morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2014-07-14
From: Millbrook-Blairstown Rd, NJ

To: Sunrise Mountain Rd, NJ
Miles today: 14.4
Weather: overcast clouds

Cloudy day of hiking today, kind of dragged along. Fortunately minimal rain until just near the end. A lot of good trails through this area, and also a lot of rocky ones. Saw the High Point tower a couple of times. Cassidy fell once on the wet rocks, luckily wasn't hurt. We were even more cautious after that! Saw a bear, first one we've seen. Only saw four other hikers, Nora V was the only one we knew. The butterflies have been thick on the trail the last few days, interesting.
Date: 2014-07-15
From: Sunrise Mountain Rd, NJ

To: Deckertown Turnpike, NJ
Miles today: 8.7
Weather: moderate rain

Decided to take a short day today to let Cassidy's feet heal before our sister Blondie joins us to hike Vermont. Really enjoyed the short hike. Decided to camp at High Point State Park and take a rest. Stopped at the Sunrise Mountain pavilion, beautiful view. Kind of a strange pavilion, large and well-built with a stone floor, atop a mountain, but with nothin in it but a few benches around the perimeter. You kind of expect to find picnic tables so it could be put to some use.
Date: 2014-07-16
From: Deckertown Turnpike, NJ

To: Beach at High Point State Park, NJ
Miles today: 6.3

Another short day for us. Cassidy's feet are doing better with the short miles. Definitely pleasant hiking short days. Slept good at the park. Our tents are on a platform, have a beautiful view out over Sawmill Run Lake. Ran into Water Lady at the visitor center and again at the beach area concessions, where we stopped to get a snack. Also Botany and a few other hikers.
Date: 2014-07-17
From: Wallkill River parking, NJ

To: Beach at High Point State Park, NJ
Miles today: 10.3

Decided to hike southbound today, back to High State Park. Easy and pleasant walking today, mostly across fields and the hedgerows between fields, then up the mountain to the High Point Memorial towering over the highest point in NJ. Went to the truck stop area near Port Jervis for lunch and took the rest of the day off at our campsite. Went for a walk around the campground loop and when I returned found Cassidy and Foodwalker had made this 1000 mile market for me? Which was a total surprise.
Date: 2014-07-18
From: Wallkill River parking, NJ

To: NJ 94
Miles today: 9.3
Weather: light rain

Long, tiring day of transition today. We were meeting our sister Blondie today to start hiking in Vermont. We packed up early in the morning to leave the state park and get a few more miles in. Started at the Wallkill parking area again and walked north around the perimeter of the Wallkill Wetlands Preserve. Heavy dew and vicious monster mosquitoes, but a beautiful early morning walk, saw herons and geese. Over the Pochuck Mountain, and the impressive boardwalk and suspension bridge. All in all, a great morning hike. Then a leisurely lunch at the Double S Diner, really good food. Hooked up with Blondie without too much trouble, followed by a long drive to Brattlesboro, VT to the Econolodge, got there about 8. Too tired to go get something to eat, just made do with what we had. Great to see Blondie, looking forward to hiking with her.There were days where all it seems to be is driving on the road. This was one of them. Thankful to have made it safely. Blondie is now here; will see how that works out. Definitely feel outnumbered.Take care. Foodwalker
Date: 2014-07-19
From: Hanover, NH

To: West Hartford, VT
Miles today: 9.9

Made a quick drive to Hanover, NH and were hiking through this old college town by 9:30. All very excited. Saturday morning, so street vendors were out, one gave us bottles of water. Traditional photos on the bridge crossing into Vermont, then road walking for a while through Norwich, VT and finally up into the hills. Trail magic at three different places along the road, much appreciated! It was a beautiful walk today, very nice trails, I was very impressed. Ended up in West Hartford, a tiny little town. Met a couple of women who were hiking Vermont, sponsored by Warren Doyle, with a van and driver to carry their supplies, similar to us. I was very sorry to find that the general store and Full Belly Deli had closed, enjoyed stopping there last year.Foodwalker here. Got 60% of the Sisterhood of Payne to start out the trail in Hanover, NH. Got to the full belly deli and they had closed because of the devastation caused by hurricane Irene. That was too bad--I am sure that a lot of hikers were disappointed because it is listed as open in AWOL's AT guide. Just a word about the two places for parking listed in AWOL's guide. First, the underpass parking is at the start of Podunk road. If you are lucky, you may be able to get three vehicles in that area. The Podunk road parking area has no parking spaces, despite the AT guide's assertion that there is one there. I pulled off what little I could to park by the trail. For some reason, this road was very busy with traffic. Talk about a misnamed parking spot. Oh well, didn't get hit, so am very thankful for that. Take care. Foodwalker
Date: 2014-07-20
From: West Hartford, VT

To: VT 12
Miles today: 13.0
Weather: light rain

Today continued with great trails. I know all of Vermont isn't like this, but it was a great beginning. The forests of towering pines are impressive. When we were leaving West Hartford a lady offered us coffee, very nice of her. Really enjoyed meeting her and two of her grandchildren. Her daughter had just been married the previous year. She told us about all the devastation from Hurricane Irene. The White River, which was way below the bridge in a gorge had risen 32 feet, over the bridge, and incredible damage. Their home was destroyed, but they were eventually able to rebuild. A very frightening experience! Camped in a cow pasture for the night, pretty tired.Foodwalker here. I remember this parking area from last year. They were tearing it all up and I couldn't park there, so I had to spend the night along side of the road in the next door neighbor's driveway. Memories. This time it was okay to park there, and saw a few hikers who were coming from the general store. About the time that Tracy, Cassidy and blondie came, there was another hiker who was having serious issues with her knee. A couple of day hikers picked her up, and were going to take her to south pomfret, but we ended up meeting them at the general store about .2 miles away. That was the last we saw of her. Went back to the parking area, and there spent the rest of the night.
Date: 2014-07-21
From: VT 12

To: River Road, VT
Miles today: 17.7
Weather: light rain

We decided to do a long day today so we could continue to slackpack. Maybe not the best decision. It was a bit hard! Climbed up to the Lookout, on top of the roof of a cabin, incredible view, really nice cabin, which the owners allow hikers to use. After that it was a very long day of hiking, the trail got rougher and the ups and downs were longer and steeper. Blondie's feet were starting to bother her. It was the longest she's ever hiked in her life, on only the third day out. Finally arrived at River Road about 7. We thought we would move to Gifford Woods State Park, but we couldn't locate the entrance. It was getting dark, everybody was getting discouraged, and we finally went to a motel in Mendon. Then when we were unloading the van we discovered that Cassidy's backpack was not there. It had somehow not made it back into the van! She and Foodwalker rushed back to River Road and discovered that someone had set it to the side! They were incredulous, but very relieved! Planning a short day tomorrow.Foodwalker here. Replaced the rear passenger tire, as I had to keep filling it up with air. Turns out that the inside of the tire was worn down to the steel wires. Am glad to have gotten it replaced before it blew and caused an accident. Long drive on slow Vermont roads to get to the trail head parking area. The song "I've been everywhere man" should be the theme song for those people who do long term trail support.
Date: 2014-07-22
From: River Road, VT

To: US 4, near Killington, VT
Miles today: 5.6

Short hiking day today, by plan, to give Blondie's feet a break! We stayed at the Mendon Meadowview Lodge. The breakfast was fantastic, unbelievable really! We ate way too much, but it was terrific. Kent Pond was a lovely sight. Then up and over one mountain. Blondie got ahead of us, and then we never saw her again, which we thought was odd that she didn't wait for us. Apparently, though, at the junction with the Long Trail, which heads up to the Canadian border, she headed north on the Long Trail instead of south on the Appalachian Trail. Meanwhile, we passed the junction and continued on. She said it was a pretty rough trail, and she realized she was on the wrong trail and headed south again. So everything worked out okay. Decided to camp at Gifford Woods State Park, a nice park. Went into Rutland for supper. A pleasant day all around!Foodwalker here. I got three more new tires for the van, there had been some wear on them on the insides of the tires. The first one that I needed to replace had the steel underneath of the rubber starting to separate, so I got that one replaced yesterday. Oh well. We are staying at Giffords woods state park, which is pretty nice and very close by the road. Am getting to know these Vermont roads pretty well. Speed limit is 45-50 max on the state roads. For someone used to Wisconsin speed limits, it is too slow. Plan is for them to hike 17 miles tomorrow.
Date: 2014-08-01
From: US 4, near Killington, VT

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Just a note from foodwalker; blondie, Tracy McG and Cassidy finished hiking through Vermont yesterday evening. Blondie wanted to finish Vermont during her two week vacation, and she did so. Spent the morning getting back to the Williams inn in Williamstown Massachusetts. Got there and dropped blondie off at her car. It started right up, which was a good thing. We then did grocery shopping and doing laundry before restarting the trail. Went to undermountain road just outside of Salisbury Connecticut. So a bit of driving to get there, but relatively straightforward.Got to the trailhead, and Tracy McG and Cassidy started out under pretty good conditions. It is now about 5:15, and it has been raining for about 30 minutes here at the trailhead. Will see how far they got. I am settled for the evening. Just some notes about Vermont in general and some of the town in particular. From a hiker's perspective, rough, rocky, muddy, slippery, and it rained a lot while we were there. From a trail support perspective, most of the parking areas were good sized and relatively easy to find. Also, a lot of them were quiet enough to spend overnight at. Cities in particular: Rutland, Bennington and Manchester. Rutland--lots of fast food places, restuarants and shopping places. Very good place to resupply if you have the time to do it. Bennington--relatively goog sized town; library has lots of outlets, and they have the most hiker friendly motel we have come across. It is the catamount motel. When we were there, we got invited to a real feast from the grill. Manchester--two grocery stores, very little for fast food places. If you have a price chopper card, that is the store you want to go to; shaw's has a number of bogo deals, but you do not need a card.More later--foodwalker
Date: 2014-05-05
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

We'll it's trail journal time again and I'm going to make a preparation entry this year. I should probably explain why it's been three years since I was last hiking the A.T. but I've decided to save that for later. Having a little experience at writing these trail journal entries I know there will be some days that I might not have much to say and I'll fill you in then.Anyone new to this I'll mention that I try to keep these journal entries short if for no other reason than typing these in can be quite time consuming. I try to make them interesting but I make no guarantees in that regard. For each day I try to come up with a 'Best Part' and a 'Biggest Complaint' although sometimes 'Best Part' turns out to be 'NA' as in 'not applicable'. I believe the best 'Biggest Complaint' I ever came up with was "The excitement quickens as the laundry continues to dry".I think the best journal entry I wrote was for July 12th of 2010. If you care to read/reread that one you'll have go back and select the 2010 journal or copy and paste this link http://trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?trailname=11022 . By 2011 I figured out how to link journals for different years but I didn't know how in 2010. It's the third entry that year or you can get there more quickly by using the date drop down box or the 'List' option. I will say that most men agree that the photo for that entry, 'The view at Greenbrier State Park', is one of the most breath taking views you will ever see.To those of you who choose to read my trail journals I say thank you. I mostly write them for myself and if you choose not to read them it's no skin off my nose. I do mention trailjournals.com to a lot of people and the vast majority don't bother to check them out. To those people I'll say..... Well I guess I won't say anything because they won't be reading this anyways.
Date: 2014-05-07
From: Mountain Top Deli

To: Morgan Stewart Shelter
Miles today: 3.9
Weather: clear sky

Best part: Hiking again.Biggest complaint: The jerk at Walmart.It's great to be hiking again. It's been three years since my last A.T. hike because I've been 'Grandpa on call'. One of the best jobs in the world is being Grandpa on call but my daughter moved to Madison, WI so I'm no longer on call. The weather was great today so that makes being on the trail again really nice. Tomorrow it's supposed to rain.My brother drove me to the trail and it took longer than expected. It's seems as though my brother and I both have the ability to drive and the ability to talk but not at the same time. A few wrong turns were the result.My biggest complaint occurred during my customary trip to Walmart before getting back on the trail to purchase what I forgot to bring. This year it was a watch and kleenex in small packages. This is the third time I forgot to bring a watch. Since I normally use my phone as a watch and on the trail I'd rather have a real watch it's easy to forget. When we walked into the Walmart we stopped to get our bearings and I saw someone coming up from behind with his cart so I stepped aside so he could go around my brother and get past us. Instead he pushed his cart to be directly behind my brother and said "someone's behind you". What a jerk.We stopped at the Market Top Deli which is 0.4 miles from where I got off the trail three years ago. We bought a couple deli sandwiches and some potato salad and headed to the trail. It took so long for me to get ready to go in the morning that my brother didn't really have any time to hike. I know he didn't really want to hike a long way but 50 yards in and 50 yards out was probably less than he had in mind. You can check his trail journal later, 'My 100 yards on the appalachian trail'.My picture for this journal entry is me about to start my hike not holding a hiking stick. I've been buying hiking poles for several years but it seems like every new season you get your hiking sticks out and there all gummed up. They were working fine last year but now won't extend or won't collapse or both. This year I'm finding my hiking sticks in the woods. About one minute after this picture was taken I found a hiking stick. Five minutes later I found a better one. Two for the price of none. What a deal.
Date: 2014-05-08
From: Morgan Stewart Shelter

To: Telephone Pioneers Shelter
Miles today: 7.8
Weather: overcast clouds

Start 8:07End   3:32Temp Low 60'sBest part: Didn't really rainBiggest complaint: OopsYesterday when I mentioned I picked up a second hiking stick I should have mentioned I then pitched the first one. I just use one hiking stick. Normally thats all you need. When you're doing a tough rock hop or a log walk then it's good to have two. My plan is when that happens I'll just find another stick then.I came to a spot where there was a beaver dam.The beaver pond was to the right. To the left of the dam the ground was marshy and muddy. To cross to the other side there was an old dead log. If you walk the log but lose your balance you get muddy. I looked around for a second stick but didn't easily find one. I decided to give it a go with just one stick. Half way across I realized that I should have taken a picture before I crossed. I decided instead of going back I'd go ahead and cross and take a picture from the other side. When I got to the other side the layout for the picture just wasn't the same and I decided to not take a picture.I proceeded on my hike but kept feeling bad that I hadn't taken that picture. By the time I stopped for lunch I decided to stop worrying about it and just move on. As I was hiking on and still feeling bad when all of a sudden, OH NO! I'VE DONE IT AGAIN. After lunch I started hiking the wrong direction and had hiked back to the beaver dam. I went ahead and did the log walk (still with only one hiking stick) and took the picture I had been feeling bad about not taking. Then I did the precarious log walk a third time and hiked north to the shelter without making any real stops and checking my compass periodically on the way.
Date: 2014-05-09
From: Telephone Pioneers Shelter

To: Ten Mile River Shelter
Miles today: 12.8
Weather: overcast clouds

Start 8:24End   5:07Temp Low 60'sBest part - Hot showerBiggest complaint - Broken accessoryI've mentioned hot showers in earlier journal entries. There's just something about a hot shower when you've been accumulating a several day stink. At home a shower is a task but on the trail it's a luxury. Gee it's fun to be clean.I've included a picture of my hiking stick. It's not a close up so you can't see the finer points. I look for a stick that is long enough, strong enough and light enough. It's a plus if you can find a stick with with a two inch branch sticking out the side. Then you can use that to pick up things you've dropped, such as your other hiking stick but that doesn't apply to me. You can also use it when you stop for a break. First you lean your stick against a tree taking care to lean your stick in the direction that you've been hiking. Then you can use the little branch to hang your hat on. Or you can hang your water bottle while you eat your snack. Or you can hang your snack while you drink from your water bottle. Or you could hang your snack and your water bottle while you drop your hat in the mud.At one point today I stopped to pick up some trash on the trail. Then while switching the trash to my other hand so I could put it in my trash pocket I broke off my little two inch branch. Sometimes I pick other peoples trash on the trail. Most times I don't. I think the real solution for people who litter on the Appalachian Trail is capital punishment. What do you think? I don't think most people give an idea like this enough serious consideration. They just consider it briefly and cast it aside.I feel I should explain how I went the wrong way after eating my lunch yesterday. When I got to the stream with a bridge I first crossed the bridge. I turned around and quickly saw a good spot to sit on the other side. I recrossed the bridge and prepared to eat my lunch. Then I realized that when I stopped I didn't immediately make note of which way was the correct way to go when I start again. I told myself, no problem, I remembered I crossed the bridge before I sat down. I forgot that I crossed the bridge twice and ended up going the wrong way. Today I also stopped at a stream with a bridge. This time I deliberately did not cross the bridge, I leaned my hiking stick in the direction I was hiking, I ate my lunch and then retrieved my hiking stick, crossed the bridge and continued my hike in the right direction. Live and learn.
Date: 2014-05-11
From: Mt Argo Shelter

To: Stewart Hollow Brook Shelter
Miles today: 7.3
Weather: clear sky

Start 8:24End 4:37Temp 88Best Part - N/ABiggest Complaint - The miles seem to be getting longer.I hiked 0.3 miles from last nights soggy shelter to the road and then hiked 0.8 miles into Kent, CN. My wife had mailed my mail drop to the back country outfitter store there. It didn't open till 10:00 and I got to town at 9:02. I decided I try to find the laundromat that the AT Guide said was 'not hiker friendly'. Fellow hiker Spark said he was there yesterday and since he was the only one there there was no issue about being 'hiker friendly'. Today the laundromat decided to be 'not hiker friendly'. I couldn't find it. I then went to the IGA and found they had ibuprofen at a reasonable price. Spark said at the back country outfitters store he was selling 10 for $5. I got 50 for 7.68. I normally bring my prescription Mobic but I forgot. I have a stiff neck from sleeping too soundly. I should have tossed and turned like I did the first night. Yesterday I took a 0.3 mile side trip to see a covered bridge. I normally don't take side trips but when I heard that there was ice cream 0.2 past the bridge I decided to give it a go. When I went to recharge my Iphone at the small country mart that sold the ice cream I found my Iphone charger no longer worked. Luckily this small country store just happened to sell Iphone chargers. The second lucky thing that happened yesterday happened after I inadvertently lost track of the path. Actually I didn't know I was off the path but then the path was in front of me with blazes to the left and right. By checking the terrain and my compass I picked what I hoped to be the correct direction. As I proceeded I decided to turn around to see if the path looked familiar looking back. Ten yards behind I saw my hat hanging from the branch of a tree. Since it was hot I had attached my hat to my pack with a carabineer. How it got off the carabineer onto that branch is a mystery but since I rarely look behind me it was pretty lucky that I did at just the right time.My luck ran out when the rain came.
Date: 2014-05-12
From: Stewart Hollow Brook Shelter

To: Pine Swamp Brook Shelter
Miles today: 10.0
Weather: clear sky

Start 8:23End 6:35Temp Mid 80'sBest Part - Taking a dip in Husky BrookBiggest Complaint - Too much uphillThere was a sign recommending a bypass for Guinea Brook. I decided to ford it. That means removing your pack, switching from boots to sandals, tying your boots together and hanging around your neck, fording the brook, drying your feet, putting your boots back on. The 1/2 mile bypass would have been faster but it was fun getting my feet wet on a hot day. When I got to Husky Brook it seemed to have some deep pools. I decided to jump in. The pools were not as deep as I thought but it was refreshing to get soaked on such a hot day. Too many breaks meant I didn't get to the shelter till after 6:30. No time to journal last night. At one point while I was looking at a vista a turkey buzzard floated by about 50 feet in front of me and right at eye level. He turned around about 100 feet to my left and then floated by perhaps 50 feet below me. It was a moment to remember. It's time like that that make me remember why I'm out here. Then I turned around and remembered I had more uphill climbing up the mountain to do. Both sides of the coin.