morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2009-08-14
From: Hanover

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

About a mile after Hanover I will officially cross the border into Vermont. That is two states down. Hellz yeah. The trail has been treating me great recently. I'm still hiking with my older brother todd. He has about a week left out here. He is starting to get his trail legs on him, which is cool but also kinda inconvienent because he has to leave soon. After taking some fairly easy days leaving North Woodstock, we started to pick up the miles a bit. For a three day stretch we went 15,12, then 16 miles. The trail has somewhat leveled off. It is no longer the insane straight up and down that the white mountains, and maine were. We are finally walking on trail that seems to be actual trail, not some assortment of rocks, roots, mud and water. It is quite a welcome change. The white mountains were spectacular. While they were incredibly hard, the views were well worth it. That is kind of the tricky part of the next chunk of miles. There are still gunna be several hard climbs coming up, but the views are going to rapidly diminish. Most NoBo's have been telling us that the trail from this point onward is 90 percent mental. While in a way I'm ready to hit some easier trail, I just know that I will shortly be wishing for the incredible views of White Mountains. Speaking of NoBo's I am really starting to run into them. I would imagine i pass about 10 per day. They are really fun and cool (for the most part) to hang out with. It's nice because these guys are a wealth of information. For about the next month i will continue to run into them, then apparently they will suddenly stop. At that point the trail will really turn into a very solitary journey, which is what makes a Southbound hike so hard. Enough of that stuff. Perhaps the most memorable point so far on the trip was camping on top of Moosilauke. Mount Moosilauke is one of the higher peaks in the whites at about 4900 feet. Todd and I knew there was going to be very good weather the night we were there, so we got into a nice little natural shelter. The views were some of the most complete views of the terrain I've seen out here. I could see all the way to Mount Washington ( a long ways) and way into Vermont. The sunset and sunrise were spectacular. I can't even really begin to describe what it was like. Well I still have several more chores to take care of ( and a movie to go see) so i will peace out now. I hope everyone back in Gville is having a good end to the summer, and I will be thinking of all ya'll who are starting college on the trail.
Date: 2009-08-22
From: Bennington

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Vermont. More like Vermud, or Mudmont, or basically Mud city. This mud isnt't like the mud from Maine, it's worse. I've only encountered it the last two days or so, but it is a much more thick, disgusting, rank mud. Alright no more descriptions needed. Overall Vermont has been amazing (besides the mud). The trail is flatter, less rocky, no roots, and way less steep. It actually resembles a trail which is a nice change. Vermont has many beautiful rolling pastures and fields. It is a very nice change of scenerey. While I will miss the huge, epic landscapes of the White mountains, it is sure nice to be entering a new section of the trail. This new section of the trail is commonly reffered to as the green tunnel. While it can be kind of boring, it is much easier to enjoy the walk and simply think. Apparently this green tunnel continues for about the next 1000 miles, so I might have a different opinion in a couple of months. I have been picking up the miles big time. I am about 1/4 the way through, and plan on being in Harpers Ferry WV (halfway)in the middle of september. My last week or so has been (in miles, 20, 20, 17,17,16,20,20. I am definelty going to try to keep this up. Overall I am doing very well. I am defintly hitting the majority amount of Northbounders. Just yesterday I think I counted about 15 Nobo's in a day. Soon it will be Sobo country. I was very sad to see my brother Todd leave on Thursday. I really enjoyed hiking with him, and it has been really weird the last two days without him. I am sure in time I will return my normal routine, but for a while it will be bizarre being by myself again. In Manchester Center VT, I was able to eat a Calzone that only 1 person has ever finished before. It was a very proud moment. Not much new is happening. I am hiking with a new group of people once again. The people I started with (save one) are either way ahead of me or behind. I hope everyone back at home is doing well, and since football season is starting up I just wanna say GO BUCKS. Please don't blow it in a big game once again.
Date: 2009-09-07
From: Unionville

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

I feel I'm starting to slack some on my journal entries. I have come nearly 300 miles since the last one, and it has prolly been more than ten days also. At the moment I'm in Unionville, New York, but actually hiking in New Jersey. I am right on the border between the two states, and after saturday's hike I walked into this little town. The old mayor here run's a little hiker hostel. Well I guess I shouldn't call it little. They have hosted over 700 hikers this year alone. I remember northounders in the very beggining of the trip saying "If you do anything on this entire trip, stop at the mayor's in Unionville". The mayor and his cohorts are great people. They are very nice and will help out with any problems you are having. They are also some of the most eccetric people I have met out here. None of them hike, and they will tell you they think thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail is one of the stupidest things you can do with your time. However since we "have something in us that make's us do this journey" they decided to help out. I took a zero here yesterday, and am having a hard time moving today. I plan on leaving here around 3pm or so and trying to do ten miles, but if I end up taking another zero, that's ok too. I have been getting worn out from this last section since Bennington. My mileage from Bennington was, 17,24,20,19,15,18,30,21,18,20,19,26, and finally 17 into Unionville. I think those numbers are mostly correct. I did take a day off in Dalton Mass, tho stay with a guy named Tom Levardi, who is a great trail angel himself. He lets hikers stay for free and does just about anything for them. Anyway, My legs just needed some more time off here. My last night before coming in here, I noticed that my legs wanted to keep hiking. About every 3 seconds they would twitch uncontrollably. It was incredibly uncomfortable, and ultimaltley made me decide to take some time off here. My feet also broke out in blisters again because of these new shoes I have. One day in New York, I took me 3 hours for my last three miles simply because I could not walk on them. They feel much better now that they have healed up some. At Bear Mountain NY I had the pleasure of following the trail through a zoo. It was pretty weird to say the least. I was most certainly getting some odd looks from other people. Other than that the trail has been pretty uneventful. The weather has been great which is a nice change from early on. I don't think I can rememeber the last time I got rained on. One more story. When I was in Williamstown Mass, I was able to set my tent up behind an outfitter. During the middle of the night it started to rain. Since the tent I was using was not freestanding (It doesn't use trekking poles), and I hadn't set it up for rain, rain started to pool on top of it, and it collapsed. Everything got soaked. I had to get out of the tent and grab all my stuff and run up to the porch of the outfitter so I wouldn't get rained on all night. Let's just say it was an interesting night. Well I hope everyone is doing great. I'll try to be a little better with my entries here down the road.
Date: 2009-10-09
From: Lexington Va

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

It's been over a month and much has happened. Unfortunatly I have neither the time nor the patience to cover everything. One month ago I was in Unionville New York. I am now in Lexington Va, almost 600 miles further. At my rate the next journal entry will be my completion entry. I have gone through the states of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virgina, and am now in Virginia. The trail has been great during this last month, and I am excited today because I will be meeting up with several people I haven't seen in a long time. On Monday I had to get off the trail because my shin splints were bothering me to the point where I could hardly walk. The Washington and Lee University Outing Club picked me up and offered to let me stay at there house in Lexington. I agreed and spent two nights there. On the second day I decided to go to the ER because I was somewhat worried I had pulled or strained something in my leg. Fortunalty I hadn't. The doctor gave me a prescrition for an anti inflammitory, and after taking that my leg has been feeling much better. I decided to take one more day off here at a Best Western Hotel. My ride will be coming to pick me up shortly and take me back to the trail. I don't even what else to say about the last month. The rocks in Pennsylvania were realllly bad. My feet were bothering me a lot. The weather has been very good. I saw two bears in the Shenandoah National Park. I have met several very late Northbounders. There has actually been a fair amount of trail magic. I had to buy a new sleeping bag because my old one was just not handling the nights. Overall everything has been great. It's weird to be 1400 miles in. I have only 700 miles left. That is still a long way, but it seems like a short way to me. It feels weird to all of the sudden be getting closer to the end. At the end of each day, I feel like there is less to go, instead of counting up miles from Katahdin. I expect to finsih in little more than a month. I will do my best to put several more entries in. Hope everyone is doing well back home.
Date: 2009-05-09
To: AT = Appalachian trail
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: few clouds

First of all I am sorry that this first e-mail is so late. Secondly AT is short for Appalachian Trail. Also sorry this is rather lengthy, sort of a rant, disjointed, some overly complicated thoughts/phases. It is that way because I am trying convey that I have given it good thought and deemed it rather beneficial; and that I am not just going to be a wacky want-a-be outdoorsman going on a high risk radical trial on a whim. The reason it is so late is I was trying to finish the semester off at Gloucester County College honorably and not just getting lost in this AT prep. Because since my grades on in the crapper for 2 of the course (Calc I & Chem. proceeding organic) I could have just say screw them and spend more time hopefully on this and just not bumming it playing video games. But if life was a piece of cake and I had a ton of organized time then I would not be hiking the AT rushed after a spring semester this summer and receiving gear the week before with questions of what I was taking. But I feel I need to have this crazy change in my life for the next 4 month to become more productive and aimed towards doing my best in college to insure money is not waste on courses. Since I am I lacking the discipline to give it my all and to try and learn how to study. My family (mainly dad) and I are just getting stressed out over my tom foolery of not being willing to put in the needed time to succeed and procrastination.
Date: 2009-05-12
To: AT? Why not.
Miles today: 0.0

I highly doubt staying home and doing activities in NJ will help since I am always going back to same home-that I know all too well-will prepare for challenges of life coming up. I need a revitalizing break from the luxuries, technologies and the pressures of society. I need a break from the ability to easily stay up late and wake up late, since there is shades to block out the light, light when ever I want it, and food easily accessible 24/7, and no I do not want to live a life always from these things for an extended period it is just I need some time to figure out who I am where there are not as many distractions and options of where to do the soul searching. Also I have time organize my thoughts well and stages my mind goes through in a thought process to make it easier time typing and talking in a conversation. Since typing this is took me so much time and I am making so many odd typing error; and I have never been at all good at conversing. Also to get a good taste of independence and the cost of living in a comfortable vacation type setting. The trail is a smorgasbord o f people with all background to give me a new angle to think things out at and to restore faith in humanity. If/when I succeed a summer of hiking on the AT it is get a dream under my belt/ get a monkey off back/ I will have defeat a windmill (yeah Don Quixote).The reason I would not have gone have a lot less weight compared to those stated above. Therefore I will just list them: the feeling of it being too radical a method to learn about life especially since I am still at the trend age of 18, but the times in life with free time is like 18-23 since these are the time of college when a person is trying the find their way to a lifestyle that will make them happy and one for the most part has the summer off and before one has a major job yet or 50+ when one has retired and one might have let their body go and ones life taking its turns, therefore the AT trip cannot be as much of spiritual and reflective journey towards one's future just an enjoyable and revitalizing journey; which is still all good though. I am going to be skipping out on going on a vacation with my mother and brother to see my Aunt, Uncle, and cousins that live in Hawaii, but I have been down there two times before, but still they are not the accessible family members to visit and have not vacationed with my mom in a while, so sorry Johnson half of my family. I sort of feel like the trip a waste of money, but money is only an object and the experiences and lessons I will get out of the trail will most likely strike to the heart and will stay with me all my life. The feeling that I am undeserving to go since I am doing poorly in county college, but once again I feel like I am come back a person more disciplined and organized with of better taste of what life really is and these things will fuel me to do a better job in school.
Date: 2009-05-15
To: Thanks for the support
Miles today: 0.0

I am shocked by the support I got from the family and random people. It is amazing thank you. I also found it amazingly funny how quickly people I told about the AT trip I am going on went from, 'you are walking how far!? why!? You are going to get killed and/or raped' to being wow that is cool I wish I could do something like that, after my petty explanation of what it is and why I am doing it. Thank you for accepting and following me on my Appalachian Trail journey I am honored. And I hope I can type future entries less complicated, disjointed, full of error, even though this it tons better then the original draft of this.                Kyle
Date: 2009-05-16
From: Springer Mountain

To: Justus Creek
Miles today: 13.6
Weather: moderate rain

Kyle will undoubtedly update this entry when he can. For now let it be known that he left the summit of Springer Mountain and began his northward hike at about 12:30pm on Saturday, May 16, 2009. His father, Randy, and uncle Scott (me, aka Voyageur) accompanied him to the summit and 2.5 miles north to Stover Creek & shelter. Kyle was leaping and bounding down the trail. He was hard to keep up with. He was exuberant as he hauled up the trail on the far side of Stover Creek and left us behind. A ridge runner, Rodger AKA Many Sleeps, on the summit of Springer Mountain told us that he was the 4th thruhiker to start today and we ran into a 5th as we returned south from Stover Cr. There were also several section hikers on the trail. It seems Kyle will be in good company. The skies were cloudy and the temperature just a bit on the cool side, perfect hiking weather.Check out the photos link on the left.Happy hiking,ScottKyle wrote: I spent the 1st night in a tent along Justus Creek with John on the other side of the river. I lit the stove the 1st try and ate some delicious veggie mac & cheese @ like 7 pm. After I hung the food bag. First toss of the stone i missed the branch completely. 2nd i got it over the branch but when i went to pull the food up the branch broke. 3rd try the food got hoisted up and i tied the string to the same tree in some fashion. How proper, I'm not sure but it stayed up there and no bears. It rained that night but none of it got inside the tent; thank you for sealing the seams so well Uncle Scott.
Date: 2009-05-17
From: Justus Creek

To: Neels Gap
Miles today: 17.1
Weather: overcast clouds

I made it to Neel's Gap on day 2 at 8:30. 1st hostel and store unless i want to do a weird hitch somewhere. I have come 31.6 mi, which is faster than anyone else is hiking so far, so i have been hiking solo for the most part of the 30 mi, but i have seen like 15 people. In the morning i saw a trail crew working on a reroute of the AT. The 2nd day was rather uneventful after i finally out-hiked John (he had a good! pace). It was so uneventful because i was in the clouds all day. It did not clear up for a single instance. I was just poking out of them in the gaps between mountains. But at least i ate 2 or 3 times the amount of food today. Got to Neels Gap at 8:30. Everything was closed, but i poked around, found the hostile and was welcome by like 8 guys and Jurassic Park on TV. I was too tired to interact much though. I could barely think of what i could clean and do with the plumbing of the facility. Got to sleep a bit after 11 when the others turned off the lights. Neel's Gap had very very minimal food, especially dinners, and their internet is not working. But the rest of the week should be a blast since it is clear sky every day. I have done some voice journal but it is poor quality so far i am learning though and taking pictures. I will try and post them on trail journals when i get some internet. Dad or Uncle Scott: you are more then welcome to edit and post this.
Date: 2009-05-18
From: Neels Gap

To: Low Gap Shelter
Miles today: 10.6
Weather: clear sky

I am lowering the daily mileage a little to make sure the lessons of how to backpack set in. This is because at Neels Gap after all of the running about looking for food that was not really there and forgetting my hat at the store down the road by like 300 yards i also forgot to check the book for when the next water is on the trail, so i pretty much ran out of water and so i stopped eating as much as i was suppose to. Also because the bottle was so empty it fell out of the elastic side pocket of my pack so i had to go back about 0.15 miles probably to get it (but i dropped pack so it went faster with less energy consumed). So i get to the next water finally, which is at a shelter and i cook a meal while trying to get around to purifying some water. I can barely eat the mac & cheese i cooked because i let myself get too hungry and dehydrated. But then i come back around a little, after playing with the camp fire for a while. I forgot to eat and drink while playing with it. Then i think, oh, i can get an early start tomorrow if i just sleep in my sleeping bag in the crowded shelter when i should have had my sleeping pad too. And on top of it all, it is the coldest night of the trip so i am just trying to get comfortable on this wood! platform wedged between 2 guys and have the wood suck the warmth out of me. Therefore, since i did nothing to help myself through the night, i have a pretty much sleepless night.
Date: 2009-05-20
From: Blue Mountain Shelter

To: Cheese Factory Site
Miles today: 5.8

Now i am in Helen, GA resupplying because i am behind a day or 2 in food and to take a break to fix myself up to 100%.Lesson learn though. No more idiot stuff, like all that happened that 1 day, will hopefully never happen again.Tented at the Cheese Factory Site (campsite/spring 2 mile before Tray Mtn Shelter) after a trip in Helen.
Date: 2009-05-26
From: Wallace Gap

To: Siler Bald Shelter
Miles today: 6.8
Weather: overcast clouds

I left Franklin after spending the night. I had a good night sleep. I got plenty of food from the grocery store to satisfy my hunger. I got plenty of food for the trail (pack is bursting). After a good chat with my dad and uncle, I decided to ask at the front desk of the hotel where to see a doctor to fix my diarrhea. I got some anti-biotic from a Doc to insure I get rid of the diarrhea even though the last 2 craps were a turd. Oh well, I guess I will nuke the bacteria anywho to be safe. I ate an egg and cheese burrito and some french toast sticks from Sonic (interesting set up for fast food). It was fun and delicious before heading for a hitch. Kyle
Date: 2009-05-29
From: Sassafras Gap Shelter

To: Near High Top
Miles today: 16.3

I apologize to people at the shelter again in the morning even though none of the them acted like anything happened last night. I also talk to people in the morning about my experience as a whole on the trail and hear that they agree with some of my complaints about trail. I learned that one or 2 people i started with quit for some of reasons i complained about. This helped my mental state on my feelings towards the trail. Then I hike 1.2 mile up to Cheoah Bald @ 5062 ft. I get a pretty awesome view (the best i have gotten to this point pretty much). This refreshes me more towards feeling good about being out here in the wilderness. The trail improves in the technical ways too by adding a lot more switchbacks and rocks and less meandering around getting nowhere. It is trail with a purpose and wants to be hiked with some more views than before. I get to Yellow Creek Gap & Road rather late. So, i give myself a challenge to do the last mile to Cable Gap Shelter in less than 30 minutes starting the challenge at 7:35 pm. I get to the shelter before 8 pm. It was crammed with people but my blood was pumping so I continue right past the shelter instead of slowing to look for a tent site there. I am going up hill covering pretty good distance when my energy high wears off. The light is fading to darkness, so i start looking for a place to pitch a tent and hang my food. I get to section with pretty good looking bear bag trees so i drop pack and look for a nice place to pitch a tent, but it is all sloped and leafy ground. I choose the flattest area that lacked too much vegetation, and pitch the tent which looks good. I go to cook some oatmeal on the trail so i don't light the leaves on fires trying to cook near the tent. But first i go to find a tree to hang the food. I find one, throw the rope over the branch and leave it to go make the oatmeal. I cook the oatmeal, eat it and it is yummy and refreshing. Then I pack up the food bag and go to try and hang it, but the branch break do to the weight of the bag. So i am hunting for a new location to hang it and am struggling, but finally get it hung probably 30 mins later. I get everything organized at the tent and get in. i start to sink and slide down to left. The leaves have compressed under my weight and then everything in the tent slid downhill. Now the tent is on a pretty serious slope to the left and i would slide against the wall of the tent if my backpack wasn't there already. i am thinking the tent is going to collapse at any moment and if it rains i am absolutely screwed. i am awkwardly lying in the tent, scared @ 10:15ish. i sleep until 12 am and have to pee so I climb out as though i am climbing up a slide. i barely get out to pee and then gentle lay myself back into my sleeping bag trying not to push anything too much more into the wall.