morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2005-07-17
From: Mt. Wilcox South Lean-to

To: Upper Goose Pond Cabin
Miles today: 15.8
Weather: moderate rain

What a cool place this cabin was. The Appalachian Trail Conference maintains this cabin on a government owned pond (more like a lake to me). It is beautiful. They have caretaker's who come for a week to watch over the place and welcome hikers. We even got a pancake breakfast the morning we left! Yummy. Carrie (the caretaker when we were there) and her family were awesome and welcoming. Thanks!We hiked a quick but adequate milage day so that we could get some time to enjoy the cabin. We took a swim and hung out with fellow hiker's on the deck. The mosquitoes were still awful though.
Date: 2005-07-18
From: Upper Goose Pond Cabin

To: Dalton, MA
Miles today: 20.6
Weather: haze

After a long humid and buggy hike into Dalton we were pleased to find a great place to rest, shower, and relax. We stayed at a local man's home who open's his place to hiker's during the hiking season. We even got our nasty laundry done!The hike today was real hard. Bootz said he thought it was the worst day yet. The weather has been awful. Very humid with tons of mosquitoes. We have gone through 2 cans of Deet already. Got a new one yesterday to take us through to the VT border (I hope). Can't wait for the humidity to break. Bootz is waiting for it to get cooler in the north as he expected it to be. We are hiking to Cheshire, MA today. We will meet my grandparent's there tomorrow for lunch. They are driving to meet us from Upstate NY. Can't wait. Then on to Manchester City, VT by Sunday where we'll meet my Dad. From that point forward the visit end and our quest to Maine ramps up. The terrain gets harder but the views are supposed to be awesome. We are in good spirits. It has been a long haul so far but very worthwhile.
Date: 2005-07-19
From: Dalton, MA

To: Cheshire, MA
Miles today: 8.8

 After a not so long hike into Cheshire, we arrived at the catholic church hostel around 3:30pm. Our friend Draggin, a fellow thru-hiker, who lives in Cheshire and is in town this week stopped by to bring us a coke. We got our maildrop and spent some time digging through the items. We decided to send some food ahead to ourselves in Manchester, VT since we are meeting my Dad there on Sunday and that will allow us to keep our pack weight down some as we venture out to climb Mt. Greylock, the tallest mountain in MA. Draggin was so kind to offer his shower and laundry for our use. He even lives right across the street from the church. We enjoyed seeing his place, meeting his girlfriend Julie and his mom. The shower was great and they even treated us to a steak dinner! Thanks again for the great meal and it was fun to hangout and chat.
Date: 2005-07-20
From: Cheshire, MA

To: Wilbur Clearing Lean-to
Miles today: 11.5

 The weather has improved some, not as humid but we hear it will get better soon. We met up with my grandparents that drove in from upstate NY. They arrived at 10 am and were able to find the postoffice without much trouble. It was great to see them! 83 years young and still doing great! Nana even brought us some maple and strawberry taffy from the Glenfield, NY fair! I haven't had maple taffy in years!We drove to the nearby town of Pittsfield to find a place to eat. Luckily we found a Friendly's. There really aren't many Friendly's in the south and I just love their food and maple walnut ice cream. Also when I would come to NY to visit my family we would meet my grandparents at Friendly's for a visit. So it has a special significance in my mind. We had a great meal and talked for hours. I guess they got us back to Cheshire and on the trail around 1pm. Nana wanted to see us walking away with our packs on just like we do everyday. As we left, tears of joy streamed from my eyes because I feel so fortunate to have such a supportive and loving family and to have moments to share with them. Our hike today consisted of climbing Mt Greylock. It was a nice climb, not too difficult. At the top there is a nice observation tower and lodge. This is the highest point in MA. We were able to use the phone to call my Dad who we will be meeting on Sunday in Manchester VT. We needed to confirm our plans. We took some time to climb the tower and enjoy the views. The humidity has really dropped so the climbing is nice. We weren't sure if we would make it to the shelter beyond Greylock but we were feeling fine and it was pretty early. So we ventured down and got in around 7pm. We camped with OC1, SWIFT and Rabbit.
Date: 2005-07-21
From: Wilbur Clearing Lean-to

To: Congdon Shelter
Miles today: 17.1
Weather: clear sky

About 3 miles from the Wilbur shelter we cross state road MA2 near Williamstown, MA. There is a grocery store .3miles from the crossing. We held off on getting some supplies since this store was close and we didn't need to carry extra weight over Greylock. We enjoyed a morning muffin and coffee, then purchased some supplies before we started back on the trail. Today we crossed into VT!! State number 12! WE are making progress. It feels great to be heading into the last few states. Plus the views and mountains should progressively get better as we go from here.We crossed into VT around 11am. There is a trail that runs from the southern border of VT to the Canadian border, it's called the Long Trail and it is very popular. Around 250 miles long I think. Both the AT and the Long Trail share the same path from about 100 miles. So we are meeting folks that are hiking the LT and the AT. We have really begun to meet more southbound AT thru-hikers. They started near the end of May beginning of June. It is neat to ask about their trip so far, get recommendations and give encouragement. The trail in VT is full of this thick, sticky black mud. It is funny how the mud really began just as we entered into VT. Not sure why but its everywhere. At first we were stepping arounnd it but that proved useless so now, for the most part, we slug right on through. We had a nice hike today although Bootz was in a bit of a hiking funk. Just didn't quite want to be on the trail today. The good thing with the 'funk' is that we usually trade days. So when I'm feeling low he's doing well and can pull me along and vice versa.
Date: 2005-07-22
From: Congdon Shelter

To: Kid Gore Shelter
Miles today: 18.7
Weather: broken clouds

We saw a bear as we left the shelter this morning. We haven't seen one in weeks so it was neat to know their still around. And a good reminder for us to make sure our food is secure everynight. We have been breaking our rule of eating in the tent lately because the bugs are bad at night and we can't stand getting bit up. But we make sure to not spill anything and clean up real well.We had quite a decent into Bennington, VT or at least the road that will take you there. The bad thing about long decents is that we have to usually climb right back up! The climb back up was a bit easier because we were treated to trail magic at the bottom of the mountain. Mainiacs parents set out a cooler with cold drinks! Yummy. We enjoyed them before heading back up the hill. The climb wasn't too bad. We are getting into prettier areas. The views of the green mountains are beginning to shine through. The hiking has been pretty easy. I hate saying that but we seem to have had good luck getting in a good number of miles in record time. I think we arrived at the shelter by 4:30-5pm. Not usual these days. I have wondered sometimes if the length of a 'mile' changes from one seciton of the trail to another. I know we don't change our hiking style much and to cover that number of miles in a short amount of time makes me wonder. I like it though!!The shelter we stayed at had a beautiful view of the mountains. We set up our tent, still wanting to keep away from the bugs. A cold front is moving through so it did rain a bit but not enough to mess up our night. Tomorrow we climb Stratton Mountain. The largest we've climbed in weeks. Hope it goes well.
Date: 2005-07-23
From: Kid Gore Shelter

To: Winhall River
Miles today: 17.1

 The Stratton climb was great. We ran into some more trail magic a the base of the mountain. Two coolers with drinks and some snacks. One even had a couple of lipton dinners. We decided to trade in our lipton broccoli and rice dinner for the thai noodles! Now I'm looking forward to dinner. We relaxed with Rabbit for a bit before heading up the mountain. The climb wasn't bad at all. Even though it was about a 2000ft elevation change. The climb covered 3 or so miles so the trail wasn't too steep. It sure was worth it. When we got to the top there is an observation tower. It was kinda scary to climb up but it is enclosed at the top. Very cold and windy! The views were spectacular. We were able to see the mountains where we had just come from and the ones ahead. We met 2 southbound hikers who to our surprise were from NC. And they both graduated from NC State University this year! It was cool to have the 4 of us a top a mountain in VT, knowing that we all had a previous like to NC State. Small world! We ate lunch at the summit and then headed down to Stratton pond. The pond was beautiful. WE relaxed there for a bit. It was early, 2pm, and we only had a few more miles that we needed to cover. We ended up calling it a day early again, 4pm. We set up camp near a river with Rabbit. The river water was not very desireable but we didn't need to go further and the next shelter we could get to was 1/2 mile off the trail. It might sound silly but a 1/2 mile is too far for us to travel off trail. So we cleaned up and took a relaxing afternoon by the river. The bugs were quite bad though so that kept us in our tent. The temperature really dropped at night. Bootz got pretty cold in his fleece bag. Glad to know that he's getting his sleeping bag back tomorrow when we meet my dad. We made an early exit and hiked our last 8 miles into Manchester. Can't wait to see my Dad and stay the night.
Date: 2005-07-24
From: Winhall River

To: Manchester Center
Miles today: 8.6
Weather: broken clouds

WE made it to town in record time. WE had told my Dad that we'd be there around 3pm and we arrived closer to 10am. That was fine though because it gave us time to do laundry and errands before they met us. WE ate breakfast at Friendly's and basically relaxed around Manchester. Dad and Barb met us at Friendly's at 2pm. WE had lunch and had a chance to chat. Very fun and then we headed to the motel. Manchester is a neat town nestled in huge mountains. It has a lot of outlet stores in the center of town but out where we are staying it has these large beautiful homes. We cleaned up and rested for a few hours. Dad brought his laptop so we're updating stuff. WE went out for Chinese food later in the evening and spent time relaxing. Tomorrow we'll do some errands and probably head out after lunch. A great trip to fuel us toward ME. The last family visit until my brother meets us at the end!We did make a connection with a friend of the family in Hanover, NH. We now have a place to stay which will be great. We plan to be there by Saturday.
Date: 2005-07-25
From: Manchester Center

To: Griffith Lake Tenting Area
Miles today: 10.6
Weather: light rain

We got back on the trail around 2pm so there wasn't much time for us to hike but we wanted to get at least 10 miles finished. The weather threatened to rain all day but never managed to. Thank goodness! We're hitting larger mountains now and the climbs are longer. The views are getting better too but much of that is left to come. I started off wearing my old hiking boots but soon realized that they are too small. The little bit that I wore them in Manchester must have not been long enough for me to tell that my feet have grown and the boots are just too small. It was a painful way to figure this out. Especially on my right foot which I think is a bit larger than the left. They felt really tight in the toe box and too short. they also felt really hot like they had in the beginning. I took off one layer of socks a few miles in and hiked in my sock liners. They helped some but didn't provide enough cushion to avoid hot spots/blisters. We finally hobbled into the campsite where I could take them off and wear my sandels. The only problem was what will I do now!I made a bad mistake and left (actually threw out) my previous pair of hiking sneakers. I thought for sure the boots would work. Now I wish I had sucked it up and carried the extra weight because it will be very painful and difficult to hike to either Hanover or Rutland in my boots. I decided to try a few different combinations of socks and see how it goes tomorrow.We stayed at a camp site that is supposed to have a care taker and a fee. In several locations throughout VT, NH, and ME, there are fees to stay at campsites and shelters. The fee helps to pay for a caretaker that 'patrols' the location and tries to control overuse and poor leave-no-trace behaviors. Many of the beautiful locations are accessible via a short hike from a parking lot so they get lots of use in the summer months. With the caretaker system, both patrons and the environment win (or at least that is the idea). Anyway, we didn't have to pay at our site. Probably because it was a Monday. But it was nice to have a campsite with a lake and privy. It felt good to be back on the trail after a nice night with Dad and Barb.
Date: 2005-07-26
From: Griffith Lake Tenting Area

To: Clarendon Shelter
Miles today: 22.8
Weather: clear sky

Gosh our packs are heavy. We felt this some yesterday and it really kicked in today. We had big eyes when we resupplied in Manchester. It frustrates us though because the extra weight is uncomfortable and hard to haul up the mountains. We vow not to carry this much again, especially through the White mountains of NH!! We discussed ways to accomplish this and we've decided to spilt up our maildrops as much as possible. Send even 1-2 days ahead to a new location. we'll pop is quick and then hit the trail again. It is amazing how much better you feel when you're only carrying 1-2 days of food. We will also 'pick the brains' of the south-bound thru-hikers (SOBO's) to see how successful they were with doing work for stay at the huts in the Whites. In NH the White mountains are very popular and the Appalaciann Mountain Club (AMC) has devised a system of huts or lodges that folks can pay to stay, get 2 meals and avoid carrying sleeping gear and food. The problem for thru-hikers is that one night costs $77 (per person!). So for Bootz and I that is out of our budget. But many of the huts will allow thru-hikers to work for stay. We help with meal prep, clean up, etc in exchange for a spot to sleep and meals. The SOBO's we've met said they were having quite a bit of success getting work for stay. They suggest you be flexible, maybe stay later one morning to work if evening slots are full. This would really help with the amount of food we'd need to carry.I hiked about 1/2 the day in my boots. Again this was painful. I ran into our friend Snowyman who was also having shoe issues and he was hiking in his camp shoes. that gave me the idea to hike in my Tevas. So by midday, I made the switch to my Teva sandels. My feet felt instantly better although the arch support and ankle support weren't very good. My feet were sore and killing me, but I pushed on and we ended up finishing a long day and stayed at a great shelter with a cool stream. I found a note in the shelter register that listed the phone number for a local trail angel who offered to give rides into Rutland if you needed it. That prompted me to look ahead to our hike the next day and realize that we were planning to hike to the Inn at the Long Trail which was near Rutland. With a bit of research, I found out that there was a couple of places there where I could get new shoes. So we decided that if we could get to this place in time, we'd get a ride into town where I could buy new shoes and send my boots home.It rained during the night. The rain is bringing in a cold front that should relieve the humidity. We stayed with our friend Mainiac and we decided to split a room at the Inn with he and another hiker tomorrow to cut down on the cost.
Date: 2005-07-27
From: Clarendon Shelter

To: Inn at the Long Trail
Miles today: 16.4

Another day in my Tevas. Today I just decided to where them all day since they feel better than my boots. Today was tough though because we had a big climb up and over Killington mountain. this is a very popular ski slope in Maine. The climb actually wasn't that bad. It was a gradual climb of 2000 ft. Even though we often climb mountains with less elevation change, if the trail is steep or sends you straight up, a shorter climb can be harder than a climb like the one over Killington. We did find 2 trail magics today. the first was soda in a stream pretty near the start of the day and then again about 3 miles later when we reached the 500 miles to go mark. Both tasted great and were well needed. The weather was supposed to get better, less humidity, today but that didn't happen. The weather forecaster on NPR said the cold front got 'delayed' over night and won't be here until tomorrow. this was funny, you'd think they would know that before now, but we ended up having yucky, foggy, humid weather all day. so there were no views for us on Killington. We actually skipped the side trail that takes you to the peak. It wasn't on the AT so we decided not to bother. We took a rest at the Cooper Lodge that is at the top of the mountain. You can tell that you're at high elevation (3900') because the winds are stronger and the temp is cooler. As we left we stopped at the coldest/freshest water spring we've encountered in a long time. It was awesome. The water poured from the ground and felt as though it was 45 degrees. Yummy, there is nothing like fresh spring water. After drinking it you realize how cholorinated our water is.We made it to the Inn at the Long trail by 4:15. Our friend was already there and had gotten our room. We had such a great room. We had 2 rooms that adjoined by a bathroom. The Inn is awesome. We had our own room, just like a hotel, but only had to pay $22 per person including breakfast! We got information about the bus and received 2 free passes. the next bus left at 5:15 so we had time to shower. Just before the bus came, it began to pour. Glad we made it in time. We did get a bit wet waiting for the bus but made it to the outfitter that was just down the street. We didn't know, but the store closed at 6pm, glad we got there in time (5:45!). I tried on several different shoes styles and found a pair of Merrill lightweight trail shoes that felt great. I debated getting a size 9! I used to wear a 7 (in regular shoes) and my old boots were an 8. No wonder they hurt. I did decided to go with the 8 1/2 though because I didn't want them to be too big. I also asked the store to send my boots home. So in quick time I have new shoes and a lighter pack weight. We also bought a new ceramic water filter insert. Ours was finally used up. It made it a long way!!We were back to the Inn by 6:45, in time for dinner and a beer at the Irish pub. We relaxed and had a nice meal. the best Irish soda bread I've ever had! Yummy moist bread with raisins. It started to get a bit cooler since it rained and we hear that tomorrow should be less humid.
Date: 2005-07-28
From: Inn at the Long Trail

To: Stony Brook Shelter
Miles today: 10.0
Weather: few clouds

Breakfast the next morning was awesome. The best so far! Breakfast is included in your stay and they don't skimp at all. You choose from a menu of several different meals. Plus juice, choice of meat, and hot drink. I ordered the special blueberry pancakes and Bootz ordered the special omlet with pesto and tomato. Since we are in VT, they only serve real maple syrup!! The pancakes were huge and the syrup reminded me of home. when I was a kid, we made our own maple syrup. Bootz omlet was huge and great. All in all we made out very well at the Inn.We got a late start and planned on going about 15 miles. About 2 miles in we hit 'Maine Junction'. this is the location where the VT Long Trail splits from the AT. At this point we're headed toward NH and the LT goes north to Canada. About 10 miles in we stopped at a shelter for a break and water. My feet were really sore. I think the hiking in my Tevas bruised my feet some and we were probably going to need to take it slow for a few days so they could heal. We made a big decision at this shelter. I felt as though we needed to stop for the night to rest my feet. But if we made this decision it would mean that we would not make it to Hanover on Saturday to get our maildrop and that would mean we'd need to wait until Monday. This delay would mean that we could no longer realistically finish the trail by Aug 28 our wedding anniversary. I am fine with not making this date but Bootz was a bit more focused on that goal. He decided to go get water and take some time to think. He needed to be okay with letting this goal go. He was gone for a long time so I went to check on him and we talked. He decided that is was okay to finish on another day and that actually it was better to finish on another day so that we have more days to celebrate things versus packing them into one day. this decision has now liberated us to take our time and go with the trail flow. If we get somewhere that is great and we want to take a long break our stop early we can. We want to take our time through the next miles so we can really enjoy the beauty of the mountains. We still hope to finish by the beginning of Sept. We shared the shelter that night with 2 other couples who are in their first year of marriage. We enjoyed chatting with them over dinner and sharing our trail stories. It is funny how life works. We ended up having such an enjoyable night with people who we would have never met if we just pushed ahead to meet our schedule. I like to think this is the universe's way of saying we made the right decision.
Date: 2005-07-29
From: Stony Brook Shelter

To: Red Barn at VT12
Miles today: 13.7

We learned about this hostel that just opened. since we won't get to Hanover by Saturday we can take our time We decided to make the barn our location for the day. The trail has gotten more difficult since we split with the long trail. We are cross-cutting mountains so we are doing more climbs up and over. But it is a nice trail. Less mud. We made it to the barn by mid-afternoon. We learned that there was also a farm stand/store just up the street. Perfect! the barn is just like it sounds. The folks who own it cleaned up the second story where hay would usually be stored, and put a couch, chairs, a radio, some mattresses. It looks out over a beautiful field. We walked down to the farm stand where I found some fresh corn and vegetables. they also had fresh bread, ice cream, drinks, etc. I purchased a few veggies for dinner and a few supplies to get us to Hanover. Our friend Throw bought a pie for the group to share. We went back to the barn where we met our other friends Rainbow and Spartacus who we stayed with the night before. We all relaxed, chatted and made dinner. They ended up deciding to stay also. Our friends Morel and Vapor where at the Barn when we arrived and decided to call to set up a ride for us to go to a party in a nearby town the next day. A fellow thru-hiker who lives nearby had put fliers up at the shelters inviting us to a party on Saturday. We had not planned on going but now we had the time and could make the party.We needed to be about 13 miles further down the trail by 2pm the next day to get our ride to the party. the trail was much harder than I expected, lots of ups and downs. But just as we made it to West hartford, we met up with our ride to the party. We had discussed skipping the party so that we could hike 4 more miles and leave just 6 for the next day into hanover. But with the ride right infront of us we decided to go get some food and relax.