morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2018-07-07
From: Glastenbury Mountain Campsite, VT

To: Black Brook
Miles today: 11.2

I woke up to 41 degrees and breezy. We had talked about getting up to see the sunrise, but no one wanted to come out of their tents. Once I got my sleeping quilt situated around my sleeping pad last night, I was toasty warm. I have an insulated sleeping pad, a 10 degree quilt, and a light sleeping bag liner. So far, I¢ve been happy with my system. If it¢s warm, I use the liner, if it¢s cold, I use the liner and quilt.As I was waking up and preparing mentally to face the morning air, I put my clothes under my sleeping bag liner to warm them up. I was hoping the sun would warm up my tent a bit, but it wasn¢t happening this morning. Hunger and a full bladder finally forced me to vacate the comfort of my summer home. Puddles peeked through a small opening in her tent door and asked if she had to come out, then reluctantly did so. I emptied my tent, hung it over the the tower rungs in the sun to dry the dew, and ate breakfast. The weather was great, with clear skies and a cool breeze. Pine needles coated a lot of the trail, but so did the Vermont mud! There¢s no way to get a hiking rhythm going with sections of mud. The strong recommendation for the mud is to walk through it so there is less damage to the vegetation.It¢s difficult to force myself to walk through mud bogs that sometimes have industrial strength, suck your boots of your feet, suction power. I try to compromise a bit and tip toe around the edges, avoiding the vegetation, while keeping my boots on. Sometimes there are enough rocks in the mud that I can rock hop through it, but regardless, it is tedious navigating the mud all day. There were a couple of breaks today when Puddles, Thumper, and I had a snack or lunch together at Kid Gore Shelter and Story Spring Shelter. There was a Beaver Bog near Story Spring Shelter which had a beautiful reflection of the trees and sky, and a couple of limited views from higher elevations. I was behind Puddles and Thumper, which I normally am by 10-30 minutes. About a mile from our planned camping location, I came across the bridge at Black Brook. I saw Puddles and Thumper at a great campsite along the brook on other side and threw my arms up and said ¢it looks like home for the night¢. I love it when we can score a great campsite, especially when it is next to water! I had dinner and was able to wash up in the brook and rinse out some clothes before going to bed. It¢s a great bonus to have water to clean up with and get refreshed and rejuvenated. It was a great end to the day.Never ForgetTrooper Kermit FitzpatrickJanuary 29, 1961 - July 7, 1991Trooper Kevin M. MarshallNovember 14, 1969 - July 7, 2007
Date: 2018-07-09
From: Winhall River

To: Bromley Mountain
Miles today: 11.7
Weather: clear sky

I was hiking with Thumper and we ran into Grumpy just before Spruce Peak. I had heard Puddles and Thumper talk about him, as they had met him a while back. I hadn¢t met him yet. He is very upbeat and energetic. We arrived at a parking lot on VT Rte 11/30!that leads to Manchester Center. Thumper and I split up from Grumpy and Puddles to hitchhike into town. Puddles and Grumpy got a ride fairly quickly. Thumper and I got a ride ride from Will in the back of a small pick up with a cap. Two other hikers squeezed in with us, and off we went. Will dropped us off at Price Chopper. We bought food and packed our food bags. I donned my laundry outfit (rain kilt and wind jacket) and headed to the laundromat with Puddles, Thumper, and my laundry. A restaurant was conveniently located across the street, so the three of us ate lunch with Grumpy. Puddles and I rotated with each other to finish the laundry while we ate. After sorting and repacking clothes, we split up to hitchhike back to the trail. Puddles and Grumpy immediately got a ride, while Thumper and I waited for about 30 cars. We got picked up by Tom, an army vet with an open bed pick up. Tom wants to hike the AT someday. After getting to the trailhead, he chatted with the four of us for a while. We headed up to Bromley Mountain, a ski resort that allows hikers to sleep in the warming hut during the summer. There is no water supply at Bromley, so we had to stop so we had to stop over a mile from the mountain to get water to carry up. After filling my food bag from the store, it was the most weight I¢ve had to carry. I¢m guessing it was between 35-38 pounds, and the trail led straight up the ski slope. It was extremely windy at the top, nearly impossible to set up a tent. Puddles and I went into the warming hut where she discovered a ¢pantry¢ with no one in it. There were shelves, one of which was just shy of six feet long. She asked if I could fit on it, which I knew I could. There were shelves that went up from the shelf where I would sleep, a perfect place to slide my feet under. She dubbed me the ¢elf on the shelf¢. I had a window next to me where I could see the stars. It was perfect. Puddles slept on the floor. After we got settled, I ate a kale salad and potato chips that I had packed up from the store. Fresh fruits and salad are something I crave out here. It¢s a balance between getting fresh food and high calorie food to stay healthy. After dinner, I joined other hikers in the mountaintop to enjoy a spectacular sunset. It was a great end to the day.
Date: 2018-07-11
From: Big Branch River Campsite

To: VT 103 / Yellow Deli Hostel
Miles today: 15.8
Weather: clear sky

We got up early so we could hike the nearly 16 miles to get to Rutland, to stay at the Yellow Deli Hostel. We had heard good things about it, and were excited to get there. We would also have an opportunity to do some slack packing from there. The days hike would go past Little Rock Pond, Aldrichville (an abandoned town settled in the 1880¢s), Rock Garden,White Rocks Cliff, Airport Lookout, and Clarendon Gorge. It was more views in one day than I think we¢ve had to date. It was a nice day for hiking. Puddles and I hiked together past the Aldrichville site, where there were artifacts from the 1880¢s abandoned village, and Rock Garden, before she hiked ahead. When I got to the White Rocks Cliff area, I wasn¢t sure if she was stopping there for lunch. We had talked about it briefly. I tried to text her with no response. I headed toward cliff, which was a 2/10 mile side trail. It was steep descent, then an ascent up to the cliff area. No Puddles. I¢m sure she looked at the steep descent and said ¢heck no¢ to it. It was a nice view. I took a few pictures and reluctantly headed back to the steep climb up. I caught up with Puddles sitting on a log, eating lunch. I sat down to eat, and she left a short time later. Guppy came up and sat down. She was hiking the Long Trail. Sierra hiked up and Guppy mentioned that Sierra was doing the AT. As Sierra arrived, she was commenting on how great it was to slack pack. I mentioned that Puddles and I would be slack packing the next day out of the yellow deli hostel, taking a bus to the trail, hiking, then taking a bus back to Rutland. She hadn¢t heard of the Yellow Deli or the bus system, and was very excited. I explained it to her and she couldn¢t wait to get to town. She was a teacher from San Diego, and only had a short time left to finish her goal for this year, of hiking to the Long Trail Inn, before flying back to California. I continued hiking and got a text from Puddles that she got off trail, and was now behind me. I waited for her and we hiked past Airport Overlook and Clarendon Gorge. We ran into a trail maintainer, his wife, his grandson and his grandson¢s girlfriend. He and his wife had previously completed an AT thru hike.We arrived at VT 103, stuck out our thumbs, and quickly got a ride to the Yellow Deli from Tom. We checked in with Aysh, who gave us a delicious ice cold peach Yerba mate tea and gave us lower bunks in an upstairs room. We went down the street to the Hop N¢ Moose for dinner, where I had wings, Brussels sprouts, root beer, and a flight of craft beers before settling in for the night. Never ForgetTrooper Bryon S. EgelskiJanuary 10, 1964 - July 11, 1994
Date: 2018-07-12
From: VT 103 / Yellow Deli Hostel

To: Mt. Killington
Miles today: 11.5
Weather: light rain

Had breakfast at the Yellow Deli and got a sandwich to go. During breakfast, Puddles and I made some last minute changes to the hiking itinerary for today and Friday. Instead of hiking 17.8 in one day, including summiting Mt. Killington, leaving us with either 6.3 or 8.3 miles, to hike the second day, we decided to break it up more evenly and hike 11.5 up to the peak of Killington, then 11.5 to Thundering Brook road. We delayed our start, thinking the bus left every hour to go by the trailhead, but found out it only goes at 7am and 4:15pm. We ended up calling a cab and were able to start hiking around 8:40am after being dropped off by Greg. We had been smelling a floral scent similar to a lilac or hyacinth the past few days and trying to figure out what it was. As we walked through a field before entering the forest area, Puddles found the plant with the amazing aroma. Neither of us know what it is, but we now know what it looks like.Hiked past Clarendon Lookout, stopped at Governor Clement Shelter for lunch and continued on for the last 4.5 miles, the elevation went from 861 to 4235, with a 10% grade. Upon reaching Cooper Lodge, a shelter near the Killington Peak, we began a 2/10 mile climb up Killington, a rock climbing scramble nearly straight up 350 feet. There was great views from the top, but we wanted to make sure we had time to catch the gondola, so we headed there. We wanted a snack, but the snack bar was closed. I went to the gondola operator and explained that we were AT thru hikers, getting off trail for the day, and coming back tomorrow. I asked about taking the gondola down. The young man went into the operation room, spoke to someone and came back out and told us to go ahead and ride it down. We were elated! It was a great ride down and we only had to wait a short time for the bus back into Rutland. We had a nice conversation with some passengers, sisters who were vacationing. We had dinner at the Yellow Deli when we returned. The Deli helps to support the hostel. The hostel is donation based. Hikers can stay for free, but there is a donation box and chores that hikers can do to contribute such as cleaning, helping to prepare the hiker breakfast in the morning, laundry ect. The people who run the deli and hostel are amazing, and it¢s great what they do to support the hiking community.
Date: 2018-07-13
From: Mt. Killington

To: VT 100
Miles today: 9.6
Weather: clear sky

We caught the bus out to Killington for $2. I went go the Gondola operator and explained we were thru hikers who came off the trail and needed to go back to the top to resume our hike. We were again allowed to ride the gondola, and enjoyed the view going up. We stopped at the snack bar for snacks, and sat outside in Adirondack chairs, while taking in the amazing view of layers of mountains to the east. As we sat there, Puddles said ¢I walked here from West Virginia¢. Sometimes, the day to day hiking makes you forget what you¢ve accomplished. Before leaving, we ran into a hiker we had met who was hiking the long trail.We then headed to the summit where the side trail went back down to AT. We took in the views to the west, then make our way down. I chatted with a woman sitting at the bottom of the side trail, while Puddles explored the Cooper Shelter located there. Another woman showed up and we all chatted a few minutes more before we headed out. It was a nice day of hiking with relatively smooth trail. During the hike, the Long Trail split off from the AT. We had met several Long Trail hikers who we would no longer see from this point on. We were walking through a campground the trail goes through, and the two women we saw earlier in the morning were pulling into the campground and stopped and asked where we were going, and if we needed a ride. One of them had thru-hiked the AT, and was in tune with hiker needs, such as rides. We gladly accepted a ride to the Long Trail Inn, where we wanted to catch up to Wind Eagle. We spent a few minutes talking to our trail angels Kaia and Kari, who were wonderful. They left and we joined Wind Eagle for beverages and dinner. It was great catching up with her before calling for a taxi to return us to the yellow deli. When we got back, the street was closed for a street fair. Live music and vendors were set up. We got ice cream and returned to the hostel.
Date: 2018-07-14
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

July 14Puddles friend, Kim, picked Us up at the hostel. Before departing to go to Kim¢s, we walked down the street to a farmers market. We had some discussion about cooking dinner. The thought of meal planning and cooking was overwhelming to me. I only craved fresh fruit at that moment and couldn¢t think beyond that. With the exception of when I was home for a few days the beginning of July. I haven¢t cooked since April 27th. When I was home I made my standby veggie omelette every morning for breakfast. I went out to dinner most of the nights I was home, and Tressa cooked dinner on the only night we stayed home. We walked around the market for a while, and I saw grass fed beef. Burgers sounded like the least complicated thing to make. I checked with Puddles and we went with it. I¢ve spent the last 74 days either rehydrating meals, eating at restaurants, or being provided meals at hostels. ¢Cooking¢ has not been part of my simplified life, and really doesn¢t interest me at all. I look forward to it when I¢m off the trail and back home, but not now.After getting Panera coffee to go, we headed to Kim¢s condo in Killington, where we were joined by Puddles husband, Brian. Later in the day, Wind Eagle and her sister, Ruth, who was going to hike a few days, came over to Kim¢s. We all enjoyed relaxing in the hot tub. Brian had brought a resupply box that Tressa sent him. I took what I needed and put a few items in the box out of my pack, which he will hold onto while we are hiking in the area. After Brian left, we set up ¢camp¢ in Kim¢s living room and turned in.
Date: 2018-07-15
From: VT 100

To: Chateauguay Rd
Miles today: 11.4
Weather: clear sky

Kim dropped us off at VT Rte 100 where we left off two days ago. The first 2 1/2 miles were good hiking. We passed by Kent Pond and heard a loon call. We stopped by Thundering Falls briefly. There were some nice boardwalks, then we began the ascent up Quinby Mountain. No one ever talks about Quinby. We were warned about it from Alligator who said she wasn¢t expecting the climb. I also had notes from my ATI class about it. The next 1.6 miles were a continuous climb of 1330 feet at a 16% grade. At one point we came across an aluminum ladder strapped to a rock face that we climbed down. We had switchbacks which assisted us in the climb. We stopped for a snack about midway up the mountain. After the first 1.6 miles there was descents, level sections. and ascents. My right knee felt better for the first part of the day, but started hurting by the end of the day. After reaching Chateauguay Road, we headed south toward our pick up point. At first it was decent walking, then turned into large ponds of water, then a rocky wet stream. We hiked out 2 miles to the point where Kim could get her car to pick us up. During the day, her husband dropped off her black lab, Baci. We stayed one more night at Kim¢s condo, and made arrangements for my friends from Michigan, Pete and Michelle, to get us back to the trail tomorrow.
Date: 2018-07-16
From: Chateauguay Rd

To: Bartlett Brook Rd
Miles today: 12.9
Weather: overcast clouds

Woke up to the sunrise. We had breakfast and Kim took us down the road a short distance to where Pete and Michelle were staying. We said our goodbyes to Kim and left our full packs at the house. As it turns out, Pete, Michelle, and their daughter, Jana, were in town for a Jeep rally. They came in a day early, lucky for us! Puddles and I scoped out a route coming in from the opposite direction that we had hiked out the day before. From what I could see, I was quite certain Pete could get us back to the trail where we left off, with his Jeep. As we worked our way around the roads (there are no direct routes around this area) we made it to Chateauguay Rd. The road started out as a smooth dirt road, then got rougher. We came upon a ¢Class 4¢ Road Sign, that said ¢Use At Own Risk¢. As you can imagine, Pete was excited about ¢wheeling¢ down this road, and off we went! It was a wonderful bumpy ride right to the trail! When we pulled up, our friends Krista, Ryan and dog Iggy were sitting at the side of the trail. I¢m sure they were surprised to see us show up in a Jeep. We spent a few minutes at the trail head before Pete, Michelle, and Jana continued wheeling to a turn around location, and Puddles and I started hiking. During the day I came across ¢The Lookout¢, a privately owned cabin/shelter of Lookout Farms, kept open for hikers to utilize as a shelter. There is a deck on the roof to climb up and look at the views, including a distant view of Mt. Washington, which I was able to see in the light haze between two evergreens. Puddles showed up to stop for a snack, as well as Iggy, Ryan, and Krista. The day was sunny and warm and ended at Bartlett Brook Road. As I came through an open field, Pete was walking out to greet me, as Michelle waited with the Jeep at the side of the road. Puddles came up just behind me. We had dinner in Woodstock (thank you Pete and Michelle) before returning to the house.
Date: 2018-07-17
From: Bartlett Brook Rd

To: Tigertown / Podunk Roads
Miles today: 9.0
Weather: light rain

I woke up the smell of bacon! We had wonderful breakfast of eggs and veggies and bacon, which Michelle cooked. It was a great change of pace from hydrated chia, flax, and oatmeal. There was a threat of thunderstorms. We hadn¢t made it to ¢The Back Porch¢ yesterday, so that would be the first stop along the trail today. The Back Porch is off the trail, down a road a few hundred feet, sponsored by Firefly and Loon, previous AT Thru Hikers. It is the back porch of their home, with a refrigerator containing drinks, snacks, and ice cream treats. Hikers pay on the honor system for refreshments and treats. Firefly makes homemade ice cream cookie treats, which are the rave of hikers. It was only a 1/2 mile hike to get there. Firefly and Loon were at home and we were fortunate enough to be able to spend time with them, while we waited out a thunderstorm for 1 1/2 hours. The hiking was damp, with a light rain. It was warm on the hilltops, but there was an abundance of wild raspberries and I took advantage of the delicious snacks. One of the hilltops had a bench under a tree to sit and relax. Part of the terrain went through an area of tall evergreens with a pine needle covered trail. When I looked up, it reminded me of Dr. Suess. We crossed the White River coming into West Hartford, and ran across Chilli, who had found someone¢s drivers license and credit card on the trail. We were trying to figure out if it was anyone we recognized. Of course the name wasn¢t familiar, because most of us don¢t know people¢s real names. The vast majority of us only know each other by trail names. Chilli was going to hang on to the cards and try to get them back to the owner. Puddles and I continued on to Podunk Road, where Michelle picked us up. We headed back to the house to get reorganized with full packs to start the next day, while Michelle joined family members for the evening. The past several days have been great with the help of friends to slack pack and provide a place to stay. I am forever grateful for the amazing people in my life. Thank you Pete, Michelle, and Jana!
Date: 2018-07-18
From: Tigertown / Podunk Roads

To: Trescott Rd, Hanover NH
Miles today: 13.7
Weather: clear sky

We had another great breakfast, compliments of Michelle, and returned to the trail. Puddles was excited that we would be reaching her home state of New Hampshire today. The weather was sunny and warm. The trail went into Norwich, VT, and when we came out of the woods, we found a set of Adirondack chairs at the end of a driveway with a cooler of cokes. Puddles and I sat down and enjoyed the cokes. The homeowners stopped by briefly and we thanked them. We headed into Norwich to Lilly and Omer¢s, where we would be staying for the night. The Norwich VT/Hanover NH area have a tremendous hiker support system. There are several people who offer up places to stay and rides around town, and to trail heads. As we were walking, a silver lab named Ellafreese (Freesie) an across the street to greet us. Puddles and I stepped on the long leash to keep the dog from going back into traffic, while the owner, Jennie came to retrieve her. As it turns out, Jennie was the pastor of St. Barnabas Church, and a volunteer of the hiker support network. The church allows a limited number of hikers to stay, and Jennie also puts up hikers at her home. We chatted for a while and headed to our home for the night, which was 2 doors down from Jennie¢s.Lilly met us and showed us to our accommodations, which is also used as an AirBNB rental. It was an upstairs, 2 bedroom apartment with a full kitchen, washer, dryer, full bath, AC, and desktop computer. The accommodations were outstanding. Lilly laid out ground rules for quiet hours and everything we needed to know. We packed some water and a couple of snacks and headed toward the New Hampshire State line, just down the street. We crossed the Connecticut River, the dividing line between Vermont and New Hampshire and entered the city of Hanover. We had lunch at Molly¢s, and continued hiking through Hanover to Trescott Rd. We had a nice boardwalk for a time, as well as a steep climb, with a rope provided to assist. Puddles made arrangements for Bill Young, a friend of EddyMan and Aligator, to pick us up at Trescott Rd. He also had backpacks that Aligator and EddyMan left for us to try. He took us to the co-op where we had coffee, and he insisted on paying for food and snacks we had selected in the store. We sat down with him and gleaned a lot of information from him about hiking from Hanover to Katahdin. He also gave us a lot of information about the area. He dropped us off at Omer and Lilly¢s with the packs we were borrowing from Aligator and Eddyman. We completed our off trail chores and ate dinner. While we were gone, Omer provided us with an assortment of beers, and we selected one to split. I worked on setting up the new pack so I can give mine to Brian to hold onto. Tomorrow will be a zero day so Puddles can see the podiatrist.
Date: 2018-07-19
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Brian picked us up. Puddles went to the podiatrist and we ran errands. She got new shoes and new insoles. Hopefully it will help with the pain she¢s been having, pretty much since she started hiking in West Virginia. She also got a shot in her foot at the podiatrist, which should help in calming the spasms and pain. We had dinner and Brian returned us to Jennie¢s, where we will be staying tonight. We went out behind the church to pick raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries. I was talking on the phone to my friend Christine, and trying to do some planning for meeting up on the trail at some point. I was feeling extremely homesick, and a black cat that reminded me of my own, came up to me for attention. I was already crying, and this pushed me further into my emotions of sadness, but also joy for the timing of it. A reminder of the comfort of home. As I petted the cat and talked on the phone, Wind Eagle came out the door of the church. She said she was staying there tonight. I was still on the phone, and directed her to where Puddles was. A short time later, a second cat, reminding me of another at home, came up to me. It really was what I needed at the moment. Brian left after we dug through the resupply box, and we made ourselves at home in the hiker room upstairs.Thank you to trail angels Lilly and Omer!!!