morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2007-10-21
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Adjusting....slowly. Feeling quite tired, sleeping a lot, watching movies, unpacking, doing some yard work, going for short walks...almost bored. On the trail there was always something that had to be done...usually walking lots of miles...now I feel like there's nothing pressing and too much time to fill. Strange flip flop. All my gear is sadly put away and my closet (where Dennis put everything I shipped home) is straightened up. I've got a ton of thank you notes to write, pictures to upload to my journal, and I'm not sure what else to do.It almost seems like I've awakened from a dream and that the hike didn't really happen. The world went on without me. How have I changed? I want things to be simpler, the world is too complex and I have too much stuff that I never use. I think I'll attack the house one room at a time, clean out, donate, and slim down my world...then redecorate! I've got time now to work on all those projects that I couldn't get to when I was a working woman. But I'll need to set goals and deadlines for myself or time will just drift by.I'm also exploring what it might take to ride the Pacific Crest Trail on horseback. It can be done, although few do it. Sounds most interesting...and sure beats walking!Step lightly,
Date: 2007-10-26
To: What to do...what to do!
Miles today: 0.0

I'm bouncing around the house, not really getting anything done. My ADD brain is going bonkers and can't decide what to focus on: eat? walk? clean the house? read emails? watch TV? go through mail? get smart on retirement investing? stretch? exercise? read? sleep? take a hot bath? organize my photos? cook? and on...and on... For 7 months I had direction (North) and focus (keep walking), no decisions to be made, really. Now I need to decide what to do next and can't...I jump from one thing to another.I'm so afraid of gaining back the weight, too, but all the food is so GOOD! Hiking around here isn't as challenging because it's so flat...but if I don't decide what exercise to do, I'll lose the fitness. But there too are so many choices: power walk 5 miles on the canal, take a bike ride, go to the gym, go for a swim, do weights at home. I should probably do all of these things, mix it up!So getting organize, focused, and things done is my biggest challenge, along with not gaining weight!Step lightly,
Date: 2007-10-31
To: Happy Halloween!
Miles today: 0.0

Yesterday I met a trail angel, Allison Whiteside, for the first time even though we've been emailing for 7 months. She contacted me as soon as she read the article about my hike in our local paper. She's definitely a thru-hiker in the making...she's got the passion, exactly what it takes to do this hike. We had a wonderful evening together and I can't believe I forgot to get our picture. That's ok, it won't be the last time I see her; hopefully I'll be able to speak to her 6th grade class and we'll get to do some hiking together. I loved her spirit and excitement for the AT. That's how it starts!!!Before our dinner, I went to see my dear friend, Pearl. She turned 105 while I was away, but she's as tough as ever. She was living on her own, but has had to move to a nursing home, against her wishes. I'm so glad to be able to see her again upon my return...I love her spirit too!Things are settling down for me and I'm slowly adjusting back to the real world. I've stopped dreaming about the trail every night and that's a good thing. Since I've been missing the exercise I've decided to go daily to exercise classes at our local rec center. Starting tomorrow. That will help keep some of this muscle tone. I'm busy now trying to get all my photos labled first, then bundled into categories: signs, blazes, people, wildflowers, etc. I also want to get together CDs of the various people that I hiked with and send them a copy...some of the best pictures of us are the ones somebody else took, and I have lots of Willing and Abal and EZ Duzit and Thumper, as well as Bum Bum and B. I'm also busy getting my Thank You summit photo done and mailed to all those who helped me along the way...without that help, this hike would not have been possible.I'm also busy getting smart about retirement investing (now that I'm retired) so that I can get my money working for me. This should be fun, I hope.But I'm still sleeping late (8:30) and limping around, but the worst probable I have right now is bursitis of my right shoulder. If you recall, I stopped using 2 poles because of pain in this shoulder, but I was able to use 1 pole in either hand for 5 months without much trouble. I guess it misses having to work so hard. Lots of ice and vitamin I is reducing the pain, and my muscle guy, Brett, has me doing a stretch trying to loosen up the deep shoulder muscle that's restricted. The pain of the trail continues...Step Lightly,
Date: 2007-11-06
To: The kids made me cry!
Miles today: 0.0

What an awesome day this was for me! More rewarding than climbing Katahdin. I got to see the impact of the journal of my hike on kids in the Leroy Elementary School, Mrs. Whiteside's class. And these kids were the greatest! Their teacher, Allison, had heard about my hike from the article in the paper and she wrote to me right away. We corresponded all summer and I got to meet her last week. She had told me that she had used my journal as an example for her students and how much they loved following me. I got to see and feel that joy when I came to their classroom today and pretended I was looking for the Oatka Creek Shelter and hikers named Saratoga, Young Grasshoper, and Jack Knife (trailnames taken by 3 of the students). I spent an hour with them and it was not nearly long enough to satisfy their curiosity. But the best part for me was the gifts they made for me: a backpack from boxes and beads for straps (seen in photo), a blank journal for me with a mountain scene on the front and all their names on the back, a notebook of pictures of my hike that they downloaded from this site and the haiku poetry they wrote about the pictures and the journey (amazing writing!), photos of gear where they were checking to see if I had all I needed, a canvas tote with their names on one side and drawings of places and items seen in the photos of my hike, and binder of thank you notes from each student. Yes, I cried! They touched my heart. I couldn't get enough hugs. And you could feel their own yearn for adventure blossoming inside each of them.I wrote something one of my last days on the trail, but it's still in my notebook and hasn't been refined. I had hoped to read it to them at the end of my visit, but time didn't allow. I'll share it here:I have sat on, stumbled over, and cursed the rocks; seen the moisture on the leaves glisten in the sunlight; heard the call of the loons; felt the wind gently cool my body as it came up through the valley on a climb, or try and blow me off a mountain. I have watched the sleeping forest awaken with Spring Beauties in the Smokies. I have watched the ferns and leaves bust through the soil in the spring and change color as they die in the fall. I have drunk water from creeks, ponds, springs, rivers, and pumps...I enjoy the spring water the best. I have sadly seen few animals: mice, chipmunks, squirrels, grouse, deer, bear, porcupine (while hiking at night), and lots of snakes. Even moose near the end. I have soaked up the silence, the sunlight, and the spectacular views. I have hugged the trees, talked to the trees, stepped over the trees, walked around the trees, tried to identify the trees, and felt the spirit and energy of the trees. I have slept in shelters, my tent, hostels, motel rooms, and best was right out under the stars (cowboy out). And now I'm ready to go home...for a while.Thank you to all the children of classroom #312 for making my journey even more rewarding than it already was. You guys are AWESOME! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
Date: 2007-11-08
To: How I got my trail name "The Bag Lady"
Miles today: 0.0

Many people before, during, and since my hike have asked about my trail name. I would have liked to have waited to let the trail name me, but I wanted to make up hiker cards to give out to people I was meeting as I got ready to hike, so I needed a trail name. I brainstormed with my family. One thing that I've said for years is "The only way I'm going to be able to afford to retire is to be a bag lady." I retired just one month before I started my hike. My pack became my bag, hence: The Bag Lady. Then when I got out on the trail many folks thought my pack had the look of a bag lady's because it often had stuff hanging off of it: bandanas, prayer ribbons (given by my friends and daughter with good wishes for a safae voyage), blue coffee cup, hats, clothing, crocs, and so on... It always looked a bit messy.One of the first alternate names someone wanted to give me on the trail early on was "Podcast" because I had a cell phone, an iPod, and a rep from NPR left his name for me at Neels Gap. A month or so later, I was nicknamed "Our Lady of Bags"...I liked that upscale version of my name. then Thumper often just called me "Crazy White Woman". One day I met some students from Dartmouth on the trail and told them my name was BAg Lady...later they saw Thumper and told him they had seen "Sack Woman"...he never let me live that one down.I loved the use of trail names because they are easier to remember so many people by...otherwise there might be a lot of Mikes and Jennifers to distinguish. Also, having a trail name let me take on a new identity, like being reborn, so to speak. I used it so much and for so long, that when asked my real name, I had to think about it!
Date: 2009-02-28
To: Things aren't always as they appear
Miles today: 0.0

Life off the trail has been much harder than hiking to Maine ever was. And it's not getting any easier.Dennis and I are no longer together and it hurts. Many lies were told to me over the last year and that may be the sharpest pain.But I am a strong woman and I know happiness is right around the next bend in the trail or on top of the next mountain. I just made plans with Maryland Edge (AT '07) to join him and a group of his friends to hike the Grand Canyon the end of May! That invite came at that best time and I'm getting so excited.Other plans on my horizon include going to Florida in April where Thumper, EZ Duzit and I will paddle the Suwanee River for a few days, Hammock Hanger and I are trying to plan a canoe/kayak trip on the Intercoastal Waterway, and I'm also planning to do a bike loop that includes both coasts and seeing many friends.I'm also dreaming of a several months long bike trip this summer. Perhaps across the US or even over to Great Britain. Hard telling not knowing. It will come in to focus when the time is right.So Bag Lady may be a bit down and depressed at the moment, but she'll be back strong in a few months ready to attack new challenges and meet new people.The friends I made on the trail are the best people in the world and we're able to maintain that connection which only expands and enriches my world. Thank you all for being there for me.
Date: 2007-02-09
To: Prep #2
Miles today: 0.0

The map I have attempted to upload and display in this entry at left (was I successful?) illustrates the task ahead of me for the next 6 months. I hope you enjoy following along with my progress, slow as it may be on some days, and the experiences I encounter along the way. I will try to regularly post my activities and experiences so I recommend checking in every now and then to see how things are going. I will typing these entries on a Treo each evening so I apologize in advance for typos and spelling errors created by small keys and large thumbs. Please bear with me and I will try to catch the worst offenders. Also, I am still experimenting with how this site works and am more anxious than you to see how my entries turn out. So, there will be a lot of trial and some errors before I figure out how it all works, but such is life in cyber space.Those of you who may not have visited a Trail Journals site before, check out the blue tabs on the left margin. Just click on any of the tabs that interest you and you will be taken to that subject or part of my journal. If you pull down the staple under ¢by date¢ you will see a list of journal entries ordered by date and you can jump quickly to those that interest you. Click on the photos tab and you will see a list of photos and captions that I have posted, and again, you can jump quickly to any that interest you. Some of the photos you see here will also appear in journal entry pages, but there will be many more photos listed here that do not appear with a journal entry. If you would like to provide comments on my journal entries or photos, or provide encouragement as I move thru the ¢long green tunnel¢, please consider signing my guest book by clicking the ¢sign¢ tab under the guestbook title.I have posted my mail drop schedule, such as I think it might happen as I sit here in the comfort of my home in Durango, under the blue ¢mail drops¢ tab. Please feel free to send me a card or care package (edible is always good!) at the address listed. But, be sure to mail them at least 10 days to 2 weeks before the date I am expected to arrive so that I won¢t have already passed thru before they get there. Thanks in advance for what ever thoughts or cookies you care to send along!Rest assured that I will be thinking of you as I walk along the crests of these ancient mountains, and will wish that I could share parts of this adventure with each and every one of you. I hope that the next 6 months holds for you as much joy, discovery and pleasure with life as I think it may for me. Stay safe, and enjoy!
Date: 2007-02-10
To: Prep #3
Miles today: 0.0

I have been working hard to finalize my list of mail drops and finally finished this rather monumental task. It was made much easier with the wonderfully detailed description of re-supply options provided by Baltimore Jack (available under the re-supply tab at Whiteblaze.net). I have also completed uploading the full list to the mail drop tab on the left and I'll attempt to keep this list updated if my expected arrival dates change along the way - which from I hear they almost certainly will. Now, I begin the task of listing the contents of each and packing them with what I will need, given the location of the drop and the distance to the next re-supply. I will not be sending all of my food in these drops, really just the few items I suspect it may be hard to find along the way and the other gear items that I want to swap out regularly along the way such as insoles, socks and t-shirts. I have also been playing around with the size of digital photos then uploading them to see how the process works and what they look like on the web. Since my digital camera produces photo files too big to send directly to my journal, I will have to edit each to reduce their size before uploading them to my photo gallery. This may turn out to be the most time-consuming part of working with my trail journal. We'll see how it goes or if I can find another way to get around it.Only 49 days 'till my April Fools day - but whose counting?!
Date: 2007-02-16
To: Prep #4
Miles today: 0.0

So, my journal is finally up on the web! It looks like the photos have come up just fine, and a few folks have been kind enough to sign my guest book. At times, this getting ready to go seems a bit like another exercise in long range planning rather than something I¢m actually going to be doing in about 6 weeks. At other times, the trip seems so real and near that I can¢t believe how much I should be doing in the few days I¢ve got left before I go. I walked around the yard yesterday and it hit me that I will not see leaves on my trees this year, they won¢t have even begun to pop their buds before I leave and will have turned color and fallen off before I get back. For a guy who really enjoys irrigating trees and watching them grow over the summer, this thought kind of put a new perspective on how long I¢ll be gone and how much I¢ll miss Brenda and Riley when I¢m gone. I¢ve been getting to the health club three days a week and walking with my pack on weekends. It¢s not nearly as much exercise as some folks are getting before they leave, and certainly not enough pack time to be well healed when I hit the trail but any exercise is better than no exercise at all. I just hope I don¢t keel over from exhaustion before I make it to the top of Springer my first day out on the trail!Only 43 days 'till my April Fools day - but whose counting?!
Date: 2007-03-05
To: Prep #5
Miles today: 0.0

I spent this past Saturday with Tom (a.k.a. foodies), a thru-hiker from 1988 and one-third of the group known as the Zoo. The Zoo was comprised of three people and two dogs, and all 5 made it all the way to Katahdin, finishing on a beautifully bright blue sky September day as the same group in which they began their journey six months earlier on Springer Mountain. Tom is an accomplished photographer and we spent several hours looking at his slides of far views, trail people, flowers in bloom, dogs with packs, wildlife, and foggy mountain scenery. I had a great time looking through a dog-eared 1988 edition of the philosopher¢s guide that survived his thru-hike, noting many places and businesses that I intend to visit along my trip this summer, nearly 20 years after Tom completed his adventure.One of the most interesting treasures that he showed me from his trip was the wooden spoon he was awarded for having bested the half-gallon challenge at the store in Pine Grove Furnace State Park (strawberry was his flavor of choice). It was a simple, plain wooden scoop, almost completely covered with writing: the date, location, time of consumption, flavor, and the names of several innocent bystanders. Today, the thought of eating a half-gallon of ice cream at one sitting, and in less than half-an hour, seems like nothing short of gluttony! However, I intend to give the challenge my best go when I pass through, because after all it is another of the Trail¢s many famous rites of passage that are tried, conquered, and relegated to the realm of ¢wow, I can¢t believe I actually did that, and now, it seems like it really wasn¢t that big of a deal.¢Tom ¢ thanks for a day¢s worth of tips, memories of what worked for you, great photos, and advice about all sorts of things I should be thinking about now before I leave as well as later when I¢m under way. It was a very enjoyable afternoon!Only 25 days 'till my April Fools day - but whose counting?!
Date: 2007-03-18
To: Prep #6
Miles today: 0.0

This trip is getting way too close for comfort now! I have way too much to do at work before I leave; but not leaving on time is not an option, so weekends and evenings are no longer mine. I have finished putting together my mail drop boxes and have to fill a few prescriptions, but the planning details are pretty much finished. The only thing that hasn¢t been going as well as I'd hoped is the way my Treo is, or more accurately is not, working with my Gmail account. For some reason, Gmail does not provide some options for my Treo that are available on my PC; options like being able to send attachments with emails, and copying text from draft messages. I guess they figure that attachments and the copy button are over-rated when you are silly enough to be carrying a mobile device along on the AT. But, I guess if that¢s the biggest challenge I face over the next 6 months then life is good! I¢ve been enjoying reading journals and looking at photos of folks who are on the trail ahead of me. Way to go guys, and leave a space in the shelter for me, I¢ll be right behind you!Only 14 days 'till my April Fools day - but whose counting?!
Date: 2007-03-31
From: Prep #7

To: Hiker Hostel, GA
Miles today: 0.0

Caught a 7.30 flight out of Durango today headed for Denver. After a 1-hour layover in Denver it was back on another flight to Atlanta. Landed on time at 3.30 then caught the Marta train to the North Springs Station where I was picked up by Leigh Saint. She also picked up Sara, Buffalo Bill and Jack. After an hour's ride to Dahlonega and the Hiker Hostel, we all got settled in. They have a full house of 17 hikets tonight. I went out to dinner with Buffalo Bob (2002), Wizzard (2002) and Jack. Had a great steak dinner and great company! Back to Hiker Hostel and finished getting repacked/organized.Tomorrow's the big day!
Date: 2007-04-01
From: Amicalola Falls State Park

To: Springer Mountain shelter
Miles today: 0.2
Weather: light rain

Was dropped at Amicalola Falls State Park this AM along with 10 other folks from Hiker Hostel. I did the obligatory photo at the famous arch (thanks ??), then headed up the trail. The first mile was steep, to the top of the falls. The day was overcast with low hanging clouds and felt like rain. It began as just a drizzle then came on in ernest by mid-AM. I put on my pack cover but did not bother with rain gear because it was warm and humid, I didn't need the gear and would have gotten hot anyway. Stopped at the top os the falls for a few photos then headed up the trail.I met up with Alpine Strider just above the Len Foote Hike Inn trail junctuon and we ended up hiking together the rest of the day. A few bloodroot are just beginnig to bloom, but otherwise few flowers are up yet. Leaves are out in the valley but just above the park the trees have yet to leaf out. We stopped for a brief lunch at Black Gap Shelter then pushed on to the top of Springer Mt. The caretaker at rhe top of Springer Mt who logged us in told us we were thru-hiker #245 and #246 respectfully. Maine here we come!As we passed the first white blaze I thought about all the planning it had taken to get here and hoped it would be a good trip. We stopped at Springer Mt Shelter and set up tents because the shelter was full and we had had a full day of hiking, all of which had been uphill. The day was rainy most of the time and Springer Mt was in the fog so no views to be had. But, spirits are high with 2,200 miles of adventures and new friends ahead.And so it begins!