morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2015-02-27
To: Carey's Castle
Miles today: 0.0

Today I got up at approximately 6:15 a.m. at camp, made breakfast, and got ready for our hike. Luis met us at approximately 8:00 a.m., and we started our hike up the canyons, with Justin leading. We made it to Carey's Castle at approximately 10:20 p.m., then hiked to the nearby mine, then hiked to the summit of Peak 3344T. From there, we hiked back to Carey's, had lunch, scouted around looking for the elusive "cache" cave (but did not find it), then hiked back, reaching our cars at approximately 1:40 p.m. From there, I drove home, with very heavy winds all the way to Beaumont. I hiked 9.57 miles and we climbed approximately 1700 feet.
Date: 2015-02-28
To: Rest Day
Miles today: 0.0

Today was a rest day. No hiking or PT, but I managed to get in 10,000 yards pulling at the RBAC, even though there was another swim meet which is supposed to last the entire weekend. After my swim workout, I drove to Staples to pick up a micro-to-USB cable order which I had ordered, and they did not have it. The manager will call me Monday on the status of the cable. I will need it to charge my camera and my Steripen on my trip.
Date: 2015-03-01
To: Caltech Pentathlon and Hiking Resume
Miles today: 0.0

I swam all 5 events today in the Caltech Pentathlon - 50 yds butterfly, 50 yds backstroke, 50 yds breast stroke, 50 yds free and 100 yds IM. In between my races, I was a timer for lane 2. It was a great event, and although the forecast called for heavy rain, we had none. I wore my new rain jacket and my rain pants just in case.After the swim meet, I worked on my final exam for my Sierra Club Wilderness Travel Course, and answered all the questions except for the very last one, which asked me to prepare a resume of my hiking experience. Rather than do something half-ass, I decided to be very comprehensive and go all the way back to my first real hiking experience, which was a day hike I took from Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland to Schilthorn in the summer of 1986 when I was backpacking in Europe between my junior and senior years in college. Fortunately, I wrote the date on the back of the photo, and thus was able to reconstruct the dates I did my hiking in Switzerland. I also scanned a number of other photos from my early hiking trips before I began using a digital camera, and I look forward to preparing a detailed and comprehensive hiking resume these next few days.
Date: 2015-03-03
To: Sierra Club WTC Class
Miles today: 0.0

Tonight I attended my second-to-last class in the Sierra Club Wilderness Travel Course. The Group 7 Leader, Josh, gave an excellent presentation on his climb up Mt Ritter in August 2003. Ed Hill gave an excellent presentation on mountain safety and a disaster on Mt Ritter in the spring of 1971 which claimed the lives of 4 Sierra Club climbers. Joe Speigl gave an excellent presentation on weather in the mountains. I learned tonight that I will be doing snow camp March 13-15, 2015 and am grateful that Group 3 Leader Anne-Marie Turner Richardson was able to accommodate me (I can't go with Group 3 this weekend because of a family wedding which I am attending on March 8.) I made more progress on my hiking resume today, and now I have covered all hiking events through the end of 2009. I pulled 8500 m long course at the RBAC. Need to get a decent hike in tomorrow.
Date: 2015-03-04
To: Orchard Camp from Bailey Canyon
Miles today: 0.0

This morning, I completed my hiking resume in PowerPoint, then picked up my micro-to-USB charging cable which I will be using for my camera and my Steripen on my trip. It is tiny and lightweight.This afternoon, I hiked from Bailey Canyon to Orchard Camp and back, 9.85 miles and approximately 3800 feet up and down. I took this photo of the Mater Dolorosa Passionist Retreat Center on the way down.
Date: 2015-03-05
To: Manzanita Ridge from Bailey Canyon
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Good training hike this afternoon from Bailey Canyon to Manzanita Ridge and back, 13.20 miles, 5,312 feet gain and loss in 5:37:17, including a number of maintenance breaks. Managed hot spots by stopping to swap out insoles and using duct tape to cover them when I started feeling them. I'm fine with speed and endurance, need to work on strengthening my glutes and quads and toughening up my feet.
Date: 2015-03-06
To: Orchard Camp from Bailey Canyon
Miles today: 0.0

Good training hike today from Bailey Canyon to Orchard Camp and back with a 25 lb pack, 10.08 miles and 3,698 feet gain/loss in 4:00:15, including a nice break I took at Orchard Camp, where I downed 1L of Cytomax and immediately felt a shot in the arm! Felt great on the way back. Took this photo of Jones Peak on the way down the transition trail. I am making a point of going to the top of this peak on my way up and on my way down each of my training hikes starting from Bailey Canyon. It will be interesting to see how many times I get to the top before I leave for Georgia.
Date: 2015-03-07
To: Mt Wilson Loop from Chantry Flat
Miles today: 0.0

Great training hike today doing the Mt Wilson Loop from Chantry Flat, 16.92 miles and 5,518 feet gain/loss in 6:46:34. (The parking lot was full, so we had to park 1 mile below the trailhead.) My dear friend and former swim lane buddy Megumi Abe hiked with me after driving all the way out from Topanga, and was a real trooper the whole time.
Date: 2015-03-09
To: Garmin Fenix 3
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

No hiking today, but I got in 5200 m pull at the RBAC and 4100 yd at Caltech Masters Swim Practice. I also picked up my new Fenix 3 at REI. My first workout on the Fenix was the "hike" to Caltech, my second workout was our swim practice and the third workout was the "hike" back home. It is more complicated than the 910, but already I am starting to get the hang of it. Here's what I like about it so far. It acquires satellites much faster than my other Garmin devices. It was easy to pair with my heart rate monitor. It was easy to set up. It was easy to pair with my iPhone. The graphics and display are clearer than the 910. I was able to transfer the waypoints for every single shelter on the AT to the device, and doing so was very quick and easy. I was able to upload all three workouts very quickly and easily using the Garmin app on my iPhone. So far, I am very impressed! I look forward to testing it further on my training hikes.
Date: 2015-03-10
To: When Discretion Is The Greater Part Of Valor
Miles today: 0.0

I planned to do a training hike today to Orchard Camp from Bailey Canyon. I did not tape my feet before starting because I wanted to test and improve my ability to detect hot spots and treat them in the field. I had a blister on my right foot from my hike with Megumi this past Saturday which felt fine when I started but then began to bother me about three-quarters of a mile up the trail, so I stopped to deal with it -- only to discover that I did not include my Swiss army knife in my first aid kit and did not have a tool for cutting tape and mole foam. I decided to abort and turn around, and I think that was the right decision.I spent more time today working on my gear list and gear spreadsheet. My base pack weight is now 14.74 lbs. My daily food rations weigh 2.11 lbs. and yield 4,450 calories. I am now estimating that my average pack weight, including food, will be about 20 lbs. If I start losing weight, I will try to eat as much ice cream as I can when I resupply.Tonight was our last class in the Sierra Club Angeles Chapter Wilderness Travel Course. We learned more about leadership training opportunities and had a very nice time enjoying pizza and beer/wine after the class. I am so happy I took this course! I highly recommend it to anyone wishing to spend more time hiking, backpacking or climbing.
Date: 2015-03-11
To: Orchard Camp from Bailey Canyon
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Good training hike to Orchard Camp from Bailey Canyon with a 25 lb pack, total distance 10.21 miles, total ascent 3543 ft, total descent same, total time 3:48:32, average heart rate 122 beats per minute, total calories burned 1338. The calorie burn amount is about 50% higher than the figure I got when I used my 910 last week to do the same route. I think the Fenix tracks my calories burned more accurately. If today's calorie burn rate is accurate, I likely will need about 4800 calories per day to stay weight neutral on the trail. I am planning to consume only 4450 calories per day, so that means I will be running a per day 350 calorie deficit. I can manage that fairly easily by buying and eating more food when I resupply.After my training hike, I drove to West Los Angeles and met Paul Garry, Joseph Bell, Tohru Ohnuki and the rest of WLA Group 2 about Snow Camp this weekend. I am looking forward to Snow Camp!
Date: 2015-03-12
To: Orchard Camp from Bailey Canyon
Miles today: 0.0

I repeated the same training hike that I did yesterday. Today was much hotter, and my legs were feeling it from yesterday, so it was much harder. My heart rate was higher and so was my calorie burn count. Total steps for the day, 29,266. For the hike, total distance 10.21 miles, total ascent 3566 feet, total descent same, average heart rate 127 bpm, total calories burned 1523. I am trying to determine how many minutes it will take me to go 19.09 miles with 4480 feet elevation gain and loss on the AT, and how many calories I will burn by making that trip. Based on the past two training hikes, my estimates are 284 minutes and 1706 minutes, but I believe that the minutes are way low and that I need more data from more and longer trips to come up with a time estimate which is accurate.I have packed up for Snow Camp at Lake Sabrina and North Lake this weekend. I'm leaving early Friday morning, returning late Sunday night, and will be off the grid that entire time.
Date: 2015-03-13
To: Snow Camp - Day 1
Miles today: 0.0

Today I began a 3-day adventure with WLA Group 2 to Snow Camp in the Eastern Sierra. This was the last of my four outings in my Sierra Club Angeles Chapter Wilderness Travel Course. Our bus left the park and ride in Northridge, California at approximately 8 a.m. We stopped at the Eastern Sierra Interagency Visitor Center in Lone Pine, California, where I took this photo of Mt Whitney. We then continued up the 395, then Highway 168, and were dropped off at Aspendell, California, an alpine village below North Lake. From there, we hiked an easy mile or so to the Lake Sabrina Campground, where we set up camp. We then hiked up to the top of Lake Sabrina Island and enjoyed Leader Joseph Bell's presentation on risk evaluation in the wilderness, then hiked back down to camp, enjoyed happy hour and retired for the night.
Date: 2015-03-14
To: Snow Camp - Day 2
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

On our second day of Snow Camp, we packed up and filled in our snow trenches, then left camp to hike up to North Lake Campground. As we were going up the North Lake Road, we enjoyed an interesting and informative presentation on avalanche safety by instructor Bob. After setting up camp, we hiked in the snow up a steep slope above North Lake, then glissaded for a while, then hiked back down to camp and enjoyed happy hour before retiring for the night.
Date: 2015-03-15
To: Snow Camp - Day 3
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: few clouds

On the third and last day of Snow Camp, we awoke one hour before sunrise and had an alpine start to begin our hike up to the top of Pack Station Peak, above North Lake. We reached the summit one minute before our planned turnaround time of 9:00 a.m. It was windy at the top, and we did not linger very long before heading back down. We then packed up and hiked out to Aspendell, getting there a half hour ahead of schedule, then went with WLA Group 1 down to Bishop, enjoyed pizza and beer at the Pizza Factory, then kicked back and relaxed on the quick ride back to Northridge, making it the park and ride a little after 8:00 p.m., about an hour ahead of schedule. It was an extremely well organized, informative and highly enjoyable excursion!
Date: 2015-03-17
To: Orchard Camp from Bailey Canyon
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Good training hike with a 20 lb pack to Orchard Camp from Bailey Canyon, 9.87 miles in 3:35:16, with 3533 feet ascent, descent same, average heart rate 127 beats per minute, 1453 calories burned. Felt much easier than last week.
Date: 2015-03-18
To: Manzanita Ridge from Bailey Canyon
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Another good training hike today to Manzanita Ridge from Bailey Canyon with 22 lb pack, 12.79 miles in 5:05:10 with 5062 feet ascent, descent same, average heart rate 127 beats per minute, 2034 calories burned. No issues with speed or endurance. Legs felt good. The balls of my left foot felt sore as I was approaching Manzanita Ridge, but that went away and did not reappear as I was making the steep ascent up the transition trail from Little Santa Anita Canyon. Heard rolling thunder about three times as I was going up the transition trail, but no flashes or rain.
Date: 2015-03-19
To: Mt Wilson from Bailey Canyon
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Today I hiked from Bailey Canyon to the top of Mt Wilson with a 22 lb pack, 16.25 miles in 6:24:08, 6,240 ft ascent, descent same, average heart rate going up 135 beats per minute, average heart rate going down 114 beats per minute, 2,591 calories burned. This was the hardest training hike I have done so far, and I am curious to learn how my legs will feel tomorrow morning. I did not hydrate enough during the hike, and I believe that this adversely impacted my performance. I drank 2L of Cytomax and 1L of water - I should have had 3L of Cytomax and 3L of water. I had chafing on my right hip and the inside of my right thigh, which I remedied about 1.5 miles into the hike by stopping to put duct tape over the chafed area of my thigh and hitching my hiking pants way, way up above the chafed area on my hip. Problems solved. On my way down from Mt Wilson, my legs felt stiff (think Boris Karloff as Frankenstein) for about half a mile, but then the stiffness went away and I was able to move fluidly down the trail. The balls of my left foot felt a little tender on the way up the transition trail, but that went away immediately as I started to descend again. Other than that, feet were fine. I am finding that my spare insoles work best when I am going uphill and that my factory insoles work best when I am going downhill. After the hike, my right glute cramped on me as I was making a left turn while driving. You know you are working your glutes when that happens.
Date: 2015-03-20
To: Manzanita Ridge from Chantry Flat
Miles today: 0.0

Moderate training hike to Manzanita Ridge from Chantry Flat, 9.49 miles with a 24 lb pack in 3:28:02 pack, with 2559 ft ascent, descent same, average heart rate 121 beats per minute up and 101 beats per minute down, 1192 calories burned. Going forward, I decided to alternate moderate training hikes (starting from Chantry Flat) and hard training hikes (starting from Bailey Canyon).
Date: 2015-03-21
To: Quail Mountain and Mt Minerva Hoyt
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Donna and I left home early to drive to the Juniper Flats Parking Lot in Joshua Tree National Park, where we met up with Michael Gardenias, Joe Speigl, Justin Bruno, Tatiana, Stephanie and Tony for an overnight backpacking experience trip led by Michael Gardenias. We hiked approximately 3.3 miles to our campsite, then hiked approximately another 6 miles up a nearby peak, then to the top of Mt Minerva Hoyt, then to the top of Quail Mountain, then returning to camp. Lots of fun!
Date: 2015-03-23
To: Cytomax
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

No hiking today - instead I did my physical therapy exercises, confirmed resupply for all but 5 of my 35 resupply points, and packaged my 115 day rations of Cytomax. Next task: create 115 baggies of breakfast mix (.75 oz dry milk, 1 container cocoa mix, 1 container instant breakfast and 2 scoops Orgain protein powder).
Date: 2015-03-24
To: Manzanita Ridge from Chantry Flat
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: few clouds

Hiked from Chantry Flat to Manzanita Ridge and back with a 24 lb pack, 9.98 miles in 3:30:16 with 2661 elevation gain and loss, average heart rate 126 beats per minute going up, 106 beats per minute going down, 1,273 calories burned. At Manzanita Ridge, I met a man who had recently relocated to Los Angeles from Stowe, Vermont.
Date: 2015-03-25
To: Slim Jims
Miles today: 0.0

No hiking today, did my PT instead and went shopping at Target, the Trader Joe's at Arroyo, Vons, Costco and the Trader Joe's at Del Mar to collect almost all of my food supplies for the trail. This is a photo of all of the Slim Jims I will be taking with me on the trail. I started but did not complete the packaging for my "Breakfast Mix".
Date: 2015-03-26
To: Breakfast Mix
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

Training hike to Manzanita Ridge from Bailey Canyon with a 20 lb pack, 13.45 miles in 5:47:56, ascent 4928 feet, descent same, average heart rate beats per minute 124 going up and 109 going down, 2,101 calories burned. After the hike, I completed packaging my 115 day rations of "Breakfast Mix" - 1/4 cup dry milk + 1 packet Carnation Instant Breakfast + 1 packet cocoa + 2 scoops Orgain protein powder.
Date: 2015-03-27
To: Joshua Tree National Park
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

I started from Chantry Flat at approximately 7:35 a.m. and hiked up to Manzanita Flat and back with a 28 lb pack, 9.83 miles in 3:55:06, 2,562 feet ascent, descent same, average heart rate beats per minute 121 going up and 100 going down, 1295 calories burned. After the hike, I drove to Joshua Tree National Park and hiked out from the Juniper Flats Parking Lot with a 20 lb pack, 1.38 miles in 37:56, with 85 ft ascent, descent same, average heart rate 103 beats per minute and 207 calories burned. I made camp and spent the night in the backcountry.
Date: 2015-03-28
To: Quail Mountain, Mt Minerva Hoyt and Peak 5215
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

I woke up at 6:00 a.m., packed out by 6:40 p.m. and hiked back to the Juniper Flats Parking Lot, 1.13 miles in 21:35, with negligible elevation gain and loss, average heart rate 116 beats per minute and 146 calories burned, returning to my car a little after 7:00 a.m. I then drove from Juniper Flats Parking Lot to the Hidden Valley Picnic Area to meet up with the rest of the group for a provisional I-Rated Leader hike led by Justin Bruno and co-led by Homer Tom in Joshua Tree National Park. There were seven other hikers, Michael Gardenias, James Magdeleno, James's friend Andy, Kim Freeman and Kent Freeman, Kurt Peterson and Ronald. We hiked to the actual and official summits of Quail Mountain, then to Mt Minerva Hoyt, then to Peak 5215, then hiked down to the flat valley below the peaks. On the way back, we successfully located a marker on the USGS topo map near the private ranch close to the Hidden Valley trailhead. It was a hot day, but everyone carried enough water, and it was a strong group of hikers and an excellent day in the desert wilderness. My average pack weight was 19 lbs, and I hiked 11.37 miles in 6:58:57, with 1,896 feet ascent, descent same, average heart rate 95 beats per minute and 1,640 calories burned. After the hike, we had dinner at Willie Boy's Saloon in Morongo Valley.
Date: 2015-03-29
To: Orchard Camp
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

I started from the Mt Wilson Trailhead at 5:58 a.m. and hiked with a 28 lb pack to Orchard Camp and back, 7.19 miles in 2:32:02 with 2,162 feet ascent, descent same, average heart rate 111 beats per minute and 838 calories burned. On the way down, I ran into Lori Stein and Dan Stein. They volunteered for trail maintenance and were working with about 5-10 other volunteers on the section of the trail just above the fire hydrant. After the hike, Donna, Nancy and I visited with the Morgans in Manhattan Beach, and I was able to see granddaughters Alexa and Ava before leaving for my trip.
Date: 2015-04-01
To: Mt Wilson from Bailey Canyon
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Hiked today from Bailey Canyon to Mt Wilson and back with a 20 lb pack and my heavy snow boots, 16.75 miles in 6:45:18, ascent 6,243 feet, descent same, average heart rate going up 132 beats per minute, going down 107 beats per minute, 2,616 calories burned. After the hike, I stopped at the post office to pick up 15 large priority mailing boxes, then stopped at Office Depot to get shipping tape, then hand-wrote a chart to track all of the food items I am putting in my resupply boxes. I am done packing all food items in my first 10 boxes.
Date: 2015-04-02
To: Mt Wilson Loop + Mt Harvard from Chantry Flat
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Hiked the Mt Wilson Loop and Mt Harvard from Chantry Flat with a 20 lb pack and my heavy snow boots, 15.81 miles in 5:57:21, ascent 4,619 feet, descent same, average heart rate 123 beats per minute going up and 105 beats per minute going down, 2,069 calories burned. After the hike, I continued working on putting together my resupply boxes.
Date: 2015-04-03
To: Resupply Boxes
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Donna and I went to the post office this morning to ship my first resupply box to Georgia. I spent most of the day working on the other 34 boxes, and they are now approximately 95% complete. I need to add toiletries to about half of the boxes and shoes, socks and batteries to the boxes going to Damascus, Harpers Ferry and Hanover. After working on the boxes, I did my physical therapy exercises and then walked to the library and back.
Date: 2015-04-04
To: Orchard Camp
Miles today: 0.0

I met Jim Taylor at the Santa Anita 5k this morning and had breakfast with Donna, Debbie and him at Clocker's Corner after the race. During breakfast, I explained to Debbie and Jim my plans and preparation for the AT thru-hike. After breakfast, I hiked the Mt Wilson Trail to Orchard Camp with a 25 lb pack, 7.47 miles in 2:37:56 with 2192 feet ascent, descent same, average heart rate 122 beats per minute, 1004 calories burned.
Date: 2015-04-06
To: Manzanita Ridge from Chantry Flat
Miles today: 0.0

Hiked to Manzanita Ridge from Chantry Flat with a 25 lb pack, 9.40 miles in 3:20:28, 2674 feet ascent, descent same, average heart rate 116 beats per minute, 1196 calories burned. No more hard hikes, I am tapering.
Date: 2015-04-10
To: Disappointing Setback
Miles today: 0.0

I have an Achilles strain and will not be able to start my AT solo thru-hike as planned. I will see a doctor on Monday and hopefully as soon as possible after that I will see a physical therapist. My primary focus for the next 3 months is to do everything possible to get my injured tendon to heal. If by early July I am satisfied that the tendon has healed, I may start a southbound solo thru-hike from Katahdin to Springer Mt starting mid-July. If my tendon heals later than that, I may start a section hike this summer/fall, starting at Katahdin and possibly going as far as Harpers Ferry, and postpone my thru-hike to next year. This is a disappointing setback, but I am trying to make the most of a bad situation by looking at this as an excellent opportunity to overcome adversity. The mountains are not moving, and if I am patient, my injury will heal.