morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2018-07-19
From: Griffith Lake

To: Little Rock Pond
Miles today: 8.8

Oh baby it was COLD outside last night. Not freezing but upper 30¢s. And that¢s colder than our summer bags were meant for. As a result Brighty had liner, space blanket and fleece on, Wreck had fleece and broke out his rain gear after midnight and put them on. We bunched together and were okay but hopefully that was the coldest night - until we get our cold weather stuff in Hanover. Due to the cold we were a little late getting started today (Brighty announced she wasn¢t getting up until the sun was hitting our tent). Went over Mt Baker this morning. Rocky summit had Brighty thinking about the Whites (and not in a good way). Still the weather produced another fantastic day and the view was outstanding. We lagged on top of Baker for quite awhile soaking up the sun. Then dropped gently down all the way to the gavel road going to Darby VT. We stopped at Big Branch for some snacks and just to enjoy this beautiful weather. At the Darby Rd we ran into great trail magic - hot dogs, chips, sodas, fruit - provided by two guys - one from New York, one from Bennington who met, hit it off and just like to spend a couple days each summer helping hikers out. Super guys, super magic. To top it off Onesimus, the one who ran in 36 ice cream sandwiches to Upper Goose awhile ago was also there handing out . . . . Ice cream sandwiches. Thanks to all. It was magic. Got to this campsite by another beautiful pond and were so full we both decided we didn¢t want any food. Watched the sun set by the pond talking with a southbound German man who has lived the last 25 years in China. Very interesting. Also chatted with caretaker and Late Start by the pond. We¢re been seeing Late Start off and on for a couple weeks now. Indeed a number of hikers seem to be on the current pace of ¢the slow train to Maine¢ (us). Not sure why - we certainly aren¢t picking up our pace. Hoping for a little warmer night tonight although Brighty¢s space blanket is already out and Wreck has his rain gear close by. Ah Vermont. We love you but it is a little cold for July!!!
Date: 2018-07-20
From: Little Rock Pond

To: Clarendon shelter
Miles today: 13.6
Weather: clear sky

Cold last night too but not as cold as the other night (Wreck still slept in fleece AND rain gear, Brighty had space blanket). Up a little bit earlier this morning with Brighty on the trail before 8am (while Wreck finished his breakfast on the ¢beach¢ by the pond). Weather again nice - a little more humid than the last couple but still a great blue Vermont sky. Up over a couple smallish mountains today. Great views from White Rocks Cliff (0.2m off trail). Folks told us there were peregrine falcons nesting in the cliff but we didn¢t see them. About 0.5m north of Greenwall shelter we somehow missed the small sign indicating the AT went right. Instead we sailed down a nice downhill trail into a picnic area totally unaware we were off trail. Brighty went to use the facilities and Wreck sat down on a table. Only after checking AWOL, the map on the bulletin board and his ATC app did Wreck realize our mistake. Luckily we had only gone 0.4m but, of course, now we had to go another 0.4m UP the trail back to the AT. Went over great suspension bridge over Clarendon Gorge late in the day. Wreck was tempted by the swimming holes but it was 6pm with miles to go. Big rock scramble out of the Gorge reminded us -a little - of Mahoosic Notch in Maine. Temperature was a good 10-15 degrees cooler climbing (due to a lot of underground vents under the rocks). Got to this campsite after 7pm. Had the rest of our cheese and beef stick to celebrate (plus fettuccine Alfredo). Now it¢s time for bed. Doesn¢t seem nearly as cool tonight. Sounds good to us!!!
Date: 2018-07-21
From: Clarendon shelter

To: Cooper Lodge shelter
Miles today: 10.4
Weather: clear sky

A crowd came into the camping area toward dusk last night and didn¢t settle down until well after 10 pm. We¢re going to try and avoid shelter areas in the future. Another beautiful weather day today. Wow! It¢s been a great stretch but looks like the weather pattern is changing overnight. Trail started out this morning straight up a little grinder of the hill. Seems like the bigger the mountain the better the trail grade but these little one are super steep. Anyhoot the big climb of the day was up Killington. Wreck had been telling Brighty for awhile that this was a smooth climb. Well, the trail¢s grade was pretty good (lots of sidehill construction) but lots of rocks and especially roots in the trail. That and the fact that it was fairly narrow with a steep drop off on one side made Brighty not enjoy it too much (and lower Wreck¢s credibility even more). Once we got past the Shrewsbury Peak trail intersection about 3/4 of the way up the trail leveled out so even Brighty couldn¢t complain. Got up to this shelter about 6pm and took the 0.2m side trail up to Killington Peak. Fantastic views!!!! Maybe the best in Vermont along the AT. We¢re staying in the shelter which is an old enclosed one. Windows out so wind in. We¢re close to 4,000 ft in elevation but temperature suppose to stay in 40¢s (we hope). Rain overnight and through much of the day tomorrow. We¢ve got reception so we¢re going to try and drop into lower elevations during morning break (we hope). Right now we¢re the only two up here. Late Start stopped in and we tried to convince her to stay but she decided to night hike to lower elevation to avoid morning storms up here. We hope our plan works out. For now it time to hit the hay and try to keep warm.
Date: 2018-07-22
From: Cooper Lodge shelter

To: Long Trail Inn
Miles today: 8.2

Interesting night. After 9pm, we were just dozing off, when the door to the shelter opened and in came two somewhat disheveled young women. They said they had driven up to Vermont today from Virginia and were planning on camping on the peak of Killington. One had a big backpack, one had a daypack and they were carrying a rather large Coleman tent like you see at Walmart. We told them they were better staying in here. They readily agreed. Didn¢t sleep all that good. The bunks weren¢t level and we kept slipping down with our feet off the ¢bed¢. Plus with all the windows gone there was quite a breeze coming through. Must have gotten down to low 40¢s. Anyhoot, we woke pretty early and it wasn¢t raining so we decided to head down the mountain (our fellow Virginians we¢re still asleep in their bags). Trail down Killington is quite gradual. We made it maybe a mile or so when the rains started. Light rain mostly with a couple harder spells. Stopped at Churchill Scott shelter to get out of rain and have an early lunch. The last couple miles the rains stopped, we then parted ways with the Long Trail which we¢ve been sharing since entering Vermont (it heads north to the Canadian border and we head east towards New Hampshire) and we got to the Long Trail Inn a little before 2 pm. This is a great place. Before they rerouted the AT it used to be right on the trail. Now it¢s 0.5m off using a sidetrail. Great woodworking throughout and this huge boulder incorporated into one side of the dining room. It¢s historic but room updated and really nice. 15 miniutes after we got there, Wreck was on the bus to Rutland to get resupplies. Brighty handled the wash and we had a nice shepherds pie and, of course, a Long Trail ale for dinner. We are bushed but comfortable. Looking forward to the trail tomorrow but first a good nights sleep!
Date: 2018-07-23
From: Long Trail Inn

To: 2.9 miles N of Stony Brook shelter
Miles today: 11.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Great nights sleep at the Inn. Again, it¢s an amazing place inside. Wish we had taken more inside pictures and could have lazed around longer but. . . . there was breakfast to eat and trails to walk. Great breakfast (we ate with Late Start). We had broccoli and cheddar omelettes, sausage, home fries, fruit bowl. Wreck got hot chocolate with huge amount of whipped cream on top. It was great. We¢d love to come back here to stay in the future. Bunch of folks slackpacking today. Someone to taking their packs about 20 miles north and they are going to hike to the other hostel. We meanwhile - with full packs - headed up the 0.5 mile approach trail about 9am. Rains started immediately. This was our rainiest day this year. There were periods when the rain stopped but most of the day it was raining and for a couple hours raining pretty hard. Felt like we were mud skiing down the slopes into the town of Killington (Brighty went down first and Wreck followed a couple minutes later). Of course the rain made Thundering Falls really thunder. It was great. Met three nice folks with two great rescue golden retrievers there. Very friendly. Climbed Quimby Mountain (which seemed to go on forever - but it was raining pretty hard so that might have affected our judgement). Coming across the Quimby ridge line the rains stopped, the sun almost came out and we stopped for a quick lunch. Stopped again at Stony Brook Shelter for a snack. Rains picked up again but fortunately stopped just as we got to this site. We had to scout around but found a nice camping spot a couple hundred feet off trail on a little hill. We¢ve eaten, the Bear bags are up and hopefully the rain is done for the day. The wind has picked up the last 30 minutes or so. Temperature supposed to stay in the 60¢s so we not expecting to use Brighty¢s space blanket tonight. Time for the slow train to Maine to shut down for the night.
Date: 2018-07-24
From: 2.9 miles N of Stony Brook shelter

To: 0.4m S. Woodstock Stage Rd
Miles today: 12.6
Weather: overcast clouds

Good night. Temperature just right for sleeping. No big mountains to climb today just a bunch of little grinding hills. The Vermont AT can be divided into two section 1) With the Long Trail 2) after the Long Trail. The former we love. The latter we don¢t (particularly Wreck). Call him a ¢spoiled AT Hiker¢ but there are too many sections of trail too steep and minimally constructed. We stopped at the Lookout Cabin for lunch today. Nice private cabin with ¢poop¢ deck that allows hikers to stay free. Talked with group of hikers there headed by the son of the owners of the Long Trail Inn. We told him how much we loved it. Lots of southbound traffic recently. More than Wreck can remember from 2015. (we wonder if that is really the case). Worse hill of the day was the last Dana Hill. Lots of steep eroding trail coming up and down. We found a flat spot near its base and are camping there. Weather good today but supposed to be nasty tomorrow. We¢re two days out of Hanover NH so we¢ll take what we get tomorrow and hike on. For now though we shutting down for the night.
Date: 2018-07-25
From: 0.4m S. Woodstock Stage Rd

To: Podunk Brook
Miles today: 12.9

A little rain last night but just mostly cloudy when we awoke. After yesterday¢s grinding little hills we weren¢t looking forward to today¢s trail (particularly with a forecast of rain) but it turned out to be a good day. Up and down the first two hills (both too steep but, after we saw the three red spotted newts climbing the second hill we decided we better not complain - by the way, the slow train to Maine beat the newts up the hill!!) and we came to a sign that announced two former thruhikers had bought the farmhouse next to the trail and had a little food supply shop on their back porch. We stopped in and each had a delicious hard boiled egg and a drink (Coke - Wreck, Starbucks Mocha -Brighty). Powered by the second breakfast we climbed the third grinder of a hill and found a mother lode of red raspberries on top (Soundbounders have been talking about fields of raspberries for the last couple days). They were plentiful and delicious!! Then it was down to the road and west 0.2m to the Cloudland store for homemade sandwiches and ice cream. As we were eating on their covered porch the skies opened up and it really rained. We ate a little slower. A check of the radar showed lots of rain moving our way but the heaviest stuff looked like it was passing to our west (and we¢re heading east towards New Hampshire). Rain slackened as we were leaving and while it rained off and on the rest of the day we never did get the really heavy rain predicted. The trail up Thistle Hill was actually good and except for a crazy steep uphill right before this campsite, the trail wasn¢t hard for us the rest of the day (Southbounders still had a steep haul coming from the White River.) Went over quite a few open fields on top today - one more great raspberry patch and several with quite a lot of flowering. In particular the combination of black eyed Susans and Bergamot were beautiful. We got to this area located a flat, well drained site (hopefully as rain is predicted for tonight) and got our tent up, water filtered etc. Started to rain as we were eating so we had to finish dinner in the tent. Slackened off enough to put up bear bags , brush teeth, etc. Now the rain¢s starting to pick up some but we¢re good in our Tarptent. It¢s nights like this that make you really love your tent! Heading into New Hampshire tomorrow!!!!
Date: 2018-07-26
From: Podunk Brook

To: Hanover, NH
Miles today: 8.5
Weather: clear sky

Well the rains came last night - and stayed just about the whole night. Luckily our site in the pine forest was great. Equally lucky, the rain stopped shortly after 7am.  We were up and on the trail to Hanover a little after 8am. Nice trail today. A shout out to the ferns of Vermont below 2,500 ft. They¢ve been great - lots of species and big individuals. We have really enjoyed them particularly the crop of great maidenhair ferns (a favorite of both of us). Humid weather despite the rains last night. Lots of red spotted newt traffic today. We passed 100¢s of them (counted 62 in less than a mile stretch). Stopped for a little food break and one newt kept us entertained for the entire break (moved about 10¢). Long road walk at the end through Norwich, VT across the Connecticut River and into Hanover, NH. Hanover is pretty much a town you would expect to see an Ivy League school in (Dartmouth) - rich and pretty. It also is one of the friendliest trail towns on the AT. Provides tons of services to AT hikers (showers, camping, laundry, free pizza, list of folks that house hikers in their homes at no cost, free bus service). We took advantage of the free pizza and bus service and are staying at the Sunset Motor Inn. Tomorrow we¢re taking our first zero day since Salisbury, CT. Time to relax and give our bodies a rest before tackling another state (and some big mountains).
Date: 2018-07-27
From: Hanover, NH

To: Hanover NH
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: few clouds

A zero day today - time to rest the body and refresh the mind. Had breakfast at the hotel and organized some gear. No Pants shipped our cold weather gear to Hanover (Thanks so much!!!) and we sent some of our warm weather stuff home. Still our packs will be a little heavier from now on out. Took the free bus into Hanover this afternoon. Picked up a few items at CVS and Brighty headed into downtown to Starbucks, the art museum and explore the shops and Dartmouth campus while Wreck headed to his favorite grocery store on the AT, the Hanover Coop to browse at food items and pick up some fruit. Quite a few other hikers in town that we know. We met back at Barnes and Noble to do a little browsing (a big thunderstorm came through while we were there) and then to Molly¢s for an early dinner. Nice day off trail. Made some plans for hiking New Hampshire. We¢re under 50 miles until the Whites. Wreck excited, Brighty excited but a little apprehensive. Tomorrow we start north again.
Date: 2018-07-28
From: Hanover NH

To: Moose mountain shelter
Miles today: 10.9
Weather: overcast clouds

The owner of the Sunset Motel gave us a ride back into Hanover this morning (no bus service on weekends). We both had huge breakfasts at Lou¢s (voted best breakfast in the Upper Valley) topped with a complimentary twist donut for being an AT Hiker. Hanover may be our favorite AT town. It¢s big enough that hikers don¢t overwhelm it but just blend into the scene and yet everyone is very friendly to hikers. Anyhoot we really enjoyed our stay. Hiked the AT after breakfast 0.7m to the Coop. It¢s the best!!!! Even picked up some dehydrated vegetables. Left town with our stomachs and packs full. Another humid day. We¢ve had a string of them. We feel lucky that at least we¢re far enough north that it¢s humid and in the low 80¢s (as opposed to humid and in the 90¢s farther south). Listened to the weather last night and the weather pattern is suppose to change tonight. Drier weather is on the way. Sounds good to us. Trail today had the appearance of being heavily used. Spots could use some TLC from the Dartmouth Outing Club who maintains this section. Finally found a mountain (sort of) at the end of the day. We¢re camped on Moose Mountain at a little over 2,000 ft. The drier air seems like it¢s moving in now. We¢re thinking good sleeping weather and hoping for some good hiking weather tomorrow!!!
Date: 2018-07-29
From: Moose mountain shelter

To: Smarts Mountain
Miles today: 12.4
Weather: light rain

Dry air is here!!! Wow, just a nice day weather wise for hiking. And a good thing too as these New Hampshire mountains are here! Crossed and dropped off of Moose Mountain this morning early. We then climbed our first mountain of the day, Holts Ledges, a 1,000 ft climb up to 1,968 ft. Doesn¢t sound like much but it had its steep sections. Definitely got our blood pumping. We had lunch at the Ledge, which AWOL in his AT Guide describes as a ¢precipitous drop off¢. Highlight of lunch was seeing a peregrine falcon go gliding by us. There is a nest under a fenced part of the ledges. After dropping off the ledges and crossing several streams we climbed our second mountain of the day. Smarts Mountain was a nearly 2,500ft climb to 3,229ft. It kicked our posteriors. Lots of rock outcrops. One nice thing was finding both some red raspberries and blueberries on a couple outcrops. Slowly the slow train to Maine climbed to the top. Got up here about 7:30 pm. Wreck put up the tent and hustled down the hill from the shelter to get some water. We ended up finishing dinner after twilight. Just as we were finishing eating Late Start and another backpacker rolled up the mountain. Good to see her! They¢re hammocking near the shelter. We¢re tucked away in our tent very grateful for our 3 season bags No Pants sent us in Hanover. We think it should be a good sleeping night!!!
Date: 2018-07-30
From: Smarts Mountain

To: Woods Road
Miles today: 9.7
Weather: clear sky

Well, it was good sleeping weather on top of Smarts Mountain and we took advantage. After we packed up this morning (another beautiful day!) we climbed the fire tower for a great view of the New Hampshire mountains. Probably because of the wet weather we¢ve been having lately but we¢ve observed since Hanover that New Hampshire rivals (or exceeds) Vermont in mud. This was especially evident coming across Smarts Mountain this morning. Lots of mud and not much trail engineering to prevent it. One section did have an older, broken boardwalk over mud and standing puddles of water well over a foot deep. We started walking a section of boardwalk and it started to sink into the muddy puddle. By the time we got across we went 4-6¢ in water. Another time Wreck slipped off log crossing wet mud and sunk in over his right boot in mud. So, in general, we haven¢t been too impressed with the quality of trails in this section maintained by the Dartmouth Outdoor Club BUT we were impressed by the 7 college-age members of the Dartmouth trails crew heading up Smarts to put in a weeks work improving trail. Really nice, enthusiastic folks. Thanks for your work!!!!  Well, it¢s almost August and the woods are changing. Blue Beaded Lilies (blue berries) and bunchberries (red berries) both starting to ripen added a little more color to the forest floor. Big climb of the day was Mt Cube and even though it¢s only 2911 ft it¢s the most mountainous feeling mountain until the Whites. Lots of walking on rock outcrops, great views. The slow train to Maine was pretty slow going up and down. Plus we spent a while on top - Brighty chatting with other hikers while Wreck hiked an extra 0.8m over to Mt Cube¢s north Peak (off the AT). Got down to this site about 6:30pm and after getting in so late last night we both decided this was it. We ate in the light tonight, all chores are done and we¢re shutting down for the night. Down below 1,200 ft tonight so we¢re not anticipating too cold a night. The sandman is calling.
Date: 2018-07-31
From: Woods Road

To: Glen cliff, NH
Miles today: 10.4
Weather: broken clouds

A little bit more humidity today. Thankfully the trail was pretty gentle - maybe our last ¢easy¢ day for quite awhile. The recent wet spell has really brought out the fungi. It¢s been great the last few days - lots of different species, lots of different colors - reds, oranges, yellows, greens, peaches - even some of the browns and white have been picture worthy. Another result of the rains has been the continued mud on the trail. Our boots have been coated (and coated and coated) in mud. Due to the ease of trail the slow train to Maine pulled into this hostel about 4pm. It¢s very rustic but nice. We both had a shower (outside) so most of the mud is gone. Wreck took the shuttle in for a couple deli sandwiches, we¢ve eaten, there¢s no bear bags to hang and a real bed is calling. Tomorrow we climb up and over Mt Moosilauke. The Whites are upon us!!!!
Date: 2018-08-01
From: Glen cliff, NH

To: The Notch, North Woodstock NH
Miles today: 9.3
Weather: scattered clouds

Yahoo!!!! We¢re in the Whites!!! Up and hiking the road back to the AT by 7am. It was supposed to rain today and we wanted to get as far over Moosilauke as we could in dry weather. Brighty¢s slackpacking today to save her knees the huge downhill we¢ve got. The folks at the hostel bought her backpack over to The Notch hostel in North Woodstock where we are tonight. Moosilauke is one BIG mountain (4802ft) and we had nearly a 3,800ft climb this morning to reach its summit. Weather started off clear but the clouds came in as the morning wore on. We just put it in low (extra low?) and chugged up. Reached the south summit by about 11am. Clouds starting to dominate the sky so very limited views. Walked the one time carriage road over to the main summit. By this time, no distant views and wind picking up (a good reminder that the alpine areas in the Whites are harsh environs). Got a picture at the summit sign and dropped down for a little food. Guess it was about 1 pm when we really started down the mountain. No Pants thought that Moosilauke may be the steepest downhill in the Whites.  We agree!!! Didn¢t reach Kinsman Notch until after 5 pm. At times we were walking down a waterfall. Other times just a really steep rocky trail. Tremendous shoutout to Beaver Brooks that we paralleled the last couple miles. Wow! A continuous cascading waterfall nearly all the way down. Fantastic. Rain started in earnest maybe 30 minutes from finishing and we feel fortunate. Hate to think about going downhill the whole way in the rain. Hit the road, stuck out our thumbs and 30 seconds later the first car that passed had picked us up. Great guy from New Jersey on vacation in the area. He dropped us off at The Notch. Brighty¢s pack greeted us. We showered, Wreck got a ride to a local market and food truck, we ate, conversed with the crowd of hikers staying here (some we know, some we just met) and now we¢re pooped and heading to bed. We survived our first day in the Whites so we get to advance again. But first we¢re going to take a zero and chill in the greater North Woodstock/Lincoln area.