morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2011-08-12
From: Ball Brook Campsite

To: Stealth Tentsite near US 7
Miles today: 17.4

A lot of milestones today, passed the 1500 mi. mark and crossed the CT/MA state line. Spank was only hiking CT so we hiked a few miles together then said our goodbye's. I really enjoyed hiking with Spank but now I'm back to hiking alone. The weather is once again perfect, actually feels like fall might be starting. The hike over MT. Race was gorgeous. There is a 6/10th of a mile along a cliff with fantastic views of the valley over 1000 ft. below. This is the New England hiking I have been waiting for. I spent most of the day hiking on large rock slabs and was ready to come down to something less challenging. Dropping down to the valley around Great Barrington, MA I found a mix of farm fields and swamp with a few small patches of forest thrown in. Instead of the creeks shown in the guidebook I found mud and mosquito's, as bad as the Florida Everglades. I ate a cold dinner since the bugs drove me into my tent as soon as I got it set up. The water I found was pretty sketchy but better than no water at all.
Date: 2011-08-13
From: Stealth Tentsite near US 7

To: Mt. Wilcox South Shelters
Miles today: 11.8
Weather: overcast clouds

Only 11.8 miles today, What Happened? Because the mosquito's were so bad this morning, I ate a small cold breakfast (no coffee) broke camp and headed out.I was still dehydrated because even though I had filtered a liter of swamp water I didn't want to drink it. It was from a low lying area surrounded by farms and who knows how much ag waste runoff it contained. Seemed to take forever to get to the next water source,a spring 3.5 miles away and 800ft. higher. There was no visable flow but it was cold and no farms in sight. I cleaned my filter & drank heavily. At 1 pm I reached the next shelter only 6.5 miles from where I started at 8 am. I ate some more and made myself a cold coffee with a Starbuck's someone gave me. I finally realized the problem, lack of food and water had slowed me to a crawl. After the lunch break I finally started moving at a better pace. I got into camp about 5:30 and cooked a big dinner. In the process I got my stove working properly again and took care of some other small chores. Met some more NOBO's, Snags and Old School and a couple of SOBO's Lucky, who had a ton of good info and Sunny.
Date: 2011-08-27
To: Rutland VT
Miles today: 5.2

Man. today did not go as planned! My plan was to shower and clean up at Giffords Woods SP then resupply in Killington, VT at the deli and head back into the woods. I got the shower and and headed into Killington. The first place I hit was the outfitters, so I went in to say hi and get directions to the deli. They were watching Irene's aproach on the weather channel. After watching for myself I was easily convinced to head into town to the hiker hostel at the Yellow Deli in Rutland. For $2 I caught the bus from Killington to Rutland to ride out the storm. The hostel is run by a group called the 12 Tribes, I'm not sure what to make of them but they seem nice. A bunch of other hikers are here and when our hosts invited us to the "Gathering" at a house where they live the other hikers said I should go, good food would be involved. The Gathering was a session of dancing and prayer before dinner, it lasted about 45 min and was different but not at all scary or wierd. The comunity dinner afterward was great and I can see why everyone said I should come.
Date: 2011-08-28
From: Rutland VT

To: Yellow Deli
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Today we waited on Irene to show herself. The day started off rainy and a steady rain continued all day. Hobob the head baker in the community asked me if I would like to help him bake, I said sure. I would have been bored just sitting around all day, Besides I could see how professional bakers do it in a big kitchen. We managed to mix 2 batches of dough before we lost power for about an hour. The first batch we were able to bake in the still hot ovens but the 2nd batch was lost. As soon as we threw out the dough the power came back on, it was the only problem we had but we were done for the day. Weather forcast for tomorrow is sunny and 70, perfect. Everyone is in bed early in anticipation of heading out in the morning. The bad weather didn't prevent us from eating well. The community me with a great breakfast, lunch and dinner all of them were fantastic. Well back on the trail tomorrow.
Date: 2011-08-29
From: Yellow Deli

To: Yellow Deli
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: few clouds

I awoke to a beautiful sunny day and a call to breakfast. Nathan,Francois and Engineer had been to the bus station at 7am and none of the busses are running because of road damage outside of town. Grrr had checked Amtrack and they were shut down too. Everyone else was scrambling to find out what was going on, I was more concerned with breakfast. I figured it would be sometime in the afternoon till everything settle down and the authorities would have the damage reports all in. Then I'd be able to find out what was really going on and I Could make my plans. The afternoon came and went and the news just kept getting worse and worse. Apparently Rutland was cut off and we are not going anywhere. At least I'm in good company. Stan & Fran married SOBO's,Pebbles & BamBam, AAA, Stitch, Engineer, Nathan, Francios, Musher, and Grrr a Long Trail hiker. Plus all the great people from the 12 Tribes. I also met another hiker today Barry from Las Vegas,NV. I hooked up with Hobob this afternoon and helped him in an marathon baking session till 4:15am. He's trying to get a weeks worth of baking done so he can go out of town to work for a week. He's heading west to NY the only way that can't help me.
Date: 2011-08-30
From: Yellow Deli

To: Yellow Deli
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: few clouds

Even though I had only had a couple of hours of sleep I got up for breakfast, mostly to see if there was anything new as far as getting hiking again.Nothing had changed.Ayshe had a little project,cleaning out a garage,so we all went over after breakfast and knocked it out in about 45 minutes.by noon I was ready for the nap I promised myself when I got up this morning.When I got up a couple of hours later Ayshe brought me lunch since I had missed it at lunch time.Francoise,Nathan and Engineer couldn't stand the wait any longer and hatched a plan to hitch and bus to Hanover by way of Burlington over 175 miles out of the way. AAA and Stitch decided to try hitching by a different route, confident that AAA could always get someone to stop. Just after all of them comitted to thier plans Grrrr announced he was quitting his Long Trail hike and calling for someone to bring his van up from home. He offered to shuttle any of us who wanted to go to Hanover in the morning.I thought perfect!As a little surprise going away present we all had dinner downstairs in the deli and Ayshe was our waiter.Since Pebbles was the only woman left the women of the community converted the womans dorm in the hostel into a couples room for her and Bam Bam. Alaf played some songs for Musher and me before we all turned in. All in all it was a nice evening with good friends. Oh yeah, I talked to Larry and we should have some work when I get home to help pay for all this. Cool.
Date: 2011-08-31
From: Yellow Deli

To: Velvet Rocks Shelter
Miles today: 0.7
Weather: clear sky

We were all up early to clean up and make our beds then down to breakfast.Both the community and the hikers were sad to say good bye. As we were eating the van pulled up. We finished breakfast and we were off.The amount of damage we saw as we headed across Vermont was amazing,homes damaged,roads,bridges and railroad tracks all washed out. At the height of the floods it must of been terrifing to have been along some of these waterways. By 1pm we were in Hanover surrounded by Dartmouth students. The AT runs right thru town and across the campus. I stopped in at the outfitters and got the list of hiker freebies, it's incredible. Free Snickers at the outfitters then a coffee at the campus bookstore with free bagel and a smear at the Bagel Basement and if you time it right some bagels to go.Then there's a free slice at a pizzaria,a desert at a bakery man it's a hiker friendly town. I made the rounds then headed down to the co-op grocery for Ben & Jerrys and a final resupply. Dehydrated black beans and refrieds,great resupply. After eating at the store and making a couple of phone calls I reluctantly headed into the woods around 6pm. Velvet Rocks shelter was trashed, probably because of it's proximity to town. After 5 days on a mattress the ground seems a little hard tonight.
Date: 2011-09-01
From: Velvet Rocks Shelter

To: Trapper John Shelter
Miles today: 15.2
Weather: overcast clouds

Well it's back to hiking today. I'm heavy on the food and I can really feel it. I guess there's only one thing to do about that EAT! Every time I hit a view it's mountains as far as I can see. Fall is in the air and the Whites are only a couple of days away. I've been looking forward to this part of the hike since the first time I ever even thought about thruhiking. As I was coming down Moose Mtn. I started having pain in my right knee, only during downhills. I'm 425 miles from Katahdin, I don't need an injury now. Musher,penquin and 3 girls on thier very first hike are here.
Date: 2011-09-02
From: Katadhin Summit

To: Smarts Mtn.
Miles today: 6.7
Weather: scattered clouds

Slow start this morning worring about how my knee was going to preform. The Girls were going home and Musher was able to yogi them out of thier leftover food. I got some banana chips and a couple of bars out of the deal. It didn't take long to find out about my right knee, I was in pain and nothing was working to relieve it. I took 3 ibuprophen and all it did was take the edge off. I was so upset about my injured knee that I almost quit my hike right then and there. I've been looking forward to this part of the hike and I almost quit today. Instead I decided to hike slow, make it a short day and try to rehab my knee on the trail. It was a beautiful climb up Smarts Mtn. and my tentsite has a beautiful view, the only downside is the wind. It fels cold camping at 3200' after spending all that time down low. After my experience today I can see that it's a head game now. As my body got tougher from all the punishment the will has become more fragile. For now Vitamin I and rest, I will have to see what tomorrow brings.
Date: 2011-09-03
From: Smarts Mtn.

To: Ore Hill Shelter
Miles today: 12.4

The prayer and extra care paid off today. I was able to do 12.4 miles without any serious knee pain. Last night was beautiful,I had to answer the call of nature around 3am and the sky was incredible. I could clearly see the Milky Way and saw 2 shooting stars. I'm so happy I did the short day and stayed on top of Smarts Mtn. By the time I got down off Smarts Mtn. my knee was beginning to hurt so I took the time to cool it off in Jacob's Brook before climbing Mt Cube. The upper part of Mt. Cube is covered in large granite slabs and I loved climbing it. On top I met some weekend hikers who gave me a peanut butter bagel and a couple of snickers. I'm looking forward to meeting more hikers like them over the holiday weekend. I already feel like my knee is on the mend, it wasn't aching coming into camp tonight. Jesus and Mary are in the shelter. There are no good tentsites here,too many widowmakers, so I'm squished in behind the shelter.
Date: 2011-09-04
From: Ore Hill Shelter

To: Beaver Brook Shelter
Miles today: 15.5
Weather: overcast clouds

My right knee is definately feling better. Today was a beautiful but muggy day, I was soaked to the skin all day. A lot of big stuff happened today. I'm definately into the Whites now, I climbed above treeline for the first time on my AT hike and I have less than 400 miles to go! It was great on the top of Mt. Moosilauke with the summit going in and out of the clouds. The climb down seemed to take forever and when I arrived at the shelter at dark there were 2 groups from Dartmouth here.I have to bitch to D.O.C. about this!!! There is 1 10 person shelter, 2 tent sites and D.O.C. floods the place with 20 people on a holiday weekend, so much for resource protection! I managed to make a spot big enough to tent up on what looked like an old tentsite that was washed out by runoff. I had just finished cooking when a thunderstorm rolled in. I ended up pigging out in my tent since it's into town tomorrow for resupply. I'll fall asleep to the sound of rain on the tent tonight. Musher is squeezed into the shelter.
Date: 2011-09-05
From: Beaver Brook Shelter

To: Lincoln,NH
Miles today: 1.5
Weather: light rain

Today dawned warm and wet. The Dartmouth kids woke me up at 3:30 when they got up for a sunrise summit attempt fo Moosilauke, the only problem was it was still raining. They went back to bed and so did I. The trail down Beaver Brook is so steep that there are warnings to take a different route if it's wet or icy. Beaver brook creates a mile long cascade right alongside the trail. There a ton of wood steps bolted to the rock that are indeed slippery when wet. After hitching for about 10 minutes with no luck, I was lucky enough to meet a couple that was coming down from rock climbing who gave me a lift right to the hostel. So many people where here that I hadn't seen in a long time I decided to stay. I hadn't seen Redstripe since traildays and broomstick was also here along with Musher,English Chatter,Turtle Feet just a huge group of us. My plan is to get back out hiking tomorrow. For now a a shower, wash clothes,resupply and town food. Heavy rain has moved in for the evening.
Date: 2011-09-06
From: Katadhin Summit

To: Lincoln,NH
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Plans change. The remnants of Tropical Storm Lee combined with a strong low conspired to cover the area with rain is the forecast. Predictions of heavy rain doon't pan out and today would have been a good hiking day. I wish the weatherman could get it right. Planning to leave in the am.
Date: 2011-09-07
From: Lincoln,NH

To: Lincoln,NH
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: moderate rain

Awoke to steady rain and much cooler temps. The forecast is for pretty rough conditions especially above treeline. I find myself stuck in town again. There is a good bit I'd like to say here but I feel I should get permission first. Still a big group of us here looking for decent weather to start back into the Whites.
Date: 2011-09-08
From: Lincoln,NH

To: Eliza Brook Shelter
Miles today: 7.6
Weather: overcast clouds

I finally got my great breakfast in town this morning. Lincoln is a tourist town and nothing is open during the middle of the week. After breakfast I had to walk about a mile and a half back to N. Woodstock before I was able to hitch a ride back to the trail. It only took about 2 hrs before my right knee was killing me, just like the last time I took a couple of zero's in a row. This time I managed not to freak out over it and just ate some vitamin I and took it as easy as I could. Trail conditions suck! All the rain has turned it into a swamp. Just after I got tented up Dartmouth shows up (a new Bunch). At least they offered some bribes of food. It didn't rain today but I was still in the clouds all day. It feels like it's going to get cold tonight.
Date: 2011-09-09
From: Eliza Brook Shelter

To: Franconia Notch
Miles today: 9.0
Weather: overcast clouds

I was up early, had breakfast then posed for a picture with the Dartmouth group (a nice bunch). The morning was going great! Then 100yds out of camp as I was crossing Eliza Brook I fell in. A rock rolled under my foot and dumped me right in the brook, I was so stunned and pissed off I just sat there for a minute fuming before I could get up. Luckily it was warm enough to just get up and walk till I dried out. All but my boots that is it'll be a couple days before they dry out again. The hike over the Kinsman Mts. is tough with lots of big slabs to climb and plenty of scrambling. There was water everywhere and it made things slick. I fell 2 or 3 more times today. My knee was killing me most of the dayand a crack in my foot is adding to my grief. On the positive side the weather,views and hut food were great. I stopped by the Lonesome Lake Hut for soup and it was great! and cheap! I love the whites but they are beating me up something fierce.
Date: 2011-09-10
From: Franconia Notch

To: Garfield Ridge Campsite
Miles today: 10.1
Weather: clear sky

Today was a great hiking day. The climb up from Franconia Notch was well graded for the most part. I got to spend the majority of my day above treeline and the weather was perfect. There must have been over 50 people on the summits of Haystack and Mt. Lafayette. As soon as I passed Lafayette's summit I was alone on the trail. I finished hiking today with Mark a section hiker from Texas. I'm camped at just under 4000' (which is high in the North East)and it's cold and clear tonight. Helicopters are bringing in logs for a new shelter and everyone is enjoying the show. The camping area is full since it's saturday night on a holiday weekend and the weather is perfect. Also a bunch of people are out to raise flags on the 4000' summits in memorial of Sept. 11 tomorrow. I'm getting cold now, it's time to duck down (funny accident,the choice of words)into my bag and get some sleep. P.S. My knee is feeling much better today, it may be that the brutal climbing conditions were the problem.
Date: 2011-09-11
From: Garfield Ridge Campsite

To: Zeeland Falls Hut
Miles today: 9.5

It was a cold start at 7am this morning somewhere around 40 degf. I felt strong all day and my knee didn't cause any real problems.I was looking forward to soup at Galehead Hut for lunch. When I got there at 11 am there was no soup. I kind of blew up at the croo and they made me some soup and found some bits of bread. After I ate I had to apologize for my behavior. After lunch I climbed South Twin Mtn. and got to witness the raising of the flags on the 48 4000' summits in NH to comemorize Sept. 11. I got to Zeeland falls and got a work for stay from the croo. In exchange for about an hours work I get dinner,breakfast and a spot to sleep inside. Dinner was great and big, Adult mack and cheese,soup,salad,green beans and bread. It was all I could do to eat it all. I'm trying to decide if I can make it into Gorham,NH without having to resupply. It's 34.2 miles and I'm not sure I can do it. I guess it's time to pray about it. Mark from Texas showed up about 10pm (I don't know what he was thinking) and I had to wake the croo to let him in.
Date: 2011-09-12
From: Zeeland Falls Hut

To: Mizpah Spring Hut
Miles today: 14.1

I was a little miffed at Mark because I had to share my breakfast with him, I feel that the work for stay at the huts is for thruhikers only and I really would have eaten it all myself.It was a beautiful clear day for hiking and fairly warm. The first couple of miles were flat and easy walking. As a matter of fact the only real tough thing today was the climb up the Webster Cliffs to the top of Mts. Webster and Jackson. It involved quite a bit of rock climbing with some serious exposure for short stretches. I managed to get to the hut a little before dark. There were no guests tonight so there were no leftovers for my dinner. The croo cook felt bad for me so she heated me up some soup (3 bowls)and gave me a cople of big chunks of bread then brought me out a whole plate of ham, I was in heaven. I'm not as stuffed as last night but I'll be OK for tonight. Tomorrow I plan on hitting the snack bar on top of Mt Washington for lunch. My chore for the morning is to sweep out the hut in the morning.
Date: 2011-09-13
From: Mizpah Spring Hut

To: RMC Perch Campsite
Miles today: 10.8

It was another beautiful day. Today definately had the best scenery of the whole trip. Less than a mile after starting out I was above treeline in the alpine zone and I stayed there until I came down to this camp. Todays big thing was crossing Mt. Washington, home of the country's worst weather. Over 150 people have died on Mt Washington over the years. Views were fantastic but trails are tough, most of the trail this afternoon was talus field. Talus is broken rock from about 1' to 4' across. My feet especially took a beating. Around 4pm the wind picked up and by 5pm the gusts were around 50mph, enough to make me stagger as I walked. A couple of gusts were so strong they almost knocked me down. It's about a mile off trail and down about 1000' to get to this camp below treeline. Tomorrow it's back up to the ridges to climb Mt. Madison. I heard that wind gusts are predicted as high as 80mph for tonight. I hope it ends up not being that windy here tonight, although the gusts are pretty strong right now.
Date: 2011-09-14
From: RMC Perch Campsite

To: Lost in the woods, sort of
Miles today: 8.0

Today was a weird day. First thing this morning it was raining so I slept in till 7:45 since the weather report called for for clearing skies. By the time I started hiking it was beautifully clear but windy.I really enjoyed the views today, enough that I missed a turn and walked 1/4 mile past the first trail, the intersection for the Israel Ridge Trail and had to backtrack to it. Most of the trail today was steep talus above treeline. My boots aren't heavy enough for this kind of terrain and my feet are all beat up. I finally got below treeline to find out it had taken me 6 hrs to go 5 miles. The signs on the ground just weren't matching up to the trail guide and I finally lost track of the AT somewhere in the Great Gulf Wilderness. I was tired and I didn't waste alot of time looking for it. I just took the Great Gulf Trail in the direction of the trailhead parking lot on Route 16. I'm camped just outside the FPA for the parking lot. FPA's are forest protection areas and basically they ban camping in areas around things like shelters,lakes,road crossings,parking lots ect. areas that would normally see a lot of resource damage from over use. I ate the last of my food for dinner so tomorrow is definately a town day!
Date: 2011-09-15
From: Lost in the woods, sort of

To: Gorham,NH
Miles today: 0.5
Weather: fog

I hiked about a half a mile out to route 16 this morning and got there just as the rain showers started. No one wanted to pick up a wet smelly hiker so I had to walk the 6.5 mi. into town. It was one of those cool wet fall mornings and once I was wet and had accepted I wasn't going to get a ride I was free to to notice how beautiful the woods were with the leaves just beginning to turn. Gorham is a nice little town with a shuttle bus service to WalMart. so it was the usual routine of eat,shower,shop & eat,laundry, eat,journal,eat. I'm staying at the Barn it's an actual barn attatched to a $130 a night B&B. It's pretty comphy here but unheated, with only 3 of us staying here tonight the bunkroom will be pretty cold by morning. The low tonight is forecast to be around freezing. Strech,Snags,Baby Ruth,Torch and Bhuda are all staying at the hotel. I'm here with a SOBO named Bob and No Worries. I met Doc the owner who's actually a doctor and also a hiker.