morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2017-07-19
From: Stewart Hollow Brook Shelter

To: Toymaker's Cafe / Falls Village
Miles today: 18.0
Weather: few clouds

I am so glad I caught up with Thunderbuns! As expected, I got up, packed up, hiked 3.3 miles to where he spent the night, and he was still there. I made breakfast, tried the swing, split my coffee with him. We got to hike and talk until there were too many uphills and I fell behind. The winged jerks were out again in full force. Monsters! I wore the head net just to get a break from them, until it was too hot to wear.I ran out of water late in the day - I HATE that. I may have to do what everyone else does - carry little drink bottles and fill them with Crystal Light.Met Kickstand (hiking on a prosthetic), Flash Daddy (whose daughter Ladybug I tented next to ages ago), and Trail Magic (photographer whose name is torture. When someone calls out, "It's Trail Magic!" you're expecting. . . trail magic).We all ended up at the bar at the Inn in Falls Village, and it was awesome. I don't normally drink, but had two summer shanties and told Thunderbuns I am considering taking up drinking shandies. He was skeptical about drinking being something one can "take up." Pschaw.We split lobster mac n cheese and steak and frites and polished it all off. We chatted with Sue the bartender, the other hikers and patrons, and set up to tent behind the Toymaker's Cafe, which sounds like something for Santa's elves but is actually some kind of British motorcycle repair place.I really love the random places that allow you to camp along the trail. I've never slept at a deli before this week.I set up my tent against a red barn and was immensely pleased.I only have 8 more miles to a shower in Salisbury!
Date: 2017-07-20
From: Toymaker's Cafe / Falls Village

To: Vanessa Breton's / Salisbury, CT
Miles today: 7.7
Weather: few clouds

It's currently 87 degrees at night and insanely humid. How glad I am not to be hiking in this heat!The food that called to me at the grocery store:-orange juice-sushi-fresh fruit-yogurtApparently I need to eat things that require refrigeration.Last night I got so excited thinking about a shower, I almost couldn't sleep. When I got here there were so many hikers ahead of me that there was no warm water left, but I was so hot I didn't mind. This morning Thunderbuns insisted on buying me breakfast and coffee, since I was out of cash. Good man. I'm bummed to say goodbye...he's heading off this weekend for a "mancation" with friends and I'm heading off for a wedding. We hit the 3/4 mark today - 1500 miles! Hopefully our paths will cross again.The pressure of the miles math is strong with the thru-hikers. They're all calculating how many miles they need to do each day to reach Katahdin before it closes. I'm glad I don't have that pressure - it's been tricky enough trying to figure out how to time a trip off trail to see a beloved friend from grad school get married! I've never arranged an off-trail trip during an AT summer before, and this year I'm doing it twice! (Lake George and Sundance) New tactical challenges. :-)
Date: 2017-07-21
From: Vanessa Breton's / Salisbury, CT

To: Sundance, UT
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

I definitely never imagined coordinating a break from the trail to fly to Utah for a wedding! But there are life moments too important to miss, and an awesome wedding of a close friend is one of them.This wedding involved a 45 minute ski lift ride to the top of a mountain for the reception. It definitely was a much more enjoyable way of summiting mountains than what I've been doing lately! :-)So the AT hiker cleaned up, put on a dress, and danced the night away. Then boarded a plane back to the green world.Congratulations Mike & Briita!
Date: 2017-07-24
From: Vanessa Breton's / Salisbury, CT

To: The Hemlocks Shelter
Miles today: 12.6
Weather: overcast clouds

I got in at 2:00 am this morning and crashed on the couch. The cat woke me up a few hours later, and then the barking dogs first thing in the morning, so Vanessa ended up not charging me.My first day back from three zeroes. . . and it's raining. But on the plus side, it's so nice and cool. When I left for the wedding, it had been so hot I couldn't sleep. What a difference!I had heard a lot about how hard it would be to climb Bear Mountain and Mount Everett (not Everest!), and I was worried about doing it in the rain. My whole goal for today was: don't fall and die.But it really wasn't that bad, certainly not like people were saying. I had one super graceful slow-mo slide, but no falls. And it was so much easier to climb without the heat, bugs, and humidity.Of course, I didn't think about what the cool temps would mean for tenting. It's cold! 54 degrees and falling, according to the iPhone (which is acting really wonky in this cold). I walked into Massachusetts today! The hiking today - cold, misty, wet - reminded me so much of hiking the Mournes in Ireland.
Date: 2017-07-24
From: Shamrock Inn / Dalton

To: Bascom Lodge / Mt Greylock
Miles today: 17.2
Weather: overcast clouds

Friday! Bascom Lodge! 9 pm! Tipsy! So happy! So happy with my choices in life! Decided to come here! Decided to book it so I'd get here in time for dinner! Decided to splurge on the expensive dinner!Sat with P Tang, Happy Hour, Easy Goin, and others, and it was awesome being at the hiker table!I have a top bunk along a wall of windows with this insane view!Real sheets! Real shower, which I promised some guy I'd use in exchange for him buying the table a round of beer! 12% alcohol beer! Coffee!Outside, town lights shimmering in the distance, ghostly pines lit by the hotel floodlights, haze of the moon. Amazing!
Date: 2017-07-25
From: The Hemlocks Shelter

To: Tom Leonard Shelter (I keep thinking Tom Stoppard, which would be very different!)
Miles today: 14.4
Weather: few clouds

I slept with two pairs of socks on my feet, 1 pair of socks on my hands, my long sleeved shirt and fleece vest, my pants, and the sleeping bag sealed over my head. It was cold!The plan for today was to go to the shelter at 19 miles, but the bottoms of my feet were sore from walking all day in wet socks and shoes. It was a combination of dew, mist on the grass, and light rain on and off all day. I was also going a lot slower than normal because I was *committed* to not falling on wet, slippery rock. . . and there were a lot of wet, slippery rocks today! So far, so good!There was a lot of flat walking (boardwalks, pastures) but the wetness was chewing up my feet. So I stopped early, set up my wet tent, then went looking for water. On the way, I stumbled across two hidden tent pads, one with a gorgeous view!So of course, I pulled up stakes and moved my tent.My tent isn't freestanding, so setting it up on a wooden platform is tricky. I did an odd combination of anchoring with rocks, staking a few off the back end of the platform, hooking long guylines around the ends of boards. I really hope it doesn't rain tonight because I'm not entirely sure my jerryrigged tent setup is actually rainproof! Still, it's worth the risk. I'm lying in my sleeping bag and looking out at the sky coloring up with sunset.
Date: 2017-07-26
From: Tom Leonard Shelter (I keep thinking Tom Stoppard, which would be very different!)

To: Upper Goose Pond Cabin
Miles today: 21.6
Weather: overcast clouds

I'm on the top bunk in a room full of bunk beds (14 smelly hikers in here!). It's in a red cabin w/o electricity, managed by volunteer caretakers. The current caretaker's children are here, including a little girl who is chatty as ever!I was down at the dock on the pond with the two sisters. It was sweet, chatting with them as the sun went down.There are a lot of hikers here, but nothing like last night, when they had 30. The SOBO bubble and the NOBO bubble are colliding. SOBOs started at Katahdin on June 1 - its weird to think their amount of time on trail is nearly the same as mine this trip! I had a long day today - I found out the caretaker at this cabin makes pancakes and coffee (!) for hikers, so I made sure to get here. I needed some extra gas for the extra miles, which came in the form of a roadside "trail stand" (cereal! pop tarts! oreos!) and listening to music via the earphones I picked up at the airport on my way to the wedding. The earphones, and the external battery, are game changers.I ran into several familiar faces...Panther, Overdrive, Mountain Goat, and Papa-something, from the hot night when the tree fell near the tents. Kickstand. Thoughts from today:Walking through the woods I heard a sound that reminded me of a cowbell ("More cowbell!") Then I saw a clearing with actual bells on actual cows. :-)Overheard at a shelter: "Most people go to bed at 9, get up at 6. I go to bed at 6 and get up at 9.""My brother had to go off trail. He got hit in the head by a tree."
Date: 2017-07-27
From: Upper Goose Pond Cabin

To: Shamrock Inn / Dalton
Miles today: 21.1
Weather: broken clouds

7:45 pm* * *Thoughts While Lying in Bed Eating Chinese Takeout at the Shamrock Inn * * *This morning at the pancake breakfast at Upper Goose Pond Cabin:"You know the mushrooms that look like pancakes? (enthusiastic nodding of recognition) This is the first time I've looked at a pancake. . .and it reminded me of the mushroom."Today was so ridiculously flat that I zoned out and walked mindlessly in the rain for hours.A while back, someone signed a log book with the quote, "Who needs to think when your feet just go?"  It took me a moment of singing to recall the source: 1980s, the Tom Tom Club.Anyway, that lyric fit today.Other thoughts: People leave downed trees and branches to block off wrong turns / what looks like the trail, but isn't. But trees and branches also just fall on their own, and you frequently have to go over and around them. Sometimes it is difficult to tell if a tree is intentionally blocking your way or not!On my unplanned overnight in Dalton - why not take advantage of how many of the little towns the trail hits in Mass and VT? It won't be that way forever.
Date: 2017-07-28
From: Shamrock Inn / Dalton

To: Bascom Lodge / Mt Greylock
Miles today: 17.2
Weather: moderate rain

Friday! Bascom Lodge! 9 pm! Tipsy! So happy! So happy with my choices in life! Decided to come here! Decided to book it so I'd get here in time for dinner! Decided to splurge on the expensive dinner!Sat with P Tang, Happy Hour, Easy Goin, and others, and it was awesome being at the hiker table!I have a top bunk along a wall of windows with this insane view!Real sheets! Real shower, which I promised some guy I'd use in exchange for him buying the table a round of drinks! 12% alcohol beer! Coffee!Outside, town lights shimmering in the distance, ghostly pines lit by the hotel floodlights, haze of the moon. Amazing!
Date: 2017-07-29
From: Bascom Lodge / Mt Greylock

To: Congdon Shelter
Miles today: 20.4
Weather: light rain

6:20 amI woke up next to the windows with the incredible view, which were fogged over with condensation. I wiped the windows by my head with the corner of my blanket and watched the trees appear, the town in the distance that I saw glowing last night, the rows of mountains. I could sit and watch all day. No wonder I couldn't go back to sleep, it was like Christmas morning.Outside, there's a single white folding chair on a lawn at the edge of wildness. It reminds me of Wallace Stevens' jar in Tennessee. A bit of something man-made that organizes everything around it by contrast.There are also windmills out there. A reminder of Livermore, which my parents are leaving soon.Folks are trying to decide whether they are leaving early or waiting for breakfast. I am in the camp of waiting for breakfast at 8:00 and then hitting the tower next door at 9:00. I hear the temps are going into the 40s, which worries me. I better layer up with everything I have.9:20 PMRight now I'm hunkered down in my sleeping bag, wearing basically everything I have. Two pairs of socks. Pants. Hiking skirt. Sports bra. Hiking top. Long sleeved shirt. Fleece vest. Windbreaker. I'm just worried because I can feel how cold it is outside and it's supposed to dip below 50 and I want to be prepared.I had breakfast (Pancakes! Muffin! Bacon! Buckets of coffee!) with P Tang, Happy Hour, Easy Goin, and the travel writing couple. Everyone was doing the 20 to this shelter, in order to have a short day into town tomorrow. That part sounded like a good idea and there weren't really other options. The shelter at 13 miles is known for noise from ATV traffic. So I decided to push for this shelter even though:- I got a late start- I spent too much time at trail magic for lunch- I'm on a streak of big days and probably need restI used music to give myself the extra push, and gummy worms, but the last three hours were hard on me. I've made my peace with the mud, it's not really that, but all the uneven ground, the rocks, the tree roots. . . my feet were hurting. Actually, the muscles that hurt the most, I don't even know what they are. I must ask Sean. It's like the back of the legs, below the calf but above the Achilles. What is that? What does it do? Why do mine hurt so bad? (Update: Dr. Sean reports its the soleus).It will be quick into Bennington tomorrow. I may also see about getting a new phone, since the touch screen on this one is now possessed. Seriously, half the time nothing happens when I touch it, half the time it creates texts on its own. I can watch it typing letters without me even touching it (flashbacks to you, Ales Suter!)
Date: 2017-07-30
From: Congdon Shelter

To: Catamount Hotel / Bennington, VT
Miles today: 4.3
Weather: scattered clouds

As soon as I hit a town for a night, I feel the clock ticking. You have so many things to take care of (laundry, shower, resupply, charging) and so many pleasures to enjoy (FOOD!) and only so many hours to do it in.I left camp early this morning - didn't get water, didn't eat breakfast - I was so eager to get to town. I'm glad that someone on Guthook gave me the tip to call ahead to arrange the shuttle, since there was no reception at the trailhead.I got to the motel, checked in, and picked up my resupply box, along with a wonderful food drop of Trader Joe's goodies from Bob and Janette. Thank you!The owner of the motel says that 75% of his business comes from hikers. I was excited to see that he had a hiker box with hiker clothes in it. He said he got it after he noticed hikers having to wear towels while doing their laundry. So this explains me wearing men's board shorts and an Atlantic City t-shirt!I went to Friendly's for breakfast while they cleaned my room. They let me check in early, isn't that awesome?The pain in my leg inspired me to check to see if massage was a possibility. . . turns out, there is a therapist just a few blocks behind the motel who does sports massage! She was perfect! She even showed me particular stretches for the muscles I'm having trouble with.I also found an AT&T store that could get me a new iPhone since my old one which I've had for three summers on the trail is now possessed. I got a taxi there, got everything backed up and transferred, then saw a grocery store next door and grabbed things for dinner and tomorrow's breakfast.I think I physically packed in everything I could into this Nero. Tomorrow morning I will hit the post office, and then it all starts again.I long for consistency in company on the trail, but I also think I'm pushing too hard and the competition / peer pressure is part of it. What to do?Also, I finally cut off the buckles and straps on my bag that I've never used and crazy glued the sternum straps in place, since they always ride up around my neck. We'll see how it goes!
Date: 2017-07-31
From: Catamount Hotel / Bennington, VT

To: Kid Gore Shelter
Miles today: 14.4
Weather: clear sky

I spent the morning eating brie on a baguette, packing up, cleaning up the room, and going to the post office. I ran into Easy Goin' at the post office and then again tonight at the tenting area past the shelter.It was a good day ¢ not too hot, bugs were out but could've been worse, I started late (11:00!), and took my time. I listened to the first two episodes of Israel Story, a podcast that a cyclist told me about outside an ice cream shop a few days ago.It's not as polished as This American Life, but I like it. I wish I had downloaded more!So far Vermont looks like everything else. When does it get full of dairy farms and magical?The muscle on my right leg is still sore, but I can hike fine on it. The shelter's limited tenting spots were awful! I'm a little worried about space this week. There's a couple here from San Diego doing the Long Trail, Easy Goin', and me. They turned away others looking to tent here because there's no more room.There has been bear problems in this area. Please not tonight!There was a fire tower with (I bet) an amazing view today¢¦. But it was the metal grating see-through stair kind of deal. I went up one flight and decided...yeah, I don't think so!
Date: 2017-08-02
From: William B Douglass shelter

To: Bromley Mountain Ski Warming Hut
Miles today: 8.8
Weather: overcast clouds

I'm lying on a plank next to a window, so it feels like a window seat. There's a storm outside ¢ although none of us really knows where the storm is going or what's happening with the weather in general. When you're dry and inside, a storm can be awesome. We've got four walls and a roof.Rusty, Crow, Gandalf, and Duct Tape are here, plus a couple camped out on the ski lift loading platform. Duct Tape met me with a can of Long Trail beer when I arrived, which was delightful, and now he's playing "Sleep Walk" (1959?) on a speaker, and it's perfect.  Surf guitar inside, rolling thunder outside. When I first climbed up this stretch of the AT - which happens to go up a ski run - it was still sunny. Neither chairlift was running and wandering around the closed ski area was like some strange post-apocalyptic experience. I sat on a ski lift chair and sipped the beer.I had read about this place in the book, an old warming hut that the ski patrol on Bromley uses during the winter and keeps unlocked for hikers in summer. I didn't really know what it was, but I was intrigued. And I decided doing a short day to stay somewhere with a view would be worth it. And I knew the storm was coming in, although it's hard to know if it's staying or what.Now more people have arrived, they're playing Bullshit with a deck of cards and smelling the perfume inserts from a random issue of Vogue that's here. (Fact: the two pieces of reading material here are Vogue and Guns & Ammo. Again, couldn't make this up. We all lamented that it was Vogue and not Cosmo - Cosmo would be a lot more fun to read aloud.)I'm killing time, waiting for sunset. I can't wait to see it - and the night sky, and sunrise!
Date: 2017-08-06
From: Tucker-Johnson camping area on the Long Trail

To: Mountain Meadows Lodge / Killington
Miles today: 2.8
Weather: clear sky

Today was so fantastic and made me so happy, I don't even know where to begin. After I arrived at Mountain Meadows Lodge and checked in, the first thing I did was take out a kayak on Kent Pond - a beautiful 100-acre lake. I saw a loon and followed it for the longest time, channeling Thoreau, "Brute Neighbors." I paddled alongside Canadian geese and watched little birds shaking their tail feathers on the shore. It was stunningly beautiful.I must have been out there 2 hours until hiker hunger drove me back inside.I showered, ordered pizza, did laundry, got a book (classic YA horse literature! The Black Stallion's Filly), read in a hammock, ate a ton, hit the hot tub, called Mr. AT-AT, then went out on the kayak again for sunset!I've had the entire place to myself. It's just been amazing.I'm realizing the real benefit of the resupply boxes is that I don't have to go out and shop - I can stay put somewhere awesome like this!I've just loved it here so much. SO glad I didn't just do what everyone else was doing and go to the Yellow Deli. Spending a day in a kayak on a lake was exactly what I needed.I suspect it will be hard to leave in the morning / I will have a late start. No worries. Vermont, you're so gorgeous.
Date: 2017-08-07
From: Mountain Meadows Lodge / Killington

To: The Lookout Cabin
Miles today: 13.5
Weather: moderate rain

Once again, this is the joy of not necessarily reading everything about the trail ahead. This wasn't planned - originally I was heading to Wintturi shelter but I had the worst time leaving Mountain Meadows this morning. :-) So I knew it would be a short day.  I saw a strange lookout tower listed in the book that was supposed to have good views...and we all know what a sucker I am for tenting with a view.On the way here, another hiker called out, "AT-AT Walker!"  And I realized...I had no idea who he was! There's just so many people I'm meeting every night now! All the tall skinny bearded guys start blending together!Anyway, I didn't know what to expect, which made the surprise of this place even better. There were just 6 of us: Little Prince, Reese, J, Froze, Pongo, and me. We all climbed up to this widow's walk on the roof of the shelter, and settled in for sunset. Pongo ("from 101 Dalmatians") had a ukulele and sang songs for us. It was pure magic! His set included:"Ho Hey," The Lumineers"Thirty-three," Smashing Pumpkins"Mario Kart Love Song," Sam Hart"All Star," Smash MouthImagine listening to any of these songs, if you know them, while watching the sky burn with sunset, setting the trees all around you aglow. I took photos and video, but nothing could do it justice. We were 6 hikers who won't meet again - a mixture of NOBOs and SOBOs - who just came together on a roof one night and shared this experience.I wanted so much to thank Pongo for his gift - live music is such a treat on the trail. In Killington, I'd purchased maple sugar candies, since I have it on the best authority that these were *the* candies to get at Silver Bay. So I brought up the candies to the roof and we all split them. A sweet ending to a sweet night!
Date: 2017-08-08
From: The Lookout Cabin

To: Thistle Hill Shelter
Miles today: 14.8
Weather: overcast clouds

It rained pretty hard in the middle of the night, so I had to pack up a wet tent, but I didn't mind. I skipped having a wet tent for a good stretch there, I was due. Also it was still better than being in the shelter. The mosquitoes are out in full force, so I'm trying to cover up as much skin as possible.I broke my not-falling streak today and it was totally my fault. I was texting while hiking and my foot caught a root and down I went. On my left knee, of course. I should know better!This shelter has a bunch of people, but they're all spread out doing their own thing. Maybe they, like me, want a break from socializing.Today was slow and gorgeous. Vermont, man. Soft rolling paths...Stone walls...Green pastures...The first raspberries and conical blackberries I've seen in ages. It kept changing and was so pretty!At one point there was a roadside farm stand (finally!) and I bought:- hummus - green bell pepper- horseradish cheddar- pepperoni- blueberry kefir- maple soda- homemade chocolate chip cookies- hamburger bunand then proceeded to eat nearly all of it. Normally I just eat small snacks throughout the day and do a "walking lunch." I was *so sluggish* after eating all that. I swear it was the whole container of hummus on top of it all that did it. I was moving SLOW. But it was fine. I'd planned to do a short day anyway, and I was savoring Vermont! And listening to more Israel Story episodes. I'm officially hooked.Oh it's so nice to be fed and in bed early! I'm totally reading my book!