morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2005-08-10
From: Kid Gore Shelter

To: Stratton Pond Tenting Sites
Miles today: 15.2

1638.3 miles                                                8/10/05 Wednesday                                                               Day 119 Sunny                                                                  Tent      "There Are Flies On The Mt"Great night of sleep. Up at 6:15 a.m. man that is way to early. On the trail by 7:30 a.m. and it felt good to be hiking early. In the morning the trail was great so we made good time and lots of miles. Stopped at Black Brook for lunch great spot with the water flowing down the brook. Can't get that at those fancy restaurants on Cape Cod. Just Bruce came along and sat down and had lunch with us. Nice guy he is out hiking for a few days. He even gave me a extra tuna pack he had. So my dinner will be much better. After lunch we had a big climb up to Stratton Mt. 3936' high. It feels good to be climbing Mts again. Great views from the fire tower on the top. Down off the Mt we go. Got to see Little John today he seems to be doing good. He has Lymes disease from a tick. The doctor gave him meds for it. Staying at a really nice tent site on Stratton pond. Very peaceful. Got all our chores done - had dinner so off to the tent we go. A great day hiking with the one I love.         Talk to you all again real soon
Date: 2005-08-11
From: Stratton Pond Tenting Sites

To: Manchester Center-Sutton Place
Miles today: 10.5
Weather: few clouds

1648.8 miles                                                   8/11/05 Thursday                                                               Day 120 Sunny                                                                     Inn      " I Love The Pine Forest"O/K night of sleep. We did have to get up in the night to put the fly [cover] on our tent when it started to rain. In hot weather we leave the fly off our tent so it is just the screen part to keep the bugs off of us, and it is a lot cooler. We did decide to go into Manchester Center for the night. Sister Buzz said it was time for a shower and to do laundry. Off we go. the trail today was nice. Great hike around Stratton Pond and then through some really nice pine forests. Only 10 miles to the road into Manchester Center. Love the short days my feet do too. Got a quick ride into town. Our first stop was Eastern Mountain Sports to get a new pair of boots for Sister Buzz. Her old ones were just to old. I love my new ASOLO's so much. that she ended up getting the same pair. Thank you Alan the manager at EMS for all your help. EMS is #1 got the best customer service. Checked into Suttons Place [Inn] then off to finish our town chores. Oh yeah we did take a shower so the towns people did not have a bad day. Got myself a big ice cream sunday.         Life is Great and Good
Date: 2005-08-12
From: Manchester Center-Sutton Place

To: Lost Pond Shelter
Miles today: 14.8
Weather: clear sky

1663.6 miles                                                8/12/05 Friday                                                            Day 121 Sunny-Rain                                                               Shelter      "Don't Fall Into The Water You Will Get Wet"Great night of sleep. You know by now- clean hiker- real bed with pillow always means a great night of sleep. On the trail around 10:00 a.m. a little late but that is o/k. First off we climbed Bromley Mt. On the way up we checked out the new shelter. The Green Mountain Club [GMC] has some of the best trails and by far the best shelters and out houses. The out houses are very important out here. GMC is always working on the shelters to improve it out here for us. The climb up was no problem for Sister Buzz. I keep telling her that she should stay out here with me and go all the way to Maine. I really enjoyed the hike today the trail goes around Griffen Pond and most of it was on a wooden plank walkway. Seeing so many more Sobo's hiking from Maine to Georga now. It feels good to know also that we are 3/4 of the way done. Tonight we have a full shelter- It started to rain around 2:00 p.m. after lunch and has not stopped so shelters are always full when it is raining. Great dinner tonight with some fresh veggies and fruit we packed out of town. In the shelter listening to the rain drops on the roof.
Date: 2005-08-13
From: Lost Pond Shelter

To: Minerva Hinchey Shelter
Miles today: 14.9
Weather: few clouds

1678.5 miles                                                   8/13/05 Saturday                                                               Day 122 Sunny                                                                     Shelter      "We Are Not Meant To Be Pin Cushions"Not A good night of sleep- Bugs needed "pin cushions and we were it. All night long. Up a little early hit the trail around 8:30 a.m. Today was a long day for Sister Buzz 15 miles with a few good ups. She is such a strong hiker. In a few places I was having trouble keeping up to her. Vermont is a great place to hike. If anyone is going to hike a long distance trail you should think about the Long Trail. We hiked by Little Rock Pond what a beautiful place. Stopped by and talked to the care taker and she gave us some real vegetables. Stopped and had lunch at White Rocks. Really neat place. Over time hikers have taken rocks and made all kinds of figures and shapes. Then hiked the last 5 miles to the shelter. At the shelter is one LT nobo and 5 AT sobo hikers. We have been seeing a lot of sobos. I am having such a great time hiking with Sister Buzz it is great to be walking with someone the miles go by so much faster. Well off to the sleeping bag we will be climbing Killington Mt. tomorrow our first 4000' in a long time.
Date: 2005-08-14
From: Minerva Hinchey Shelter

To: Cooper Lodge
Miles today: 13.8
Weather: light rain

1692.3 miles                                                   8/14/05 Sunday                                                            Day 123 Cloudy-Rain                                                               Shelter      "Today Is My 4 th Month Anniversary On The Trail"O/K night of sleep. Up early some of the Sobo hikers decided that all of us in the shelter should be up early so they made plenty of noise packing up. Good day today we are going to the Whistle Stop Restaurant for breakfast yes real food. Today I broke down and had my first coffee of the hike and let me tell you it sure tasted great. Did a food resupply and off we went. We are now hiking in New England with big rocks and roots. I enjoy climbing up the Mts over big rocks. It is a bit of a challenge but fun. Life was Good today ran into 2 trail magics. Cold soda- one of them we met the Man On The Moon. He thru hiked the AT in "2000". Bad news is yes rain again started up in the morning and was on and off all day long. As we were climbing up Killington [our first 4000' Mt since way down south] it started to rain hard. By the time we got to the shelter we were dripping wet. Great hiking today it is so much like the White Mts. Nice to be back home in the Mts. 4 of us here at the shelter. The shelter is on top of Killington Mt. cool shelter a rock shelter built in the "30s" We did share it with the mice.
Date: 2005-08-15
From: Cooper Lodge

To: Killington,VT. Inn At The Long Trail
Miles today: 6.3

1698.6 miles                                                   8/15/05 Monday                                                               Day 124 Cloudy                                                                     Inn      "Christmas Is In The Air"Good night of sleep. It was cool on the Mt so I pulled up the sleeping bag [Gee my sleeping bag smells] and slept well. Today we took it easy getting up since we only had 6 miles to hike. Again great trail to hike down off the Mt on. The pine forest have such great scents. I always think of Christmas when I am in one. Smells just like Christmas trees. Sad today knowing this is my last day of hiking with Sister Buzz for a while. Hoping she will hike some in NH with us. Off the Mt by 12:00 p.m. Checked into our room at the Inn. Saw a Long Trail hiker again today Subway nice guy hiking with his girl friend. He gave me a set of keys to his truck so we could go into town for a resupply and a meal. I met Subway for maybe 1/2 an hour and he hands over the keys to his truck. The hiker community is unbelievable out here. It is how it should be all over. It will be hard to get back into the real world when I get back home. Great time at the Inn saw a lot of hikers and it is fun just to sit back and relax and talk. Yes I did get to have Ice cream
Date: 2005-08-16
From: Killington,VT. Inn At The Long Trail

To: Story Brook Shelter
Miles today: 10.0
Weather: light rain

1708.6 miles                                                   8/16/05 Tuesday                                                               Day 125 Cloudy                                                                  Tent         "A Clean Hiker Smells Good"Great night of sleep. Clean hiker- clean bed and pillow is always great. Up early to repack my pack. When you stay at a Inn- hotel- B&B it is a great time to try to dry things out so your room has all your stuff hanging over anything that will hold it. Got all packed - filled in all my journals pages and wrote a lot of thank you post cards to the people that has helped us with our fund raiser. We had a great breakfast at the Inn. Lightning got to the Inn around noon. So we were on the trail by 1:00 p.m. Some hard to say good bye to Sister Buzz. Good trail today a good climb but thats o/k. Got stung by a bee about 4 miles into the hike- hate when that happens. I would love to find the bee and bite it back and see how he likes it. Did o/k today hiking by myself again. While hiking with Sister Buzz I tried to get it in my mind that I would be hiking by myself again so I am o/k. From the Inn we have about 50 miles to NH. Then about 50 miles to the White Mts. Then about 100 miles to Maine. Life is Good in New England. Busy shelter tonight 12 hikers here. I know all but 2 of them. Off to the sleeping bag.      Good night
Date: 2005-08-17
From: Story Brook Shelter

To: The Red Barn In Woodstock,VT
Miles today: 13.7

1722.3 miles                                                8/17/05 Wednesday                                                            Day 126 Sunny-Warm                                                               Shelter      "It Feels Good To Be Cool"Great night of sleep. The weather is getting cooler at night so sleeping is better. So good I did not get up till 8:00 a.m. Thats o/k I needed the sleep. The trail today was nice had a few good ups and downs so they will help to get me ready for the big Mts in the Whites. Had lunch at a look out view that was great. Cooler hiking today and it feels so good to be out of the hot heat. I need to call Sister Buzz and have my winter gear sent to me. Tonight I am staying at a hiker hostel. It is a big old barn that they allow hikers to stay in. Today was a rough day getting water. There just was no springs or streams to get it from. It is good now that we are seeing the south bound hikers we can ask them about the trail ahead for us. Water the better shelters to stay at. Lightning helped the owner of the barn paint his house today so he gave Lightning a ride into town for food resupply and that meant that we got a sub for dinner. No ice cream. I will just get a double dish next time.      Talk to you soon
Date: 2005-08-18
From: The Red Barn In Woodstock,VT

To: Happy Hill Shelter
Miles today: 16.6
Weather: overcast clouds

1738.9 miles                                                   8/18/05 Thursday                                                            Day 127 Sunny-Warm                                                                  Shelter      "I Slept In A Barn Without The Cows"Great night of sleep in a barn. I forgot to tell you yesterday that across the street from the barn is the pie lady' store my luck she is closed on wednesday. No pie. Also yesterday I went to play my disc player and it is broken. Not a good day at all. Off on the trail around 9:00 a.m. Today the trail was nice a lot of pine forest and a few open summits which means a view. There were a lot-I mean a lot of 100'-200' up and downs. Not hard to climb but you can never get a good pace going. Did not see any Sobo's today. There are 2 sobo's at the shelter and one other nobo. The trail was very quiet today. When we got into West Hartford VT. Today my luck took over again. The country store that has ice cream had gone out of business in the spring so yup I missed out again. I opened up my last root beer barrel candy today and I dropped it and it landed on a rock and broke into a bunch of little pieces not a lucky day again. Better luck next time. Nice shelter we are at tonight not that old. Lightning got a fire going so it was a nice ending to the day. Had a good supper with a few cookies for dessert.    Off to the sleeping bag. I am calling it a day.
Date: 2005-08-19
From: Happy Hill Shelter

To: Trailside Tenting At Mink Brook
Miles today: 14.4

1753.3 miles                                                   8/19/05 Friday                                                            Day 128 Sunny-Warm                                                                  Tent      "We Are In N/H Now"O/K night of sleep. There were 5 of us here last night. On the trail at 8:30 and hiking into the town of Hanover NH today so that means we are in a new state 12 states down-2 more to go. Just NH and ME. About 6 miles to Hanover. Did the town stuff. I mailed my music disc player back home so hopefully Sister Buzz can get me a new one or this one repaired fast. I do miss it. Helps me get up those hills. Stopped at the Ben&Jerry ice cream shop for a pint. Food shopping and best of all I called home. Headed out of town at 4:30 p.m. Got to do about 8 miles all the shelters around us have no water so we are planning to camp by Mink Brook around 7:15 p.m. and yes there was water so we set up camp. Had dinner-did a few chores and I am off to bed. Hiked some today with Mayfly and Thrifty. It is good to be in New Hampshire.   Good night to all-I do miss you all a lot. Be good
Date: 2005-08-20
From: Trailside Tenting At Mink Brook

To: Hexacuba Shelter
Miles today: 20.1
Weather: light rain

1773.4 miles                                                   8/20/05 Saturday                                                            Day 129 Rain-Windy                                                                  Shelter      "Bad Day In The Woods"Good night of sleep till the rain came. We need the rain. The bad thing is we do not need rain all day long. Today was a very bad day for me. First rain all day so that means wet boots and socks that is hard on the feet. Then we have friends coming to hike so Lightning says we have to do some big miles. Today we did 20.1 in the rain and the hardest hiking since way down south today was not good. Hiking with your son would be great but I do not hike with him. He says I go to slow for him. Total in 129 days we have hiked about 2 hours together. He still does not understand that I am older and I can not do 3 to 4 mile hours like him. I am about ready to tell him to go hike his own hike so he can do all the 20 mile days he wants to. My best days out here by far is when Sister Buzz has been with me. I hike with her and we talk-we sit together -have lunch on the trail-we set up camp together it is great to be hiking with a person. I have enjoyed hiking with a hiker Snot Rag we both had about the same pace. Snot Rag thanks for celibrating the 4th of July with me they were good hot dogs and beans
Date: 2005-08-21
From: Hexacuba Shelter

To: The Hikers Welcome Hostel
Miles today: 14.7
Weather: light rain

1788.1 miles                                                   8/21/05 Sunday                                                                  Day 130-Rain                                                                  Hostel         "It Is A Long Day In NH"O/K night of sleep not the best. Rain all night last night. Started out hiking in the rain and it rained on and off all day long. The hike today was a long day not on the hiking part but mental way. My mind was not in it at all today. Food not sure if I am eating enough or not the right food. Just did not seem to have any horse power today. Did take it slow. Only saw a few sobo hikers today and a few day hikers. I was lonely out here today. I miss my best friend some bad. Will get to see her in Maine. Till then all I will do is walk and then walk some more. Tonight we are at the hikers welcome hostel in Glencliff,NH. Two thru hikers from 1998 have opened a hostel. It is a nice one hot showers-laundry-and food. There is a TV but I do not watch it. Well got to finish a few things then off to the tent. I did set it up to dry and I hope it does so I do not carry any extra weight of water. The tent was wet from all the rain we have been having. Have less than 400 miles to go.    Good night-Please put in a few good words for me. Thank you
Date: 2005-08-23
From: Beaver Brook Shelter

To: Eliza Brook Shelter
Miles today: 9.1
Weather: broken clouds

1793.4 miles                                                   8/23/05 Tuesday                                                         Day 132 Sunny-Cloudy         "Wish I Saw The Moose Too"Cold night of sleep-did not sleep well. Today we picked up our winter stuff=20' sleeping bag-warm clothing-hat-gloves. Bad thing means more weight in the pack. Thank you Sister Buzz for sending the package for us. The hike down from Beaver Brook shelter was steep and wet had to go slow. Tough time getting a ride into North Woodstock took about one hour. Got our town stuff done and back on the trail at 2:15 p.m. Lightning wanted to go 15 miles today so we started out. The trail was hard -to hard to get 15 miles in so we stopped at 9.1 miles. Hope tomorrow I can hike longer we need to make up those miles. Meeting friends in Crawford Notch on Saturday so we have to hike the miles. Trail today was rocky-mud and a lot of ups and downs. Lightning did see a good size moose in the trail today. Hoping I get to see one before we end. Got to talk to Sister Buzz today so that was great. Last night at the shelter after the rain stopped we got to see a great rainbow. So nice to see it over the Mts. Been hiking with Hairball-Thrifty-Fancy Pants-Navigator and ET the last few days. Good dinner tonight got my chores done and finished my journal so I am turning off my head lamp and going to bed. Lightning is still up and hanging out around the camp fire.
Date: 2005-08-24
From: Eliza Brook Shelter

To: Liberty Spring Tentsite
Miles today: 11.4

1804.8 miles                                                8/24/05 Wednesday                                                                  Day 133 Rain                                                                     Tent      "How Cold Is It In The Mts"Great night of sleep-went to bed early and was real warm with my winter bag. Thank you!! again Sister Buzz for sending my winter gear. We do need it in the whites. The white mts do and have lived up to their name of being hard. Most of the time when we have hiked up here we climb a Mt and back down. We have now been in the whites for 3 days with a lot of big ups and downs so my feet and legs know it tonight. Good day hiking even though it rained a lot-on and off. Got to Lonesome Lake Shelter and got a bowl of soup and it was good. There has been a lot of day hikers out here today and I am sure we will see a lot more of them in the next week. Trails are in good shape. Tonight we are at Liberty Spring tent site which is at 3800' up so we got a cold wind blowing. Got my chores done-had a nice warm dinner of Lipton noodles and 4 cookies. Life is Good. Hiked today with Patch-Lenox-ET-and Hairball and they were at our campsite last night. In the morning we will go over Franconia Ridge one of my favorites in the whites.    Talk to you later
Date: 2005-08-25
From: Liberty Spring Tentsite

To: Trail side camping by Owl's Head Mt
Miles today: 7.7

1812.5 miles                                                   8/25/05 Thursday                                                         Day 134 Cloudy-Sunny                                                               Tent      "I Got Off The AT Today"Great night of sleep in the bag by 7:00 p.m. cold outside but warm in my sleeping bag. Love my winter bag it is an EMS mountain light 20' down bag-great bag. Hiked up to the Franconia Ridge and across the whole ridge we were in the clouds. No view at all-Not happy about it. I have been hoping the whole hike for a great day on Franconia Ridge and the Presidential Range. Well the first one was in the clouds. Better luck on the second one. Today's hike on the AT was only 7.7 miles. What we are doing is-There are the [48] 4000' Mts in the whites that hikers try to climb them all. O/K I have 46 of them. So we got off the AT and hiked about 6 miles to the base of Owl's Head Mt. Now in the morning we will climb up and then go back the 6 miles to the AT and then start hiking onto Galehead Hut for the night if all goes the way we hope. Todays hike was o/k a lot of ups and downs. My legs and knees do have some pain tonight. Bad day on throwing the bear bag rope ended up falling on my behind so I let Lightning throw it tonight. Had a nice dinner and had my freeze dryed ice cream for dessert. Off to the tent about 7:30-finished writing my journal and making a list of things I need in my next mail drop.               Good night
Date: 2005-08-26
From: Trail side camping by Owl's Head Mt

To: Galehead Hut
Miles today: 2.7
Weather: broken clouds

1815.2 miles                                                   8/26/05 Friday                                                               Day 135 Sunny                                                                   AMC Hut      "I Saw A Owl's Head Today"Great night of sleep. I did wake up a few times thinking about the hike up Owl's Head. Up early to climb. Owl's Head which is known to be tough. Lightning and I did o/k for climb up a rock slide. Down from the summit packed up our gear. Off to Galehead Hut for the night only 2.7 miles on the AT today. We did hike over 10 miles today with the side hike to Owls Head. Owls Head summit was #47 of the 48 summits for me. Only one more to go. Got to Galehead hut early today and Lightning had already set us up for the work for stay program. Got to do a lot of dishes. Tonight there were a lot of thru hikers here. Wildcat-Goose Bumps-Easty-Thrifty and Navigator. After dinner the hut croo asked us to give a talk on hiking the AT. I did enjoy talking because we were talking to other hikers so it was fun. The white Mts are so great. Words cannot tell you what it is like to hike and be up here. I have been in heaven here. Did hear the weather is going to get bad. I do not want rain here.   Talk to you soon. Miss you all