morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2010-04-18
From: Blue Ridge Gap

To: Dicks Creek Gap
Miles today: 6.5
Weather: clear sky

Sunday, 4/18/10After Dave and I ate a container of Pillsbury Cinnamon rolls each for breakfast, Joyce shuttled us from Dicks Creek Gap to the beginning of our hike at the bottom of the road which leads to Blue Ridge Gap. It was too gutted to drive up so we walked three quarters of a mile up. That gave us a total of 6.5 miles for another short day. We had beautiful views of the mountains and valleys below. When we returned home, everyone was still there having eaten breakfast at home instead of going out as planned. Blaze and Lady Hawk decided to take a zero day instead of heading out. They all went into town for another grocery run while Dave and I hopped in the hot tub. When we got out we made smoothies and a salad for lunch.When our guests returned, Tristan took the lead in making a vegetarian lasagna with garlic bread and salad. Boy, dinner was delicious! We all ate and visited together out on the upper deck with the lowering sun and breeze and sounds of nature. After Dave and I put the dishes in the dishwasher, we took a walk down Country Lane and Barefoot Lane. A creek ran by the road with cows in the pasture on the other side. Another perfect day on the trail!Love and Peace
Date: 2010-04-19
From: Deep Gap

To: Blue Ridge Gap
Miles today: 11.0

Monday, 4/19/10After sharing cinnamon rolls, we bid farewell to Blaze and Lady Hawk at Dicks Creek Gap and then met Joyce at the bottom of Blue Ridge Gap. We shuttled almost an hour to Deep Gap and hiked North to South to Blue Ridge Gap.We finished the Appalachian Trail in Georgia today! Bly Gap, near the dividing line between NC and GA had a cool looking tree. We met a lot of hikers along the way including Fields who took our picture by the tree. We met a married couple section hiking whose trail names were ¢Car 54¢ and ¢Where Are You¢. We met Dave from Boonsboro, MD, who has a website Iheartjournals.com. Mike who we¢d met previously told us about a hiker at the shelter who had a bad case of poison ivy and was trying to get into Franklin today to possibly see a doctor. When we saw the hiker named ¢Spaghetti¢, he said it wasn¢t too bad and he was going to get some over the counter medicine. He was planning to short cut to Franklin. I told him we could give him the number of our shuttler and that Deep Gap wasn¢t the greatest place to hitchhike from because the road was 6 miles from a main road which wasn¢t well traveled. Meanwhile I recommended he stay in the center of the trail to avoid contact with poison ivy so it wouldn¢t get worse with more exposure. We met Joyce who Dave pointed out completes us with Love, Peace and Joy. She needed help hanging her food bag from a tree so Dave suggested throwing it underhand instead of overhand. We ran into Blaze and Lady Hawk and they said they would probably catch up to Joyce and help her. They were chatting with ¢Why Not¢ who had a white blaze painted on his shirt.We weren¢t far from Blue Ridge Gap and we finished quickly walking down the gutted road to our car.We made a grape/banana smoothie when we got back to the cabin, played scrabble, and finished the leftover lasagna. Yum! Now we¢re packing up to move to our next cabin in Franklin where we won't have internet access, so will journal at last cabin in Robbinsville on 4/25. Love and Peace.
Date: 2010-04-26
From: Stecoah Gap

To: NOC
Miles today: 13.6
Weather: light rain

Monday, 4/26/10Well, it was rainy today. We started hiking up Stecoah Gap to end at Nantahala Outdoor Center (NOC). Dave and Bill finished well ahead of us by an hour or so. We met several hikers including Bill, Doc, and others. It was windy and cold but I had my gloves and jacket off after hiking uphill for a while. Then it turned to drizzle and the jacket went back on. We met Rex and Suzanne hiking in shorts and t-shirts having just come out of an uphill climb. We invited them to stay with us for the evening and by the time we got around to picking them up, they were well clothed in jackets and still trying to keep warm. Two other hikers had just arrived and we invited them to join us as well. So we had Rex, Suzanne, Aaron (Crusher) and Paul (Thore), the ¢Hiking Vikings¢ overnight. We made vegetarian chili and rice and had ice cream for dessert. Everyone enjoyed the hot tub and a game of scrabble played in teams.   They also appreciated the creek and spring peepers, but I think mostly having a real bed to sleep in for the night. And, we enjoyed their company.Only two more days of hiking before our adventure ends.Love and Peace
Date: 2010-04-27
From: Yellow Creek Gap

To: Stecoah Gap
Miles today: 7.6
Weather: moderate rain

Tuesday, 4/27/10Ok. I¢m starting to look forward to being back at work now. We only hiked 7.6 miles from Yellow Creek Gap to Stecoah Gap but with all the steep ups and downs it felt like the 13.6 we did yesterday. Tomorrow will have 3 miles up and 6 down and we will have completed from Springer Mt to the Smokeys¢about 164 miles¢this trip. Then in October we¢ll begin going north in NY where we left off last year.We saw hikers before 11 am from yesterday who had already hiked 9 miles and planning on reaching Fontana Dam today.   We passed our guests on the way. Crusher thinks he and Thore will probably go on to Fontana Dam for a 15+ mile day. I gave Rex and Suzanne trail names of Parks and Recreation because they both majored and plan to work in the field. They like that. So Rex is Rec and Suzanne is Parks. They plan to stop at the next shelter to dry out before reaching Fontana the next day. We ran into Boundless, Adam, and others. We saw Bill Winkler from Eugene, OR, at Fontana Dam ready to hike another 11 miles to the next shelter. He¢d made it yesterday and overnighted at the shelter. Hikers call the shelter the Fontana Hilton because it sleeps a large number and has showers.Bill, Dave Brickley, Peace and I had lunch at the Fontana Lodge grill. We picked up our car at Yellow Gap, checked Stecoah Gap to find no hikers in need of a shuttle or lodging, got our brake light fixed, and returned to our cabin. The hot tub wasn¢t as hot as we liked but it wasn¢t bad considering the outside temperature was under 50 degrees. We played scrabble and got ready for the next day before watching American Idol.One more day!Love and Peace
Date: 2010-04-28
From: Fontana Dam

To: Yellow Creek Gap
Miles today: 9.2

Wednesday, 4/28/10As we shuttled to Fontana Dam to meet Hillbilly (Bill) and Half Full (Dave B), it was foggy but suddenly cleared enough to get a good view of the dam and Fontana Lake. I was pleasantly surprised by the easier hike today ¢ 9.2 miles ¢ 3 miles up and 6 down, but way easier than yesterday¢s 7.6 miler. The ups weren¢t as steep. The views were great. We caught up to Doc, Bibby, and Rensin at Fontana Dam. We also saw the group from yesterday at the Fontana Hilton ¢ a shelter that sleeps around 20-24 and has a bathroom/shower a little ways up the road. After the hike, we bid farewell to Hillbilly and Half Full who were returning home today, and stopped by Stecoah Gap. There we found Blaze, Why Not, Rick, Mike and some others having a snack at the picnic table. Blaze and Mike took us up on the offer for an overnight. We left a note for Hawk and Sky High to call when they arrived and we picked them up a few hours later. We took everyone to the grocery store and Subway to get resupply and dinner.We packed up the car and enjoyed the hot tub before having dessert. We will miss all our hot tubs, vacation rentals, but mostly the trail, especially after today¢s easier hike!Hope everyone on the trail stays in touch and lets us know when they arrive at Katahdin in Maine.Love and Peace
Date: 2010-04-30
From: Robbinsville, NC

To: Home, Derwood, MD
Miles today: 0.0

Thursday, 4/29/10We actually got one more dip in the hot tub last night before going to bed. We could see the stars and the full moon!After eating cinnamon rolls and cleaning up this morning, we rearranged the car but still couldn¢t figure how we¢d get all the packs and the six of us in the Ford Freestyle. We finally decided the four guests would have to sit in each other¢s laps. Off we went down the winding mountain road. Everyone was relieved to finally reach Stecoah Gap and be able to stretch again.What a fantastic view we saw at Stecoah Gap right as we arrived. The sun was rising over the mountain tops and they were surrounded by what appeared to be a sea of low lying white puffy clouds. We all got pictures before saying our goodbyes.On the 7 hour drive to Richmond, we saw hot air balloons in the sky near Ashville, NC. We were happy to visit with my Mom and take her to dinner at the Olive Garden. We then made it home to Derwood, MD, where we took a long time to unload and unpack. We enjoyed seeing Fireball, Mark and Nicole again. Then it was off to bed.Friday, 4/30/10We returned to our usual hike up Sugarloaf Mountain near Comus, MD, this morning. It was a whole lot warmer and buggier than where we had just hiked on the AT in NC. I was happy to go to work after our two hour hike, sitting at a desk at the computer in the air condition away from the bugs catching up on paperwork. Tomorrow we¢ll go hike on the AT at Weaverton Cliffs near Harper¢s Ferry but we¢ll get started earlier and take bug spray so we can hike longer. We¢ll visit the AT headquarters and ask questions to start planning our next hike going from NY to MA.And so ends our Spring AT saga.Love and Peace
Date: 2010-10-08
From: Home, Derwood, MD

To: Holmes, NY
Miles today: 0.0

Hurray! We're begining another two week section hike from NY through MA on 10/9/10. We once again have vacation rentals, one in Holmes, NY (10/9-15) and another in Lee, MA (10/16-24). We will have shuttle support - my sister, a fellow hiker, and another shuttler in MA). Our agenda is below. We're looking forward to being on the trail again.Sat, 10/9: Shuttle from NY22/Pawling/AT RR .2mi from Hurds Corner Rd/22 to Hoyt Rd/Ct-NY StLn off 55.NY Sec 2 ¢ Hoyt Rd/CT-NY StLn to NY 22/Pawling (near AT RR) ¢ 6.8 mi ¢ N-SSun, 10/10: Shuttle from Long Hill Rd to S Highland Rd. (visit Bear Mt Zoo after)NY Sec 6 Long Hill Rd to 301 (4.6) to NY Sec 7 South Highland Rd (6.4) ¢ 11.0 ¢ S-N Mon, 10/11: Shuttle from Depot Hill to Long Hill Rd NY Sec 4 Depot Hill to NY Sec 5 52/Stormville (5.0) to Taconic Pkwy (4.8) to NY Sec 6 Long Hill Rd (2.7) ¢ 12.5 ¢ S-NTue, 10/12: Shuttle from NY 22/Pawling/AT RR to Depot Hill.NY Sec 3 ¢ NY 22/Pawling/AT RR to NY 55/Poughquag (7.4 mi) to NY Sec 4 Depot Hill Rd (2.2 mi) ¢ 9.6 mi ¢ S-N Wed, 10/13: Shuttle from Hoyt Rd/CT-NY StLn to Rt.341/Kent.CT Sec 5/NY Sec 1 ¢ Rt 341/Kent to Hoyt Rd/CT-NY StLn - 11.5 mi ¢ N-S Thu, 10/14: Shuttle from Rt.4/Cornwall Br to Rt.341/Kent.CT Sec 4 Rt 4/Cornwall Br to Rt 341/Kent ¢ 11.1 mi ¢ N-S 10/15: Shuttle from Rt.112/7 to Rt4/Cornwall Br.CT Sec 3 Rt 112/7 to Rt 4/Cornwall Br ¢ 11.5 mi ¢ S-N Sat, 10/16: Shuttle from Rt 41/Salisbury CT to Rt.112/7.CT Sec 2 Rt 41 to Rt 112/7 ¢ 10.8 mi ¢ N-S (could go either way)Sun, 10/17: Shuttle from Rt 41/Salisbury CT to Guilder Pond.CT Sec 1 Sages Ravine to Rt 41/Salisbury CT 7.25? mi (Sages Ravine not accessible by car) and MA Sec 10 Guilder Pond Picnic Area to Sages Ravine 5.5 = Total 12.7 N-S Mon, 10/18: Shuttle from (1) Rt.7/Shffield/Housatonic Rvr/Kellogg Rd to Guilder Pond. Hike to Rt.7, shuttle back to Guilder for car, return to Rt.7 DJ/JJ car, DB shuttle DJ/JJ to Lake Buel Rd to hike N-S back to car at Rt.7. MA Sec 10 Guilder Pond to Jug End Rd (3.5) and MA Sec 9 Jug End to 7 (4.5) and MA Sec 8 Rt 7 to Lake Buel Rd (7.5) Total 15.5 mi Split Guilder to Rt7 S-N and Lake Buel to Rt7 N-S. 10/19: Shuttle from Tyringham/Main Rd¢Jerusalem Rd to Lake Buel. MA Sec 8 Lake Buel Rd to MA 23 (.9) and MA Sec 7: MA 23 to Tyringham/Main Rd (12.1) Total 13 mi S-N Wed, 10/20: Shuttle from Tyringham/Main Rd¢Jerusalem Rd to US 20 (Greenwater Pond). MA Sec 6 US20(Greenwater Pond) to Tyringham/Main Rd 8.6 Thu, 10/21: Shuttle from US20(Greenwater Pond) to Pittsfield Rd.MA Sec 5 Pittsfield Rd to US 20(Greenwater Pond) 9.4 N-S Fri, 10/22: Shuttle from Dalton/Gulf Rd/High St to Pittsfield Rd. MA Sec 4 Dalton/Gulf Rd/High St. to Pittsfield Rd (Wash.Mt.Rd) 9.6 S-N Sat, 10/23: Shuttle from Pattison Rd to Cheshire/MA8/Outlook Av.MA Sec 2 Pattison Rd to Cheshire/MA 8 14.0 S-N Sun, 10/24: Shuttle from Dalton/Gulf Rd/High St. to Cheshire/MA8/Outlook AvMA Sec 3 Cheshire/MA 8 to Dalton/Gulf Rd/High St. 8.3 N-S
Date: 2010-10-09
From: Hoyt Road, CT

To: NY22 Pawling
Miles today: 6.8

After driving from home in Maryland to Pawling, NY, for about 6 hours, my sister, Laura, and her significant other Sy, shuttled us from NY 22 Pawling to Hoyt Road, CT. We hiked 6.8 miles N to S. The most interesting part of the hike was climbing over the stile into the cow pasture. The trail took us within a few feet of several very large brown and white cows. We hoped that they wouldn't be attracted to the bright colors on our clothes. But we talked nicely to them and they just smiled as passed by.One of the best times of the day was kayaking on Whaley Lake outside our back door of our vacation rental. The lake had multi-colored tress of orange, yellow, red, and green. And then looking at a sky full of stars without any light to detract from the view.
Date: 2010-10-10
From: Long Hill Road, NY

To: S. Highland Road, NY
Miles today: 11.0

We saw some deer on our shuttle to hike from Long Hill Road to S. Highland Road today. Then shortly after we saw 4 wild turkey trying to cross the road. We also saw a lovely view of Cannopus Lake. The sun was shining on the top of the multi-colored trees with the darkness below. But the sun from the top of the trees reflected beautifully in the lake.On our hike, we saw a red-headed woodpecker, scared a quail or grouse, and saw lots of chipmunks. We met Gary, trail name Freak, from near Damascus, VA, who was section hiking with his dog from Bear Mountain, NY, to Dalton, MA. He's a postal worker and has hiked most of the trail from Springer Mountain up to this point except the Smokes because he couldn't take his dog. We also met Smokey's Friend (that's his trail name) from Chicago who is thru-hiking south bound. He started in Maine 8/10. He had just hiked 55 miles in 23 hours! He plans to take the Maryland challenge to hike the entire state in 24 hours.We tried to visit Bear Mountain Zoo after our hike but it was full and we weren't allowed in. Then we met my sister Laura and her significant other Sy at Storm King Center. They had a lot of interesting sculptures out in multiple fields of green grass and tress with mountains for the backdrop. They had a dance performance related to one of the sculptures that was interesting.
Date: 2010-10-11
From: Long Hill Road, NY

To: Depot Hill Road, NY
Miles today: 12.5

Today began with a beautiful sunrise over the lake - couldn't see the sun behind the mountain, but the clouds reflected all the colors from pink to yellow. We saw a heron land on the dock, too.The 12.5 mile hike was challenging with two long uphill climbs and then a steady gradual uphill most of the way to the end. Great views again with fall colors and lakes.We met a through hiker named Craig who had flip-flopped, having begun in Georgia February, hiked to Harpers Ferry, WVA, then drove to Katahdin and was hiking south to Harpers Ferry again. He's doing a fundraiser as part of his hike for a non-profit agency working with people with developmental disabilities. The website is www.wherescraig.org to learn more.We also met a trail maintainer who said he would take care of the dead animal we spotted at Depot Hill Road when we left our car this morning. We couldn't tell if it was an oposum or coyote or what.The weather was perfect. When we got home, we sat by the lake eating brocolli and humus since we forgot to take our tofukey and cheese for lunch on our hike. Then we took turns kayaking on the lake. It was calm, gentle breeze, sunshine, beautiful mountains, colors, and birds.We all played scrabble after dinner. Congratulations to Laura on her big win!
Date: 2010-10-12
From: Depot Hill Road, NY

To: NY 22 Pawling
Miles today: 9.8

We waited for the rain to stop, began our shuttle, then it started pouring again, so we quickly pulled on our rain gear. It stopped soon after we started and the rest of the day was clear. Unfortunately, we hiked the wrong way from Depot Hill and ended up recognizing a shelter we had passed yesterday. So we added 2 more miles to our 9.6 mile day for a total of 11.6. Oh, well, so much for a shorter hike.We saw another Dave who we had seen the day before at the RPH Shelter who is section hiking to CT. The only other person we saw was at the end of our hike, named Blue Ray, from Quebec. He's keeping a journal in French because it is easier for him to write in his native language. One of today's highlights included seeing a giant oak tree on Dover Road which was supposed to be about 20 feet in girth. When we climbed the hill in the field above it, we turned around and saw a magnificent view of trees with yellows, reds, oranges and greens stretching from one end of a mountain range to the opposite end, seemingly forever, and beautiful white clouds in puffy formations against a clear blue sky. Another highlight was crossing the Appalachian Trail Rail Road station which is the only place on the AT that one can actually catch a train - though only on Saturdays and Sundays at specific times. It was a bench on a small platform with the sign Appalachian Trail.We stopped at the Norman Vincent Peal Center for Positive Thinking, but they were closed. Then we had an early dinner at a pizzeria.When we arrived home, we sat by the lake in a comfortable chair and enjoyed the view and quietness.
Date: 2010-10-13
From: CT 341

To: Hoyt Road, CT
Miles today: 11.5

We started today in gloves with the temperatures in the 30's. However, we warmed up quickly walking over 1000 feet in elevation. We had another 750 feet to climb near the end of the hike in addition to all the other ups and downs in between, so it was a pretty physically challenging day.One of the highlights of today's hike was looking in a box on a tree which I thought was going to contain a trail register, and finding a mouse! I squealed in surprise and Dave thought I must have made him go deaf. He apparently had built a nest and I rudely awakened him. Once I gathered my wits about me, I got my camera out and took his picture. I think he was happy when I left him alone. The box was actually full of trail maps which he had chewed up to make his nest.Another highlight was hearing rushing water and walking off the trail to see what they were. We were pleased to spy rapids in the Ten Mile River. They reminded me of my raft trips with my mom on the James River and on the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon, although no one was rafting or kayaking here. We went back on the trail and found it wound back to the river and we got to view the rapids and waterfalls for at least a half a mile before it joined the Housatonic River. Then we left them as we climbed our last 750 feet and back down to complete today's hike.We enjoyed fried eggplant and pizza before going back to the house and taking the kayak out on the lake again. It may be our last kayak trip here since they're calling for rain beginning tomorrow afternoon and into Friday. And then we move to new lodging on Saturday.We had a pleasant evening visiting with Laura and Sy who will be leaving tomorrow after they shuttle us for the last time tomorrow morning.
Date: 2010-10-14
From: CT 4 Cornwall Bridge

To: CT 341 Kent
Miles today: 11.1

After we found the trail on CT 4 and said our goodbyes to Laura, we hiked North to South steeply up 500 feet and then down to a leisurely flat walk about 5-6 miles along the Housatonic River. We enjoyed many mild white water rapids, herons, and a mooing cow from across the river. We then had multiple uphill climbs, first 700 feet, then short 100-200 feet climbs. We were happy when we finished our final descent to CT 341 in Kent, CT, and before the rain came.We visited the Norman Vincent Peale Center for Positive Thinking in Pawling, NY. One of the items on display was a book from "This is Your Life" sponsored by Gleem Toothpaste. Another was a Salvation Army General William Booth award. He had many awards from various groups recognizing his contribution to society for encouraging positive thinking.We had a late lunch at Texas Taco and popcorn when we got home. We sat outside by the lake until the rain started falling. We'll apparently be hiking in the rain tomorrow.
Date: 2010-10-15
From: CT 112 and 7 Falls Village CT

To: CT 4 Cornwall Bridge 
Miles today: 12.6

Gee. Our shuttle let us know late last night he couldn't make it so we ended up reserving a rental car. We drove to Torrington, CT to pick it up, then set up the rental at the end of the hike and shuttled to the beginning. There was a light rain and our trusty Walmart waterproof jacket and pants kept us dry for the first couple hours. Once again the uphills seemed way too many and quite a challenge to get up. I felt like I was waddling back and forth with my poles. It reminded me of our new Unity Sacred Dancers performance for Christmas of the Silent Birth. We're supposed to step right and left making the shape of a pregnant woman with our hands so I felt like I was practicing the dance.Noises from revving up engines disturbed our peaceful rainy walk for the first two hours. I thought they were ATV's, but then saw what looked like a race track down the mountain on one of our rare views through the fog. We had some beautiful waterfalls along the way and lots of stream crossings. Right before the end of our hike, we had a major rushing water stream to cross but the water was too high. So we had to backtrack an extra mile out a dirt road to get to our car on Rt. 4. We then found our way to a nice restaurant which had a fireplace where we tried to dry out while we waited for our yummy grilled veggie sandwhiches.Then we checked for voice messages and found that our shuttler decided to come for the next three days after all. So we'll take the rental car back in the morning. We're packing up now since we'll be changing lodging tomorrow after our hike.Love and Peace
Date: 2010-10-16
From: CT 41/Cobble

To: CT 112 Falls Village CT
Miles today: 10.8

We left our lovely house on the lake after packing up everything in our car rental. We met Dave B/Half Full, transferred all our luggage into his car, and returned the rental car. Then we began our hike with spotty sprinkles now and then but over all a very nice day.We counted the number of uphills (large or small) on the elevation map for yesterday - there were 12. Today's uphills only numbered 7, and the longest was 500 feet. So today was way better than yesterday. As we climbed up out of the woods into a meadow, we saw a huge, beautiful rainbow with the backdrop of mountains upon mountains full of colors - little mountains, big mountains, stretching forever everywhere. So cool! And because it was cool, we didn't linger too long, just long enough to eat our lunch and take pictures.After shuttling Dave Brickley to his car, we all found our new home in Lee, MA. We had a nice dinner together in Lee and are now ready to finish unpacking and getting ready for bed.Love and Peace