morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2013-08-13
From: Wilber Clearing Shelter

To: Seth Warner Shelter
Miles today: 9.9
Weather: mist

I woke up as soon as the sun came up because apparently that's the appropriate time to start yelling and stomping around the shelter. I did my best to ignore all the noise and sleep a little longer, but I couldn't sleep through the floor shaking. It ended up being a good thing though because Indigo and I made it almost into North Adams before the downpour hit. We were able to catch a quick hitch into town before getting completely soaked, and then hung around the grocery store for a while. A guy who worked at the store got permission for Indigo and I to hang out in the break room so we didn't have to sit outside and so we could charge things up. It was so nice of them to let us hang out there and we greatly appreciated it. The rain let up around 12 30, so we walked over to Friendly's to get some lunch and ice cream. After lunch, we went back to the store to get our stuff and then hitched back to the trail. We only had 7 miles to get to the shelter and figured it would take no more than 3 hours at the most. We were wrong about that. The trail had turned into more of a stream then a trail and sometimes even a pond. We were determined to keep our feet dry so we were being very careful about where we stepped. At first it was kind of fun and I felt like I was playing a game of hot lava, jumping from rock to rock/root. After a while though, it started to get really old and we were moving at a snails pace. We were both determined to keep our feet dry through so we kept it up and after we accepted that we were in for a long 7 miles, we turned it into a game and it became fun again. We had to build little bridges with sticks, find alternative routes across streams, and find alternative routes around the completely flooded sections of trail. If you slipped off a rock or got your feet wet at all, you lost. After a couple hours of this, though, we again got tired and just wanted to get to the shelter. A little over 4 hours after leaving town, we finally reached the shelter. I was so ready to be at the shelter and excited to sleep in my tent. After setting up my tent and starting in on dinner, it started to downpour again. Not a great night to be in my tent, but since it was already set up, I waited for the rain to lighten up and then ran through the giant puddles to my tent. Hopefully the rain stops by midnight like it is suppose to and I don't get downpoured on all night. We didn't get the 17 mile day in that we wanted, but we avoided getting soaked and got some good food, so I would say it was a rather successful day. Oh yeah, I also made it to Vermont today. 11 states down, 3 to go. Tomorrow I should make it into Bennington without much problem.
Date: 2013-08-14
From: Seth Warner Shelter

To: Melville Nauheim Shelter
Miles today: 13.1
Weather: overcast clouds

Last night was cold! I woke up this morning with my liner and sleeping bag completely over my head and had my own little cocoon going to keep me warm. The cold made it even harder than usual to get up, but I finally did emerge from my tent and eventually I even started hiking. The trail was more of a river again today, which was a treat. It made the fairly easy trail take forever because I was again determined to keep my feet dry. The trail today eerily reminded me of the beginning of the hike in GA. It was cold, misty, foggy, and windy. Although I would have preferred a warm and sunny day, it was kind of cool to think back to the beginning. Indigo and I made it to the road into town around 3 and caught a ride into town with a family who was just getting back to their car after hiking. We ran our errands in town and then went to Friendly's and ate a 3500 calorie meal. After dinner, we headed back to the main road to hitch back to the trail and a guy started talking to us about the trail. Then he told us that he was a poet and asked if he could share a poem with us. 15 minutes later the poem was over (it was a pretty good poem) and he mentioned that his friend was coming to pick him up at 6 30 and could give us a ride back to the trail. As we waited, and he talked, it became apparent that his friend was very late so we decided to just hitch because we needed to make it to the shelter before dark and it was already 7. We caught a hitch and made it back to the trail at 7 15, but then we ran into a guy who had just put some trail magic out and wanted to chat for a little bit. We finally got on the trail around 7 25 and had about an hour of light left to get to the shelter. I made it there before dark but since it was so late, I decided to just sleep in the shelter instead of putting up my tent. At the shelter, I caught up with Acorn, who I haven't seen since Virginia. It's suppose to get down to 46 in town so it will be even colder than that at the shelter. Definitely time to layer up.
Date: 2013-08-15
From: Melville Nauheim Shelter

To:  Story Spring Shelter
Miles today: 17.4

It was cold again this morning so it took me a while to get going. Once I started hiking, though, the weather was perfect because I never got hot. I hiked all day in my long sleeve shirt, and every time I thought about taking it off, the wind would pick up and I would decided against it. The trail was muddy, so it slowed me down, but wasn't too bad. The fall like weather made the day more enjoyable, but I wouldn't mind some more warm days. I also got my first great view in a long time today on top of a tower where I got a 360° view of Vermont and the mountains. I stopped at a shelter with a view for lunch and while trying to take a picture of the view, I walked straight into a bench and banged my shin on it. I was left with a pretty good size bump and a nice bruise, but luckily it doesn't hurt while I hike. I seem to get hurt more at the shelters than on the actual trail. The rest of the day was pretty uneventful and there wasn't much to see. Once I got to the shelter, I set up my tent and then enjoyed some conversation with a few section hikers, a SOBO, and 2 other NOBOs. It was a relaxing night and a pretty good hiking day. I've heard from many southbounders that the mud mostly stops in a couple miles, so I will be looking forward to that tomorrow.
Date: 2013-08-16
From:  Story Spring Shelter

To:  Spruce Peak Shelter
Miles today: 18.3

Today was a great day. I was in a great mood all day, the weather was perfect, got a couple great views, and had good company at the shelter. I think I was in such a great mood today because I got back into my favorite thing, sitting around and just existing with nature. It didn't hurt that Stratton Mountain, where Benton MacKaye conceived the idea for the AT, had a gorgeous view from a tower and it just felt like an inspiring place. The one downfall of the day was that in the last few miles, my left shin started to hurt pretty bad and even after dinner and sitting a while it was really sore. It feels a lot like shin splints, but tomorrow I only have 2.8 miles into town and then I'm staying at the Green Mountain Hostel, so I'll have almost a whole day off of it. Hopefully it feels better in the morning and is good to go after a nero day.
Date: 2013-08-17
From:  Spruce Peak Shelter

To:  Green Mountain House
Miles today: 2.8
Weather: overcast clouds

My shin was still hurting this morning so I took the 2.8 miles to town really slow and tried to be as careful as possible. Indigo and I made it to the road just after 9 and caught a hitch with the first car that came our way. Once in town, we grabbed some breakfast so we wouldn't resupply while starving and then I resupplied at the grocery store before going to EMS and buying a jet boil stove. I've been using an alcohol stove, and while I don't hate it, I figured I want to get a jet boil eventually anyway, so I might as well enjoy it for the last month and a half of this trip. When I was sorting out all my food, Baltimore Jack and a couple other hikers showed up and invited us to a get together of a few past thru hikers and a couple current thru hikers. The get together was too far away and we were already staying at the hostel, but it was fun to sit around and listen to stories about the years past on the trail. After this, Jeff came to pick us up to go back to the hostel. The Green Mountain House is amazing! Jeff is awesome, it's clean, it's comfortable, and it really is like being in your own home. The entire house is just for hikers and Jeff stays in a separate house right next to it. I cooked a pizza, ate a salad, ate chips and guacamole, ate a pint of Ben and Jerrys, and watched a movie. It was such a relaxing place and really felt like a home away from home. After resting for most of the day, my shin isn't hurting at all and will hopefully be good to go on the trail tomorrow. What a great way to spend a nero. It's also cool to be staying with southbounders in the evenings because you get to hear a different perspective of the trail, you find out what is coming up, and it's meeting new and interesting people.
Date: 2013-08-18
From:  Green Mountain House

To: Green Mountain House
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

So I may have accidentally zeroed today. Over breakfast of coffee, eggs, pancakes, and cereal, the NOBOs (Indigo and myself) and the SOBOs (Chaco and Doc Sholes) were talking about how awesome the hostel was and how great it would be to have a dinner party between Nobos and Sobos to prove that we really can get along. Then the dinner party zero was born because obviously we owed it to thru hikers everywhere to bring the northbounders and southbounders together. Luckily, there was room in the hostel, and we all decided to stay. A little bit later, Jeff came back from taking a couple hikers to the trail with Beerdra, who was staying the night. Brian, a section hiker, had already bought hot dogs and hamburgers to grill, so we decided to supply the sides. We went into town around noon and went out to lunch and enjoyed a few beers. Then we ran into Double Dare outside of the super market and sat around with him and might have had another beer at the picnic table. Eventually, we bought the supplies for the dinner and headed back to the hostel. Doc Sholes and Chaco made coleslaw, potato salad, and cucumber, tomato, and onion salad, and then Brian cooked up the hotdogs and burgers. It was so delicious and such a great time. Such awesome Sobos. It's sad that tomorrow we will be going opposite directions on the trail, but it was definitely a worth while zero day. I'm sure the battle between Nobos and Sobos will continue but we did our part to unite the two sides. Tomorrow morning we may have to all eat in silence so we don't all accidentally zero again.
Date: 2013-08-19
From: Green Mountain House

To:  Baker Peak
Miles today: 12.7
Weather: overcast clouds

Like usual, today didn't go as planned, but it was a great day. Chaco and I both had to mail packages at the post office so we, along with Doc Sholes, got dropped off at the post office instead of the trail. After the post office, Chaco had to get a prescription filled so I tagged along instead of hitching back to the trail. The prescription was going to be a while so we went out for second breakfast before going back to pick up the prescription, and then Chaco and I sat in a cemetery while Doc went to a wine store. Pretty solid morning, even though no hiking was done. Around noon, we finally hitched back to the trail, said our goodbyes and parted ways. Although I didn't feel like hiking all morning, once I was on the trail, I felt great. I hiked 10 miles by 4 o'clock and caught up to Beerdra, Indigo, and Jester who started on the trail 3 hours before me. I took a break at a shelter and ate a snack and planned to hike 4.7 miles to the next shelter, but when I got to Baker Peak, it was just too beautiful to move on when it was the perfect place to watch the sun set. Beerdra, Jester, and I found a stealth camp site and then took our cooking stuff to the rocky peak to watch the sunset while we ate dinner. It was such a gorgeous evening, and it feels so great to be back into such pretty views. I'm so excited for the whites, but I'm really enjoying Vermont too. I might try to make up some miles tomorrow, but if there are pretty views, it may not happen. I'm also starting to think, my plan of getting done around September 30 may get pushed back a few days. I want to stay out here forever already and it's only going to get prettier. I guess the cold weather will convince me otherwise at some point though.
Date: 2013-08-20
From:  Baker Peak

To: Wallingford, VT
Miles today: 13.4

Once again, today didn't go as planned and it ended up being an awesome day. The mornings hike wasn't too exciting but I was feeling great and had tons of energy. Around lunch time I got to a beautiful pond and decided to stop to eat and put my feet in the water. I thought about swimming but it was a little too cold out to walk around wet. I ended up hanging out at the pond for about 2 hours because it was just too perfect to leave. Eventually, I did hike again and I was still feeling great. When I got to a road crossing, there was soda and cookie trail magic from Journey. I sat down to enjoy my treats and after a few minutes, Journey walked up and we chatted for a bit and then some other hikers showed up. Journey was waiting to pick up Beerdra, and when Beerdra arrived, Journey invited me to join them for dinner in town. Dinner was delicious and the company was even better. After dinner, we went to a hotel and I got my own room for the first time, which was so relaxing. We did some laundry and then I just relaxed in my room for the rest of the night. Such a great day and evening. Thank you so much Journey for the trail magic, the ride, dinner, and a great evening. This life really is amazing! If only all the hiking didn't have to get in the way.
Date: 2013-08-21
From: Wallingford, VT

To:  Governor Clement Shelter
Miles today: 13.1

Today started out great and ended pretty good, but the middle of the day was not ideal. I slept great last night and didn't want to get out of my comfy bed this morning. Around 8, Journey, Beerdra, and I met downstairs for breakfast and then after checking out of the hotel, we tried to go to an outfitter to get me a new trekking pole tip, which fell off sometime the day before. The store, no longer existed, but it was a good effort. Journey dropped Beerdra and I off at the trail around 10 15, and immediately once I started hiking, I was just not feeling it. All day long I had no energy and was struggling on all the climbs. It was strange because I've felt great lately and usually coming out of a town I feel good, but today I was very off. I stopped at a pretty view for lunch and took a nap, but as soon as I started hiking again, my energy was gone. It made the miles go by at a snails pace, but I finally made it to the shelter around 7 pm. There is a group of Harvard freshman at the shelter for a week long outdoor orientation program, and they were pretty entertaining, but I was the only thru hiker at the shelter. It's kind of nice to have a quiet night after an off day. I also crossed the 500 mile to go mark about a mile before the shelter. I can't believe I have less than 500 miles to hike. I'm not ready for this to end.
Date: 2013-08-22
From:  Governor Clement Shelter

To: Mountain Meadows Lodge
Miles today: 14.5

Today is my 5 month trail-iversary, and I can't think of a better way to start the morning then with a 3000 foot climb up Mt. Killington only to skirt the top and have no view. The climb was actually pretty nice though and smelled like Christmas the whole way. I was also happy that my energy was back and I could actually enjoy the day. There were a couple pretty views, but I was more excited to get to Mountain Meadow Lodge and eat. When I got there, I found out they weren't serving dinner that night so I walked a little less than a mile to a deli to get beer and food. When I got back to the lodge, it started to rain, so Indigo, Tiny Tim, and Bootsy decided to stay too. Beerdra also stayed so I shared my beer, and then we all ordered pizza, cheesy bread, ,cinnasticks, and garlic knots. The food and beer was delicious, and it was also cool that the 5 women hikers outnumbered the 3 guy hikers there that night. The lodge was such a great place and we all just hung out until finally going to bed around 10 30, way past hiker midnight. What a great way to spend my 5 month trail-iversary. Also, I have now hiked over 1700 miles. It's strange to think back to the beginning and then realize how far we have come.
Date: 2013-08-23
From: Mountain Meadows Lodge

To: The Lookout Cabin
Miles today: 13.4

We got a delicious breakfast at the lodge, and I drank lots of coffee, so I got a pretty late start. I probably would have stayed even longer but they were getting ready for a wedding so we kind of had to leave. Apparently I had just the right amount of coffee to give me tons of energy but not make me feel like crap. I was a hiking machine. The super steep climb didn't really bother me because I was much more focused on all the moose tracks in the mud that I was passing. I was also having pretty intense philosophical conversations with myself, and then I would randomly start singing children's songs that I had completely forgotten I even knew, like I'm picking up a baby bumble bee, the ants go marching, and there was an old woman who swallowed a fly, just to name a few. So basically, it was a weird day. I saw lots more moose tracks and moose scat, but unfortunately no moose. I made it to the lookout cabin, a private cabin that is open to hikers, around 6 and decided to stay because it was such an awesome cabin and because there was a lookout deck on the roof. Beerdra and Indigo also stayed and there were 3 Sobos there as well. It was a relaxing evening and it was nice to be in an enclosed cabin because it was chilly outside. Only a couple more days in Vermont. I'm going to miss it.
Date: 2013-08-24
From: The Lookout Cabin

To: Thistle Hill Shelter
Miles today: 14.2
Weather: scattered clouds

It was hard to get going this morning but eventually Beerdra, Indigo, and I left the awesome cabin. I knew today was going to be a lot of steep ups and downs so I didn't have a ton of motivation to hike. Around lunch I stopped at the edge of the woods farm and got ice cream and soda and then started the hard part of the day. It wasn't as bad as I was expecting it to be and I ate lots of blackberries along the way, but I was very ready for a hamburger or some type of food at the Cloudland Market. This is where my day went south. The market was actually a fancy reservations only restaurant and all my hopes and dreams were shattered just like that. I went from being so excited to eat to miserable and pissed off that I spent my whole day thinking about eating a food that I can't actually have. I ended up buying some pity meatballs to add to my dinner and then hiked off my anger to the next shelter. I made it the 2.3 miles in about 35 minutes and then set up my tent, ate my sad dinner, and then went to bed. Tomorrow evening I should be in Hanover, NH and the first thing I will do is get a burger.
Date: 2013-08-25
From: Thistle Hill Shelter

To: Hanover, NH
Miles today: 14.7

I'm in New Hampshire! Only two states left. I'm so excited to be here but I'm also freaking out a bit because I'm getting closer and closer to the end and I'm not ready to be done. Today was another great day which involved more time taking breaks than actually hiking. I was packing up at the shelter and two Sobos mentioned that there was a breakfast place in 5 miles, but they stopped serving breakfast at 10 30. That was all the motivation I needed to get moving, and I made it to the restaurant with 15 minutes to spare. I ate a huge breakfast and drank a quart of chocolate milk and then sat around and hung out with Indigo while she ate her food. The breakfast definitely made up for the food fiasco last night. After about an hour and half break, I actually hiked again for about and hour and a half before stopping at a shelter for another break. While I was sitting there, a couple Sobos stopped and we chatted for a while. They had stayed at a trail angels house last night and took her dog for a walk and she was going to meet them at the shelter. So I decided to hang around to meet the trail angel and see if Indigo and I could stay at her house tonight. After about an hour, she still wasn't there, but Bootsy, Tiny Tim, and Beerdra all showed up slack packing and sat down to talk. We all hung out for another hour or so and then figured we should probably head to town. After we left, we actually ran into the trail angel, but she was doing a family thing that night and couldn't take in hikers. We made it to the road and started the 2.4 mile road walk into Hanover. Beerdra's sister was at the road to pick her up, but she decided to walk with Indigo and I to cross into New Hampshire. We took pictures at the border and then Indigo and I walked into town. We started talking to a woman, Cheryl, who was working on the campus for a few days and after talking for a little while, she offered Indigo and I the extra bed in her hotel room. We jumped at the opportunity, and since Cheryl was going to be another half hour or so, we went to get our free piece of pizza from the pizza place and got some more pizza while we were at it. We met back up with Cheryl after dinner and she took us to her hotel. She plans to thru hike in 2015, so we talked a lot about the trail and hiking and just had a great night. While we were there, Bootsy and Tiny Tim also set it up for all of us to stay at the trail angels house the following night. Everything has a way of always working out on the trail. What a great day and evening. I'm excited to zero tomorrow in Hanover and hopefully I'm finally able to find tips for my trekking poles because I'm going to need those in the whites.
Date: 2013-08-26
From: Hanover, NH

To: Hanover,NH
Miles today: 0.0

Indigo and I ate breakfast at the hotel and then headed over to EMS. They didn't have my trekking pole tips, so I called black diamond and they are being shipped to me at a hostel. After EMS, we got Chinese food for lunch and then I went to the store to resupply. Bootsy and Tiny Tim then came to pick Indigo and I up with the car that the trail angel, Lizanne, let them use. We headed back to Lizanne's house and got settled in before heading back out to dinner with some other hikers. After dinner we watched a movie at a frat house that one of the hikers used to belong to. I felt like I was in college again and it was a bit strange. After the movie, we caught a hitch back to Lizanne's house and went to bed. Not a bad zero day, and Lizanne is awesome.
Date: 2013-08-27
From: Hanover,NH

To:  Goose Pond Rd
Miles today: 13.9

After cooking a delicious breakfast for myself in a real kitchen, we all started talking about slackpacking. Lizanne was willing to drive us to Goose Pond Rd and have us hike back to her house and then stay another night. We also took one of her dogs, Barkley, and it was so much fun to have him on the trail. The slack pack was almost 2 miles further than we thought it was so it took a little longer than we thought it would. We got back to town around 7, and Lizanne came to pick us up at the Co-op and brought us home to a delicious Salmon dinner. The food was so amazing and it was great to spend some time with Lizanne. We all ended up staying up until about 11 30 because we were having such a great time. Thank you so much Lizanne for letting us stay at your house and being such an amazing host.