morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2004-07-07
From: Mt. Wilcox South

To: Upper Goose Pond
Miles today: 15.8
Weather: clear sky

i awoke at the usual time and rolled over for about 30 minutes. i really love being in my tent. it's spacious and the ground is more comfortable than a shelter floor.i was camped out back behind the shelter, walked around to the front, and received a surprise. well, two actually. swiss miss never made it here last night and my food bag had a hole in it. i could see the remains of my next two days of breakfast on the ground and a few unidentifiable food items. it looks like a very tall raccoon got to my food bag. what was left would probably get me through the day and then i'd have to yogi some breakfast while at upper goose pond shelter. going into lee, MA would not be optional tomorrow.like yesterday, i felt tired near the end of my hiking day. i popped an antibiotic and chomped on some m&ms. it helped a little but i'll have to shorten my days for a while.upper goose pond cabin was grander than i imagined. it's a two floor red cabin furnished on the bottom level and bunks above. i dropped my gear next to a bunk and went down to the pond to swim and rinse my clothes.slowfoot, the caretaker, told me he'll make pancakes for us in the morning. sweet! that takes care of breakfast.on the gas stove in the cabin, we all made our individual dinners. slowfoot made some pasta with clams which he shared with the seven of us. with our bellies full, the activity died down quickly and hikers retired to their bunks.at the cabin tonight: slowfoot ('99), gentleman jim ('99), no beard, no dog, and three section hikers - spyder, cotton, and doc pockets.
Date: 2004-07-08
From: Upper Goose Pond

To: october mtn shelter
Miles today: 8.8
Weather: overcast clouds

a three dollar donation went to the shelter in "exchange" for some thru hiker sized AYCE pancakes. master chef and caretaker, slowfoot, did the honors in the kitchen.this morning we did a lot of pictures outside between myself, slowfoot, no beard, and no dog. no beard and no dog are going into dalton today to meet relatives - it is a 20+ day. i need to resupply in lee and was offered a ride by gentleman jim ('99) down to the food store. on the way back we will pick up slowfoot by the beaver statue on rt. 20. what i didn't realize is that we were going back to the access road for the cabin. this road doesn't connect to the AT so i had to re-walk the 1.5m to the mass pike.at october mountain shelter i saw section hikers spyder, cotton, and doc pockets again. we made dinner and got ready for a rainstorm later in the night. tomorrow we're going to get a break in the humidity and also have lower temps.
Date: 2004-07-09
From: october mtn shelter

To: Dalton, MA
Miles today: 11.8
Weather: few clouds

today's plan was to go into dalton, mail some things, get fuel, check on the whereabouts of a few friends on trailjournals, and hike onward. i never got out of town though...(i had an interesting lunch, we'll start there)mid-day i had the pleasure to meet 18 year old cassie and her friend laura at the kay wood lean-to. seems cassie had her 18th birthday party at the shelter last night and i got to witness the aftermath. what looked like a bear attack was actually an alcohol fueled tornado of teen angst with food, bottles, broken glass, and plastic cups strewn everywhere. the girls were back to clean up the mess. i explained that thru hikers actually call this little party vessel "home" for a day and they should be meticulous about cleaning the area of food and glass. (BTW ladies you missed some cans over the edge... go down the blue trail and look left. thanks.)(now zoom to dalton MA.) i went to the library to check up on where a few people were, one being swiss miss, who is MIA three days now. i saw that she updated trailjournals on the 7th... i read on. my insides twisted up. she got off the trail on the 7th?! we spent a number of days together and she never mentioned getting off the trail or disliking hiking. i walked from the library back into town, a little bit stunned. my belly stirring, i could feel the emotions moving now; i didn't feel like walking anymore. i dropped my pack under a tree and sat on the lawn of the 1st congregational church. tears welled up in my eyes. the lack of closure, the finality in her words, my feeling of loss, all hitting me now.i didn't feel like hiking anymore so i got a room at the shamrock village inn. i felt a little guilty about that since i'm nero/zeroing in two days in vermont. near dinnertime, my buddy wildcat shows up in town with "easy does it". that added just the right amount of sunshine to the day to make me smile again. we both know swiss miss pretty well so it was good i could talk with him about it. we've never had one of our friends leave the trail before.
Date: 2004-07-10
From: Dalton, MA

To: Mt. Graylock
Miles today: 17.0

walking today i passed through cheshire, MA. there at the ice cream shop, i met wildman and spot. as soon as they learned i was "Dharma" they gave me the message about swiss miss being off the trail. i thanked them for the info and told them i had heard yesterday. from there we all went to the church hostel. i had lunch while spot repaired his tent. i'd love to stay at the church tonight, but it would be way too short a day for me. today i'll go up that beast, mt greylock.on my way out of town i ran into zack. he already knew who i was and said i should update my trailjournals photo. it's a very weird feeling to have someone know me from reading my journal. this has happened a few times on the trail already.after reaching the top of greylock i got a space for myself a the hostel there. it's $10 to sleep on a cot in the converted garage and have a shower. i also opted to eat dinner there and sprang the $16 bucks for the family-style meal. we had salad, soup (minestrone, chicken noodle, or chili), baked chicken, bread corn, rice, and apple crisp for dessert. there was a ton of food and well worth the money.- - during the day i reflected on how i was feeling about swiss miss getting off the trail. all sorts of "woulda, coulda, shoulda" scenarios were popping up. i knew i was not being in the moment at all and quite stuck in the past. i reminded myself of all the things i had learned earlier in my hike. the ebb and flow... how events come in and out of my life. i have to be willing to receive the flow to allow new things (or past things) to come into my life. my favorite quote from jerry stocking came to mind, "the one human upset is the loss of the present" and, boy, was that true now. i have to let this go and allow life to move and change. i've made the assumption that life won't change the way i want it to... so i cling on to the past. i saw this clearly and put the swiss miss event to rest, trusting that i'll have good things in store for my future. if i flow with life, i may just be pleasantly surprised at the results.
Date: 2004-07-11
From: Mt. Graylock

To: Seth Warner Shelter
Miles today: 13.2
Weather: clear sky

i felt lonely getting up this morning. i had the greylock hostel all to myself last night, which was great, but this morning i felt some emptiness inside. i had my breakfast and went into the bascom lodge to check my pocketmail (email) before leaving. one new message was waiting from my guestbook. it was from burn! the message he sent me was right on target for where i was at emotionally. funny how the trail works... that was exactly what i needed when i needed it. thanks burn... i love ya, man!so, today i took burn's advice to heart and strolled my way into VERMONT. i gave myself an ample amount of breaks and took in every vista along the way. even though i was taking it easy, my feet hurt at the end of the day. the real mountains we're getting into are making my feet swell and i think my shoes are already at max capacity. new shoes may be in my future.i'm excited to be in vermont, but there is still some uneasiness in me. i feel it in my belly. it is not just one thing, but many little things - emotions from earlier in the week, fears about the damn schedule, fear of the post-trail future. just a small undercurrent of uneasiness that goes hand in hand with crossing into vermont today. (notice how none of the fears are about the present moment; it's all future/past)met some thrus today at the shelter/camp: fireball, wildman, spot, and dances with moose, who is the first sobo (southbounder) i've run into.
Date: 2004-07-13
From: Melville Nauheim Shelter, VT

To: Story Spring Shelter
Miles today: 17.4
Weather: overcast clouds

one thing about thru hikers vs. folks who haven¢t spent a lot of time in shelters (the long trail contingent), thru hikers move around like ballet dancers in the early morning and the latter make more noise than black bears in the forest. this morning the thrus all got up early, making as little noise as possible and moving about the shelter with gentle steps. as soon as the first LT hiker got up, the floorboards were thundering and voices were loud. inconsiderate? yeah, a little bit since not all the hikers were in the same groups. some wanted to sleep longer.i got out at 7:30 into the mist and light rain. the trees provided a lot of cover to keep the rain off, but the noticeable thing about the morning was the temperature... or lack of it. it was 50 in the morning and never reached 60 during the day. we (i was hiking with little chicken today) stopped for lunch at goddard shelter (3500') where we met spot and wildman. i haven't had to do this for a long time, but out came the winter hat, jacket, and pants. it felt like my second week on the trail, y'know way back in MARCH. wet and cold. this is july?at our destination, little chicken and i were quickly joined by spot and wildman. we spread out our gear and sat on the edge of the shelter. it is a dangerous time of day because we were done hiking, it was cold, and we had a lot of daylight left. must.. not... eat... all... food... in... sight. at these times we start recounting our food and seeing what we can spare to eat. realizing that we could easily scarf a day's rations in one sitting, we all jump in our sleeping bags and nap. my 40* WM down bag is super toasty. the LT guys (juice, teflon, and moose) and pita-man showed up around 5:00. that brings our shelter total to eight for the night. a bit tight since we have all our gear to deal with too. (it was an interesting sight having eight stoves going at once in the limited confines of our little home.)tomorrow i'm going to try for 21 miles to get near manchester center. the morning after i can hike an easy three to the road and take a "nero" (a roman holiday) in town. i have some phone calls, planning, shoe shopping, and patterns to do on my zero the following day.
Date: 2004-07-14
From: Story Spring Shelter

To: Spruce Peak Shelter
Miles today: 18.3
Weather: overcast clouds

rainy mornings are late mornings. i lay in bed listening to the rain for over an hour. "is it gonna stop?", i thought. spot and wildman got up at their usual time and were almost on their way. i was feeling a little guilty about lying there and then remembered i really don't have to be anywhere at any time. the day was like yesterday, light mist held back by the trees. at noon the sun creeped out, but only after i had summited and started down stratton mountain. the eighteen miles i did today didn't seem far or strenuous, but was pretty stinkin' muddy.oh, big highlight of the day. a guy named chuck, whom i met hiking yesterday, left a cooler full of cokes, mtn dews, full-size snickers bars, and homemade chocolate chip cookies near one of the road crossings. sweet! i think i didn't run a calorie deficit today. :Dat the shelter we met craig and hillary who were the leaders of an outdoor adventure group for kids. there were about twenty 12-13 year olds tenting down the hill from the shelter. it was a drizzly evening, but the kids were in good spirits. our shelter had a wood stove and windows, quite upper-crust from the shelters we've seen in VT. little chicken wanted a fire so we gathered some semi-wet wood and got one going with the help of some "boy scout water" and a candle.the youth campers were going to make s'mores without a fire since everything was pretty wet. we offered them our fire and they offered us s'mores. Mmmmm. it's good to be a thru hiker. we also got to eat the left over chocolate and graham crackers. the wood stove got the shelter in the 70s. a heat wave considering the past few nights were in the 50s. our shoes and other gear, which has been wet for days, will be dry tomorrow morning.For the rest of he evening i'll relax and let go of the scheduling concerns that i will tackle on my zero day.
Date: 2004-07-16
From: Manchester Center, VT

To: Manchester Center, VT
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

ah, a zero day. today i spent some time looking at my patterns and meditating, along with getting up-to-date on my email and internet.for being a thru hiker i got a free beard trim and also free ice cream at ben and jerry's. (thanks bug '03)that's it for today.staying at Sutton Place tonight: easy duzit, wildcat, welsh nomad, and dragonfly
Date: 2004-07-17
From: Manchester Center, VT

To: Lost Pond Shelter
Miles today: 14.8
Weather: light rain

i hiked with wildcat, easy duzit, burrito, free radical, and pastor john for most of the day. it was a lazy day with many stops at vistas and sunny spots to relax and... drink scotch. i dunno, we were all lying on baker peak, taking in the green mountains, when wildcat pulls out the scotch he had leftover from his zero day. we all sipped... smooth, yummy.being the weekend, being in VT, being on both the AT and LT, we had to plan which shelter we were going to stay at. big branch was our target today, but we heard that a lot of thrus and weekenders were targeting that shelter too. we adjusted our plan and stopped one shelter early to avoid the crowds. we'll have to pick up two more miles tomorrow, but that's o.k.in the shelter wildcat set up his bug bivy and i hung my tent from the ceiling. this will keep the nasty blood suckers away while we sleep. easy duzit and freakin animal are braving the open air tonight.tomorrow i'll see my friend cindy who's invited us into her home and will be able to give us a few days of slackpacking.
Date: 2004-07-18
From: Lost Pond Shelter

To: VT103
Miles today: 17.6

today wildcat, easy duzit, and i ended up at my friend's house. when i began this journey, cindy and mark offered their place to me when i passed through VT. i'm here now and i am drying myself and my clothing in their spacious home. cindy and mark have rolled out the red carpet for me and my compatriots (wildcat, easy duzit, burrito, and free radical), giving us showers, food, a place to sleep, and slackpacking for a few days.my hiking friends are in awe of our host's generosity and are having trouble receiving it all. i try to put them at ease and ask them to treat it as any magic they've received so far. there is definitely a desire to "give something back", but cindy will have none of that. some would think it rude to not give anything back when faced with such generosity, but is there a lesson here? is there giving hidden within the act of receiving? hmmmmm.i took fall #3 today as i moved over, as moonpie calls it, a slippery-ass rock. pressing my poles into the ground didn't off-load enough weight to save me and my front side went on a crash course with the rock. on the way down there was a patch of dirt between the rocks and i managed to plant my right elbow in it, pitching my body to the side. like an amusement park thrill ride, my pack torqued me around to the "turtle" position, saving my body from getting pounded into the rocks. luckily, just my elbow took a beating. just a flesh wound, though.
Date: 2004-07-19
From: VT103

To: US4
Miles today: 17.4

burrito is very sick this morning. actually, she hasn't felt well for days. we delayed our start to let her get some medical attention. she went to "dr. dick", a dentist, because she thought she might need a root canal. nope. he gave her some meds for a sinus infection that's making her head pound. the doc said it would take a few days for the pain to subside.today was like yesterday: overcast in the morning, rainy at noon, and rainy just before cindy picked us up. vermont has been the state of rain and mud. lots of mud! it is nice that we can take a shower after each day of hiking. today we were going to do 21 miles but we only got 17.x done. easy duzit says i spend too much time talking to pretty southbounders and mess up the schedule.ummm... why else am i on the trail but to talk to pretty southbounders? beats walking. the reflection of my desire to be in a structure, to be in a schedule, is still there. it's holding on for dear life. if i can give up the part of myself that feels "right" to be on-time and just live in the moment and let the moment change as it will, i may be pleasantly surprised as life unfolds.shelter register quote of the day: "if you're not living on the edge, you're taking up to much space."
Date: 2004-07-20
From: US4

To: Stony Brook Road
Miles today: 10.6

today was a short mileage day. i originally wanted to do 20 miles but i felt tired and asked the guys if they wanted to do a short day. they agreed.before mark left for work he made us a bowl full of waffle batter. wildcat and easy duzit made waffles for burrito and i. free radical slept in, and no saying is as true as: "the early hiker gets the waffle". we told free radical that burrito ate his waffles.on today's southbound slack, easy bought some beers for trail magic. wildcat and i took two each to divide up the weight. we met up with easy's friends, tank and bone spur, and gave them some beers. boy, were they surprised... and grateful. our last beer was given to sierra who was lucky enough to be at the right place at the right time.we had lunch at a park. i stayed out of the sun because my lyme medication makes me more sensitive to sunlight. and, BTW, my lyme disease test came back negative, but the hospital says i should get it done again when i get home... something about false negatives.burrito, though, might have lyme disease or an infected spider bite. she's got a big-ass mark on her hip.get thee to a physician!we got back to cindy and mark's place and took showers and did laundry. i organized a pizza run where we spent something like $75 on pizzas and wings. so yummy.mark picked some raspberries from their bushes to go with out angel food cake for dessert. life doesn't get better than this... ok, a pint of ben and jerry's before bed rounds out the day.
Date: 2004-07-21
From: Stony Brook Road

To: Cloudland Shelter
Miles today: 19.0

in the morning it was discovered that cindy's dog ate easy's beef jerkey. maybe he was trying to keep easy's pack weight down. see, it's true on the trail or at home, always hang your food!cindy made grits in the morning which we had vermont-style - with syrup. free radical slept late again, so burrito woofed down his portion.wildcat, easy duzit, and i had a wonderful time at cindy and mark's house. they offered their entire home to us and pampered us for three days. i hope to find an excuse to go back there again. thanks guys! today we are venturing out with full packs. we left burrito and free radical behind at cindy's. burrito is going to the clinic today to see what that big spot on her leg is.the hiking day was long and tiring. we were going to do 21 miles so we could get to hanover in two nights. we cut the day short at 19 because some were tired and we were running out of light. my knees and feet were killing me. i felt like stopping at 15 miles near a stream, but i was moving with the group. you'll remember i had trouble with this back in harpers ferry. i actually had the same wave of sadness come over me during the hike that i felt in harpers. i will probably tell wildcat i cannot travel with him and easy tomorrow morning. i need to do less miles at this point in time. maybe later i will catch him in the whites.
Date: 2004-07-22
From: Cloudland Shelter

To: Happy Hill Shelter
Miles today: 10.7
Weather: scattered clouds

what a rough day for me spiritually, emotionally, and physically. i was really down on myself because i hadn't learned my lesson, even though i was trying to be very aware of my flow, hiking within a group of people. i don't know if i'm not good at it or i have to realize my goals and pace will never be the same as another's.wildcat knew i needed to separate from the group just as i did in harper's ferry. when the group's goal and my own (which i feel through my body mostly) are not aligned, my knees will make it known to me if i ignore that "still, small voice" in the back of my psyche. i hear that voice and i get in trouble because my mind will answer, "just six more miles" - overriding the wisdom of the self. yesterday, i felt the cutoff after 15 miles. i went four more and my body protested with pain.the goal was to get to hanover today and slack with one of wildcat's friends. the days would have been long (19 miles, then 18 to hanover) only to slack 20 the following day over hard terrain. no rest for the weary, i'd say. i wanted to do a 20 mile day at cindy's and cut back to 10 miles because i was tired. we still slacked the 10 miles, but i wanted the benefit of feeling rested at the end of the day. i doubt i would feel rested after a long 20 mile slackpack, especially if it was preceded by 19 and 18 mile days in humid, 90* heat.instead of going to hanover, i opted for 10 miles to a shelter. that way i'll give the knees and feet a rest and also be able to take a nap and catch up on my journaling.i stopped in west hartford, VT today to have a cheese burger, a bag of cheetos, and to buy enough food to get me into hanover tomorrow.the general store was the only store in sight... the only business in sight. it had what hikers needed and also had a water spigot for us around the side of the building. that seemed very nice until i was about a mile away, sweating in the 90* liquid air, and took my first swig of that water. ewwwww! that might be the worst water i've had on the trail. it's definitely worse than the swill at punchbowl shelter. sadly, it was the only water i had for the next three miles. i treated it with... gatorade to hide the obnoxious flavor. if i'm dead tomorrow, you'll know it's the water.it's 7pm and i'm journaling in the twilight. no one else is here, but there's plenty of time for folks to roll in. i usually get to journal at 8-9pm and have to use my headlamp for light. this is a welcome treat i am giving myself - my shoes and clothes are dry, the cooking stuff is put away, my teeth are brushed, and there's still daylight left. it will feel great to go to bed early.one last thing before i close. this little episode i involved myself in yesterday and today gives me so much insight into swiss miss's hiking style. she never wanted to have to agree to be somewhere at the end of the day. i can see how stressful it can be, especially if your day begins to vary from what was discussed in the morning.sobos i met today: i ching, flaco, musicman, and dr. jones.at the shelter tonight: four winds and lone wolf, both sobo