morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2011-05-28
From: Vango & Abby's Memorial Hostel

To: Kincora hostel
Miles today: 12.3

It was a foggy morning when we got up. However, soon the sun broke through and we had a clear day. We left the Hostel at 7 am. We tried to take a short cut back to the Appalachian Trail (we are no longer purists). We couldn't find it, so we had to get back to the Trail by the 0.3 mile uphill trail we took to the hostel yesterday. It was 7:20 am by the time we got started on the Trail heading north for our last day's hike. We walked steadily until our first break at 9:30 am. The Trail was rock free and the ups and downs were a bit more gentle than past days. It was about 65 degrees on a pleasant morning in the woods. At 11:30 am we arrived at the Moreland Gap Shelter. We had a long lunch break there before we continued. We chatted with two teen aged boys who had spent the previous night there. Somehow they got ahead of the rest of their group, which had stopped at the previous shelter, the Mountaineer Shelter. Not very smart Boy Scouting.We had only six miles to go to finish our hike to Kincora. However, the afternoon's hike seemed never ending. There were steeper climbs and descents on the Trail. It also had gotten a lot hotter. We finally reached Dennis Cove Road at 3:50 pm. We were tired, hot, and aching. We were glad our 128 mile hike was over.Ten minutes later we were at the Kincora hostel. Swamp Fox did laundry and reorganized our gear for the trip home by car. Rocky went into town with Bob Peoples's daily shuttle into Hampton, TN. She bought a chicken for roasting along with vegetables. We will have quite a contrast tonight with our previous sparse dinners on the Trail. We have enough to share with other hikers who are here tonight.Baggins is here. We will shuttle her to the Dragons Tooth area tomorrow. Baggins is amazing. She is 60 years old and about four foot ten inches tall. She started hiking the Trail in 2006, when we met her at Gooch Gap. She carries what seems to be a huge pack for her size. Typically, she does about five miles a day. Slowly but steadily she has hiked the Trail well into New Hampshire, beyond Mt. Mooselauke. She plans to persevere until she completes the entire Appalachian Trail. She had to skip Dragons Tooth in a previous section hike, and she will do that section over the next few days.Gardener, who we met last night at Abby's Hostel is also here. She came into Kincora later this afternoon.It feels good to be done, but we are a bit envious of the hikers who will be continuing on the Trail.
Date: 2011-05-29
From: Kincora hostel

To: Philadephia
Miles today: 0.0

We said a reluctant goodbye to Bob Peoples when we left Kincora at about 8:30 am to start our drive to Philadephia. Bob is one of our favorite Trail personalities. We hope to see him next at the ALDHA Gathering this fall.We had Baggins with us, as we were going to deliver her to the vicinity of Dragons Tooth near Catawba, Virginia. In Catawba we located the Four Pines Hostel run by a trail angel by the name of Joe. The hostel is a large four car garage with bunks, a bathroon, and other amenities needed by hikers. It fills a need in this area of Virginia and is only 0.3 miles south of the Trail. We left Baggins there in good hands as there were other hikers in the hostel as well. Then we drove the rest of the way to Philadelphia. On the way we stopped for dinner at the Middlesex Diner, on Route 15, near Carlisle, Pennsylvania. We first stopped at this Diner in 2007 on a winter section hike. It has become one of Rocky's favorite restaurants (she has many favorites) and we often stop there when heading north or south on I-81. A few hours later we stopped in to visit Librarian (AT 2006) and her husband and two year old son, Owen. We met Librarian in 2006 on the same hike where we met Baggins. We will be in Philadephia for about two weeks. We will be packing up Swamp Fox's 101 year old dad. We will be moving him to Florida with us. The days of the Rocky/Swamp Fox hiking team will be over for awhile. We will perhaps hike separately for a few years. Swamp Fox will do some of his remaining 320 miles in New England this summer. Rocky would like to do some of the Florida Trail next winter. It will be both strange and a little difficult to be hiking alone after six years and several thousand miles.
Date: 2011-07-04
From: home in Orlando

To: home in Orlando
Miles today: 0.0

Happy Fourth of July to all our Long Distance Hiking friends and followers of our journals.We have finally entered the last of our photos from our recent AT hike in NC and TN. We will be heading for NH in a few days. Swamp Fox has a vision checkup at the Manchester Veterans Administration hospital on July 20. A day or so after the VA appointment, he will begin a section hike on the AT in northern Massachusetts and Vermont. Rocky will deliver him to Dalton MA, where we ended a section hike two years ago. He expects to make it to at least as far as Rutland, VT. Rocky has allowed him two weeks to hike by himself, while she cares for Swamp Fox's 101 year old Dad. Swamp Fox knows it will be a little weird to be hiking by himself after about 3200 miles of Long Distance hiking together over the last seven years. We'll see how it goes. This journal will continue a day or so before he begins his section hike.Thanks for following our previous hikes.
Date: 2011-07-28
From: home in NH

To: home in NH
Miles today: 0.0

I am going to start my hike at Dalton AM on Wednesday, August 3rd. Rocky will deliver me to the Trail and I'll be hiking alone for about two weeks. Hope the weather is a little cooler than our recent weather in NH. Looking forward to be back on the Trail again. I have even been doing some conditioning hikes with my pack, although no fully loaded (the pack, that is, not me). Generally we do our conditioning hiking on the Trail. Swamp Fox
Date: 2011-08-04
From: Cheshire, MA

To: Wilbur Clearing Shelter
Miles today: 11.4
Weather: light rain

I couldn¢t sleep after 5:30 am, so I got up, had some breakfast, and packed. I left the Church at 7 am on a cool morning. The Trail is initially a pleasant walk through Cheshire, before starting the long climb up Mt. Greylock.   It was overcast as I climbed, which was fine as it kept down the air temperature. At 9:45 am I reached the Mark Noepel Shelter. Tom A. Hawk was packing to leave as I arrived. He is also from New Hampshire. We chatted awhile, and then he left, heading south. I had a snack at the shelter and continued on the climb. The forest transitioned to mostly firs, and the air seemed cooler as I climbed. WIP passed me about 34 mile from the summit. He was already at the summit at Bascom Lodge when I arrived at 12:35. A paved road goes to the summit so there were many tourists around. I had planned to spend the night at Bascom Lodge, but it was quite early in the day. I inquired about the availability of a phone and the nightly rate. No phone was available and the nightly rate is $35 in the hostel.   After mulling it over, I decided to go on the next shelter. Since I don't have a credit card, it would be wise to conserve cash. I left the summit at 1:20 pm with WIP, who rather quickly left me far behind. I soon realized that I had forgotten to fill up my water bottles at the summit. I had 3 12 miles to go and only a few ounces of water left. I was able to get a few ounces from a day hiker which tided me though the rest of the day¢s hike. I passed over the summit of Mt. Williams with out stopping. The descent to the Wilbur Clearing Shelter seemed never ending. Finally I came to the side trail to shelter at 3:35 pm. There is a 0.3 mile side trail to the shelter. There were several large tents set up on platforms, but no one was around. Later a group of about 20 young people showed up. They had been on a day hike.It rained for a few minutes when I arrived at the shelter. WIP was there for a break and trying to decide whether to go on. He did finally go on and hoped it would not rain on him. I set up my tent, minus the fly, in the shelter, as I expected rain and wanted the bug protection. Sure enough at 6 pm, a heavy rain started which lasted for many hours. I hope WIP found a dry place to spend the night. It was now time for dinner. I had to cook my first trail meal since 2005, as Rocky has done all the cooking for us since then.   I made up a concoction of mashed potatoes, burrito mix, and salmon, that wasn¢t too bad at all. I ache all over tonight so I took two Vitamin I¢s. Worse, my left toe has turned blue from the downhill toe-banging, and the nail looks like it¢s coming off. Bona Sera, RockySwamp Fox
Date: 2011-08-31
From: home in NH

To: home in NH
Miles today: 0.0

I had planned to start hiking again last Monday, August 29th from VT Route 9, where I ended my last section hike on August 6. However, Hurricane Irene changed those plans. We lost electric power around 10 am on the morning of Sunday, August 28. It was two days later when power was restored to our home. Many, many people had a much worse experiences as a result of the hurricane. We had no damage except for some minor leaks. We have a pond behind the house which provided water for flushing toilets. The wood stove and gas stove took care of cooking and heating water. We had plenty of flashlites and candles for lighting. The biggest problem was refrigeration, but we went on an eating spree to eat up perishable food before it spoiled. Right now it looks like I will start at VT Route 9 on Friday, September 2nd , and head north. We¢ll see how far I get. Or how many days Rocky lets me hike. Swamp Fox
Date: 2011-09-02
From: home in NH

To: home in NH
Miles today: 0.0

Another hike is over before it started. This has been a bad year for our hikes. First we had a back pack stolen in Spain ending our hike on the Camino Portugues, before we set one foot on the Trail. Then last month I had to cut my hike on the MA/VT AT short because of damage to my toes. Now, thanks to Hurricane Irene, my hike north from VT Route 9 ends before I even got to the Trail.This morning, we headed west for Bennington on Route 9. However, when we got to Brattleboro we found that Route 9 was closed somewhere in VT east of the AT crossing, due to damage from the Hurricane. We talked to a man at the Dunkin Donuts in who suggested getting to Bennington by way of Manchester. We headed north on Route 30 towards Manchester. There was a bridge washout near the town of Newfane. However, a bypass on some back roads got us around that problem. Then in the town of Rawsonville we found the road blocked due to a washout ahead. A man at the road block told us we could get to Manchester by a convoluted net work of back roads. We had no confidence that we could follow his directions or that there wouldn¢t be more road blocks ahead. Rocky was also concerned that the Trail wouldn¢t be safe due to hurricane damage. So at this point we turned around and headed for home. We did have a nice lunch at a new diner in Keene NH, but basically we spent the bulk of the day on a 200 mile wild goose chase. So ends my 2011 hiking on the Appalachian Trail.Swamp Fox
Date: 2011-10-01
From: home in NH

To: home in NH
Miles today: 0.0

We entered the few pictures Swamp Fox took on his four day section hike, north from Dalton,MA, back in early August.We are looking forward to the ALDHA Gathering this coming weekend in North Adams, MA. We hope to see many of our Friends of the Trail there. Swamp Fox's 101 year old Dad will be with us, so we are staying in a motel, rather than at the campsite.
Date: 2011-12-14
From: home in NH

To: home in Florida
Miles today: 0.0

Hi there hiker friends:This entry has nothing to do with the Appalachian Trail. However I thought that some of you who follow Rocky's adventures (and occasional misadventures) might be interested in her Florida Trail section hike. She is doing the first part of the Florida Trail with Bob Peoples, of Kincora Hostel fame, and Kim Peters, an experienced AT hiker from Tennessee. Meanwhile I am staying home to care for my 101 year old Dad, and quite frankly I am not thrilled about walking thru swamps (Been There, Done That).The threesome was not able to start at the actual southern terminus of the Florida Trail, at Loop Road in the Big Cypress National Preserve, as the access road is closed for reconstruction. Instead they started at the Oasis Visitors Center on US 41 (the Tamiami Trail). They will miss the first 7.8 miles of the Trail which is virtually all swamp walking.I dropped them off on Saturday, December 10th, at about 4 pm. They were only going to 1.2 miles to the first campsite, and it was late in the day. Sunset is about 5:30 pm.I received a phone call from Rocky at about 11 am on Wednesday morning, December 14th. They had made it to the I-75 (Alligator Alley) rest stop, which is very close to the Trail. They have had a difficult time to say the least. In almost four full days of hiking they have covered only 30.1 miles.At times it has taken them two hours to cover a mile due to the difficulty in walking thru the swamps and inconsistent trail markings. They have lost the trail several times. Fortunately they have a compass which kept them going in the correct direction until they found trail markings. Yesterday they walked for six straight hours in water. Rocky says the deepest water has been mid thigh high.One of the afternoons Bob Peoples walked ahead of Rocky and Kim. He missed the side trail to the campsite and ended up walking an extra two or three miles. He was exhausted by the time he figured out his mistake and made it back to the campsite.It has rained some of each day they have been on the Trail. However, that has not been too much of a problem, except for having to put on pack covers in the middle of a swamp. Temperatures have been quite warm: in the 70's and 80's. The warmer weather has been kind of a blessing as they have gotten chilled from all the water walking. Swamp walking is largely over for them. Tomorrow night they will be at the Billie Swamp Safari campground. They will be able to spend the night in a cabin, do laundry, get a restaurant meal, and pick up mail drops of food. They have another 67 miles to go until they reach the termination point of their section hike in Clewiston, Florida.Rocky sounded quite upbeat and enthusiastic despite the rough going. Swamp Fox
Date: 2011-12-15
From: home in Florida

To: home in Florida
Miles today: 0.0

Rocky, Bob Peoples, and Kim reached the Billie Swamp Safari campground today at around noon. They have plenty of time to take showers, do laundry, clean up gear, and get some restaurant food. Tonight they will be in a cabin (called a "chickie", what ever that is) at the campground.Tomorrow they have a 16 mile hike ahead of them, predominately a road walk. The Florida Trail is supposed to follow a canal dike for a good part of tomorrow's hike by the dike is closed to foot traffic as it is being repaired. After tomorrow they will have only 34 miles left to go. I anticipate them finishing their hike at Clewiston, Florida, on Monday, December 19th at the latest. I will have a great deal of laundry to do when she returns.Rocky had an odd experience a few nights ago while camped at a site in the swamps. It was a beautiful clear night. In the darkness she saw a light she thought was coming towards her. They thought it might be hunters or poachers in the dark. Her imagination was in overdrive and she thought it might be a UFO. The light kept getting closer and brighter. Eventually after some angst she saw the almost full moon rising above the trees.Swamp Fox
Date: 2011-12-16
From: home in Florida

To: home in Florida
Miles today: 0.0

Tonight the threesome is camped on a canal dike after a 17 mile day. Most of the day's hike was along canal dikes. The canal dike was supposed to be closed to foot traffic because of reconstruction of parts of the dike. However, Bob Peoples talked the construction crew into letting them pass through This saved a great deal of road walking.It looks like they have three more days before they reach the end of their hike in Clewiston.
Date: 2011-12-18
From: home in Florida

To: home in Florida
Miles today: 0.0

The threesome of Rocky, Bob Peoples, and Kim reached the Lake Okeechobee dike today. They were camped just north of John Stretch Park right on top of the dike. Rocky called me about 6 pm, but had to make the phone call quick. The mosquitoes were awful outside her tent and she was anxious to get zipped up for the night. They are about nine miles from their ending point in Clewiston. They should be there before lunch. After a lunch at the Mexican restaurant there, they will head home. I expect them back here around 5 or 6. I have a big dinner awaiting them. I am anxious to hear about their adventures (and a bit jealous, if truth be told).Swamp Fox
Date: 2012-05-05
From: home in NH

To: home in NH
Miles today: 0.0

Cinco de MayoHello to all our Friends of the TrailWe are back in NH for most of the summer. We will be doing about two weeks on the Appalachian Trail in Vermont starting May 16. We will pick up the Trail where Swamp Fox left off last August at Route 9, near Bennington VT. It will be great to be back on the Trail again, and this time we will be hiking together.   Chilly Willy and Just Ray are staying with us in NH for a few weeks, so there will be lots of trail talk. They just got off the trail after doing some section hiking in parts of NJ, NY, and MA. See you on the Trail or on Trail Journals.
Date: 2012-05-15
From: home in NH

To: still home in NH
Miles today: 0.0

Well, tomorrow afternoon we will be on the Trail again. We have taken care of everything at home and arranged care for Swamp Fox's dad and have a shuttle arranged to the Trail at VT Route 9 at Bennington. The first day's hike will only be less than two miles to the first shelter north. We expect showers tomorrow afternoon, but after that the weather looks great for the next few days. Manchester Center will be our first resupply. We are carrying about six days worth of food just in case. Rocky's pack is 26 pounds with 40 ounces of water, while Swamp Fox's is 34 pounds with 52 ounces of water. At least we will be cutting down on this weight as we eat our way through our initial food supply. We are both eagerly looking forward to the start of our hike. It is the first opportunity to hike together since last May when we did 128 miles in NC and TN.Back on the Trail again!
Date: 2012-05-16
From: Vermont Route 9 (W. of Bennington)

To: Melville Nauheim Shelter
Miles today: 1.6
Weather: broken clouds

This will be the first opportunity for Rocky to hike with me since May 2011.   Shortly we will be leaving for Vermont where we will start our hike at Vermont Route 9, near Bennington. This is where I ended my hike last year. But first a few house keeping items for this journal. As this is the continuation of my quest to become a 2000 Miler on the Appalachian Trail, just like my wife, Rocky, we will continue our 2011 journal rather than start a new one. Also the text will refer to photos by number, where appropriate. The photos in the Photo Album of this journal will reflect those numbers. We have not been able to figure out how to link the photos directly to the text, as our friend, Slow Walker, does in his journals. However, the photos are not likely to be posted and captions for perhaps two weeks. Daily mileages are based on the 2012 ATC Companion.Swamp FoxWe left our New Hampshire home at 11:15 am on a cloudy day.   Our friend, Pauline, drove us to the trail head at VT Route 9. The drive took two hours and toward the end of the drive we encountered heavy rain. This would not be a pleasant way to start our hike. This would be just our last AT hike together last May which started at Allen Gap in Tennessee. However, we waited the rain out and started up the trail at 1:25 pm with pack covers on. (photo 74) The pack covers proved unnecessary as we were soon climbing in sunshine. The first part of the hike to Split Rock (photo 77) was quite steep, with good trail work and stepping stones. The trail also got buggier the higher we climbed. Split Rock is basically a split rock and the trail goes through the middle.(photo 78) After Split Rock the trail became more gradual. We arrived at the Melville Nauheim Shelter at 2:55 pm. The thousand foot climb over 1.6 miles had taken us 112 hours. Not bad for a first day.There were hordes of black flies in the shelter area so we set up our REI Half Dome tent, minus fly, and tried to fit it in the shelter. As the shelter has two levels of bunks, our tent would not fit in the shelter. So we found a fairly rock free area near the privy and placed our tent there, with the fly on. We got ourselves into the tent as soon as possible to get away from the black flies. We had a minor disaster when our water bag fell over and wet the tent bottom. It¢s not a big deal however. We relaxed in the tent for several hours before starting dinner. It is now 6:45 pm and we are safe in our tent from the bugs. We can hear them hitting the tent mosquito netting. Dinner, teeth brushing, and other camp chores are done. We can hear thunder in the west and the sky has clouded over. It looks like rain is coming.
Date: 2012-05-19
From: Story Spring Shelter

To: Stratton Pond Shelter
Miles today: 10.4
Weather: clear sky

It was 49 degrees in the shelter this morning. Quite comfortable. The bugs weren¢t active yet so we had a peaceful breakfast. We left the shelter at 6:50 am. The first 3.6 miles were fairly easy hiking with moderate ups and downs. This took us to the parking area on the Stratford-Arlington Road by 9:15 am. We loaded up on water there in anticipation of the 1700 foot climb in 3.8 miles of Stratton Mountain. We enjoyed chatting with trail maintainer who had come from Connecticut to do trail work. He had previously section hiked the entire Trail, and trail work was his way of giving back. Rocky wanted to rest longer and continue talking with the maintainer. However, Swamp Fox was anxious to start the climb. Soon after we started Rocky took a spill on a plank crossing a boggy area.   Actually it was a full face plant. Miraculously, there was no damage except for her left arm that was sore for a while. The climb was long and difficult for us between the heat in the 70¢s and the bugs. Samas passed us during the climb, and we had been passed by Iceman and Viking earlier. Some day hikers also passed us, including two Russian-American women, who we enjoyed talking with. There were some good views as we climbed (photo 88). We used up our water supply during our climb, but fortunately there was a good water source about a half mile below the summit. We were exhausted when we reached the summit at 12:50 pm. We had lunch there. It was disappointing that the black flies were swarming even at the summit and made relaxation impossible. Rocky wanted to rest longer at the summit, but Swamp Fox was anxious to start down because of the harassment by black flies. We left the summit at 1:25 pm, earlier than we both would have preferred. The bugs seem to be dictating our hike. We cannot rest for long periods of time, we must wear uncomfortable head nets, we must overdress for bug protection, and at night we hide in our tent instead of sharing comradeship with our fellow hikers.The hike down to the Stratford Pond Shelter seemed endless. We both had a difficult time. We were beat when we arrived at the shelter access trail at 3:45 pm. There were quite a large number of hikers and trail maintainers at the shelter.(photo 89) However, we choose to set up our tent a short distance away from the shelter for protection from both mosquitoes and black flies. Once again we would have preferred to stay in the shelter with our fellow hikers, but bugs are dictating otherwise. As we lay here in our tent we can hear bugs hitting the tent. It sounds like a light rain. Rocky has some blisters and Swamp Fox is just plain tired tonight. During the course of our hike we saw moose prints, however, no moose sightings, unfortunately.