morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2003-07-23
From: North Woodstock, NH

To: Garfield Ridge Campsite
Miles today: 10.2
Weather: light rain

Miles: 10.2Total: 1810.2Started the day with another fantastic breakfast, compliments of the Inn. Talked to my Dad for a while, and it was a comfort to hear from someone who loves me. Packed, said good-bye to Loderunner and Apricot, who will be skipping up to Monson to do the 100-mile wilderness and then summit Katahdin together, and then I hit the road. The second time I've ever hitched alone, but it was fine. I was picked up by a young guy who hiked a lot himself.Was still in my funk when I started walking, but somewhere in the first few miles climbing out of the notch, that changed. I started thinking about my friends back home, and about how I'd already walked 1800 miles, and how most of those people back home thought that that was something pretty exceptional. I thought about how far I'd come, and I also thought about that empty whiskey bottle back out of the Smokies, and the note with it from the old thru-hikers-- it would all be worth it in the end. When I think about the crowd ahead, and al the friends I had hiked with until now, I get the impulse to go, go; to catch up. But when I think about where I am right now, I feel happy and strong. I gotta hold onto that.I sat on a rise just past Mt. Lafayette for a while, just as a patch of blue revealed itself. Sat their a long wile, began a letter to my father, and watched as a layer of clouds blewthrough me. It looked like I imagine Ireland to look like, and thought about my Mom, and how she wanted to see Stonehenge. I arrived at the shelter, and though there was a hut not three miles on, I decided to stay. I wanted to be in the woods tonight. And the caretaker was this really cool girl I'd met earlier in the day, and she let me do work-for-stay.Cliffdweller showed up later, and Kate, the caretaker joined us for company as we cooked dinner. We talked a lot (I talked a lot,) and the evening ended with a game of Old Maid.
Date: 2003-07-24
From: Garfield Ridge Campsite

To: zealand Falls Hut
Miles today: 9.7

Miles: 9.7Total: 1819.9Great day. Started sluggish enough.It was raining and foggy, so I was completely unmotivated to move. Said bye to Kate on the way out. She told me I was beautiful, and that she liked to tell people that (that they are bautiful). She is a very cool and quirky girl, and I was not far down the trail before I regretted getting her contact info to keep in touch.The first 2.7 miles of the day took me almost 2 hours. The trail was rock, wet and slippery. Moved very deliberately and came close to wiping out several times. Hit the hut, and had myself some leftover pancakes and pastries for a dollar. A cup o' tea, too. Cliffdweller joined me there, and not long after, I had to push on. At the speed I was moving, I wanted to be sure to make the next hut in easy time. And the rest of the day was lovely. Just like yesterday, it cleared out in the early afternoon. The trail took me above treeline once, and right at the end of the day, I came across a sign fora view. It was spectacular. It brought me up to these cliffs that dropped off sheer into a valley. A rocky face across the valley, and huge mountains with steep sides to the right. I took three panoramic shots to capture it all.A mile and a half later, I heard the falls, but wouldn't you know it, as I was crossing them, my back foot slipped and completely dunked in the water, up to the top of the gaiter. I'd gone all day, hoping my shoes would dry out, and in my last tenth of a mile, I was back to start. Ah, well.Applied to the croo for work-for-stay; washed some dishes, set the table, and just as dinner started, a thunderstorm hit. I was glad I stayed, and didn't try to push on to the next campsite. Cliffdweller and I holed up in the storage closet in the privy, waiting for the guests to finish dinner so that we could eat. While there, we discovered a great place to sleep: up in the attic, there were extra mattresses and even a pillow, right by a window. We had both shyed from the idea of sleeping in a packed hut. We'd probably be on the tables in the common areas, which would mean we'd be the last ones asleep and the first awake. We ate after the guests were finished, and Yum! Ginger-soy chicken and couscous and corn. Cliffdweller discovered that it tasted way better as a mash, the corn, couscous and chicken marinade all mixed, so had two platefulls like this, and then marshmallow-coconut brownies for dessert. After dinner we asked the hut manager about the sleeping arrangements, and she allowed us the attic. So here I am, sleeping above a bathroom with the construction crew's equipment all around: pvc piping, tools, and something smells like gas... but my belly is full and I have a soft bed and I can hear the sound of the fals. And I am going to pass out now.
Date: 2003-08-01
From: Full Goose Shelter

To: Grafton Notch
Miles today: 9.7
Weather: light rain

Start: Full Goose ShelterEnd: Grafton NotchMiles: 9.7Total: 1905.8The day began raining, and, as the Notch was just ahead for us, I seriously considered not hiking. I had been told that the Notch is like a playground, but also had been told not to go through alone. But Chunky and Bliss started moving, and were talking about hitching into Andover from a road only ten miles out. Even with the Notch in between, I could make it ten miles. So I arrived at the sign that had the arrow next to "mahoosuc Notch," and I proceeded. And at first, it was like a playground. I stretched my legs with big steps, hoisted myself up over boulders, dragged myself under, allthe while laughing. Things turned a little, though, after about an hour of this, when my muscles began to feel weary and it began to rain again. I sat down on rocks to slide down them, and my skirt soakes through, rode up, and my calves, thighs and butt were caked with mud and moss. Rocks were slippery, the ground wet, and in the places where I had to take my pack off, I was often shoving it ! through a puddle. A playground, I told myself, but it was no use. BobMikeBob, who I'd not seen since Jersey, brezed by me part of the way through. We greeted each other, but kept on pushing through, and son they were outof sight.At the end of the Notch, you begin the ascent of Mahoosuc Arm, a big, steep, scrambly climb. By halfway up, the rain was holding, but I had already started thinking about my Mom. On my worst days, I find that it always comes down to missing her. I cosidered quitting, but, as has happened before, I coldn't quit right there. I at least had to hike out, and by the time I reached the next shelter, saw Chunky and Bliss and heard that Shrek was just ahead, I was feeling better and happier. In the second half of the day, we climbed Old Speck, and then began a three mile descent into Grafton Notch. And the terrain was lovely. It was actually dirt! Real dirt! No rock faces, no bouldering, just dirt and roots. The trail followed a waterfall for the last mile, and I found Shrek there in the parking lot waiting for me. I convinced him to join mein Andover, and we had a very lucky hitch in. The road leading there was not well-traveled. Had dinners of burgers and boston creme pie, and arranged a shuttle to the Cabin. There I saw Skeemer, who I'd not seen since Port Clinton, PA and he was surprised to see me. Showered, laundered and fell asleep on the couch. Woke up at midnight and made it to my bunk.
Date: 2003-08-07
From: Trident Col Tentsite

To: Full Goose Shelter
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Start: Trident Col TentsiteEnd: Full Goose ShelterMiles:Total:I am in MAINE!!! State number thirteen. Jeepers.The beginning of the day was slow, and I was still slow leaving from lunch. I was talking to the caretaker there, and it was super cool, since he knew Kate, the caretaker from Garfield Ridge that I had met coming into the Whites. Talked about the AMC and the history of the huts.The rest of the day was lovely. I crossed into Maine in the late afternoon, and not much later, I was up inthe alpine zone, sitting in blueberry patches and munching wild blueberries. I just coldn't resist, and for all of my dawdling, I didn't make it to the shelter until after dark. I was coming down the last slope, and I could hear the voices at the shelter ahead, but, wow, did I take it slow. Bliss and Chunky were there, and, extremely kindly, they moved over to squeeze me in. I got water, cooked, ate in the dark, and then crashed.Tomorrow: Mahoosuc Notch. Supposed to be the longest mile on the trail. I hope to finish it in two hours.
Date: 2003-08-20
From: Moxie Bald Shelter

To: Shaw's @ Monson, ME
Miles today: 17.9
Weather: few clouds

Miles: 17.9Total: 2058.1Town tonight. But first, a day's hike. Two fords. Some deer. No climbs. Cruisey-doozey. Into Monson--MONSON! Last town on this hike. Last resupply. Staying at Shaw's, and had a huge meatloaf dinner. Resupplied after dinner, had a pint of B&J's, watched some tv and called my Dad, brother Ben and Uncle Dave and aunt Joan. In nine days I will be on top of Katahdin.
Date: 2003-08-21
From: Monson, ME

To: Little Wilson Stream
Miles today: 6.8

Miles: 6.8Total: 2064.9We were very lazy today. Started the morning by gorging ourselves on Mr. Shaw's breakfast. Spent the afternoon watching game shows and soap operas. Mailed to Massachusetts all the things I won't be using in this next week. Ate a pizza. And sometime around three mustered the motivation to hop in the back of young Shaw's pickup, and out to the trailhead it was. Only did seven today, as daylight ran short. Tomorrow will be a big day to make up for it, but as for now, Toothpick, Truckin', myself and Molasses are camped at the base of a waterfall, and all of the hunks of slate lying around have been arranged into chairs. Nice spot.
Date: 2003-08-22
From:  Little Wilson Stream

To: Chairback Gap Lean-to
Miles today: 19.2
Weather: scattered clouds

Miles: 19.2Total: 2084.1Rough day today. I started out slow and unmotivated. Nineteen miles stretched like infinity before me. It felt like forever, so I plodded along, barely over two per hour, and surely to the frustration of Toothpick, hiking behind me. At one point during the morning, I had one of those fanciful thoughts: what if I quit? right here, now, hike out on a logging road and go home. What is anybody going to say? That I can't do it? Of course I wasn't serious; I play with what-ifs and daydreams to fill my hours walking, but recently, that old question--Why am I doing this?-- has come back around. Toothpick told me that someone once sent him a quote that said something like, the only things worth doing are those you are not sure that you can do. I know I can do this trail. So who is to say anything.I know these thoughts must be appauling to some. I know that, back in the beginning, when I had met a thru-hiker who quit on the NH-ME border, I didn't understand. How could you be so close and quit? But let me assure you, lots of people have these thoughts. Mostly they are just fancy, but we have them. Doing it to say you did it is not enough to get you up the slope, over the mountain, through another day. There's got to be more. Today, I didn't enjoy hiking so much. (Except for getting my feet wet when we ford streams. I like that a lot.) It wasn't fun, but I knew that at the end of the day, I would be done for the day, I would be tired and sleep would come easy, and I would be nineteen miles closer. And right now, I can't think of any other way I would rather fill my hours, and so I go north.
Date: 2003-08-23
From: Chairback Gap Lean-to

To: Sidney Tappan Campsite
Miles today: 11.7
Weather: broken clouds

Miles: 11.7Total: 2095.8Just in case I forgot what real cold was like, how it felt back in late march and april, Mother Nature decides to remind me.Thanks, Mom.Could write about the Wilderness and how not-so-wild it is, what with the railroad tracks,logging roads, planes fluing overhead. Could write about how we planned to hike Gulf Hagas today, but were dissuaded by the crowds of day-hikers, with their immaculate hydration packs and blue jeans, how clean they looked. Or about how, even out here in what has been my element for these months, in the presence of so many "other-worlders", I felt out of place, and how this made me feel about leaving the woods in a few days.Or about seeing our first moose, walking right up to it to get a better picture and how it stared at us until it skittered off, its calf, which we had not seen, right behind. But right now, my hands are cold and this short entry is all I can muster. In the bag and to sleep.
Date: 2003-08-24
From: Sidney Tappan Campsite

To: Cooper Brook Falls Lean-to
Miles today: 17.1
Weather: overcast clouds

Miles: 17.1Total: 2112.9Today went FAST! We were up early and it was still cold. My fingertips numbing, I ate hastily and broke camp as quickly as possible, wanting to get hiking and be warm. We hiked up West Peak, then Haystack, and finally Whitecap, from which I got my first, clear, definite view of Katahdin. We could only see the base of it, since the clouds were so low, but the base was gi-normous! The guides have been telling us from which peaks the Big K is visible, but without maps, it gets lost among all the other mountains and ranges. But this time, it was the only huge, spansive thing out there, completely solitary. And between us and it were only low, rolling hills. White Cap is the last real climb before the big one. So downhill from Logan Brook and OW! DAMN! What the--? Got stung by a bee, and holy hell, did it hurt. I was about to stop and swat, until Toothpick told me to get going. I guess he saw them swarming at my legs only after the sting, and of course, didn't want to get stung himself. Geez. Haven't been stung since I was a kid, and I didn't remember how much it friggin' hurt. I complained all afternoon. A little bitty "mountain" after the downhill, and we took our time, sat by ponds, stopped at each shelter. Early in the afternoon, it warmed up enough to finally shed the long johns and long sleevethat I had donned in the morning. We got into camp crazy early for a seventeen, a little after four o' clock. It was ridiculous. Trukin' already had the fire going, and the shelter was situated right at the bottom of a cascade, right in front of one of the deepest swimming holes I have seen yet. Curse the cold, no swimming for me. Noodles and tuna for dinner, and, with so much daylight, I finished the book I have been carrying since Vermont, and will leave it in this shelter. Great day.
Date: 2003-08-27
From: Rainbow Springs Campsite

To: Abol Bridge Campsite
Miles today: 11.2
Weather: scattered clouds

Miles: 11.2Total: 2157.5Slept late, and discovered that, two days from the end of the hike, my tent has finally sprung a leak. It rained a lot last night, and the toebox of my bag was soaked. Ah, well. Better now than hundreds of miles ago, I suppose.The short miles passed quickly. At one point we reached the top of a short climb, and looked out, and Katahdin took up the whole sky. It is so close.Noonish we hit the second-to-last shelter of the hike, and in the register, hikers were reaching their peak sappiness. I realized then that these last miles of the hike, I have had a very business-as-usual attitude. Just walk; just get the job done. Everyone was saying how this was the best time of their life, yada yada. Read some of my old friends' entries, and even though the finished days ago, that I know they are home and done with this, but when you read what the wrote, it'slike they are in my time. And for the next three miles, I was a little sappy too. Passed the "enterring the 100 mile wilderness" sign, and stepped out onto the road. Crossed Abol bridge, and it all felt a little surreal. I was thinking about these past five months, trapped in this nostalgia, unsure of whether I was happy or sad.Saw a crowd at the campsite, everyone who will summit tomorrow. Got a ride into Millinocket with Trukin' and Toothpick on a logging truck, and here we are at the Appalachian Trail Cafe, tryin to figure out how to get back to the campsite. It's a predicament.
Date: 2002-10-08
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

This crazy idea started tickling between my ears some time ago, then began getting serious a few months ago, when I suddenly had fewer and fewer responses to the question, why not? I reminded myself of something I'd learned long ago: that just because some dreams are uncommon and seem crazy doesn't mean that they're impossible. Following this reminder was another: that uncommon dreams call for uncommon effort, commitment and hard, hard work. So I started with an empty bank account. I knew virtually nothing about camping. I didn't even own a backpack. The extent of my outdoor knowledge started and ended with day hikes. I had six months to save a whole lot of money, get equipped and learn everything I needed to know about living outdoors.I know I'll be scrambling for these next five months, trying to make some thin ends meet. But I'm a month in and rather than feeling more and more discouraged, I'm proud of what I've learned thus far. A month ago, I was sitting at a bar with some friends-of-friends listening as they hammered me over and over again with questions I couldn't answer. How would I get food? Where would I start? What would I carry? What would I leave? They told me I'd have to walk thirty miles a day with ninety pounds on my back. My feet would bleed. I'd hate the person I went with. Et cetera. Well, now I know where my maildrops will be, and that I'll start on Springer Mountain in March. I know about the grassy balds, and Pennsylvania and its rocks, and the White Mountains. I've read of torrential rainstorms and near-freezing nights, sweltering days and black flies. I know about trail magic and trail angels, about Damascus and its trail days. I also know, that as much as I think I know now, as much as I've read and listened, I'll look back at this first entry and think, how little I knew. I have my pack and some gear. I'll carry forty pounds on my back for maybe twenty miles on a good day. My feet might bleed, but I can handle that.   I'm going alone, and alone I will carry, in addition to my pack, the care of my loved ones, and the strength and self-reliance that my short time has afforded me. I will leave behind the doubts of others, and carry my own doubts carefully guarded.
Date: 2002-10-27
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

So after a second reading I realized that first entry, while completely demonstrative of my attitude, tells little about me. I know when I've been reading other people's trail journals, I've wondered what their backgrounds were, what kind of people are out there doing this kind of thing, and why. So here goes.I'm twenty-two and just finished my BA in Spanish at Ohio State. As such, I have some free time on my hands, and I realized that if I don't do this now, I don't know when next I'll have the opportunity. So I'm working at a coffee shop, saving all the money I make, and spending my free time between planning this hike and training for a marathon I will be running just before it, in February. I don't have a real reason for doing this-- I'd toyed with the idea for only a few years, and it didn't even seem serious until this summer. I guess the only reason I can think of is that I like hard things. When I was seventeen, I decided I wanted to be an exchange student, and so left my family and friends for six months and reinvented myself in Argentina. In the months following my return, my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer, and for the next four years, I didn't have to look for hard things. They were right in front of me. That battle finally ended this past May when she passed away. Now, I'm looking for something else.I've found that by forcing myself to confront adversity, I force myself to grow more, think more, and consider more the things that I really value in life.I know that it takes a very rare type of person to complete a thru hike. I know that both the physical and psychological demands of the trip are daunting. But I also know that I've made it through a lot already, and there's a chance that I might be that rare type of person. I hope I am.
Date: 2002-11-10
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

While visiting family in Massachusetts, my uncle took me out to the part of the trail that passes nearby them, in Becket. It was so exciting! I packed my pack full-- complete with a phonebook to add weight (I wanted to try it with the same weight I will be carrying) and took off. It was a beautiful day, the leaves almost all fallen by now, and though it was warm, there were still snow patches around left over from cold weather the previous week. I had a perma-smile going as I passed the white blazes. Uncle David took a picture of me standing next to one. We didn't go for too long because we had other things to do that day, and my knees were hurting a little by the end (I'd done an eight mile run the day before, training for the marathon, and killed my knees on the hills around my family's house.) Good news: I think my boots are finally-- FINALLY-- breaking in. The right ankle wasn't hurting me this time.This week, my goal is to get my tent and then it's off to the woods and trails whenever I have a free day. Happy hiking, all!
Date: 2002-11-28
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Got my brothers and Dad to take a short hike with me after Thanksgiving dinner. I loaded my pack with several phone books for weight, and we headed out to Glen Helen, a park nearby where I live. It was great to spend time with them, and to talk about my hike. And I love my hiking poles. They add so much balance.As for everything else, it's a bit mad. I've gotten bogged down a bit with the marathon training schedule. I've taken on a lot, with all of the work and running and trying to plan the hike somewhere in between. I have to keep telling myself that the running is training for the Trail, that it will all pay off. Otherwise, I am inclined to become resentful or to slack off. I will tell you that, come March, there must be some relief, however momentary, to not have to juggle anymore. To just have to get up each morning, pack, and keep heading North.
Date: 2002-12-05
To: Night hike
Miles today: 0.0

Ran out of daylight on my cross-training (i.e., not-running) day. I sat for a minute trying to decide what to do, but it was only a minute. There was enough snow that I knew that enough light would be reflected off of it to see easily. Hiked maybe two or three miles, with forty pounds in the pack (three phone books this time.) It was kinda quiet and eery out in the woods in the winter alone, but also exciting, knowing that I was probably the only one out there enjoying it that night. Still, hiking in a freakin' metro park has its limits, even if the paths are gravel and not paved. You get to the end, to the scenic lookout point, and look down to see the black water of the river below you and out to see... the highway. Gotta get out of this town.
Date: 2002-12-07
To: Old Man's Cave/ Cedar Falls
Miles today: 0.0

My brother was supposed to come with me, but didn't. I loaded up the pack (35 lbs) and hopped in the car after sleeping in (for once!) on Saturday morning. Got to Hocking Hills around noon and walked for a couple of hours. It was all snow, but warming up and snow was falling from three trees above the gorge. Shot two rolls of film. It was funny. At first I kept trying to keep the camera in the pack. But I had to take it off and unload it every few minutes. After de-packing about 3 times, I just left it to hang around my neck. Made for careful hiking, but some great shots, hopefully. At the end I paused to eat, then took the faster rim trail back. Each time I caught a glimpse of my shadow, with the pack and the poles, it gets me pumped up. About a mile from the end, I paused and then heard this crashing as two female deer bound out of the woods and onto the trail about twenty yard ahead. They continued up the slope, maybe 100 yards, where they stopped and just stared at me and I at them. Probably a good thing my brother didn't come after all. I might have missed that.