morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2011-01-25
To: Overmountain Boys
Miles today: 0.0

Whenever we think of the Revolutionary War we think of Concord, Lexington, or maybe Bunker Hill. We envision George Washington crossing the Delaware and the cold encampment at Valley Forge. Hikers on the Appalachian Trail walk right through historic places that were important to the establishment of our country. The first place I recall touching this history is at Yellow Gap in Tennessee about 380 miles from Springer Mountain. There is a sign declaring this is the place where The Overmountain Boys a group of (Patriots / Rebels) crossed the ridge of the Appalachian Mountains on September 25, 1780 on their way into battle with the (Loyalists / Royalists) at The Battle of King¢s Mountain. The Overmountain people were settlers who pushes west over the mountains (Appalachian) to settle in what we now know as Tennessee.   These hardy men of the Blue Ridge and Alleghenies, of deep religious convictions, were accustomed to the hardships and independence of a pioneer life and in their mountain homes in the highlands and the backwaters but they seldom were concerned with affairs beyond their borders or interfered with by Crown or colony.   They sought the seclusion of the western waters; and in the valleys of the Holston, the Watauga, and the Nolichucky, found freedom in the exercise of their religion. Had Cornwallis and his leaders known more about these mountain and backwater men, they would have carefully avoided all military and punitive measures which might tend to draw them from their mountain fastnesses to enroll amongst the enemies of the King.The Battle of Kings Mountain, South Carolina, occurred on the 7th day of October, 1780, and resulted in the defeat of Lieutenant Colonel Ferguson, who commanded the royal forces, and the loss of his command, not one man escaping from the battle field. The thoroughness of the disaster, and the death of the brave and highly trusted leader, was by far the most serious blow to which the British forces operating in the Southern Provinces had been subjected. The immediate effect upon Cornwallis was to put an end, for the time being, to the further subjugation of the Province of North Carolina. His contemplated advance from Charlotte Town to Salisbury was menaced by a new and unheard of enemy¢the men under Campbell, Shelby, Sevier, and others¢who came from the region of the mountains, and the back, waters that flow to the west; from places so remote and unknown to the British leaders as to be almost mythical. This avenging horde made necessary a hasty revision of Cornwallis plans following Kings Mountain, which resulted in his immediate withdrawal to the South, and the concentration of his main army, detached posts, and flanking parties, into positions capable of rendering mutual assistance.>Taken from: http://www.tngenweb.org/revwar/kingsmountain/warcollege.html
Date: 2011-01-26
To: Shay's Rebellion
Miles today: 0.0

Another place where AT hiker crosses an historic site of early American history is in Massachusetts at about mile 1510. On the north side of South Edgemont Road there is a stone marker declaring the spot as the place where Shays¢ Rebellion took place. Hiking the Appalachian Trail isn¢t just what Bill Bryson's calls ¢A Walk in the Woods,¢ but also a walk through our nation¢s history. Many hikers are asked ¢What did you think about as you hiked?¢ The answer is many things. The places you pass gives you lots of different things you might never have thought would be found along the way. A thru hike is what you make of it; you can put your nose down and make miles or you can ¢stop and smell the roses¢ by taking in the experiences.The following is from:http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h363.htmlWars and Battles, 1786-1787A wave of farm foreclosures in western Massachusetts swept the young republic to its first episode in class struggle. Demonstrators and rioters protested high taxation, the governor's high salary, high court costs and the assembly's refusal to issue paper money (an inflationary measure highly favored by the debtor class).Opposition had coalesced around Daniel Shays, a Revolutionary War veteran, who headed an ¢army¢ of 1,000 men. They marched first for Worcester where they closed down the commonwealth's Supreme Court, then turned west to Springfield where they broke into the jail to free imprisoned debtors. The barns of some government officials were burned. Wealthy Bostonians, who feared the rebellion in the west, contributed money for soldiers under the command of General Benjamin Lincoln.The rebels were routed in a skirmish in January 1787. Shays escaped to Vermont and was later pardoned. Others were not so fortunate - 150 were captured and several sentenced to death. George Washington and others urged compassionate treatment of the rebels and pardons were eventually granted.It is interesting to note the role reversal of such people as Samuel Adams. In early revolutionary times, Adams was among the most vocal and radical critics of the existing government. By the 1780s, however, Adams had become an establishment figure and urged death sentences for the leading Shays rebels.The next statewide election in Massachusetts altered the assembly's complexion and led to passage of a number of measures designed to improve the farmers' conditions. However, conservative forces were deeply disturbed by the anarchy in the west and became increasingly committed to strengthening the central government
Date: 2011-01-28
To: Memorials on the trail
Miles today: 0.0

There are numerous memorials and some cemeteries on the Appalachian Trail. The memorials honor former thru ¢ hikers, trail maintainers, and fallen Forest Service firefighters. There are two memorials that stand out in my mind the first is the Audie Murphy memorial. It is a large granite marker that was placed by the VFW to honor him. Audie was the most decorated hero of World War Two; he received The Congressional Medal of Honor which of course is the highest award an American can receive and many others. He became an actor after the war and starred as himself in the movie based on his book To Hell and Back. The memorial is near the spot where a plane he was riding in crashed and killed all that was onboard. The memorial reads:AUDIE LEON MURPHYJUNE 20, 1924MAY 28, 1971BORN IN KINGSTON TEXAS, DIED NEAR THIS SITE IN AN AIRPLANE CRASH. AMERICA¢S MOST DECORATED VETERAN OF WORLD WAR II. HE SERVED IN THE EUROPEAN THEATRE 15TH INFANTRY REGIMENT 3RD INFANTRY DIVISION AND EARNED 24 DECORATIONS, INCLUDING THE MEDAL OF HONOR, LEGION OF MERIT, DISTINGUISHED SERVICE CROSS AND THREE PURPLE HEARTS.HE WAS SURVIVED BY HIS WIFE PAMELA, TWO SONS, TERRY MICHAEL AND JAMES SHANNON.ERECTED 1974 BY THE VETERANS OF FOREIGN WARS POST 5311 CHRISTIANBURG, VIRGINIA.The second is a memorial for a four year old boy Ottie Cline Powell whose body was The monument on Bluff Mountain reads:THIS IS THE EXACT SPOT.LITTLE OTTIE CLINE POWELL'SBODY WAS FOUND APRIL 5, 1891, AFTER STRAYING FROM TOWER HILL SCHOOL HOUSENOV. 9, A DISTANCE OF 7 MILES.AGE 4 YEARS 11 MONTHS.The shelter 1 mile away is believed to be haunted by Ottie. I¢ve camped there twice and the only thing I heard were deer snorting at each other showing their dominance of the site. This snorting would be very unnerving if it woke you up in the middle of the night and you didn¢t know what it was.Thank you to Hopeful for the picture
Date: 2011-02-01
To: Brown Mountain Creek 
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

There are many places along the Appalachian Trail that appear to have been old farms or settlements. You see evidence of this in stone wall going up and down some mountains or maybe the remains of a building foundation. Most are not marked in any way so you can only imagine what was there in a different time. There is one place in Central Virginia where you don¢t have to guess where a community once was. This place is 795 miles from Springer just north of the Lynchburg Virginia Reservoir known as Brown Mountain Creek. You are greeted to the area with a sign that reads as follows:Brown Mountain CreekAs you travel north along the next 1.4 mile section of the Appalachian Trail watch for the remains of an abandoned community. Freed slaves built and lived in this small farm community in the early 1900¢s. The memories and insights into Brown Mountain Creek came from farmer resident, Mr. Taft Hughes, during an oral interview with the Forest Service.The homes were small and the people hard working. The food was simple but nourishing. Mr. Hughes remembered his mothers ash cakes, which were cooked on the hearth covered with ashes and coal.¢She would take them out of there and she had a special broom made from corn, broom corn. She¢d sweep them off real good and then would wash them. But they were much sweeter than if you baked them in a stove, much sweeter. We¢d eat them right there and lots of times for supper, we¢d have that and a glass of milk. I wished I had one now¢¦ It would be impossible to match that flavor.¢The interviewer was David W. Benavitch, of the Pedlar Ranger District on October 7, 1992 as they walked through the area. Mr. Hughes pointed out a number of landmarks as they walked.The entire interview can be found on the Natural Bridge Appalachian Trail Club website www.nbatc.org.
Date: 2011-02-28
To: Springer Fever
Miles today: 0.0

My Springer Fever gets bad when March comes around, I'll probably have a relapse tomorrow. We still have snow here in New York so it's too early to resume our hiking in Vermont,that makes the wait that much harder. We'll have to wait until mid May to start our hike oh what to do in March and April.To all the hikers who will be heading out in the next few weeks. Enjoy your hike and remember "It's the journey that counts, not the destination".
Date: 2011-03-25
To: Waiting to hike
Miles today: 0.0

I've been reading the 2011 journals from the trail and I'm itching to hike. This years class are going great guns and all seem to be full of high expectations. Keep going guys and gals it is a great experience. Remember No pain, no rain, no Maine. As you progress up the trail your chest will stick out further, you spirit will raise higher and you'll love the hike. The early hiking with the cold, the rain, the snow, and the crowded trail / shelters are the dues you pay for the beautiful summer hiking ahead. There will be experiences that will push you to the limit and test your confidence. You'll get through it and then realize I can do this. Once this happens your whole attitude will change and the hike becomes fun. The reason so many hikers quit early in the hike is they don't get past the experience to test their skills. This is why many former thru hikers recommend that you don't leave the trail when the idea first pops into your head. Give it another week before you make your final decision, you won't regret it. On the same note if you have a medical issue, have it taken care of and if you need to leave the trail hold your head high and do the smart thing.
Date: 2011-04-04
To: Plans are coming together
Miles today: 0.0

We now have a hiking plan for this year. We'll head for Vermont in early June to resume a few miles south of Killington. We have a commitment to walk in the American Cancer Society Relay for Life on June 17th which we'll return home to do. We'll be walking for the Chips Airforce team which my friends and family will be also participating in. This is an overnight walk so we'll take a few days at home and then return to the trail.Because we will have cars with us we made reservations to hike the Whites hut to hut except for Lonesome Lake Hut. It will take us 8 days to get from Franconia Notch to Pinkham Notch. There will be many hard climbs and we plan to take it easy by staying in the huts and not carry sleeping bags, tent, food, and stove through this section. It will be hard enough without those things. After doing this section we'll then fill in everything up to Gorham before we return home once again for a wedding and the birth of a new granddaughter. We intend to return to the trail and thru hike all of Maine sometime in mid August. I'm hoping the Vermont and New Hampshire hiking will get us back in hiking form once again.If this plan works we'll achieve the 2000 miler status in 3 years. When we left the trail in 2009 and 2010 there was something unfinished, hopefully this will be the year we get it done.
Date: 2011-05-03
To: Starting soon
Miles today: 0.0

Only 28 days until we resume our quest for Katahdin by climbing Killington in Vermont. With all the rain that has hit the northeast I'm expecting to be slogging thru a lot of mud in Vermud and New Hampshire.I hope we get to see a moose as we head north we'll be in their territory. In 2006 I saw moose scat (poop) in most of the places we'll be hiking this year, the only moose I saw was in town not on the trail. By the way moose scat looks like deer scat only larger, the deer scat looks like small marbles (1 cm or 3/8 in)and the moose scat looks like small ping pong ball (3 cm or 3/4 in).
Date: 2011-06-04
From: Rutland, Vermont

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

OG notes:We are in Rutland,Vermont and we'll hit the trail in the morning. We will climb Killington mountain (the famous ski resort) all day tomorrow and spend our first night on the train a quarter mile from the top. Hopefully the weather will give us a view, I hear the view is really nice. It's hard to believe we'll be hiking in a few hours. It is going to kick our butts. Had we been able to have continued in 2009 this climb would have been easier. Being section hikers we restart each time not at our physical best and by the time we leave the trail we are in good shape. We will be on and off the trail this summer, hopefully we will still get and remain stronger the whole hike. We hope to complete the whole Appalachian Trail by mid September. We have 502 miles to go through Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. This is the prettiest and hardest section of the Appalachian Trail, the frosting on the cake.
Date: 2011-06-05
From: Route 4, Rutland, VT, mile 1693.1

To: Cooper Lodge Shelter, VT, mile 1686.8
Miles today: 6.3
Weather: overcast clouds

Cell okOld Goat notes:We're back on, or as the Roy Rogers song went, "We're back in the saddle again." Killington mountain is our highest climb in Vermont and we had it first on our plate. The hike was hard as we were climbing all day long in fact we gained 2000 feet elevation. There were times when the terrain leveled off which allowed us to take a breather. I honestly expected to be so out of shape that I would need to stop often to gasp for air. It was tough but when we stopped we weren't even breathing hard. As the day progressed my legs were getting tired but not so much that I needed to stop. I knew we would arrive early afternoon and if we were to continue it would be downhill. My desire said keep hiking and my mind said stop. Well we stopped and we're staying for the night. This way our bodies can recover and we'll start fresh in the morning.It's raining right now and probably will be the rest of the night, in a shelter sounds just fine to me.Check 6 notes:It's 3:30pm and we're already stopped for the night. Most of today's hike was uphill and challenging. Of course, being out of shape and carrying a full pack for the first time in 2 years adds to the challenge. The weather prediction called for rain some time today. We were lucky, it didn't start until about 30 min after we arrived at the shelter. Unfortunately, it's supposed to rain for the next few days. Ugh!We came across 2 thru-hikers today. One started late March, the other started March 16. To be here already, they've been making good time. The guy at this shelter now already hiked 18 miles today and decided to stop here because of the rain. I'm wearing new boots this time. They are better already. In my other boots my toes didn't have enough room and at the end of the day every day my feet would ache a lot. We stopped an hour ago and my feet feel fine. In fact, I haven't taken off my boots yet. These are Keen boots and there is a lot of toe space. Sent from my iPhone
Date: 2011-06-08
From: Kent Pond, VT

To: Stony Brook Shelter
Miles today: 6.0
Weather: clear sky

Cell noneOld Goat's notes;As noted yesterday we have left the Long Trail and we are back on the AT. We hiked on a new section that was built after my 2006 thru hike. The new trail brings you to the bottom of Thunder Brook Falls, there are handicap ramps and bridge over the creek for locals to visit the falls. There was one problem with the falls, there wasn't any water in it. All the water was being diverted to a power station nearby. I've mentioned that there isn't as much mud on the trail as 2006. What I noticed today was the little streams are dry too. I noticed this because I was worried we might run out of water. We did have enough but I probably would have drank more if we had it.After the falls we hiked a steep mountain, it felt like we were never going to reach the top. When we did reach the top it was a steep downhill drop. With that type of terrain your feet take a beating.I woke up with sore calves but they are not hurting now. I took ibuprofen this morning but none since. I'll probably need it again in the morning and hopefully not again. I'm hoping that we will get stronger each day and things will become easier and less painful. Well another great day on the trail is in the books and we're 6 miles closer to the big K.Check 6's notes:Hard day today over Quimby Mountain. More than a mile up the mountain without any reprieve. Those are the hardest for me. It was in the 80's today so that added to the difficulty. We both sweated a lot and drank a lot of water and Gatorade. Haven't peed since just before we started hiking today. That isn't necessarily a good thing but I do know I drank a lot today. There's an interesting guy in the shelter tonight. His trail name is "Crank.". He said he would catch up to hikers each day, be real cheerful and tell them to "crank it up guys!"Crank said he started hiking on a whim. He had never heard of the AT until recently. He had gone down to MD to visit his children and decided to hike home to Maine. He had his father mail him his camping gear. He chose to not carry the 2 burner Coleman stove. :-). He's been having a wonderful time. Definitely not hiking the whole trail¢¢¬¦just hiking what he wants to hike and thoroughly enjoying it. When we got to the shelter we set up our tent screen and got away from the bugs for a while. That was a nice reprieve. It will be nice to be in the tent away from the bugs tonight. Sent from my iPhone
Date: 2011-06-09
From: Stony Brook Shelter

To: Winturri Shelter
Miles today: 9.9

Start Stony Brook Shelter, VT, mile 1703.1Stop Winturri Shelter, VT, mile 1713.0Hiked 9.9 miles NorthboundSleep shelterCell noneOld Goat's notes:The hills are giving us a real workout. I didn't realize how much climbing was involved in Vermont. Even when I look at the profile on the map I don't realize how difficult it will be. As a thru hiker I was in such great shape I practically ran up and down them with little effort. Incidentally by this stage in my last hike I weighed 50 pounds less than I do now. As we were hiking in the rain today I did a little soul searching and asked myself "What is it about hiking do I like?". My answer to myself is the great pride I feel in accomplishing this. When it's not raining my answer is the views from the top of the mountains.I was busy talking with the people at the shelter this evening and I can't think of anything else. Check 6's notes:I have a question for our friend, Tim P.(who is studying Geology). Why do some rocks sweat? During the first few days of hiking it was in the 80's and very humid. Wep kept seeing rocks that were wet. Everything was dry so the rocks I'm referring to were not wet from water from the ground, and nothing around them was wet. The rocks were no bigger than than up to about 10" in diameter and they were either black or dark gray (more of them were dark gray). I thought maybe they were wet because most of the rock was underground, but then I saw one that was a small rock on top of the ground. Why do rocks sweat?Last evening we had our tent set up behind the shelter and were planning to sleep in it,but after we turned in a storm blew through. We still planned to stay in the tent, but then one thunder and lightning struck too close for my comfort and I chickend out. We moved everything into the shelter as fast as we could and were bringing the tent in (all set up) when the rain and hail started. Crank helped us move our stuff. I'm glad we moved into the shelter because it stormed all night. Lots of high winds, rain, and a few passes of thunder and lightning,Two storms passed by today as we hiked. The first didn't come very close. The second drenched us. Luckily that wasn't much before we got to the shelter, so we were able to change into dry clothes. The wet clothes and wind felt good as we hiked. I mentioned yesterday that I hadn't peed for hours. I made sure to drink a lot of water and Gatorade, but I sweat so much that the liquids went out as sweat. Once we stopped hiking and I stopped sweating I finally had to pee again. So much so that I ended up having to get up 3 times last night. Annoying!There was a guy hanging out in his hammock inside the shelter when we got to the shelter today. He decided to take a zero day in the shelter today instead of hiking with the storms. Sent from my iPhone