morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2004-07-06
From: 1 mile south of Fingerboard Shelter

To: Fort Montgomery, NY
Miles today: 15.2

Turns out that nothing got to my pack last night other than a mess of black ants which I'm still finding crawling through the dark recesses of my pack.Zippy, Pokey, Switchback and company are moving on to Hemlock Springs Campsite tonight. I've decided I am not going to aim that far. I'll take two short days to see Bear Mountain Trailside exhibit, get into Fort Montgomery for mail, and get to Graymoor Friary early enough for their dinner offering tomorrow night.Zippy's rushing to get home to his fiancee and his wedding, Switchback to work, Pokey to her family, and Mushroom to celebrate his 65th birthday on Katahdin on August 26. I, on the other hand, am out here, at least partly, to live without schedules and deadlines for a little while, so am content to spend a few minutes like this each morning, reclining on a boulder in dappled sunlight, listening to wind and birds and my own thoughts.Had a moment of sadness this morning, knowing that I might not see this crew again, or at least for some time -- they're special folks. Then met up with the Roman Noodles, Litefoot and Trunks at a giant cistern and chatted with them while we all filled up our water bottles. You're never alone for long out here.Harriman State Park is gorgeous! And as much as I have looked forward to evening fellowship with friends, it's also a great feeling to know that I can stop today wherever, whenever.Later: All day the sounds of nature were punctuated by distant booming -- not of thunder, but of what I guess is the West Point artillery range.I had figured I'd cowboy it again tonight somewhere on Bear Mountain. I had nearly enough fluids to keep me hydrated for the night and could make it into Fort Monty for breakfast. A walker, who was taking in a few quick climbs after work, asked me where I was staying for the night and -- not wanting to admit to illicit camping, and not wanting to worry a soul sister (we do look out for each other! If it had been a man who asked though, it just would have been creepy) -- I told her the name of a motel I'd seen mentioned in the book. But the further I walked, the more appealing became the thought of a hot bath, cool sheets, a real mattress, and air conditioning. When my night's planned water source turned out not to exist, the deal was sealed.The Bear Bridge Mountain Motel, a tidy line of semi-detached cabin-like rooms fronted by a manicured garden and immaculate neon sign, did indeed have a vacancy. No bathtub, but a comfy bed and a ride to the post office in the morning.
Date: 2004-07-08
From: Graymoor Friary

To: Clarence Fahnestock State Park
Miles today: 11.9

Rained last night. Glad not to have to pack up a wet tent. Walk Softly went to the 7:15 mass at St. Anthony's Inn for the homeless and was treated to breakfast afterwards. There's no end to the brothers' hospitality here.Everything in my pack is slightly damp, but the weather two days from now should be enough to dry me out.I'm aiming for the RPH Shelter tonight -- 20 miles. Not sure I'll make it, but there are several campsites along the way... Meanwhile, the next water is 5 miles.3:15 p.m. And nasty water it was, too! Even after filtering it, I'm not sure I want to drink it. My period started today, which explains in part why I'm so sluggish and inept. Took a nose dive on the trail before deciding to spread out my ground cloth and have a nap on the next hill. Does anyone besides me lose their sense of balance, depth perception and coordination at this time of the month? I seem always to break a glass or take a tumble.Unlikely that I'll make it to RPH Shelter tonight: 13 miles in five hours? I think not. More like 13 hours at today's pace.Later: Met up with FlipFlop after a midday lie-down (with a family of ants) on a hilltop. I think the blue-black berries I had assumed were a crunchier variety of blueberry are not blueberries at all. (Anyone know what they are? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?) Anyway, I'm not dead yet.Ended up stopping at NY301 and hitching a ride to the campgrounds at Fahnestock State Park. A young woman doing an internship at a local nursery gave us a lift -- people who like plants like hikers!We set up camp as far away as we could from the people with their radios and tiki torches and multiple coolers, and chatted over dinner (my Indian vegetarian MRE, usually the first thing I eat after a mail drop because it's the heaviest, but I've been too tired even to heat up water for the past few nights).
Date: 2004-07-09
From: NY301, Clarence Fahnestock State Park

To: Morgan Stewart Shelter
Miles today: 16.0
Weather: broken clouds

Mac and cheese for breakfast. Cooking slows down my escape from camp, but the fuel may speed me up on the trail. It's a cool, breezy day -- perfect hiking weather.Later: Wasn't sure I was going to make it to the shelter tonight. The "Bascom Work Day" that I've seen advertised (signs on trees along the trail for the past 20 miles) started today at the RPH Shelter. Woodchuck (Chuck Wood), Bascom (Mike) and his cousin Tim were cooking burgers and more for hikers and locals and doing some trail maintenance. (See mikeandtim.com) They live in the area and have been doing this every year since 1997, saving up thir own money to buy three-days' worth of food for the masses -- burgers, chicken, soda, fruit, chocolate -- in massive quantities. This year they built a new privy in someone's living room and transported it out here in pieces to put on top of a new 8x8x8 hole they had dug. They said that with regular additions of lime, this privy should last 20 years!Mike got his name because he used to work at the Bascom Hut on Mount Greylock in Massachusetts. Woodchuck is the fellow who runs the competition at the halfway point on the A.T. to see which thru-hiker can eat a half-gallon of ice cream the fastest. The record is 12 minutes. (Ice cream headache!) Hope they get a good turnout this weekend. Amazing guys. A few years ago when Graymoor was reconsidering hosting hikers, Woodchuck and some others went to the monastery and rehabbed a dormitory for them, and now Graymoor has been hosting hikers continuously since 1972. Amazing what good PR can do. Thank you so much for lunch, fellas!! Hope to see you at the ALDHA conference!Managed to get to Morgan Stewart Shelter for the night -- beautiful sunset from Mount Egbert. NRChi and I stopped for a few minutes to take it in.At the shelter, SueBear, a thru-hiker from last year, told us that she was southbounding to RPH to Bascom's work day -- excellent! Eelz was also in for the night and Red came in later. Below the shelter, some guy had set up camp and had his radio blaring -- it's still going! Must be a weekender.
Date: 2004-07-10
From: Morgan Stewart Shelter

To: 2? miles north of NY22
Miles today: 12.4

My 87th day on the trail.Exhausted today. The radio hobo had his radio on all night. And it was chilly all night. Thought about getting up to take my tent out of my pack to wrap around me, but was too cold to move. It's affected my pace today. It's nearly 2 p.m. now and I don't know if I've gone more than four miles. I'm sitting beside Nuclear Lake now listening to someone doing target practice (I guess) across the water (probably the same guys who shoot holes through all of the "No Hunting" sings along the A.T.). Need a nice flat place to lie down and take a long nap. Won't go further than the next shelter tonight, I'm sure. I'll wear all my clothes tonight, even if they are a little damp.Otherwise, gorgeous weather today. Lots of day and weekend hikers out.Found a dead dog at a road intersection and called the Duchess County Department of Health to report it, just in case it had rabies. Of course, in the back of my mind I imagined the hobo from last night clubbing it to death in a fit of rage -- but he's probably harmless.A couple of day hikers just told me that there's no water between here and Wiley Shelter -- over 10 miles away -- despite all of the water sources listed in Wingfoot. But he said that one of the houses on the next road offers waters to hikers -- nice!Just picked my first deer tick off of me. After a three-day hiatus, it's time to go back to the Deet.8:30 p.m. The sun has set. The fireflies are lit. Camp is up and dinner's cooked. It's the first night in some time that I've had all my ducks in a row before dark.After my rest, the day cooled a little and I decided to bypass Telephone Pioneers Shelter, even though I knew I'd probably fall short of Wiley, which is nine miles north. But I did manage to get a couple of miles north of Route 22, so I've done about 12 today.Several hikers had mentioned the lack of water up to Wiley, so before I crossed NY22, I captured a couple of liters from a nursery's sprinkler in my platypus bag. I'm sure it would have been entertaining to watch. Ah, the great outdoors!But after clambering over several stiles, through cow pastures and grassy fallow fields, I'm back in the woods again -- even though I can hear the train, the road, and the steady beat of someone's Friday night party (80s music) in the distance.Dinner is a new concoction -- dreamed up by the 1-minute chef (me) so that all cooking is reduced to boiling water: instant mashed potatoes, Knorr pesto mix, and tuna.
Date: 2004-07-11
From: 2? miles north of NY22

To: Schaghticoke Mountain Campsite
Miles today: 13.7
Weather: scattered clouds

I miss the cabana boys!Slept well last night, though illegally, just off the trail. Left no trace (other than picking up and packing out a few things the last tenters had left behind).Great little campsite here -- plenty of space, nice stream, privy -- all tucked up a hill off the trail. Absolutely gorgeous scenery today. Mount Schaghticoke straddles New York and Connecticut and the trail passes through the Schaghticoke Indian Reservation. I can just imagine bow-and-arrow hunters hiding behind the giant boulders, stealthily stalking deer.At the first mountain vista, someone named Jon Boy had left a tupperware container labelled "Jumpin' Jack Flash, www.geocaching.com." When I looked inside, there was an assortment of toys, coins and oddities, a pen and a notebook in which "geocachers" had written that they had discovered the cache and had inked there personal stamp -- something like an old-fashioned treasure hunt, except that you take and/or leave something from/in the cache, whose coordinates are provided on a website. Great orienteering game! I'll have to check it out. The A.T. trailrunner left a note that he was not thrilled to see "trash" on the trail and requesting its removal. Some conflict of interest between hikers and gamers.. There's gonna be a rumble!Chatted with a Connecticut couple where the Ten Mile River and Housatonic meet. They were full of questions, which I was glad to answer, though sometimes I get so focussed on reaching my endpoint for the night that I forget to slow down and enjoy human interaction.
Date: 2004-07-12
From: Schaghticoke Mountain Campsite

To: Kent, CT
Miles today: 3.2

Woodpecker alarm clock this morning. Nice night. It's rare for me to be first out of camp, butt Fyrfly and her partner Hawk were still snug in their hammocks and the family of boys were still silent in their tents when I hiked out around 9.Hobbit met me on the road into Kent and we decided to split a room at the Fife and Drum (since the B&B was closed for a while). I spent the afternoon taking care of laundry, P.O. boxes, writing postcards, making phone calls, and reorganizing my boxes to send one home and one to my next mail drop location. Mum sent cookies for my birthday -- thanks mum! And at 8:30 p.m. a waiter from the restaurant delivered an ice cream brownie sundae "from your friends in Providence" -- Kath of course. She told me later on the phone that she'd tried to get the waiter to dress up in a bunny suit; he was game, but didn't have the duds. Tomorrow I need to make a trip to the outfitters for a new pack -- old Hildy has finally given up the ghost -- split her seams more than once (I had already sewn them up with duct tape patches and siliconed them shut.) I certainly got my 80 krugerrands out of that girl -- an old South African Army pack, a Karrimor Jaguar Transit that I got at a second hand shop in Cape Town. What a peach she was for my whole trek through southern Africa and for my first 1000 miles on the A.T. I'll miss the old girl! May save a swatch from the back of her where I painted a white blaze. ("If you're following me, you're on the A.T.")
Date: 2004-07-13
From: Kent, CT

To: Kent, CT
Miles today: 0.0

Zero Day -- yeah!Just spent two weeks' rent on a new backpack. (Rationalization: This backpack carries my home for the next 12 weeks.) It's a beauty, with great suspension. I'm nearly ready to ship out tomorrow -- one last trip to the post office, another couple of hours at the library (where I spent most of today) catching up on my trail journal and back to the outfitters to get a refill of denatured alcohol for my stove.My hiking objective for the next two days: get to Mohawk Trail head in time for Trail Magic Picnic (mile 1474.9), 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Thursday, sponsored by several thru-hikers from last year, and advertized in the last few shelter registers -- one good reason to read them! It's all about the food, ya'll.Breakfast today comprised the crumbs from mum's chocolate chip peanut cookies (the bigger pieces are in my food bag for the next week's consumption) -- beats the energy bars! Lunch -- hamburger; I crave beef on the trail. Dinner -- Chinese food -- ditto. The Hunger.Kent is a beautifully manicured little town, self-consciously quaint, Main Street lined with art galleries, antique shops, cafes, a book store and even banks, all housed in little clapboard and gingerbread edifices. The railroad station has been restored and repainted like a red barn, and the train rolls through town, whistling, two or three times a day. A groundhog lives in a little shed on the green next to it. Behind the Fife 'n' Drum, a field with Monet-worthy cylindrical hay bales is complemented by a picturesquely falling-down barn and beds of orange day lilies, black-eyed susans, purple echinacea, and Queen Anne's lace.
Date: 2004-07-14
From: Kent, CT

To: Stewart Hollow Brook Lean-to
Miles today: 7.0

There are more straps and buckles on this new pack than I can imagine uses for. After I'd filled it, I made a last trip to the outfitter and the salesperson from yesterday helped me attach, buckle, thread and reroute web straps then adjust the length and weight balance before I headed back to the trail. Should come with an instruction book!But it feels good, and sits properly on my hips instead of around my waist, where Hildy sat (because she was too short for my torso).Ran into Ranger Jim on the trail -- he'd taken a week off trail to be in a wedding. Good to see him again! His pack is down to 30 pounds now and he's carrying only three days of food at a time -- something I should start doing -- but he's still carrying the American flag that he plans to hold up on Katadin as a memorial to the firefighters who died in 9/11.Decided to stop at Stewart Hollow Shelter instead of pushing it to the next campsite. I'll miss the picnic tomorrow, but there'll be more trail magic ahead. My right knee has been bothering me -- that treacherous descent down St. John's Ledges yesterday didn't help -- and I don't need to make it worse. Walk Softly was also at the shelter last night -- he'd taken a couple of days off and spent time at a youth hostel in Harlem. He and his friend were the only Americans there.Met some new folks yesterday -- Hot Rock, Selma, MC (from Rhode Island), Willow and Sevvy. Nice to be reminded that there are still folks behind me on the trail. Hot Rock figures we're about in the middle of the pack -- wow!
Date: 2004-07-15
From: Stewart Hollow Brook Lean-to

To: Pine Swamp Brook Lean-to
Miles today: 10.0

8 a.m. My first night with a stuff sack for a pillow -- slept well! (Too well -- it's late!) A phoebe (bird) has built a nest under the eaves of the shelter and has been flitting back and forth among tree branches just outside, waiting for us intruders to leave. She came in at one point and sat warily in the moss and mud next, but when I got into my serpent stretch (doing my back exercises), she flew out again.It rained last night briefly -- weather report predicts thunderstorms all week. Glad not to be packing out a wet tent this morning.10 a.m. My glasses fog up on these humid days such that I see better with them off than on. Better than trying to see through them in the rain though.Had a nice (flat!) river walk beside the Housatonic, but from here on it's a day of PUDs (pointless ups and downs). The uphills are okay on the knees, but to limit the pounding they take on the downhills, I have to resort to my half-squatting Groucho Marx duck walk, which lets my muscles absorb more of the shock and my joints less, but which also gives me thighs like Jean-Claude Killy's.8:15 p.m. Another short day (9 hours hiking, but only 10 miles covered). I could have gone another couple of hours to a campsite, but it started to rain and I wimped out. So nice, though, to have dinner, water, and bed ready before dark -- civilized! I must pick up on mileage though, to get to Katahdin by mid-September.
Date: 2004-07-16
From: Pine Swamp Brook Lean-to

To: Limestone Springs Lean-to
Miles today: 12.3

10 a.m. Late! Couldn't sleep last night -- too chilly. Am going to have to get my sleeping bag back out here...Water source for this shelter is a stream from a beaver-dammed pond. Yikes! Filter AND bleach, I think.The guidebook (Wingfoot) says there's a shower available at a hydro-electric plant ahead, "next to transformers" -- something to look forward to or dread, not sure which!5:40 p.m. I must have passed yesterday's trail magic picnic spot at 3 p.m. or so, then got into the woods and felt so beat that I stretched out for a nap -- 2+ hours later, here I am still, with 5.5 miles left to go to the shelter.Later: Beautiful climb up Prospect Mountain -- soft, nearly rock-free trail except for some long, smooth rock ridges. I love chasing the sun up and over the mountain at sunset.Got to the shelter turnoff at dusk. MC, Willow, and Sevvy had set up camp here because the shelter was half a mile downhill. So I dropped my pack and embarked on a long, dark descent to the shelter for water, down some limestone cliffs and into a pretty (but buggy) bottom. It was completely dark when I got back to my pack. I set up the tennt, hung my food bag in a tree, and skipped dinner. But I made my miles today!
Date: 2004-07-18
From: Brassie Brook Lean-to

To: Hemlocks Lean-to
Miles today: 8.8

Cool night again last night. Wrapped my tent around me for an extra layer and it was dewy with my perspiration this morning.Mom was right -- don't leave dirty dishes around. The mice did a jig all over my pots last night and left their little turds as evidence. Bleach to the rescue!Ponderer came by at 7 this morning to check the register before heading into South Egremont to celebrate his (66th?) birthday.Met Steve the trailrunner atop Bear Mountain. He warned of a steep rocky descent ahead, just before the Conn/Mass border -- he wasn't kidding! He said the trail maintainers are thinking about adding ladders to that particular slope -- good idea. Start now.Connecticut isA fickle lover: HoneyAt first, then venom.Fantastic views from rock ridges on Race Mountain, then more rock sliding, then rain, then a slippery rock climb up Mount Everett, just ahead of two brothers and the son and daughter of one of them, all looking very tired. I wanted to get off teh mountain when the rain started, but it was beautiful up top with great blueberry picking to be had.Crowded shelter tonight. Deb and her group came in after sunset and are tenting. The family of four are in the loft. Doc and Hobbes are northbounding. Three southbounding lads have bunks and floor. When I arrived at the shelter, one of the latter, Dances with Moose, was whistling a tune from "My Fair Lady": "All I want is a room somewhere, Far away from the cold night air..." I can't get it out of my head now.
Date: 2004-07-20
From: US 7 (Great Barrington, MA)

To: MA 23 (East Mountain Retreat Center
Miles today: 8.4

Ran into Circuit Rider, MC and Willow last night while doing laundry and getting dinner. Queen Diva still wants to hike a stretch with me, but she's doing trail magic up in Maine right now. She'll know everyone on the trail by year's end!Stopped by the library this morning to do some more online trail journalling, and by the hardware store for stove fuel. Great Barrington has a beautiful main street, full of artsy summering New Englanders. A gentleman saw my pack and asked me about the hike; he had been a trail maintainer with the NY-NJ Trail Conference -- good man!Using the library's restroom reminded me of Providence Library's requirement of one's library card as teh restroom key collateral since a streetperson died in one of the bathrooms a few years ago. So restrooms there are no longer available to "persons of no fixed abode" (which includes me, at the moment!).9:30 p.m. Staying the night at the East Mountain Retreat Center, a Buddhist meditation center. Briefly considered staying an extra day here -- beautiful gardens and screened pavillions for day and evening meditation, with views of the mountains -- but the owner, a large and opinionated New York lady, has two yappy dogs. This is not the omphalos of tranquility I had expected, wherein shaven-headed monks in saffron robes would debate the question of whether or not it's bad karma to kill a mosquito. Just as well -- I need to move on, even if it is at this snail's pace.One find here, however: M.J.Eberhart's book about his journey by foot from the Florida Keys up into Canada -- 4400 miles -- the Eastern Continental Trail; the book is called Ten Million Steps and looks like a good read.My roommate tonight is a southbounder who is currenlty digging through the piles of goodies left in the hiker box. (I took a package of prunes -- or "dried plums" as they're now called -- heavy, but good energy food during the day.)Too many off-trail miles today, but got good rides into and out of Great Barrington -- a young guitar player from Lenox who is in the middle of a move to Toronto (he told me it's easy to sneak into Tanglewood -- good to know); and a tattooed guy in a pickup whom I flagged down shamelessly as he was pulling out of the town hall parking lot. He seemed a little shell-shocked, but knew exactly where the trailhead was -- by the Corn Crib nursery.I think that people in the towns close to the trail are used to seeing hikers thumbing rides into and out of town. Still, people always look a little wary. If they stop, it's always several hundred yards beyond us, after they've considered and reconsidered the idea several times, and had a good look at us in their rear view mirrors, and realize we're not going to attack them with our hiking sticks. When you get in and they realize you only want a short ride, and are not going to rob them, they relax and seem to get a kick out of having dared to pick up a hitchhiker ("I'm cool."), and especially to have assisted an A.T. thru-hiker.   Preachers and con artists all know that people like to feel part of something larger than themselves.