morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2005-07-10
From: Washington, DC

To: Wynnewood, PA
Miles today: 0.0

So now I am back in Philly, after a disastrous (but objectively funny) series ofpublic transportation mishaps. I got to the Chinatown bus in plenty of time, was stared at blankly and ignored when I asked to buy a ticket, was told that the bus outside was going to New York and I should sit inside and wait, and then, you guessed it, blithely and eventually informed that of course that bus outside had been going to Philly, I should have known better, and anyway the bus was gone now and they didn't have any more buses today, so what did I want to do? What I wanted to do was bludgeon someone. What I actually did was walk a mile to the Greyhound station via horribly incorrect Mapquest directions (again I should have known better), purchase a bus ticket on which the ticket agent wrote the wrong gate number, barely manage to get the absolute last seat on the bus, get to Philly by six o clock, wait forty minutes for the commuter train, miss the commuter train because the arrival screen said it was running late but actually it arrived on time and pulled away as I was running down the stairs towards the tracks, wait another hour for the next commuter train, finally make it out to the ¢burbs, and, two phone calls and a car ride later, find myself back at my aunt and uncle's house. On the plus side, I managed today to read both the book version of the Sisterhood of the the Traveling Pants and ¢1984¢, which was kind of an interesting juxtaposition. Doubleplusgood, as Tom says.Anyway, I'm finally here, hanging out, waiting to not be gimpy.Sara Says: ¢see, god and public transportation have conspired against you to keep you from leaving DC. and yet you persist anyway. fool.¢
Date: 2005-07-11
From: Wynnewood, PA

To: Wynnewood, PA
Miles today: 0.0

Books read today: 1. A Separate Peace, since I¢m following up ¢1984¢ with a temporary trend of reading books that I Ought To Have Read By Now and haven¢t. How long will this trend last? The betting pool is open. I dunno, but Middlemarch is on the bedside table along with Brave New World and A Moveable Feast. Um, Middlemarch is long.Movies watched today, in lieu of bad TV: 3. Sense and Sensibility (never seen all the way through before), Before Sunset (seen all the way through before), Les Choristes (foreign films: what a kick.)New factoids learned today from eighteen year old cousin: 1. Christopher Walken used to be a ballroom dancer; he got his movie break when a director came to one of his classes and said, in effect, This is the creepiest guy I¢ve ever seen; we have to use him in the movie. People of whom I thought when told random factoid by eighteen year old cousin: 1. Katie, out in Seattle, whose Christopher Walken obsession borders on the extreme.Predictable Yet Endearing Opinions Expressed by Former Hiking Buddies via Email: 1. From Pacman, who wrote, ¢I love your ¢death before dishonor¢, ¢keep fightin¢, ¢it¢s not over until I say it¢s over¢ attitude. ha ha, I¢m a nerd when it comes to things like that.¢ Of course he is. And it ain¢t over.
Date: 2005-07-12
From: Wynnewood, PA

To: Wynnewood, PA
Miles today: 0.0

i just read your journal updates. i have come to the realization that if you are bill bryson, then i am your fat alcoholic sidekick. i don't know why it took me so long to figure that out. i guess i will just embrace it now. also, you know you're a hopeless washington dork when... you schedule your remaining sick days around the senate subcommittee hearing schedules. all i want in this life is to hang with hillary clinton, people. is that too much to ask? huh.***yes, all ninety-five nondrinking pounds of you. ironic.***i bet the fat alcoholic friend didn't get any of bryson's money either. fuck.***luckily for you, or at least for your sense of justice, by which i mean unluckily for the both of us in equal measure, the journal is 100 percent revenue free.besides. notoriety is its own reward.***someday, i will get a real job. then what will we do?***Eat at really expensive restaurants.
Date: 2005-07-14
From: Wynnewood, PA

To: Wynnewood, PA
Miles today: 0.0

So I have decided that despite the ineffable allure of my recounting the minutia of my ass-sitting, tv-watching days in exquisite detail, this whole thing has become - even for me - slightly beyond the pale. I'll post again when I have something interesting or actual to report. Like hiking.
Date: 2005-07-19
From: Wynnewood, PA

To: Wynnewood, PA
Miles today: 0.0

no emails? no updates? i cannot handle this.did you go for the MRI? are your aunt and uncle sick of you yet? i need the news, yo.i am having major packing and moving anxiety. i think i will not be truly calm until i have signed the lease on a new apartment and purchased a coffee table. last night i woke up at 4 a.m. with this odd desire to go on craigslist and apartment hunt. not healthy.tomorrow i am chaperoning 40 kids on a 12-hour excursion to an amusement park, which makes me want to die...in other news, we're being evicted at work, so every thursday between now and the end of august (eviction day) has been designated Pack & Purge day. which is also what i am doing at home, and it is a lot. we're also hiring new people on, and i've decided that my true calling is to edit resumes and cover letters, as i have found some truly atrocious errors in the ones sent to us.write and tell me everything. i am going to want to kill myself after spending 12 hours in 90-degree weather with dozens of shrieking children, but an email from you may cause me to hold off for a bit.loveSara
Date: 2005-07-20
From: Wynnewood, PA

To: Wynnewood, PA
Miles today: 0.0

So I went to the orthopedist today and he ordered follow-up X-rays and told me there was no fracture and then he wiggled my foot around and made me hop and jog around his office and then he said, ¢You¢re fine.¢ ¢Um,¢ I said, ¢because it¢s been five weeks and it took two weeks before I could even put the foot flat on the floor, and it still aches, especially if I put pressure right here.¢ ¢So don¢t do that,¢ he said. ¢I know that,¢ I said. ¢I thought it might be useful information.¢ ¢I just had you run around my office,¢ he said. ¢What else do you want me to have you do?¢ ¢Um,¢ I said. ¢Because I¢d really like to get back to hiking as soon as possible, but I wanted to be sure I wasn¢t risking reinjuring myself.¢ ¢Get up,¢ he said. I stood up. ¢Jump up and down. Higher! Higher! Pick up your knees!¢ I stopped. ¢You¢re fine,¢ he repeated. ¢So if it¢s not broken, I probably just¢¦sprained the tendons or the ligaments on top of the foot?¢ ¢Probably,¢ he said, and shrugged. He did not elaborate. ¢Um,¢ I said again. ¢So in your opinion, it¢s safe for me to be backpacking again?¢ He cast a brief glance heavenward and told me again to go hiking, as if he were explaining for the umpteenth time to a paranoiac mother that her snot-nosed toddler would in all likelihood fail to contract tetanus from a skinned knee. ¢Wear a big shoe,¢ he said. And then I left.Rob said, ¢Amy, who did you send her to?! The Gestapo?¢It was a good appointment ¢ I guess. Nice to be given a clean bill of health. Better than being told unequivocally that I¢d be doing myself lasting harm by heading back on the trail. But weird, too, in that his total dismissal of an injury I have repeatedly tried and failed to dismiss myself makes me wonder how reliable his total go-ahead can be.Whatever. I¢m going hiking. I¢M GOING HIKING!
Date: 2005-07-21
From: Wynnewood, PA

To: Wynnewood, PA
Miles today: 0.0

perhaps i have a certain sense of entitlement here, having, you know, housed and fed you and all that, but i would very much enjoy an update as to your goings-on. email or phone is fine.loveSaragahsorry sorry - the internet has been down at rob and amy's all week,i'm at kinko's right now paying 25 cents a minute to use superslow internet - i'll call tonight, can't wait to talk to you. i'm still in philly, i did go back to the doctor and had a very weird interaction which i will tell you all about when we speak; i'm heading back to the trail sometime in the next few days, the foot is finally ready i think. a little off if i make an effort to cause myself pain, but otherwise fine. miss you! hope packing is going well.tty soon-j
Date: 2005-07-26
From: Wynnewood, PA

To: A rendezvous with destiny
Miles today: 0.0

Okay, kids. Hold your breath. As of tomorrow, Break a Leg is BACK IN TOWN. (A phrase which here means, 'back out of town.') I'm hitting that trail so hard it'll be all 'Whoa, what just happened to me?' and everyone'll be all, 'Break a Leg just happened to you.' Ooh I'm a rock star. (I'm also giving myself, verbatim, the exact same pep talk Deborah used to give me before finals in college. Aw. Nostalgia.)But. Yes. I have a date with destiny, or with Amtrak as the case may be, and cross your fingers that my body hold up - I think it will. No jumping trains, I promise. Oh man am I ever excited to be getting back on the trail. I would be doing a celebratory booty dance right here right now, if I weren't sitting in Kinko's where they would probably look at me funny. Fools.(I take it back about the 'verbatim' part. I think the original pep talks were dirtier. But, you know, family-friendly websites. Or something.)So. Next update from the trail!
Date: 2005-07-27
From: A rendezvous with destiny

To: Harper's Ferry Hostel, Harper's Ferry, WV
Miles today: 1.5

A mile and a half today ¢ a FLAT mile and a half ¢ that felt longer than I remember a mile and a half feeling. My body¢s going to take some readjusting after six weeks of ass-sitting. But my foot, though a little tired, doesn¢t seem too troubled yet. We¢ll see how tomorrow goes.I¢m sitting at the hostel in Harper¢s Ferry right now, typing this. I¢d been planning to hike out of town as soon as I arrived, but the train didn¢t reach Harper¢s Ferry until after the post office had closed, and I¢ve got a box that¢s been sitting there for a million years, approximately, and they wouldn¢t let me forward over the phone; so I thought I¢d camp just outside town, but the weather¢s supposed to be atrocious tonight as the heat wave finally breaks, plus I didn¢t have much water and the train station was closed so I couldn¢t refill there and, go figure, it is deemed inadvisable to drink out of the Potomac; so I ended up here at the hostel. Worse places to be. I¢ll go into town tomorrow morning and get business out of the way, and then I¢ll head north.I¢m beginning to notice again the small things that are the currency of a hiker¢s life, to reaccustoming myself to things that I did without blinking a month and a half ago. The order in which to fasten the straps on my knee braces. The best centimeter markings on my trekking poles. The quick inventory, as I pack, of each article of clothing.I¢m grateful to be thrust back into deliberation, into paying attention to weather and distances and the things I am carrying. Even the threat of lightning strikes possesses a certain endemic euphoria. When I saw the blazes again I had this strange moment of giddy possessiveness. Mine. My blazes. My trail. I¢m back. I crossed the river and felt the slow pace of my own two feet. And a stupid small smile. Chatting tonight with fellow thrus in the common room at the hostel, and one of them asked, Do you think you¢ll make it? I think you will. You seem like you want it.I¢ll tell you, I said, game is ON. This whole injury thing ¢ it¢s like the challenge has been thrown down. If I have to drag myself up mountains by my teeth. This is the gauntlet.
Date: 2004-10-24
To: About 5 months to go
Miles today: 0.0

Hard to say in a way 5 months to go. I have been dreaming about the AT a life time and it is so near now. Plans have it that my son and I will be starting some were around April 15 2005. We will be walking north back to New England were we live. Hike your Hike !! Brother Buzz
Date: 2004-10-24
To: Long Trail hike in "03"
Miles today: 0.0

Back in 2003 Derrick and I hiked the Long Trail and when we walked into Canada I knew I was ready for the AT. I feel GREAT when I am in the woods and it is hard to explain till you have been there. I am self-employed and I like that but you do need a little time to live and that is what happens when I hike.
Date: 2004-10-31
To: Can't wait
Miles today: 0.0

Just got back from a weekend in the N/H Whites. What a GREAT time I had with some of my freinds. I have been working on the 4000 ft list and I am at 45 only 3 more to go YA HO !!!!!!! The whole time on the trail all I could think about was the AT. How will I be able to wait for 5 more months. I start reading trailjournals and it seems like I am there sometimes. It is GREAT that all the hikers teach each other so much about the trail. The do's & dont's == the how's & why's == THANK YOU ALL so much !!!!!!!
Date: 2004-11-18
To: I can't wait much longer
Miles today: 0.0

A GREAT hello to all, less then 5 months to go. It looks like we will be starting around the 15th of April 2005. I am a plumber and I need to get the summer cottages water turned on before we leave. I think I will enjoy the trail a little more that time of the year also. I do enjoy hiking in the winter since I live in New England and spend a lot of time in the Whites. All my planing is coming togather O/K. The biggest thing is money !!!! I hate how money controls our lifes. I had to take a loan to hike the trail but it is O/K I have the rest of my life to pay it back. As I read trailjournals it makes it all seem O/K. I know that this will be a hike of all hikes. I will be hiking this hike for a lot of reasons but the BIGGEST will be as a fund riser for Breast Cancer. My wife that I love so much was told January 6th 2004 she had cancer. It is one thing that you do not want to hear !!!!!!   After 8 months of treatments she is doing GREAT. We still have to wait for more testing but life is much better now. My wife is a person that is so stong and one that I could not live without. I wish so much that she was hiking with us but it is not her thing to do. There will be times when she will hike with us and those are the times I will be looking forward to so much. Our other two sons will spend some time on the trail with us.The days are going by fast and so is life live your dreams befor it is to late.HIKE YOUR HIKE !!!!!!!
Date: 2004-12-16
To: 120 days 
Miles today: 0.0

Hiking !!!!!   Happy holidays to all. Hope you find all the gear you need under your tree. GREAT day today all the maps from the ATC came in the mail. So happy just one more step closer to the TRAIL !!! Had a fun weekend hit the trails in the White's. Lots of fun went with my brother in law. On the top we had about a 1.5 feet of snow. Did a little boot sliding coming down. April is so close all I think about is the trail. I am still working on setting up my fund raiser for breast cancer. IF ANYONE HAS DONE A FUND RAISER WHILE HIKING PLEASE E_MAIL ME WITH ANY HINTS AND INFO. I WILL BE GREATLY THANKFULL !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My wife is doing fine. I do think about being apart for 6 months and I do not like this part of the hike. It will be so FINE when she does come out to hike with us. Lighting ( Derrick our son that will be hiking with me ) is still not much into the planning of the hike yet. I did see him checking out the maps today. Time to get back to work ( how can I say that word )      HIKE your HIKE
Date: 2005-01-08
To: HAPPY New Year
Miles today: 0.0

Happy new year to all !!!!!!!It is going to be a GREAT year.The planning is still going well for our April start. I would like to start in the 1st week but it my still be the 2nd week. time will tell the closer we get.Still not sure on mail drops ???????   I will have a few but it is hard to know were to have them. Been looking at the maps and guide books for each state and I will be bringing the maps but I think I will leave the books at home. It sounds like maps and Data book is all you need.GEAR is a BIG part of the hike and the gear I pick I will be happy with to start the hike. As I walk maybe I will change some of it. Like I always say is Hike your Hike !!!!!! And that is what I will do with the gear I pick not the gear that all the other hikers are using.I am ready to start !!!!!!   There is NO dout that I can make it in my mind. The one thing I still have to get over is being away from home for the time it takes to walk in the woods. I will be having a hard time with not being with my wife and family. I have made the choice on what to hike for ( fund raiser ) It will be MAKE A WISH . I think that kids are so GREAT !!!!!   We have 3 sons and as they were growing up we spent a lot of time togather I mean a lot of time togather. Now that they are older and have there own lifes to start and live I miss that time togather we had so much of. I think about all the families that are not able to do some of the same things that we were able to do. That does hurt me. Here I am going to go on a wish that I have had all my life === one that I think about what it would feel like not being able to hike the trail. Then I think about all the kids that not only are there lifes going to be taken from them here they wish that they could go somewere or have something. I feel that my WISH of hiking can help them on there much bigger WISH !!!!!!!!!   If anyone out there have been involved with or have a story about MAKE A WISH Please let me know. If you do not know about the MAKE A WISH org. just do a search and it will come up. We are all so lucky to be able to live our life the way we do walking in the woods.Till we talk again   Hike your Hike !!!!!!!
Date: 2005-03-15
To: 30 Days to go
Miles today: 0.0

Hello to all, Sorry I have not up dated in so long !!!!!   All is right on schedule. We did lose our ride to GA. so we are now going to fly down. Thats O/K Have been on a few prehikes in the white Mts and all went great. Very happy with my gear and myself !!!!!!!!!!!! Heading up this weekend and the fellowing one too. That will be it for prehikes. Gear is good only a few more things. I picked up a part time job at EMS and been having a lot of fun. Plus it is a good place to pick up the last of my gear.Maildrops ?????????????????????????? that is the big ???????????????????????????? we have got it down to 11 I think. So now I am putting the boxes togather.Got to go back to work ( I have way to much work right now ) It is O/K since I will have 6 month weekend from work.BEST OF LUCK to all hikers that are out there now and to the ones starting !!!!!!!!!!! Hello to the ones we will be meeting.Brother Buzz
Date: 2005-03-29
To: springer in two weeks
Miles today: 0.0

Hello to all, So hard to belive the trail is so close. Planning is going O/K wish I had a few more things done. I can only do so much in a day.Last weekend I went on my last prehike and all went GREAT. I went with one of my sons and two freinds. I climbed Mt. Whiteface in the White Mts. It was a 10 mile trip and I pushed myself on the climb and I was very HAPPY with how I did.If you are familiar with the Whites there is 48 4000ft Mt. that you climb to be a member of the 4000foot group well I am now at 46 of the 48. On the way through the whites on the AT I will pick up my last 2. YAHOOFlying into Georgia on the 13th and Hiker Hostel is picking us up. Spending the night there and they will be dropping us off on the 14th.Mail drops are almost done we will be having 11 total. We will also be using a bounce box also.Till the next time ++++   HAPPY HIKING   ++++
Date: 2005-04-09
To: I can almost smell the coffee
Miles today: 0.0

STRESS == STRESS == STRESS ==   yes I am. They say everyone has it well I do.I am ready to start this walk. I will not have all my work done before we leave. Being self employed is not the same as working for someone when you give your last day of work and just leave. I am going to do my BEST that is all I can do.Here is an update on my fund raiser =====   It is going GREAT !!!!! We did decide on Make-a-wish Foundation of Mass. For those that do not know the foundation helps kids with life threatning illnesses get a wish granted which could be to go somewhere = meet someone = maybe get a new pet = the list goes on. Well my son and I are having our wish of hiking the AT come true so we wanted to help others get their wish. I am very fortunate to have a great family and so many GREAT freinds and customers that have donated to this cause. I THANK YOU ALL SO VERY MUCH !!!!!!!!!!I still have troubles leaving my life at home. Six months is hard to deal without your loved ones. I thank all our service people that have to leave for 18 months. That must be even harder!!!! I guess I will have to take it day by day and work through it.THANKS to the hiker hostel they are going to pick us up in Atlanta put us up for the night and then drop us of at Springer's trail head. That all for now.Good night and a good night to all.
Date: 2005-04-10
To: we're getting there
Miles today: 0.0

Having a great day got a few things done. Many more to go. Lightning had a going away get together with all his friends last night.His friend gave him a buzz hair cut for the hike now brother Buzz is next. My wife Chris [ Sister Buzz ] will be entering our journals as we send them back. so please make sure you come back often to check up on how we are doing.
Date: 2005-04-10
To: Hiking To Maine
Miles today: 0.0

Hi to all as Cliff would say. [Brother Buzz] called home on Sunday. Twice that is. The first time I was not at home but he did leave a message that he did call and that he would call back later in the evening. About 9:30 p.m. Brother Buzz returned his call. So far all goes well. Their journey has started with no hitches, the weather has been clear and sunny. They stayed in a shelter one night, tenting the other times and were staying in a hostel on Sunday night that means they got to shower and had a bunk to sleep on. There has been no problems with there feet. They feel good,the mountains don't seem so tough yet. Derrick [Lightning] got a pretty good sunburn on his head I was told he even had blisters on it. The location they were at was Neels Gap. Brother Buzz says that he will be in touch with me in about 4 days. I recieved A post card in mail from Brother Buzz. Says his pack weight is 34 lbs. with a lot of food.
Date: 2005-04-10
To: Hiking To Maine
Miles today: 0.0

Hi to all as Cliff [Brother Buzz] would say. I recieved a call on Sunday night from Brother Buzz. He called twice that day I missed the first call but he did say that he would call back later. At about 9:30 p.m. he returned his call. All is going well. Their journey has started out with no hitches. So far they have stayed in a shelter, and tented the other times and were staying in a hostel on Sunday night that means a shower and a bunk to sleep on. They sounded great on the phone. There has been no problems with there feet. Derrick [Lightning] However did get a sunburn on his head and even had some blistering. They say they feel good the mountains don't seem so tough in Georgia so far. I recieved a post card in the mail today from Cliff. Says his pack weight is 34lbs. with a lot of food. Brother Buzz says that he will be in touch with me in about four days.            Chris [Sister Buzz]