I was about out of water when I got to the Firewarden's Cabin at 4:45 p.m. It was a long way down to the spring/stream and it was just a puddle of water. I had to be careful scooping out the water to not stir up the mud. After getting the water, I climbed the fire tower and could see the mountains I had climbed and the ones I am about to climb.A group from Outward Bound came by but went down to the campsites. A southbound section hiker with his dog stopped for the night. Then Tapper stopped for the night, I had been expecting her to catch up to me again. Stick and McRib showed up. All of us are staying in the cabin tonight.At this altitude, it is colder up here. With the windows closed it is at least 15 degrees warmer in the cabin. We got a lot of information about the White Mountains in New Hampshire from the southbound section hiker. Being warmer in the cabin and no way for the mosquitoes to get in the cabin was a good place for the night.
Date: 2007-06-30
From: Firewarden's Cabin

To: Ore Hill Shelter
Miles today: 12.6

Didn't get up until 6:10 a.m. and started hiking at 8:30 a.m. It is still windy and cold. The trail and the climbs were easier today. From Mt. Cube I could look back and see Smarts Mountain and the ridge I had climbed down. Found a rock to get behind to get out of the wind and get in the sun to eat my lunch.Easy hike down Mt. Cube but when I got to the road, NH 25A, I still had 2.5 miles to go with another 1000 foot climb. Had to bring water from a brook four miles back because there was no water at Ore Hill Shelter. The last half mile I got really tired.When I got to the shelter, Stick and McRib were already there. Later Young 'n Dumb showed up, he is 19 years old and I heard he got his name the first day on the trail. Then Scoops hiked in, he is 22 years old and got his name from eating scoops of Gatorade. Hornblower arrived, he is also a young thru-hiker and got his name because he carries a French horn. Everyone had brought water from the brook four miles back except Young 'n Dumb but he still had a quart.The mosquitoes are bad at this shelter and I had to put a mosquito net over my head to sleep. More and more northbound thru-hikers are catching up to me and passing me. I am amazed at how fast they are moving.
Date: 2007-07-01
From: Ore Hill Shelter

To: NH25 to Hikers Welcome Hostel in Glencliff, NH
Miles today: 7.4
Weather: broken clouds

Slept late because it was cold and did not leave until 8:30 a.m. It was cool and rained just a little but the hike down to the road NH 25 was easy and I got there at 12:15 p.m. Tried to thumb with no luck so I walked the half-mile to the Hikers Welcome Hostel in Glencliff, NH. Saw Scoops walking back to the trail to go north.The only thing in Glencliff was the hostel and the post office. Ate a microwaved pizza for lunch. Stick, McRib, Young 'n Dumb, Hasty and two southbound thru-hikers were already there. I was surprised to see Hasty but he was waiting for a friend to come and see him, she showed up late this afternoon and they went into a couple of towns near here.It must have been around 5:30 p.m. before I got the courage to take a shower. The shower, washing machine and toilet are all in a tent out back. The water was nice and hot but the air was still very cold. It is even cold inside the building which has a lounge area with a big table downstairs and a bunk room upstairs. There are even some bunks outside in some tents. Even some hammocks to relax in if it were warmer.Almost everyone ordered something from a local restaurant and Young 'n Dumb and a driver went to pick it up. Almost everyone stayed up until at little after 10:00 p.m. watching a movie, which is a real treat out here. The post office does not open until 7:00 a.m. so everyone will probably sleep a little longer in the morning.
Date: 2007-07-02
From: NH25 from Hikers Welcome Hostel

To: Beaver Brook Shelter
Miles today: 7.9
Weather: scattered clouds

Everyone slept in late waiting for the Post Office to open. At 7:30 a.m. several of us walked over to pick up our maildrops. I had three: Nadine had mailed me a box with my food and other items, Kelley had sent me brownies and Shoe and Betty sent me a box with all sorts of trail goodies. I kept most of the items but shared the rest with the other hikers. The southbounders, Hasty, McRib and Stick left at different times. Young n' Dumb was staying to go to a clinic to have a doctor look at his foot.I started hiking down the road out of Glencliff at 11:15 a.m. Wished I had gotten away sooner because I had Mt. Moosilauke to climb, almost 3700 feet up and 1000 feet down to the shelter. The climb was easy at first through normal forests, stopped on the trail for lunch, then it got steeper going up into an alpine forest. It was warm down in Glencliff when I left, in the 60's, but it got colder the higher I went. Several hundred feet from the summit I could see the above tree line area of the mountain and it was getting cold enough that I could see my own breath. Dropped my pack and put on my rain jacket for warmth and as a windbreaker. As soon as I walked out of the trees into the bald area, I was hit by about 40 mph winds that felt like it went right through my rain jacket. It was like a big "Welcome to the Mountains of New Hampshire" which are reported as the hardest to hike on the A.T. I felt good after such a long climb but the descent down the 1000 feet was rather rocky. I still managed to get to Beaver Brook Shelter by 5:15 p.m. Hasty, Stick and McRib were all asleep, they had gotten there in the early afternoon. Plenty of good water here. I fixed supper right away. A trail crew from Dartmouth Outdoor Club, five girls and a guy, were camped nearby and came over to build a fire and cook their supper of corn on the cob and baked potatoes. From the shelter we could see Mt. Lafayette and Franconia Ridge, what an awesome sight.Wow! Today was a real mountain climbing experience and just a taste of what is to come.
Date: 2007-07-03
From: Beaver Brook Shelter

To: NH112 to North Woodstock, NH
Miles today: 1.6

It got cold last night, down in low 40's. I was the first one up at 6:15 a.m. McRib was going to meet family in North Woodstock. Hasty and Stick were going to Kinsman Notch and catch a ride in for breakfast at Peg's Place. My original plan was to go to the next shelter nine miles away.The hike down Kinsman Notch was almost like going down a cliff, the trail ran beside a cascading waterfall, and in a lot of places there were wooden steps and metal handrails in the rocks. Everything was wet so I was extra careful coming down. It took an hour and one half to go only 1.6 miles.Realizing that the 4th of July is tomorrow, I was concerned about getting a room on the 5th of July in North Woodstock where I have a mail drop. Talked to a local couple near the bottom of the Kinsman Notch. They said places usually get booked up. So when I got to the road, I started thumbing. Not a lot of cars going my way but a couple from New Jersey in an SUV with a canoe on top stopped and picked me up.I saw Hasty, Stick and McRib coming out of Peg's Place. McRib was still waiting for family to show up this afternoon. Hasty and Stick were thumbing back up to the trail. I walked down to the Carriage Motel and they had a vacancy on the 5th of July. Looked at the time and decided to stay in town since they had a vacancy for tonight. Went to Peg's Place for lunch and ran into McRib on the street. I went and had a drink with him while he ate lunch.Washed my clothes again, they smelled like smoke. Went back to the bar for supper, prime rib and baked potato. Talked to Blister Sister at the bar, she knows everyone up and down the trail and I learned a lot about the trail from her. She does shuttles and helps hikers. I needed to take a zero day soon so this "nero" day worked out just fine for me. I also checked at the Post Office and they had my mail drop and will be open on July 5th so I can pick it up then. North Woodstock is a nice little trail town.
Date: 2007-07-04
From: NH112 from North Woodstock, NH

To: Eliza Brook Shelter
Miles today: 7.5
Weather: overcast clouds

Ate a big breakfast at Peg's Place and was thumbing at 8:20 a.m. Didn't take long before a guy named Brian picked me up, said he was only going 2 1/2 miles but I figured that was 2 1/2 miles closer to the trail head. He took me the whole 4.5 miles back to the trail head. I am constantly amazed by the kindness people show us hikers.It was a really steep climb and rock climbing out of Kinsman Notch. The weather was good, in the 60's and sunny but rain is in the forecast for this afternoon. Met a section hiker named Magic Stick, he is just a few years older than me and we climbed most of the mountain together. Only had to climb about 1700 feet but it had a lot of ups and downs.Got to Eliza Brook Shelter about 1:50 p.m. It had a good water source, big brook beside the shelter. It was another 2000 foot climb and three more miles to the next shelter. I decided to stay here and so did Magic Stick. That turned out to be a good decision because the rain came at about 4:15 p.m. and we would have been caught in it.Other hikers, a lot of southbounders started showing up at about 5:00 p.m. Then at a little after 6:00 p.m., two hikers came in and said, "Hi Whimsey." Boy was I shocked and surprised, it was Frank and Jessie, father and daughter that I had met in Damascus, VA last year. Jessie had come to hike with Frank for a month. They had been reading the shelter journals and knew I was on the trail again and had been trying to catch me. It was a great reunion. Frank is using the trail name "Halfway" because he hiked half the A.T. last year and Jessie is going by "Bluebird."There are six of us in the shelter: Magic Stick, Ranger, Deablo, Jessie, Frank and me. A girl southbounder Jess and her dog Duke are tenting out along with three other southbounders. It continued to rain and rained all night long. It is nice to be in a dry shelter.
Date: 2007-07-05
From: Eliza Brook Shelter

To: US3 to North Woodstock, NH
Miles today: 8.8

It was still raining early this morning but had stopped by the time I left the shelter at 7:55 a.m. The 2000 foot climb up to the South Peak of Kinsman Mountain was nothing but a big rock scramble and I caught up to Frank and Jessie near the top. The view was not very good, you could only see about 75 feet because of the fog. We hiked together and it was nothing but more rock scrambles to the Peak of North Kinsman Mountain and the same going down the mountain. Nothing but wet rocks and roots that made for real slow going. We didn't get to Lonesome Lake Hut until about 1:45 p.m. and stopped to get lunch. For a small fee, we got all the lemonade, soup and bread we could eat and it was really good. We needed the break too because the rocks had worn us down. It was only three miles to US 3 but more rocks and we had to take a bike path then a blue blaze trail about another 0.8 mile to get to US 3.It was a little after 4:00 p.m. when we got to the road. Frank and Jessie let me start thumbing first since I was trying to get to the Post Office before it closed. We could not believe it when the young couple, Steve and Kate, we had met up at Lonesome Lake Hut pulled up and gave all three of us a ride into North Woodstock. Got to the Post Office at 4:38 p.m. but it closed at 4:30 p.m. The book stated it closed at 5:00 p.m. Well, I will have to pick up my mail drop tomorrow morning.At the Carriage Motel there was a note for me from Stick, he was in town and was going to be down at Truants Tavern. I gook a quick shower and headed to the tavern while Frank and Jessie had to re-supply. We were going to try to meet later.Stick was still at Traunts Tavern when I go there. He had come back to town because his ankles had swollen to the point he had a hard time getting his shoes on. Blister Sister showed up, she had heard about his ankles and offered to take him in for a couple of days to give them time to heal. We finally convinced Stick that he needed to take the time off if he was going to hike the Whites.Frank found me later at the Laundromat and we are meeting for breakfast. Today was one of the toughest days I have had on the trail. It took almost eight hours to go only 8.8 miles and it is not going to get any easier until several days from now when I am in Maine. This is supposed to be the hardest section on the entire A.T.
Date: 2007-07-06
From: US3 from North Woodstock, NH

To: Greenleaf Hut
Miles today: 6.4

Went to breakfast with Halfway and Bluebird at Peg's Place, then they left town. I hope I catch up with them later. Halfway said he is going to take a couple of days off in Gorham, NH so I know I will see him there. It was great hanging out with them again.I had to wait for the Post Office to open to pick up my mail drops. Kelley and Shanna sent me brownies again. Yum! Yum! I started walking and thumbing out of town when I saw a guy backing up along the edge towards me. He had a kayak on top of his car, a good sign for getting picked up. His name was George, retired and a few years older than me. He gave me a ride right to the parking lot. Had to walk 0.8 mile just to get back to the A.T.It was 10:50 a.m. when I finally started up the mountain. It was around 70o F. and sunny when I started but that would soon change. To get to the top of Mt. Lafayette, I would have to climb 3800 feet. About a couple of thousand feet up, I could hear a storm coming, stopped to eat my lunch before it hit. The temperature started dropping so I dropped my pack, put on the rain cover and put on my rain jacket. When I got close to 2500 feet up, the edge of the thunderstorm hit me. Continued to climb. Sounded like the storm was going over Mt. Lincoln. The trail turned toward Franconia Ridge. The temperature had dropped a lot. I was hiking toward the storm hoping it would go over the mountain before I got there, which it did but another storm came in behind it. Had to hunker down in some small fir trees as the storm passed over me. Afterwards the mountain was covered by fog. Couldn't see Franconia Ridge, Mt. Lincoln or Mt. Lafayette. Had to use the altimeter on my watch to know which peak I was hiking over. The wind was blowing about 40 to 50 mph making it even colder, my legs were turning red.At 4:45 p.m. I reached the top of Mt. Lafayette and started down the 1.1 mile trail to the Greenleaf Hut. I was still above tree line when I heard the thunder, it got darker and the heavy rain came. That made me move even faster but I was soaking wet and could feel the water running down into my boots. As the storm passed over, it cleared enough that I could see Greenleaf Hut below. I think I got the last bunk in the hut. The place was crowded with families. A different group of people than the normal hikers you see at the shelters. It was a strange feeling. I had made reservations at the huts months ago. There were a couple of thru-hikers there doing work for stay. I felt more comfortable around them.Supper was great with soup, fresh bread, a salad, chicken pot pie and brownies (not as good as Kelley's). This is one advantage to the huts. Almost no room in the bunkroom to hang my clothes to dry, but I am inside and dry so I should not complain. Today was a rough day, rainy and cold. The White Mountains really are harder.
Date: 2007-07-07
From: Greenleaf Hut

To: Galehead Hut
Miles today: 6.6
Weather: overcast clouds

The "Croo," the workers at the hut, got everyone up at 6:30 a.m. and breakfast was at 7:00 a.m. I had put on a long sleeve shirt with a short sleeve shirt over it, shorts, rain jacket, rain pants, hat and gloves. My plan was not to get cold today. The weather report was for winds to be 40 to 60 mph making the 40o F. temperature feel like the 20's on top of Mt. Lafayette.As I started the 1.1 mile, 1000 foot climb back to the trail, it got foggy and as I got about tree line, the temperature dropped. It took me an hour just to get back to the A.T. Going down Mt. Lafayette I ran into Dan, a young man from Boston doing a section hike. He and I hiked together for the rest of the day. The trail was just as difficult as it has been for the last few days with a lot of rock scrambles and steep little cliffs to climb up and down. Only saw the sun pop out a couple of times and it rained a couple of times so I was taking off and putting on my rain gear which is a hassle.Dan and I had a little break in the weather on Mt. Garfield so we stopped for lunch. Thought we would never get to Galehead Hut. You cannot make good time on the trails, they are so difficult. The rain had picked up some before we reached the hut at 5:00 p.m. Felt good to be inside and dry again. Several thru-hikers were there, I even saw the Invisible Man. His fever had gotten worse when I saw him last and he had to take nine days off. He said McRib and Riblet (his nephew) were headed to this hut.While we were eating supper, they came in. I talked to him later and they had been hiking in the rain for the last four hours, they looked cold. It was good to see him again and we were able to catch up on what had been happening the last few days. Dan was lucky enough to get a bunk, the hut is full tonight. The thru-hikers, McRib and Riblet are sleeping in the dining area tonight.
Date: 2007-07-08
From: Galehead Hut

To: Zealand Falls Hut
Miles today: 7.0

It rained all night. The bunk room reminds me of the crews berthing when I used to ride sea trials on submarines. Not much room to put stuff, all the bunks are full and there is always someone who snores really loud. I had to get up at 3:00 a.m. and get my ear plugs.I had packed most of my gear and changed my clothes before breakfast to get an early start. After breakfast the Croo put on a little skit from "Beauty and the Beast." My day got bad really fast. I could not find my fanny pack that had my wallet, journals, maps, glasses and a lot of other important stuff. Went through my pack twice and most of the people had already left and it was not laying around. My fear was that someone had accidentally put it in their pack. Being in the middle of the wilderness so far from home with no identification, no money or credit cards was one of the worst feelings I have ever experienced. Tom, a fellow I had talked to after supper last night was waiting for family to come in today, helped me look around. He also had a cell phone and was I able to call my wife Nadine. While I was giving her the bad news and trying to think of all the things she was going to have to mail to me, Tom found my fanny pack. He had gone back and looked again and found it behind the bench I had been sitting on. It was wedged between the wall and some window screens and had fallen off and gotten wedged there. Tom really saved my day. Thanks Tom!The weather prediction did not get better though. Temperatures in the 50's with rain, rain and more rain. It was a light rain when I hiked out at 9:55 a.m. I had lost two hours looking for my fanny pack. It rained until about 2:00 p.m. Found a stop under some fir trees to eat lunch but by the time I finished I was starting to get cold. It was time to get up and move. Had my rain gear on all day.Got to Zealand Hut about 3:50 pm., had made good time even over the rock scrambles in the rain. The Invisible Man was there, said he decided to stay because of the rain. Supper was good, even had stuffed shells. Cleared a little this afternoon, the view from the hut is spectacular.