morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2018-05-31
From: Clarence Fahnestock SP, Dennytown Rd.

To: Grape Hollow Rd
Miles today: 17.4
Weather: overcast clouds

Day 16 - Dennytown Rd (Clarence Fahnestock SP) to Grape Hollow Road - 17.4 miles.We got a late start out of our hotel and onto the trail. I dropped Matt at Grape Hollow Road at 9:00 am and headed to Dennytown Road. I was on the trail by 9:45 but had planned a 15.8 mile day so we should be good. The trail to the Shenandoah Mountain and the 911 painted flag wasn¢t too tough. I encountered a black snake on a rocky over hang and the raised trail traversed over beautiful stone retaining walls. Going around Canopus Lake had some rocky climbs. We met for lunch at the 911 memorial flag believing it to be the 1/2 way point but something didn¢t feel right on the mileage for either of us. There were lots of blow downs from the previous May 15 tornado/storms and all the rerouting was time consuming. The required level of cleanup from the massive down trees was impressive. The RPH Shelter was impressive. Lawn chairs, bunks and all. I first met Hansel and Gretel here. They are two elderly flip-flipper ladies.As I dragged myself up what I believed to be my last climb, Matt arrived at the pickup spot in the van at Grape Hollow Road. It was getting late and I was spent. I sat down to take a quick break, I pulled out my map believing I had only 1 more mile to go and discovered my foe paw! I¢d miscalculated the miles by dropping Matt off in the morning 1.6 miles further north than I¢d planned! This was now a 17.4 mile day and I had 2.6 miles yet to hike not 1 mile. Shit! It was shortly after 8 before I reached the van. Exhausted, I encouraged Matt to get us dinner and he took me to Boston Market. We made our way back to the hotel collapsing into the shower. Long day! Whew!
Date: 2018-06-01
From: Grape Hollow Road

To: NY Railroad Station
Miles today: 13.2
Weather: light rain

Day 17 - Grape Hollow Road (Stormville, NY) to Appalachian Trail Railroad Station - 13.2 miles.We checked out of our hotel in Fishkill and Matt drove me to the trailhead at Grape Hollow Road dropping me there at 9 am. He then headed off to the Appalachian Trail Railroad Station on NY 22. Due to complications in parking the van at that location Matt didn¢t get started till almost 10 am. Most of this entire section was not noteworthy except that it ran along Nuclear Lake named so by the past history of an experimental nuclear lab in that area. The lake was crystal clear, loaded with all kinds of wildlife, and quite a beautiful place to visit. We arrived at this location and had lunch together followed by a glorious hour nap right on the shoreline. Frustrations of getting started that morning caused Matt to not continue SoBo after our nap, instead he retraced his steps with me back to the van. We enjoyed hiking with each other that afternoon walking together across the long board walk into the railroad station. It was exciting to finally arrive at the famous railroad station and be photographed there. Once done with our hike we climbed in the van and headed to the Bearded Woods Hostel up in Connecticut where we planned to stay for the next four nights. We grabbed a quick Subway for our dinner enroute and arrived at Bearded Woods about 7 p.m. Hudson got us all checked in and settled in our room. Quick hiking plans for tomorrow were laid. Bedtime was early.
Date: 2018-06-02
From: NY Railroad Station

To: Bulls Bridge
Miles today: 11.0
Weather: broken clouds

Day 18 - Appalachian Trail Railroad Station to Bulls Bridge Rd - 11.0 miles.Bearded Woods Hostel is amazing! Run by Hudson and Big Lou, everything is not only clean and hiker friendly but their breakfasts are fantastic! They run a tight ship and not only is there advice for hiking spot on but everything is kept on a tight schedule so you can plan your hiking day with precision. I dropped Matt at Bull Bridge Road shortly after 8 am. It had a beautiful covered bridge over the Housatonic River. Then I headed to the railroad station to park the van. I headed out from the van shortly after 9 o¢clock crossing many hay fields on my way to the top of Indian Rocks. On Matt¢s end of the trail he followed the Housatonic River for a long way finding a huge snake on a rock at the rivers edge. We met at the Wiley Shelter for lunch.Lunch was one of those magical Appalachian Trail moments where many of your newly found hiker friends all rendezvous in an unplanned social event. In this case we all met at the same place for lunch. I was able to meet Postcard for the first time. Matt and he had been seeing each other every day but I¢ve never met him because I was traveling NoBo everyday with him. Also at the shelter was Hantzel and Gretel and Johnny Walker. Today was our first day hiking in CT but we weren¢t done with NY just yet.After the day's hike, we returned to Bearded Woods Hostel were big Lou had dinner for us, Faye, Gandalf, Fish, Hudson and one other hiker. The hiker conversation was enjoyable before we all turned in early. Matt and Fish stayed up late talking about the shark tagging that Fish did for a living.The AT Community has a word for everything. Matt and I are LASHers or Long Ass Section Hikers. Then there are Thru-Hikers. Yellow Blazing is cheating and getting a ride further down the trail. Blue Blazing is getting water. Slack Packing is not carrying your full pack for a day. Flip Flopping is starting your 2190 mile journey in the middle, going north or south to one end and then flipping your direction and going to the other end. So.... do they have a term for Matt¢s and my style of hiking we ask. You know, one walking NoBo and the other walking SoBo and using a van at trail heads everyday? You betcha!!! We are Key Swappers! Who knew!!!! ?
Date: 2018-06-03
From: Bulls Bridge

To: River Road South End
Miles today: 12.1
Weather: clear sky

Day 19 - Bulls Bridge Rd to River Rd - 12.1 miles.Hudson wisely suggested we only do 12.1 miles today. I¢d been looking at 15+ but there was a really hard climb in this section called St. John¢s Ledges. Matt and I arrived at River Road and I parked the van so we could organize our packs for the day. And who should pop out of the woods but Hard Knocks. He was the odd Virginia hiker we¢d met several days ago turns out he wasn¢t from Virginia he was from Louisiana and he had run out of food and was looking for resupply. As fast as I could hand him snacks out of our van they disappeared! He was very hungry and his cell phone was broken. He was headed to Bearded Woods so Hudson could take him for resupply. We offered to bring him dinner at the hostel for the night before he moved on. He took us up on our offer.Leaving Matt behind I headed to Bull Bridge Road and parked my van. And who should pop out of the woods but Hansel and Gretel. They were both so excited to tell me about the trail magic they had gotten the night before. A very wealthy woman had picked them up hitchhiking and took them to her home for the evening where she provided them with a private room bath and a fabulous dinner! (YES, these two old ladies WERE HITCHHIKING!!!) It was an amazing hiker magic score. Gretel had lost her Spork two nights before and I gave her my Spork. She was so excited! The majority of the trail for the day was nothing to write home about but the St. John¢s Ledges was clearly the focal point. It was an extreme climb whether up or down and quit vertical. It took me an hour to do that 1/2 mile as I sat on my butt and scooted down over and over.Back at Bearded Woods other hikers that had done that same section commented on how long it took them to get down as well. That night found Bear Chaser, Hard Knocks, and Ice Ager at the hostel. Matt and I stopped at a pizzeria and picked up three Italian dishes for dinner. As we drove back to the hostel a buck jumped out in front of us and ran down the road for a bit before darting back into the woods. Matt had to hit the brakes really hard and we almost turned over dinner!!! Good save Matt! At our lunch rendezvous today, Matt and I discussed that it was going to rain for the next and last two days of this year¢s hike. We both agreed we had met our goals having completed 233.7 miles for 2018 without taking a single Nero. Walking in the rain for the next two days didn¢t sound much like fun. So we agreed that the next morning we would head home after swinging by Niagara Falls.  One final note about Day 19, sadly we walked from Connecticut back into New York but after only 2 miles we walked back into Connecticut!! YIPPPEEE!!! New York is done!!!
Date: 2018-06-04
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

Let¢s Go Home! So this morning Matthew and I both overslept at the hostel rising only 10 minutes before breakfast. It was a mad scramble to get dressed in time. After breakfast we loaded all our gear into the van settled up with Houston and said goodbye to all our new Hiker friends. We climbed in the van and headed to Buffalo, New York to see Niagara Falls. En route, Matthew was able to change his airline reservations to depart out of Buffalo that night at 7:10 PM. Logistically that left two hours to get in and out of Niagara Falls and see the falls. Neither of us knew anything about Niagara Falls, thus, we had no expectations. This was going to be interesting. When we arrived we quickly parked and made our way down to the Niagara River. It was an impressive river that madly raced toward the falls which we couldn¢t yet see. As we moved to the observation deck area we were both in awe at the power of so much water. We agreed there was not going to be enough time to make it to the Canadian side to see the Horseshoe Falls so we decided to go up to the observation deck above us. I purchased two tickets at $20 each and we headed up to the observation deck. The man who took our tickets said that our tickets were for The Maid of the Mist boat ride! The what??? Matt and I could not believe that we were going on the boat, in the river, into the waterfall! Holy crap! We asked the ticket taker how long the boat ride was and he said 20 minutes. So we quickly made our way to the boat and found out we were the last to board the outgoing boat. It was typically a bit of a wait for a boat. We could not believe our good fortune! The Maid of the Mist Adventure was beyond our wildest dreams! What a beautiful finale to a fantastic adventure. After getting soaking wet we return to our van and got Matt to the airport in time for his flight. Who knew you could see the entire falls in less than two hours!!! Matt is now successfully on his way back to Portland, I¢m en route to Wisconsin and I get to see my hubby and puppies tomorrow. 2018 is a wrap and I have now completed 1472 miles of the 2190 mile Appalachian Trail - 67%. This year I finished PA, NJ, and NY and I didn¢t leave any holes in the Section that needs to be picked up next year. I can¢t wait to see what my 2019 section hike adventure will bring!
Date: 2018-06-24
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Wait! There's more! When I returned home and started doing the math, I realized I wasn't going to be able to complete the AT in just 3 more years. I have 717.8 miles remaining of the hardest section of the trail, the northern 3 states. So, I got this crazy idea to go back in the fall and do 10 more days, knocking out another 120 miles! Heck, I have all the gear ready, I'm physically ready, why not? NOW THAT would make it so I could complete the trail in just 3 more years with 200 miles in each year. Husband totally agreed that this made sense and he offered to watch my three dogs while I was gone! ¢¤   Sooo.....After a quick call to Hudson to make sure I could stay at the Bearded Woods Hostel, airline tickets were purchased today making my return to the AT official! I'm off to Hartford, Connecticut late August to cross two more states off my Appalachian Trail adventure. I plan to lay down an additional 140 miles in 2018 (this time solo) and I'm still hurting from the last 233 miles! ?Statistics - 2018 Part 1 - 233.7 miles total for 201855.3 miles in Pennsylvania72.4 miles in New Jersey97.1 miles in New York8.9 of 42.7 miles in Connecticut0 of 90.5 miles in Massachusetts1472.0 total miles completed 67%717.8 miles remain of 2189.8 miles 33%
Date: 2018-08-10
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

I have literally done NOTHING to prepare for this second Section Hike since I purchased the airline tickets back in June. Ok, I practice hiked, stayed with the personal trainer, and did a ton of Agility but that's it! Yikes!With just 12 days until "GoTime", I've placed an order for a new pair of hiking boots and two different trail runners. Never tried trail runners before so this will be my experiment for this Section Hike. In my world, new boots are so exciting!!! ? Ideally I'd break them in for 3-4 months so this may be a BAD plan!Update: My last pair of Merrell boots were purchased in late 2015 for my 2016 Section Hike. They actually saw me through the 214 miles of PA in 2016 and 233 miles of NJ & NY in 2018 (no AT hike in 2017 due to a new puppy). They also did hundreds of practice hikes miles 2016-2018.Update: I never did wear the trail runners on this Section Hike. I much prefer to hike with a full boot and just loved these new ones.
Date: 2018-08-12
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

11 days until ¢Go Time¢. Tonight I pulled all the gear back out of the hiking storage closet. Scary, there is nothing to repair, buy, round up, or acquaint myself with except to buy food supplies. I¢m going to need to do some gear pruning as somehow I have to figure out how to fit this all in 2 checked bags and one carry on. I¢ll be flying to Connecticut. I MUST BE CRAZY ?!!!!
Date: 2018-08-14
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

New boots arrived today and they went on their maiden voyage! They are amazingly comfortable, the toe box is luxuriously spacious, and the instep has good support. So the boots are keepers. I neglected to mention on Sunday that you order hiking boots a 1/2 size large to accommodate swelling on long hikes. This new boots always start out seeming too large and end up many miles later being just right! Now, onto figuring out a food plan and securing one more transporter.
Date: 2018-08-16
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

7 days until ¢Go Time¢! Today much preparation was accomplished. I secured the third transporter!!! Hallelujah! I can now make final itinerary plans. Since I¢m flying I cannot put my stove¢s fuel canisters in checked or carry on baggage. Also, there is no convenient source en-route from the airport to the hostel in CT to purchase some, so today I mailed two canisters to myself at the first hostel. This is called a drop box. USPS requires I mail fuel via ground which takes 7 business days so it really needed to go out today.Speaking of items that cannot be packed in my carry on bag, I will not be able to pack my hiking poles in that. These along with my knives and tent poles will all need to be in checked baggage. Since I've never flown with all my gear before, I have been cautiously going through all the gear to make sure the carry on bag doesn't have anything that TSA will make me get rid of. Like I put all my DEET in checked baggage. Hope I got this right? I have decided also to put my empty backpack inside the carry on bag to make sure none of the straps or buckles get broken during travel. You can either pack the backpack with gear and wrap it or bag it and use it as carry on or check it. I'm choosing to take it totally empty because I have the luxury of a rental car to store my duffle bag and suitcase once on the trail.Finally, there was tent setup practice. This is a 1-man tent I bought from Debbie Rodman and I¢ve never personally used it yet. So practicing setup/tear down is wise! You just might have to do so in the rain and/or wind in a hurry! But we all know that would NEVER happen in the mountains! ?Update: I discovered when I arrived at the first hostel, Jess Treat, that I could have purchased fuel from her and saved myself the expense and trouble of mailing my fuel canisters. Learned it pays to ask a few more questions.
Date: 2018-08-20
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

So many questions here. So I¢m flying out to my hike for the first time. I have to take this much food for 10 days. Should I put it in checked baggage? I don¢t think TSA will let some of this through security right? Like 8 oz of cream cheese? Powders not in original packages?Update: After talking with many friends, I determined that the food should go in checked bags and items that should stay cold, like cream cheese and block cheese, were packed with disposable freezer packs! It was a perfect plan and worked well!
Date: 2018-08-23
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

The adventure begins! I will be checking two bags and only carrying my day-pack into the cabin. One checked bag is 36 lbs, the other 40 lbs. Duffle is gear and suitcase is food/street clothes/3 pair of shoes. Shoes include street tennis shoes, old hiking boots in case new ones fail, and my new trail runners (an experiment for this Section Hike).Rough Itinerary: I¢m flying into Hartford, CT, renting a car and staying at Jess Treats Hostel on 8/24. I will hike South Egremont,MA to Lee,MA on 8/25-26 and then move back south and do River Rd to Egremont, MA 8/27-30 staying with Hudson and Big Lu at Bearded Woods Hostel. I¢ll spend 8/30 again with Tess Treat then move north of Dalton, MA and cover through Mt. Greylock and North Adams, MA 8/31-9/3. I'll fly home 9/4.Game Plan Description. For inquiring minds who want to know. There are ~133 miles of CT & MA and that is my goal to complete those two states this trip. Matt and I did 9 miles of CT before going home in June and to technically complete MA you need to walk 14 miles into VT. There are no roads to bail on at the state line. So I planned to hike 138 miles. Sadly the unusual heat wave is going to leave me 18 miles short or 4 miles south of my goal to complete MA. But every mile gets me closer to Katahdin!!! 120 miles for this trip is going to be pretty darn good. I¢m pleased.So picture the 120 miles I will have hiked with mile 0 on the south end and mile 120 on the north. Day 1-2 I hiked miles 45-75, Day 3-6 I hiked miles 0-45, Day 7-10 I will hike 75-120. This is the most mixed up plan to date based on hostel schedules and the crazy weather. I don't usually like to hop around this much, but the plan worked out perfectly and I got it done!
Date: 2018-08-24
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Wow this adventure is already exciting and I¢m not even in CT yet! Dangerous and stressful part complete.... flight successfully boarded! But it was CLOSE! Chicago traffic was slow, tram in extended parking was slow, checking was speedy but airport is under construction, TSA checkin went off without a hitch but I arrived at gate and walked STRAIGHT onto the plane! Dam!!! Hope my bags made it!!! ?The flight went off without a hitch and my bags arrived in Hartford, CT with me. To say I was thrilled when I pulled them off the carousel is an understatement. Whew! Ok, that leg is accomplished. I made my way to the rental car place, secured my rental car only to discover that both FOBs were security locked together and I'd have to carrying both of them while hiking. Rats! A quick stop at Target for a few minor supplies and it was off to Jess Treat's hostel in Sheffield, MA. I arrived there safely, was checked into my room and I spent the rest of the night packing my backpack for a two day-out adventure!
Date: 2018-08-25
From: Jug End Rd, South Egremont, MA

To: Mt Wilcox South Shelters
Miles today: 16.2
Weather: clear sky

8/25/18 - Jug End Rd to Mt Wilcox Shelter. 16.2 miles.First day out was a tough hike. High humidity but fantastic weather. Mid-70s and sunny. Started late from hostel, 10:00 am after staging my car two days north. Transport took me back to south end. Two miles in, I fell on my knees on a boardwalk but thankfully was ok. Lunch at 12:30 followed by small bear crossing path. Whoa! There was a huge hornets net over the trail, sorry no pictures. Made Tom Lenard Shelter by 4:20 pm. After three miles of hiking, with great alarm, discovered backpack zipper was open, did I loose anything? With great relief I don¢t think so. Got to Wilcox Shelter at 8:00 pm in the dark. Threw up my tent next to others who were already for lights out. Ate dinner by myself in the dark and collapsed into my tent exhausted without a bear hang. The humidity was not my friend today!
Date: 2018-08-26
From: Mt Wilcox South Shelters

To: Goose Pond Road
Miles today: 13.1
Weather: clear sky

8/26 - Mt Wilcox Shelter to Goose Pond Rd. 13.1 miles.I was suppose to hike 17.4 miles today, so I rose early and left camp at 7:30 am. All tenters were section hikers and shelter sleepers were SoBo thru-hikers. Morning went well pulling decent 1.7 mph mileage. Literally stumbled across three bear playing in a tree near a creek. I got WAY TOO close before the sound of my iPod scared them off. They scattered quickly so I hiked on cautiously yelling "Hey Bear" "Hey Bear". It wasn¢t long after that the effects of too high humidity and heat played their dehydration shit in me. I knew the effects had hit last night at dinner. Nauseous, headache, not hungry, a tad disoriented, I¢d drank 6 liters of water yesterday and had hardly peed. I¢d stopped often to let my body cool down. Well, today the cycle increased and I had to ¢lie down¢ every 45 minutes all afternoon to cool off. I didn¢t feel like eating pretty much anything all day. So I called Tess to pick me up at a road crossing. I wasn¢t going to hike into my car until 9:00 pm. Not only did I need to get off the trail but I was going to need some electrolytes, some food, and rest, ASAP.Tess picked me up at Goose Pond Road mid-afternoon and sent me off to get some Gatorade, a lot of Gatorade. I am seeing a lot of electrolytes in my future!It is now the morning of 8/27/18. It is 65 degrees and 95% humidity. It is going to be 85 degrees in the afternoon. Now to decide if it is wise to hike!