morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2017-07-24
From: South Wilcox Shelter

To: Highway 7 and Sheffield
Miles today: 11.6
Weather: few clouds

The reviews are in. For two weeks now I¢ve done my little dance on the Appalachian Trail catwalk. Practicality: 9. Just this morning I hiked the 11 miles to get to Sheffield in the rain. My long pants, inevitably sodden from the knees down, are history. My rain pants stay in my pack. I hike in my _____ running shorts. Though very practical, on the ¢fetching¢ side of the equation, many folks off trail have made their opinions known. Frodo has purchased not one, but three pairs of shorts to bring as options to replace the pair I am wearing.  (Frodo: Actually FOUR.) The father of the Princesses just ended an email to me with: ¢On another note, may I buy you some shorts? Those are ¢¦. Something.¢ My brother-in-law Rick wrote in my trailjournal guestbook: I have shorts like that... Trisha calls them my "booty shorts." I guess the lack of comment from my fellow trail peeps is ¢¦ them being polite.  Does anyone else want to weigh in? Anyone else want to pile on?As we packed up to go this morning, listening to the rain ping on the shelter roof, I didn¢t even need to say it myself. I forget whether it was Dot or Sheriff, but one of the two said loudly, ¢FOUR.¢ Four days left till I see Frodo.I hiked through the rain with Sheriff and Scrunchie. The three of us played two different trail games. First, one of us named a geographic location, say ¢Albany,¢ and then the next would have to use the last letter as the first letter for the next geographic location. ¢Estonia¢, ¢Arkansas¢, etc. Miles 6, 7 and 8 rolled by.Next, we all worked together to see how many songs we could name that had the word ¢rain.¢ You had to at least be able to sing a few lines, including the line with the word rain in it. How many can you come up with? Miles, 9, 10, and 11 and we hit route 7 and we are on the outskirts of Sheffield. Twenty-four songs. (Frodo: I¢m impressed!)Along with Dot, Franky, and Sheriff, I am safely ensconced in the home of Jess Treat. Sure she charges a hostel rate, but I have my own private room, and it feels more like we¢re visiting the home of a beloved aunt.I got in at 1:00. Had two full lunches and now am doing town chores and reaching out to loved ones. (Which is what it feels like to me as I write this journal.)
Date: 2017-07-25
From: Highway 7 and Sheffield

To: Riga Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 17.6
Weather: clear sky

*-THREE-* Do I need to say more?  The centerpiece of breakfast at the hostel today was eggs and toast. You may recall my feelings about eggs from the day of the Egg Man. I love quiche, but I have to engage in the fiction that there are no eggs in quiche. So I had 5 slices of toasted raisin bread, all lavishly buttered.We didn¢t get back to the trailhead and start walking until 8:00 am. Sheriff and Dot were going to hike together, as were Franky and I. For Massachusetts we had a big climb and it started up raining. But it was really the first time it had been only Franky and me, and we pulled each other up and over the top, reaching to a shelter 8 miles along for lunch.We ran into the usual-for-now complement of northbounders. But more often than not they seemed wet and far from high on life and hiking. This is a change. But maybe being 1500 miles along with 700 still to go is more disheartening than for those NOBOs of weeks ago who had 2000 miles done and 180 to go.Twice on the trail today I ran into folks I know. In the morning it was Joshua ¢Bobcat¢ Stacy and his friend Juncko: http://www.trailjournals.com/j...And in the afternoon it was Bill Jensen and his crew. Bill hiked the PCT in 1977: http://www.trailjournals.com/j...In the afternoon it began to clear. Halleluyah.  On the next mountaintop I caught Franky on a high ledge amid the clearing clouds. http://www.trailjournals.com/j...STATE LINE ¢ around 5:00 pm, 15 miles done, we crossed from Massachusetts into Connecticutt. I guess I will now have to learn to spell Connecticutt. (Frodo: Connecticut)We are in a small shelter, six of us lined up side by side like sardines. Buck is two away and lightly snoring. Franky is right next to me. He¢s lightly snoring, too. That dainty wheezing from Dot certainly can't be snoring, can it? As I wind up this last line they all just started snoring in time.We have a great easterly view from the mouth of the shelter.  Are of us are hoping for a glorious sunrise in the morning.Very tired.
Date: 2017-07-26
From: Fun

To: Too much fun
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

"Extra, Extra" That's what newspaper headlines read for a special edition. Too often it was for bad news, but it was for good news too--"Lindbergh Crosses Atlantic." There will be two entries today--this Special Edition and the regular entry. Please don't miss either one.Special Edition: Princesses Line Dance Video Goes Platinum!  Yes, the three princesses were not to be outdone by four tired hikers. Hands down, the three of them made us look like the amateurs that we are. You want to see how it is really done? Here's the Princesses. (By the way, you'll recall that I was holding a map at the start of our video. In a classy touch that the princesses' father had to point out to me, two of them are reading books that that I wrote at least a part of.  Platinum video: http://www.trailjournals.com/j...Can anything follow that act? Yes, Reuben Scout. He can "out adorable" almost anyone. He just attended his first Scout meeting in New Zealand. And by the way, did you know that they do not have Eagle Scouts in the old British Lion Commonwealth countries. Do you know what they call Scouting's highest rank in those countries?  .... It's Queen Scout.  And someday when Prince Phillip ascends to the throne it will be King Scout. Here is Reuben Scout raising his hand for his induction into the Scout program. He's the one in the middle: http://www.trailjournals.com/j... Enjoy. Scout
Date: 2017-07-30
From: Scarsdale

To: Scarsdale and The Big Apple
Miles today: 0.0

We awake in this oasis off the trail ¢ thanks, Scribbler and Blueberry for opening your home to us.Today will be wonderful and strange; it will be a polar disconnect from the trail. We¢re dressed for the part. If Times Square had to employ extras to fill their teeming throng, we would be ready to audition. Here¢s a photo of all of us:Dot¢s looking sharp in a red dress off Frodo¢s rack and we guys are all wearing cloths Frodo pulled out of my closet and brought along.  We¢re also showing off our new haircuts. Still, why does it feel to me a bit like the barbarians are invading New York City? Maybe this photo provides a clue:  http://www.trailjournals.com/j...We weren¢t thrown off the train and at Times Square, amid the spectacle of the Naked Cowboy and dressed-up cartoon characters, we didn¢t stand out at all.  But as we took our seats in the venerable Schoenfeld Theatre on Broadway, we were quickly found out. Bob and Wendy¢s look said, ¢You¢re not from New York.¢ We were there to see ¢Come From Away,¢ a Tony award-winning musical. It¢s about the 35v planes and 7000 people that descended on Gander, Newfoundland, when U.S. airspace was closed on September 11, 2001. We had good seats, but one of us was two seats away from the other four ¢ New York couple Bob and Wendy separated us. ¢Where are you from?¢ Bob asked. Then he and Wendy stood and moved one seat over to let Buck sit with us. ¢Tell the folks in San Diego that New Yorkers don¢t deserve their reputation.¢  http://www.trailjournals.com/j...On 9/11 Bob was on the air flying to New York. His plane landed in Denver. The threesome seated behind us lived in Gander in 2001 when 7,000 tired, scared, far-from-home passengers suddenly needed to be provided for four days. I was dabbing my eyes for half the show and laughing out loud for the other half. An African-American passenger repeatedly could not get through to her son. He was a New York City fireman on 9/11, but he was off duty that day.  But he stepped up when he was needed and he ws lost in one of the towers.Before the musical, Frodo and I visited our niece Eliana and we were the first in the family to see her new apartment:  http://www.trailjournals.com/j...After the show we visited our good San Diego friends Mitch and Miyo, who were in NYC for the birth of their first grandchild. They took us out for a ¢high-calorie dinner.¢ They get it. And tomorrow I will go out again; I plan to enjoy my one more night in a bed. http://www.trailjournals.com/j...
Date: 2017-07-31
From: Scarsdale

To: Ralph's Peak Hiker Shelter
Miles today: 20.0
Weather: clear sky

You think you know what the day holds, but in an instant everything changes. I know today¢s title is ¢Back in the Saddle Again¢ and I am 6 miles along, sitting on a bucolic grassy overlook above Nuclear Lake. But the day took a sudden turn just before we started hiking. We lost one of our group.¢Scout, Frodo, I¢m getting off here. I¢m jumping back north to hike the White Mountains again.¢On the PCT after 1670 miles, a hiker close to us hiked in two miles after a zero day, sat down alongside the trail and said, ¢I¢m calling it. I¢m done. I¢m going home.¢ There was no discussion to be had. He turned back and the rest of us had mournful faces. It felt as I someone had died. Buck is leaving. We gave him hugs; wished him well. I won¢t write DF&B for a long while, maybe never again.I hope Dot and Franky are going to be okay.Frodo goes home tomorrow and as one last gift she is slackpacking us again and bringing us lunch. At the end of the 20 miles, the shelter is near a road so she is going to sleep with us. That is, with me. It will be great to share that AT experience with her.Today the hike was largely on nice trail tread with mild ups and downs. We had two views, one across Nuclear Lake (Why Is it called that??) and one on a hill after a 600-foot climb. By day¢s end we had passed 37 northbound hikers and there are at least 15 more camped here at the shelter. But I wonder. The NOBO crowd is going to peter out and then disappear, probably in just a few weeks. Then it will only be us. There is one SOBO one day ahead of us, two that are two days ahead, and we don¢t think there are any that are one day behind. Will we feel lonely? Will we like having the woods to ourselves? We¢ll see.(Frodo: The lead photo is of Scout modeling his cool new hiking duds.  Doesn't he look sharp?  You're welcome, Scout!) (I also brought him new shoes to replace these totally beat-up ones!: http://www.trailjournals.com/j...
Date: 2017-08-01
From: Ralph's Peak Hiker Shelter

To: stealth camp just past highway 9
Miles today: 20.0
Weather: few clouds

Is this the Appalachian Trail? I know it is because I just hiked 5 miles and had two views. Actually, two overlook views in two miles is pretty good for the AT.But I¢m 0.3 miles off the trail at Clarence Fahrenstock State Park and it¢s as if I walked into Beach Blanket Bingo or into a Beach Boys music video. We may be on a lake, but the sand is Hawaii white and fine-grained. There¢s a volley ball net and kayaks for rent. Here are some more photos:  http://www.trailjournals.com/j...  http://www.trailjournals.com/j...Just uphill is a snack shack and I just mooched some fries off of Franky¢s large order. (By the way is ¢Mooch¢ now a word that¢s been politically co-opted, like ¢huge,¢ great,¢ and ¢nothing burger¢? You can see I read the New York Times over the weekend.) (Frodo: At the time Scout wrote this, he didn¢t know that Scaramucci had been fired two days earlier.)Off for a swim at the beach, styling the new shorts Frodo brought me, rather than the short shorts that made her eyes roll.Is this the AT?Frodo left this morning. Thank God (Frodo: What?!? He was that happy to see me go?!?) this time we¢ll only be apart for a little over two weeks. (Frodo: oh.) Before she left this morning and wished me a final, ¢Make wise decisions,¢ she snapped a photo of my snazzy new hiking duds. What do you think? (Frodo: Oops. Yes, I took the photo that morning, but I posted it in yesterday¢s entry. But here it is again, complete with goofy hair:)  http://www.trailjournals.com/j...After an hour and a half on the beach we moved on and had a late lunch after 11 miles, on a grass field next to one of the 8 roads we crossed today. I knew we still wanted to cover 8 more miles, I know it was already 2:30, but the grass was so soft and Dot looked so peaceful napping. I laid down my head, too. I even dreamed. Of trekking poles. We started up again after 3:00 pm. We¢re going to be setting up camp late. If that¢s the price of admission for the beach and a nap, I¢d gladly pay it again tomorrow.It¢s hot now. The thermometer pushed near 90° yesterday and easily the same today. Any climb drenches me and my shirt in sweat.  It¢s now nearly 10:00 pm and I¢m in my tent wearing only my skivvies, my sleeping bag still in its stuff sack.We miss Buck. I have to start getting used to writing D&F, not DF&B.We often call the AT ¢The Green Tunnel.¢ Today as I was about to leave an open powerline clearing, there was the Green Tunnel waiting to fold me in its embrace:Today the beach. What¢s on for tomorrow, the zoo? Actually, yes.I knew the AT would be a different kind of trail, but not this different.¢¦and we¢ll see the elephants and the kangaroos¢¦Still sweltering here.
Date: 2017-08-03
From: William Brien Memorial Shelter

To: Eastern Pinnacles
Miles today: 20.2
Weather: scattered clouds

Did it ever cool down last night? I could have been warm enough in just my undies. I don¢t think it dropped below 70°.I am hiking early, well before 7:00 am. The climbs aren¢t big today, but even from the start I¢m sweating enough that you could wring out my shirt and fill a shot glass ¢ or at least it feels that way to me. I see a buck, probably just two years old, judging from the size of his velvet-covered antlers. http://www.trailjournals.com/j...  I thought of making some clever play on words about our friend Buck who left us two days ago. But that still feels too raw to be the subject of humor. And it weighs on me that Dot & Franky and I may be diverging, too. I want to push on for a big 20-plus-mile day today to set up to make a motel in Vernon tomorrow. That¢s how the trail works. We¢ve had a great run. But you have to hike your own hike. Even if we separate now we¢ll likely hike together again.Here's a red salamander I spotted today: http://www.trailjournals.com/j...Late morning the trail turns rocky and ahead soon are tough spots like ¢lemon squeeze¢ and ¢agony grind.¢ It seems like every other northbounder can¢t wait to tell me how rough and rocky the next ten miles will be.I do have to throw my poles 30 feet ahead and take my pack off as I drop into the body-wide narrow defile that¢s the ¢lemon squeeze,¢ http://www.trailjournals.com/j...   I can¢t help but wonder how these same folks will react in The Whites, the Presidentials, and in Maine. In each of these 100-foot-long features (not miles long as they were up north), there is a marked Blue Blaze ¢Easy Route.¢ Again, that¢s a luxury they won¢t have further north. I¢m setting up to do something I¢ll bet never has been done before. You see, I have pretty consistent cell coverage here on the AT in New York. I¢m on the Board of the Continental Divide Trail Coalition and we have a telephone Board meeting at 6:00 pm Eastern Time. Just as I pass a 50-foot waterfall, the meeting starts. I hike two miles while participating in the the meeting. I¢m sure I¢m the first to attend a CDTC Board meeting while hiking another long trail. I¢m now set up just off the top of the Eastern Pinnacles. I hear far-off thunder and hope it stays that way. Tomorrow I have 15.5 miles to a shower, town food, a bed, and air conditioning. I¢d like a short break from the heat.¢Night.http://www.trailjournals.com/j...
Date: 2017-08-06
From: New Jersey high point

To: Buttermilk Falls Trail Campsite
Miles today: 23.0

John Muir was not a hater, but late in life he had two great hates. He hated Hetch Hetchy Dam and he hated hiking. Yes, hiking.Just after 1910 the word ¢hiking¢ first came to be used. Before that you went ¢tramping¢ in the woods. Hiking meant making miles, heading out at a clip to reach a goal. John Muir: ¢I do not hike. I saunter.¢Scout: ¢Today, I saunter.¢We are serpentining our way along a long granite crest. It¢s still a wooded green tunnel, but oftentimes on both sides of me, out past the green, is blue sky. That¢s how I know I stride a ridge top. (Frodo: Wait; I thought you were sauntering.)For 15 miles. At 2:00 pm, yes, that¢s a 15-by-2 (Frodo: Some saunter!), I make a right turn at a New Jersey turnpike at Culver¢s Gap. Gy¢ Tavern awaits. It¢s an old-fashioned, dark, billiard-tabled bar and grill, cash only, with 15 Harley¢s parked in front:  http://www.trailjournals.com/j...  Out back are picnic benches and chairs along a lake. http://www.trailjournals.com/j... That¢s where I sit right now, grilled cheese sandwich in my tummy, Dot with a pizza in hers, and Franky digesting a burger. It¢s not the set of Cheers ¢ more raw. On one wall are photos of the time Babe ruth visited and went hunting with Gyp. http://www.trailjournals.com/j...Almost 4:00 pm. Time to move on. They say we¢ll get hit, maybe even hammered, by rain tomorrow. I have a PB&J sandwich in a ziplock and let¢s lay down some more miles.No text about this photo: http://www.trailjournals.com/j...This morning, cowboy camping on the wooden observation platform on the New Jersey high point, Franky and I each tried to guess what the low was last night, including the chill factor. It was the coolest it¢s been in weeks. Franky: 48°, Me: 47°. On the paciic Crest Trail, out of 150 nights we almost never had nights with a low as high as 47° and on the CDT I don¢t think there were any nights that warm.  On the entire AT hike, including that first week on the International Appalachian Trail, I think the lowest it has ever been in maybe 39°. One more way the AT is different.I¢m in my tent, snug and warm. I¢ve got the tent at Battle Station, rigged tight for wind and rain, on ground that should drain well, if it starts raining during the night. It¢s 10 miles tomorrow to the AMC Mohican Outdoor Center and Hostel. After 8 days and over 140 miles hiked it¢s time or a zero day Tuesday.¢Night.
Date: 2017-08-08
From: AMC Mohican Outdoor Center

To: AMC Mohican Outdoor Center
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: fog

How do you measure the passage of time? With one push of a button on our phone we get the time. Out here, if I could see it, I¢d note the phases of the moon. Sundials use a shadow to mark time passing. But bug spray? Today I felt how long I¢ve been out here hiking. The first day on the trail after Mt. Katahdin I thought it was time to stop borrowing Rolling Thunder¢s bug spray. At the Abol Bridge store, the last spot of civilization before the 100-Mile Wilderness, I bought a spray bottle of Ben¢s 100% DEET. Yesterday it ran dry. On the bottle it claims, ¢lasts ten hours.¢ No, I can testify it lasts two months.How long have I been out here? One full bottle of Ben¢s DEET.Dot and Frankie slept last night at the home of a friend of Dot. They were back here at 9:00 to pick up their hike while I stayed on for my zero day. They¢d left one burden ¢ they left most of their gear behind and are slackpacking ¢ and picked up another. At the end of a stout 20-foot cord was Dot¢s friend¢s dog. Just before they walked off, Frankie was heard to say about the over-rambunctious canine, ¢It was your idea to bring him.¢On the serious side, as they hiked off I thought, I might well not see them for at least two weeks. No more texts a half hour before hiker midnight, ¢Scout, come cowboy camp with us.¢ They are a day ahead and over the weekend they are heading off trail for a 2-day music festival. Godspeed. Here¢s a photo of them with the dog and one of my last view of them.  http://www.trailjournals.com/j...  and  http://www.trailjournals.com/j...One door shuts and another opens. ¢Scout!¢ ¢Sheriff!¢ It¢s been over ten days. But at noon here she was in the Mohican Outdoor Center Lodge picking up her resupply box. ¢Try this.¢ It was a key lime cookie. Flourless, but with butter as the third ingredient. We positively tripped over each other telling new stories. And she had Nature Boy in tow. He started on June 20th and was zooming ¢ ah, to be in one¢s twenties ¢ but the pace took a toll on a foot and Sheriff helped him decide to slow down. They are hiking back out today and will be ahead, but I expect we¢ll soon cross paths on trail.  http://www.trailjournals.com/j...Do I have to confess (Frodo: I can¢t read the word that Scout uses here ¢ it ends in ¢tion¢ ¢ but I think ¢confess¢ works fine) that I got lost two days ago? It was a 23-mile day ¢ now, that¢s not shabby ¢ but I reached Frodo on the phone and eventually noticed that the trail had stayed very, very nice while we chatted for 15 minutes. Yup, when I hung up I realized there were no white blazes to be seen. A third of a mile off trail¢¦ Did you notice I didn¢t say it was her fault?It has been probably the laziest, most wonderfully laid-back zero of the trail. Almost no one here. The NOBOs are petering out, it¢s late season at this old Boy Scout camp, and I even napped late afternoon ¢ no dreams about trekking poles.It¢s a Tuesday out there, I hear. For me it was a hiking Sabbath, a real day of rest.  http://www.trailjournals.com/j...