morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2008-07-28
From: Bennington, VT

To: Melville Nauheim Shelter
Miles today: 1.6
Weather: clear sky

We got a wonderful hitch after we divided into smaller clumps. Five is a lot of people to ask someone to put in their car at once. Superchunck and I alighted at the Autumn inn and booked a double for $80. All seemed well. But all was not well. When the inn keeper noted the arrival of three other hikers there was a bit of screaming and pointing that could be summed up by saying that she was not going to allow 4 much less 5 people in a single room. I asked if this was policy, the reply-yes it was. I retorted with an inquiry about the nuclear family, if they were allowed. Then we learned her rule just applied to hikers. It would cost another $90 to stay.We were in a pinch.5 hikers lay muddy at wet on a lawn where they are not wanted, and do not want to be as darkness falls.But not all hope was lost. Sampson and Cosby had taken down a number of a potentail trail magic provider who lived in town. We called him for advice and instead found the solution. Chris offered to let us all sleep in his carriage house for free! Perfect! There were chairs and a couch, even a pool table. He welcomed us to shower and make ourselves at home. As if in a fairy tale we were all soon cleaned up and tucked into bed, plum tuckered out.Today we woke leisurely and started about our chores. Bennington VT has cruiser bikes you can borrow for free to help get around town.... Fun! Bikes are so fast and so realativly effortless when compared to backpacking, it was a dream. Push glide push glide...We did eventually overcome the gavitational pull of town making a whopping 1.6 miles, though it was >1000 ft up.It is raining again. Ah New England.
Date: 2008-07-29
From: Melville Nauheim Shelter

To: Story Spring Shelter
Miles today: 17.4
Weather: light rain

The AT and the Vermont Long Trail run together for about 100 miles. We are also colliding more and more frequently. Add the multitude of summer weekenders and section hikers and the trail turns into a cacophony of hikers. You would think there would be no difference, that it would seem to be a giant sea of people, each like the next but this is not so.The following are rough, sometimes coarse stereotypes. Draw no conclusions and please take no offense.Northbound AT thru hiker- me.Southbound AT thru hiker- crazy fit person seeking isolation and wet feet for weeks on end.Section hiker (long trail or AT)- always happy, growing ever closer to their goals in neatly managed doses.Dayhiker- fast on day hills, carrying the best lunches and a conversation all day long.Southbounders are tough. I couldn't do it. The trail is straight mud and it continues to ran today. My feet look like corpses.
Date: 2008-07-30
From: Story Spring Shelter

To: Manchester, VT
Miles today: 21.1

What does it mean when you are walking on a path 2 feet wide for six miles and you see 47 toads, 2 garter snakes and two frogs?I am not sure I want the answer to that riddle. If there are that many toads on the trail alone, how many are on those acres and acres of woods that surround!?I started the morning with a climb up Stratton Mt. Another mountain, these seem to be growing in elevation and frequency of occurrence. I am going to have to get used to this. It was clear up top and the firetower provided great views. The sign warned... "It is not the fall, but the sudden stop"Those crazy Vermonters! Where else could that be posted? Physics kills. Or is it Physics kill?The day stayed clear, but the trail remained Ver-muddy. It was impossible to keep my tootsies dry and it was with mixed emotions that I faced their removal and the unknown it could bring. Boggy soggy black toes.There was a light at the end of this mud tunnel. There was a new hostel in Manchester and the promise of a pillow and the smell of drier sheets pulled my legs ever onward.Busdriver, Superchunk, Sampson and I finally stumbled onto the road and procured a hitch into town. Amazing what seemed so foreign to me now seems so routine. Stick out your thumb, smile, smile bigger but don't look crazy, try and hide the mud that cakes your legs. Pure joy when a total stranger takes you in and you give them total control.To the shower, to the wash, to the hose!To town, goodnight.
Date: 2008-07-31
From: Manchester, VT

To: Bromley Shelter
Miles today: 2.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Town, outfitterSomething amazing happened that I failed to mention yesterday... my foot grew a pair of eyes. Like a great googley eyes goldfish you could find at a restaurant in a tank too small for it's body and yet eyes still too large for it's hypersized core? You know what I mean. Anyhow yesterday that toady climb up Stratton did a real number on the old Achilles heel. Thought we were done with this game?Yeah so did I. So did I.The heel swelled and pooched out to the flanks. Painful to the touch, hard to look at and harder still to feel it push on the back of my shoe, increased more so with each inclined step. Strangers at the hostel gasped, or quietly and concernedly stared. Few dared to touch it.I was awake much of the night elevating the beast. At three AM my curiosity stirred me from bed and I googled my googles.Haglunds deformity, best as I can tell. More endearingly called "pump bump". The Internet told me that perhaps my shoes, worn free of any heel cup padding were to blame. The solution? Rest, avoid long periods in shoes or walking, especially avoid inclines. Amen, I hate inclines as much as the next Internet medical suggestion site but you can't get to Katadin without going up.Bummer.I spent much of today resting and elevating the heel. The woman at the outfitter and I tried every possible type of shoe and sock scenario looking for relief. I left town and climbed a big two miles in low top Montrails (free- thanks Montrail!) that were a men's size 9 wide (they look a bit clownish) and a heavily heel padded pair of Patta-gucci socks (not free).I am going to ask very little of my feet for a bit. The bigger shoes increase the risk of blisters and I want those google eyes to go away.I heard of eyes on the back of your head but what good are they on the back of your heel. The only thing is you could see snakes you passed by, but then you just get scared anyway.Wish me luck and watch the miles shrink.
Date: 2008-08-01
From: Bromley Shelter

To: Griffith Lake Campsite
Miles today: 8.6
Weather: broken clouds

Even 130+ days into this trip there are still new days. This morning I slept in. On purpose, in the woods, for no good reason other than the fact that it felt good. I cannot recall doing this before today. Normally "nature" of some sort wakes me up around 5:30. I can shrug it off until 6 then my day begins. Every once and awhile I will hold out until 6:30 but never much later. This morning I wasn't cold, it wasn't raining and the sun was up with birds singing. Still I stayed in bed until 8:30! But wait, there's more...Bus driver had restarted the fire and we all sat around it, like we were really camping! I didn't start hiking until ten.I wanted to give my foot another tempered day. We all relaxed at the Bromley ski summit and made a leisurely path towards Griffith Pond for swimming and a beautiful sunset. Things went well, and my heel tolerated a number of ascents and descents without too much pain.Bus Driver, Super Chunk, Sampson and I sang songs and clowned around making a short day feel eventful. Bus Driver even found a Geo-cash just wandering around.Ah life on the trail, how sweet it is when Katahdin shines his sun on you.
Date: 2008-08-02
From: Griffith Lake Campsite

To: Minerva Hinchey Shelter
Miles today: 19.1
Weather: clear sky

New England is a rainy, muddy place. I am not going to dwell on this, or expound on the resultant misery that the rain and continuous mud brings me and my poor poor toes.All you need to do is keep your feet dry.Not going to happen. Not in these woods.There has been so much rain that a beaver dam broke. It broke and washed out a road. There were boulders and felled trees, fish lay on VT rt 140. The landscape forever changed. A fantastic distraction to our hike. We wandered around the scene, the sole survivors of a flash flood. Excitement. Love it!We got to the shelter just before a wave of thunderstorms hit and found some Long Trail friends. Tinman was there, as were two familiar faces. Turns out they were out for the week hiking but we knew each other from a small gathering in Rochester! I feel that only on the AT could such an unlikely reunion occur.The rain is pounding down outside. We are all laying in our bags naming Tom Hanks movies- one of my favorite games.
Date: 2008-08-03
From: Minerva Hinchey Shelter

To: Rutland, VT
Miles today: 20.1

Few things cripple my motivation more then waking up, warm and dry, to face a monsoon. One thing in a hikers life trumps all obstacles- an empty food bag. We were all low on rations. Seriously low. We could walk 4 miles or twenty to get to town and it was raining. Not a hard down pour but consistently wet. I loitered, I considered my options. I dawdled. And then I hiked.I hiked up cliffs and down slopes. Over streams and through puddles. I caught NPR talking about thru hikers and about mid-morning, just as I was climbing Killington Mt. my spirits lifted and my feet moved with greater ease.I came to the point, indicating 500 miles. 500 done for SOBOs and 500 left for me!Dang!Muddy and wet we hitched into town. A warm bed, a milkshake and a shower awaited us at the Back Home Again Hostel.
Date: 2008-08-04
From: Rutland, VT

To: Rutland, VT
Miles today: 0.0

Katahdin is a Mountain in Maine. To a north bound thru hiker it is more than just any mountain, it is the climax, the northern terminus of their journey.I feel, and Rocksteady and I worked this out, that Katahdin is a fallen god. Katahadin wronged the Greek gods with his elitism but he was not all bad. They banished him to the earth but allowed him to form the path to door. He formed the A.T. All that happens on the trail, good or bad, happens at Katahdin's will. You fall- Katahdin made it happen, but he didn't end your hike. Berries on the trail when you need a snack, Katahdin. Fussy colon from those berries, Katahdin. All we do we do for Katahdin, in attempt to see him, just to grace his door. Somehow Southbounders can walk right up to his door, they hold some sort of key. I am glad we don't hold that key as Northbounders. It will be so bitter-sweet to reach his door and here his tales. I hope he let's me in.The hardest is yet to come. The White Mountains of New Hampshire are unlike anything we have seen, and Southern Maine is more burley than any junk yard guard-dog you may come across.I am anxious and excited. And scared of not being able to do what comes next.An unexpected day off. Sampson's shoes failed to come in the mail, SuperChunk's shipment also failed to come through and while waiting I took a 2 hours nap that I didn't know I needed.Back to the trail hopefully tomorrow. I bought a new sleeping bag today and also got to help make breakfast for 15. More on those to come. Back to napping.
Date: 2008-08-05
From: Rutland, VT

To: Stony Brook Shelter
Miles today: 10.0
Weather: light rain

While in Rutland we have been staying at the Back Home Again Hostel. There is an option to donate or participate in "work for stay". This is essentially earning your keep. I opted for work for stay. My affinity towards being a morning person has been enhanced since being on the trail so I thought I could monopolize on this ability to be wide awake at six am.I got to help make breakfast. In a real working cafe. Never before had I cracked 50 eggs, toasted 3 loaves of bread and helped make coffee for so many people. The change of pace was engaging. I felt invigorated.We were packed and on the 9:15 bus out of town to the trail head. The sun was out and all the greens were boastfully so. Vibrant. It was lovely hiking, but I called my day short. My stomach has been feeling "off color" of late and nothing aggravates this more than a hip belt.Stomach feeling full and volatile? Clip a nearly thirty pound pack around it and then see how it feels. Still tolerable? Start hauling you and that pack up and down some sweet sweet hills. Nope. Doesn't pan out, well it didn't for me. I decided to call it an early day, no one was disappointed. I will have to evaluate what has made my stomach so increasingly fussy of late. Lyme, Aleve, dairy, town food, too many preservatives? Who knows, I hope it improves. For now laying still and eating boring food is the best I can do.We settled in as the rain started to pour down. Wouldn't be a day on the trail without rain.
Date: 2008-08-06
From: Stony Brook Shelter

To: Winturi Shelter
Miles today: 10.2

Did it rain? Did it ever! SuperChunk, Double D and I all slept in the shelter and we were surrounded. The shelter was an island and the rains kept coming. I waited for a break in the rains, my new sleeping bag keeping me hostage. The break never came so finally at nine I struck for some forward movement.Ladders and rocks and puddles as deep as poodles slowed our MPH. At the first shelter my only hope to stay warm was to change into warm/dry clothing. Well once I was comfortable I might have well accepted my fate. I waited for the boys to see what their thoughts were about the original planned mileage.Sampson showed up around three. He brought with him torrential rains and thunder and lightning! Okay. We would stay. A southbound couple came and went while we waited out the storm leaving us thinking they were crazy and them thinking us lazy. That much rain, and temperatures dropping- no thank you.We enjoyed our half day and talk circles around nothing. Sometime life is just that simple on the trail. I feel badly about these mini mile days but I would feel worse making myself miserable. Slim says "It's not about the miles, it's about the smiles"We smiled a lot today. We continue to meet Southbounders. They seem so much tougher to me than I, having completed Maine and New Hampshire. I wish them well on the rest of their journeys.These short days have been good on my heel.For those of you who would like to see a picture of said ugly heel, no luck. All photos make my cankles look really bad, too vain to share.Ah I hope hope hope it is not raining when I wake up, it makes getting started so much harder.
Date: 2008-08-07
From: Winturi Shelter

To: Happy Hill Shelter
Miles today: 20.4
Weather: light rain

It rained last night. Did it ever rain! Thunder, lightning, major stormbles. The trail can't take this much longer. My spirits are good, but the trail, it looks cooked.Muddy. Puddles. Rivers. Ponds! Frogs have moved in! Luckily this morning the skies were clear.The sun warmed up this afternoon and I took the chance to eat some home made ice cream at Cloudland farms. Yummm. How can you argue with ice cream that has only 4 ingredients?! You can't.My feet were so wet, so pruney, raw even from rubbing around in soaked shoes and socks. I decided to get bold and brash, and well- foolish really. I decided to hike in flip flops, I even went barefoot for a bit. How nice it was to feel air on my feet. To feel my skin returning to its appropriate osmotic status.Four miles later I gave up and scooted back into my shoes. Hardest part of my day is putting on wet socks. I guess life isn't too bad out here. The thunder had started to rumble again.I didn't want it to happen. I wanted to dodge this storm. I hustled and the clouds grew. The faster I hiked, the thicker the clouds. A mile from the shelter it started to sprinkle. I started to run. A hiker running, bad idea really. I made it to the shelter, mostly dry, and rejoiced in beating the heart of the storm. I will sleep well tonight, my limbs took quite the beating.
Date: 2008-08-08
From: Happy Hill Shelter

To: Stealth Camp, Hanover, NH
Miles today: 7.0
Weather: light rain

I have made a resolution. Never run with a pack on. That is of course unless the circumstances are such that if you don't run, and successfully escape, you will never hike another day. Rain is never a reason to run. So you get wet, you've been there before, embrace it.Why this stern warning, why should you take heed? The muscles on the front of your lower legs, the ones on your shins, they will hate you. They will scream and punish you with every step. Worse than just every step, it is the rest steps that are most painful, most punishing. Running robs you of the joy if gradual downhills, pleasant flats, sloping meadows. Just don't do it, at least not for rain.Despite this, I hobbled into Hanover and truly enjoyed myself. I ate two meals, re-supplied, recharged my batteries and managed in a load of laundry. I even showered in a Frat house. I promise you this was a first time experience and hopefully the last. As much as I appreciated the shower, I remain, well politely, underwhelmed by the amount of hair that a fraternity can generate in a summer semester. I am for ever grateful for this fraternity as they were the only ones in town to take us in and allow us to shower.While doing laundry we discovered that BusDriver, besides being an artist, is also quite the wiz at etch-a-sketch. This image took him less than ten minutes to suss out.Sampson and I hiked a bit out of town in the dark and camped. I am plum tuckered out!
Date: 2008-08-09
From: Stealth Camp, Hanover, NH

To: Moose Mt. Shelter
Miles today: 9.8

Some days were just not meant to be. This must of been one of those days.I could not get up this morning. My internal alarm went off, I even tended to nature and ate a pop tart but that was the last the world saw of me until after nine! Even at nine I felt like a sack of skin filled with bones- no substance, no structure, no motive. This was going to be a tough day. Three miles in, I told Sampson I was done, I wanted to set up my tent and go directly to bed. We chatted and I rung 7 more miles out of my wiped out soul. Straight to bed for me.I hope for a better day tomorrow, self wise. The day itself today was beautiful, and the hike filled with meadows and sweet views. Tomorrow I hope to enjoy it quite a bit more. Energy come to me!! Maybe it is in this pot of instant mashed potatoes.
Date: 2008-08-10
From: Moose Mt. Shelter

To: Fire Warderns Cabin
Miles today: 12.4

Ahhhh to great relief I woke with a renewed sense of enthusiasm and got going early. Things were moving well until the tones...You know the tones- "This is a test, this is just a test of the emergency broadcast system" You have heard them on the radio and on the television. Today I heard these tones but this was not a test. There was to be hail, lightning and torrential rain. There was a need to seek shelter, avoid higher elevation and exposed areas.The need they spoke of was in direct contrast to my path. Up on elevation, up exposed rock, up to a fire tower. My path was not to be reversed if I wanted shelter, it could only be expedited.The thunder rumbled and the rain started, lightly at first. The subtleness of the rain grew as the lighting became audible. I hurried, faster, head down hoping to avoid falling and death. Then the hail started. Tiny insulting ice marbles stung like Mosquitoes nicking my shoulders and arms. This bustle has never seen more hustle. I was overjoyed to see the shelter at the top of the mountain. I jumped up and under the porch roof. I eagerly pushed open the door to find, much to my delight, Slim, Bogey, Super Chunk and BusDriver. It was warm and dry inside with the body heat and camaraderie. It felt like home.The hail intensified as did the rain. Slowly the storm petered out, the rain continued to wax and wan. I thought of moving on but where was Sampson?He should have been here by now. I did the math, even if he left super late he should have arrived....We waited, we all wondered, then he arrived. It was nearly six. Sampson had gotten a late start but to the great fortune of one unfortunate man. Sampson had come across a fellow wandering around in a confused daze. The man had gone out for a run but was in over his head. No food, no water and too far from where he needed to be. Sampson stayed with him and walked him out to safety.The trail provides.We were all glad that Sampson was not dead but instead was a hero. It was too late to move on, and the company to good to consider it. Happily we all tucked in and three more joined us in out of the rain.
Date: 2008-08-11
From: Fire Warderns Cabin

To: Glencliff, NH
Miles today: 20.0

That's more like it. It rained on and off today but once again I fared better than the trail. So so wet. So muddy. I use my hiking poles like sounding rods, testing the depth and consistency of the puddles, searching for and testing the safety of roots and rocks hidden beneath. Well, these attempts are all for naught when it comes to these brooks and streams now swelled to river capacity.We have been fording. Today was a new high- above the hem of my shorts. I feel comfortable fording, I feel like I make sound choices in how and where I cross but Katahdin can change my tune at his whim, this I know. No falls, but wet wet wet. I pushed today to get to the hostel at Glencliff to dry out and resupply, those shorter days did a number on my food stash. It was nice to shower and then get dry (and stay dry) for a spell.We are all sitting around watching The Big Lebowski and thinking how comfortable his oversized cotton clothing looks. Only with this crowd.Tomorrow Mt. Moosilauke looms!
Date: 2008-08-12
From: Glencliff, NH

To: Kinsman Notch
Miles today: 9.5
Weather: light rain

Up and at 'em! And up and over!I woke up ready to roll today. I had nearly a mile in elevation gain and loss to pull off in less than a mile. I had inspiration. I had motivation. I had a mother waiting!My mom was on her way from Maine to NY and last night we arranged a drive by hug and hello. Yahooo!The climb felt good and the view was absent. It was a good thing too (trying to be optimistic here) loitering was greatly discouraged by the cold winds and the moisture of the clouds we were surrounded by.The descent was treacherous to say the least. The trail crews had done their best to make it palatable but the phase "uncontrolled descent" kept coming to me. It ran along side a waterfall if you can imagine the steepness and intensity.Let me just say, this is where knees go to die.I fell just once, on the only flat part, I must have let my guard down. Uninjured I powered on. I found my mother, dressed in a yellow poncho, sitting on a cooler of trail magic she had brought, looking like a canary trying to hatch an egg. We hugged and darted quickly to the car just as one of the many voracious but brief rain storms started. Mom proved her love and knowledge of a hikers needs with a sandwich, a soda, and an Almond Joy.By the time we were done visiting and I had whined long enough about putting wet socks on again it was nearly 4. It seemed doubtful that I could pull off 7+ more miles in the White Mt. before dark so I begged a ride off my mom to spend the night in Lincoln.It was great to visit with my mom, and I was able to meet many wonderful southbounders at Chet's in Lincoln. I felt good about my management of the difficult climb and felt more confident in what was coming.I cooked up some summer vegie wraps and with a full belly I headed off to sleep.