morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2005-08-04
From: Melville Nauheim Shelter

To: Story Spring Shelter
Miles today: 17.4
Weather: scattered clouds

Bug and I got a fairly early start this morning. We have met lots of southbound hikers as well as people out hiking the Long Trail. We made it up to Porcupine Lookout where we originally intended to camp last night. It was pretty up there, but we were just as happy to have stayed at the shelter. We had some steep climbing to Goddard shelter, but got there much sooner than we anticipated. We didn't expect the crew to still be there, but they were. Everyone was there hanging out having a snack. The Goddard shelter is beautiful with incredible views, but it is scheduled to be torn down and rebuilt which we don't quite understand. From here we hiked to the top of Glastenbury Mountain. We could have had a view from the firetower, but could not motivate ourselves to climb the steps to the top of the tower. Instead we kept on hiking.It was only about 4 more miles to the shelter where we intended to have lunch. At this next shelter we met even more people out hiking the Long Trail. We saw lots of Moose Poop on the trail today, but sadly, no moose sightings as of yet. They do seem rather polite though, because the scat is typically off to the side of the trail and not right in the middle for someone to step in. Very considerate animals. I'm hoping it won't be too much longer before we actually have a sighting.We ate lunch at Caughnawga Shelter before moving on to Story Spring Shelter for the night. It was a short break and we thought it would be an easy stretch to Story Spring. Boy, were we wrong! We had to immdiately climb a tough, steep mountain in the afternoon heat and what made it so incredibly tough was that the climb wasn't marked in our guidebook.I gave Bug the go-ahead to hike in front of me and go on to the shelter. However, I didn't fall too far behind and before long we had arrived. We have decided to camp up behind the shelter. The bugs are still too bad to sleep in the shelters.We have hiked with a number of great people, but listening to some of the other folks out here makes me ever grateful for the close relationship that Bug and I share. I feel very blessed to have a strong marriage! I am also blessed to be able to take 6 months to spend almost every minute of every day with him. As I have said before, we have our moments but we have grown ever closer out here on this trek from Georgia to Maine. Sleep tight everyone!
Date: 2005-08-05
From: Story Spring Shelter

To: Spruce Peak Shelter
Miles today: 18.3
Weather: broken clouds

We were two of the last people to leave the shelter this morning, but got on our way soon enough. Bug and I climbed up Stratton Mountain this morning. It was a little tough, but we hardly noticed since we were wrapped up in our own conversation. It made those elevations and most certainly, the miles, fly by. On top of the mountain was a firetower where we each climbed to the top to get some good views and possibly a cell signal. We recieved neither. This is a big ski area and from the tower you are supposed to be able to see for miles. There is a ski village below and supposedly you can look across the valley to see the lifts and slopes. From the top of the tower, we heard howling winds whipping against the windows and saw clouds of gray. The temperatures were very cold as we were at the top of the mountain and above the trees in the tower. I am not normally fearful of heights, but I was sure glad to be down on solid ground. Especially aftter I had read that the tower was built in the 1930s and the cabin on top was the original cabin built in the first decade of the 1900s.It began to get chilly and clouds were rolling through, so we begn our hike down the mountain. The hike down was fairly smooth and took us hardly anytime to get down to the shelter. Bug got ahead of me by about 5-10 minutes and before long the rain started to come down. The desire to not be wet had me hiking a faster pace and soon I had arrived at the shelter. Everyone else was there as well. This was our lunch stop and we were all huddled under the front porch. Bug and Clean left to go and get water, but on their way took a wrong turn. They were gone for close to 30 minutes and in the meantime, the bottom had dropped out of the sky and it poured.After quite a rest here at this lovely shelter we got back on the trail; we still had 8 miles to hike. Stratton Pond was so peaceful and beautiful. These ponds are so pretty, they look untouched by human hands, have crystal clear waters, with an incredible mountain backdrop. Very much unlike alot of the stagnant ponds I have ever seen growing up. The afternoon's hike took no time at all since it was just a little bit downhill and a road walk much of the way. I lookked around to observe the birch trees around me. They really are something to look at with their white peeling bark exposing a warm reddish wood underneath. The Spruce Peak shelter was neat...it was a fully enclosed building with a sliding door, front porch, and wood-burning stove (not that we needed that). We have had dinner and are still hungry, but we are going into town tomorrow so no worries. There are a group of kids here, camping down the way, nice bunch but they are a bit loud. I think I will try to get some shut-eye in spite of the noise.
Date: 2005-08-06
From: Spruce Peak Shelter

To: Manchester Center, VT
Miles today: 2.8
Weather: overcast clouds

Wow, we did big miles today, huh? We were down to the road in no time at all once we finally motivated ourselves to move. Someone at the road provides really nice trail magic! There was a cooler where a block of dry ice had been placed with pints of Ben and Jerry's ice cream. Unfortunately for us, they had all been eaten. Bug and I soon recieved a ride from a woman who was headed into town for work. She refused to take anything for gas money. She dropped us at Friendly's where we met Clean, Buffalo Bob, Green Peace, and Above the Cloud for 2nd breakfast. After eating monstrous amounts of food, we headed for the outfitter, EMS. Bug was unable to switch out his leaky Platypus bladder since they only carried Camelbacks, but we did find some nice techwick long-sleeved shirts on sale. We were able to switch his bladder at the independent outfitter down the road however. Next it was time to go grocery shopping. We bought steaks to fix on the grill at the house we are staying at and waaaay too many groceries to take out on trail. Bug and I proceeded to go through and condense our food into ziplocs to get rid of excess bulk and weight. Before trying to get a hitch, we stopped at McDonald's to pick up some lunch for the afternoon.Manchester Center, VT is a cool place and one that I would love to come back to in a car. We were way out of our league in this town. The McDonald's had granite countertops and the factory outlets contained stores like Anachini (high-end fabrics, linens and scarves) and Armani. As we left McDonald's to try to find a ride, a van pulled out from the drive-thru and asked if we were headed for the trail. We replied that we were actually trying to get to a house beyond the trailhead and he offered to take us.We climbed in and he told us that they were following The Troll family and meeting them at road crossings. They were very nice although I don't think they understood how far we needed to go to get to the Fish's, the people we were staying with for the night.We got to stay in a basement with pull-out couch and all kinds of other amenities we like such as shower, toilet, and laundry....an added bonus was that the homeowners allowed us to use their gas grill. Tonight we had a wonderful steak dinner with a caesar side salad, and roasted potatoes prepared by Chef Bug. It was topped off with a pint each of Ben and Jerry's ice cream.What was supposed to be a laid-back and relaxing nero turned out to be quite stressful (Note: our hosts were very accomodating). One of our fellow hikers got himself quite inebriated, the other 3 hikers we were with knew what was going on but failed to tell us and elected Bug and I his official babysitter. It has been a long evening and we are ready to call it a night.
Date: 2005-08-07
From: Manchester Center, VT

To: Big Branch Shelter
Miles today: 16.5
Weather: clear sky

After a hardy breakfast we headed for the road to try for a hitch back to the trailhead. I think most people were either at church or still in bed, because there were hardly any people on the road. Finally, a nice couple stopped to give us a ride on their way into Manchester Center. It was a bit chilly and we had to ride in the back of a pick-up, but we were grateful not to have to walk the 7 miles back to the AT.We hiked the short distance to Bromley Mountain shelter which is maintained by Mr. Fish (the family we stayed with last night). After a bit of a rest, we pushed up Bromley Mountain. It was incredible, standing at the ski lift on a beautifully clear and sunny day. We had views back to Stratton Mountain and all that surround it.We lunched at Mad Tom Notch and enjoyed the company of Stranger and a section hiker out for the week. There was a water pump there with clean water, and we enjoyed drinking to our hearts' content without having to wait 20 minutes for it to be purified.The day went quickly and there were many, many beautiful views along the way. The weather has stayed beautiful throughout the day. We never did catch up to Clean or the two sectioners, even Buffalo Bob had passed us when we went to Bromley Shelter. We decided to stay the night at Big Branch shelter. Rather than stay in the shelter, we decided to camp near the water. We spent some time talking with a gentleman who was hiking the Long Trail. He had hiked in 1994 with his dog. It was starting to get dark, so we scoped out a place for the tent and got set up. Bug is cooking dinner for us at the moment, and I hear him calling me out there so I had better go.
Date: 2005-08-08
From: Big Branch Shelter

To: VT103/North Clarendon
Miles today: 15.9

In our usual fashion, we were out of camp late this morning. We were trying to rush and prepared ourselves not to take breaks today. This is because we were planning to meet some distant relatives this afternoon and had miles to make until then. Bug and I were pulled up short first thing when we arrived at Danby-Landgrove Road. Bamboo Bob was there with his wife, Just Visiting. They were doing trail magic there at the road and of course we had to stay....it would have been rude not to. Bamboo Bob hiked the trail in 2002 and is now doing it again in sections.After donuts and oj, and some wonderful conversation we had to be on our way. We didn't have much time to kick back and relax on the trail today, but we did manage to get a gorgeous view of Little Rock Pond, another glacier pond up here in New England. We saw tons of little salamanders swimming around in the crystal clear water. Bug and I saw Leviathan headed from the shelter down to the pond for a swim. We debated stopping and heading for White Rocks Cliffs for lunch, but it was .2 off the trail and downhill. Instead we headed for Bully Brook where we had lunch and filled our water bladders. It was pretty tough going hiking up Bear Mountain! It was hot and steep, steep! The afternoon flew by and before we knew it, we had arrived at the Clarendon Gorge by 5pm. It was beautiful and we would have stopped for a swim except that we were planning to meet the relatives and didn't have the time. Trudy arrived to pick us up at VT103. I was a bit nervous because I always think about the stereotypical southern hick showing up on the doorstep of some "distant" relative, saying, "Hey ya'll, ahhm yer cuzin'." She was soooo incredibly nice though and welcomed us with open arms and a hug! As luck would have it, Trudy just had a birthday and we had the privilage of meeting the entire family in Vermont. Tonight they threw a birthday bash for her and not only did we get to meet everyone but we also got to eat like a King and Queen, and they all insisted that we eat well.Trudy put us in her room and we got showered up first thing, so that we wouldn't run everyone off. We answered the many questions waiting for us about food we eat, animals we have seen, and what we carry in our packs. Bug and I stayed up talking with them until 11pm and finally excused ourselves to our room where we are now. I don't think I will have a bit of trouble sleeping this evening. It has been a wonderful day!!!
Date: 2005-08-09
From: VT103/North Clarendon

To: Churchill Scott Shelter
Miles today: 15.5
Weather: scattered clouds

This morning Trudy made us a big breakfast of eggs, bacon and blueberry muffins. A good hardy breakfast for the miles that lay ahead! We had a tough time making ourselves leave. But alas, we had to either go or stay since Trudy had to be at work. She dropped us off at the trailhead and we very slowly made our way up to Clarendon Lookout.I will take a moment to tell you about the connection to Trudy. My great grandfather came down with his family from Vermont in the 1800s in a covered wagon. They were looking for jobs building railroads. By the time they arrived in Arkansas, they found out that all the jobs had been taken. At that point, the family turned around and headed back for Vermont, but my great grandfather stayed behind with a family who offered to school him in exchange for work. Trudy is related to us, I believe through my great-great grandmother.Up at Clarendon Lookout, we called my mom and talked to her for a bit, while we had signal available. We talked for awhile with a group of boyscouts before continuing on. We stopped at the brook for lunch and to soak our feet.We had grand intentions of getting all the way to US4 in order to stay across from the Inn at Long Trail and get a yummy dinner. That didn't happen, we didn't get to Cooper Lodge until around 6ish. We figured that it would take us until about 10 to get there, we just figured it wasn't worth it. Instead, Bug and I decided to stop here at Churchill Scott Shelter. It is beautiful here. The shelter was built just last year and we are the only ones here. This shelter was universally built and is handicap-accessible along with the privy. Which brings me to the question....who in the world who is handicapped, would hike up to the shelter here? Ahh well...49er is camped up the way and I am ready for bed.
Date: 2005-08-10
From: Churchill Scott Shelter

To: Winnturi Shelter
Miles today: 21.8

Today started like most other days for us on the AT, but little did we know that the incident at Kent Pond would scar our memories...forever. The following police report contains all the necessary information:At approximately 10:30, I was called to the scene of a grand larceny in progress. Upon rounding the corner of the Mountain Meadow's Lodge, the victim (Ms. Priss) was seen chasing the perp across the lawn. The description of the suspect is as follows: female, brown skin, approximately 2 feet tall, 200 pounds, coarse hair, flat nose, and curly tail. The suspect was seen fleeing the scene of the crime with a half-eaten turkey sandwich in its mouth. The victim also later reported that the perp was making vulgar grunting noises in her direction which caused her to give up chasing the beastly subject. I took up chase of the suspect after ensuring the victim was OK. After a short chase, I cornered the suspect and struggled with the perp and wrestled the plastic wrap from her mouth. Unfortunately, the suspect had scarfed down half of the sandwich, and drooled on the other half. However, the fortunate news is that the suspect stole Ms. Priss's sandwich and Bug's sandwich was ! safe and sound. After speaking with the Lodge management, I was able to convince them to make Ms. Priss another sandwich. Also, the manager was able to positively identify the thief as "Alice the Pot-bellied Pig." As you can probably tell, this experience has been one of the funnier moments during our hike. The other great thing about this experience is that now we have a month's supply of bacon for the remainder of our trip....just kidding!Seriously though, this was the highlight of our day. The only other noteable experience occurred while we were taking a break near a stream. After soaking my feet, I was putting on my shoes when I noticed a flash out of the corner of my eye. I turned to look and spotted a small and very nervous weasel-like animal darting in-and-out of small tunnels in the stream bank. It was approximately 15-18" long and only 3-4" tall. We were told that there were martens in the area, so we think this could have been one. I think he was either mad or very confused about me sitting on a rock. Ms. Priss tossed me the camera and I took a quick picture, but unfortunately the little booger was too quick. The picture turned out blurry.After so much excitement it was tough to get hiking again, but we managed. We had been told that there was a guy at VT12 who would allow people to stay in his barn and get showers. Originally, the plan was to get there, but we knew that we would be unable to make it before late. Instead we headed for Winturri shelter where we are the only two here. We have decided to stay in the shelter rather than set up the tent. This way we can get out bright and early. Goodnite!
Date: 2005-08-11
From: Winnturi Shelter

To: West Hartford, VT
Miles today: 16.4

Bug and I woke up bright and early after having the entire shelter to ourselves last night. It was a quick 4 miles or so to VT 12, where Bug and I walked a couple hundred yards to "The Barn". This guy lets people sleep in his barn and get showered up. We didn't sleep there, but we did make use of the shower facility and ohh was it nice to get clean! After we got cleaned up, we made for the veggie stand down the road. We are running low on breakfast food, so we picked up a peach pie to carry out for in the morning. We pretty much gorged ourselves with sandwiches of sourdough with buffalo summer sausage and vermont smoked cheddar and then topped it off with ice creams.The rest of the day was filled with lots of ups and downs. We walked through a really pretty section of trail just prior to Cloudland Road-- beautifully sloping lawn-like pasture. We have come across so many sap farms on the trail. They are for Maple sap to make syrup. From tree to tree you can see plastic tubing with taps that are hammered into the trees in the spring.By the time we crossed the White River, we were both pretty beat and trying to motivate ourselves to hike the additional 3 miles to Happy Hill Shelter. We stopped in West Hartford, VT to cook dinner and get caloried up, when a couple stopped in their car to ask if we needed a place to stay the night. After a little bit of consultation between Bug and myself, it didn't take long to come to a yes conclusion. As it turns out, "R-boy" thru-hiked in 2002.They took us in for the night and let us shower and do our laundry. They didn't even make us stay outside. We are sleeping downstairs in the basement on the futon, and even have a bed buddy....they just acquired a kitten who is cute as a button! Well, nite nite!
Date: 2005-08-12
From: West Hartford, VT

To: Campsite near Trescott Road Trail
Miles today: 12.4

Woohoo! We crossed into yet another state! Our 13th state. We left West Hartford and the lovely couple that put us up for the night bright and early to head for Hanover, NH. At Tigertown Road, we stopped briefly to destroy the peach pie we purchased yesterday.I got a bit tickled to see a road sign reading Podunk Road. I never knew there was an actual place called Podunk. There were a couple of stiff climbs and I had a hard time keeping up with Bug. I caught back up to him at Happy Hill Shelter. From there it was such a fast hike into Hanover, NH. As we walked across the bridge spanning the Connecticut River, the first thing we saw was the police dragging the river. Later we found out that 15 guys from Dartmouth had tried to swim the river, but apparently only 14 only made it across. Very sad.In Hanover, we chilled out for awhile at the DOC (Dartmouth Outing Club) and played on the computer, taking care of correspondence. We then walked the streets of Hanover, filling ourselves with yummy food from the restaurant, Everything But Anchovies. We then walked down to the co-op for resupply, followed by Ben and Jerry's at the scoop shop.Bug and I had just enough time to go back to the DOC, pack up our packs, and get back down to the movie theater. We treated ourselves to a movie and saw "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" which was great by the way! After it was over we pulled ourselves from town and made for the outskirts of town. Bug and I decided to hike beyond the shelter since it was a bit off trail. We found a sweet little concealed spot to set up our tent. It looks as if it might rain, but I am hoping it will hold off. We did get a sub before we left town, so no cooking for us tonight, just sleepytime!
Date: 2005-08-13
From: Campsite near Trescott Road Trail

To: Firewarden's Cabin
Miles today: 20.8
Weather: clear sky

Well the campsite we chose last night was not so ideal, but it did work. It was chock full of roots sticking into the shoulderblades and on a slant so that we were rolling to the side all night long. It rained in the night, but fortunately we managed to stay dry. Early, while we ate breakfast, Dandylion passed by. We caught him at the Etna-Hanover Center Road getting water and then we didn't see him for awhile because he hikes super fast.Bug and I decided to take lunch at Moose Mountain Shelter, which probably wasn't the best plan because there was no water whatsoever. There was a manky mud sludge running across the trail and that was the water source. We ate briefly and headed out so we could make miles.The next few miles went by quickly and we had some great views of the mountains from Holts Ledge. We walked .3 to the Trapper John Shelter in hopes of finding water there. Bug and I were in luck and actually found water, but only a puddle with gnats hovering just above. We found an entry at Moose Mountain shelter from Fig and Just Visiting and are hoping to catch up with them, although they went past Firewarden's Cabin tonight.The bugs were awful through the next section along Lyme-Dorchester Road, and Bug and I looked as if we stepped out of a Christmas pageant by the time we approached Smarts Mountain, because of the way we had our bandanas rigged.Now I have to be honest, I had heard alot about Smarts Mountain really "smarting", and although it was tough I didn't think it seemed all that bad. Little did we know that the 2nd 1,000' was loads harder than the first 1,000! I have a feeling that this is just a taste of what is to come. The last thousand feet up was killer though and straight up rock slabs!Bug and I have finally rolled into the Firewarden's Cabin and met Pokey Puppy and Dandylion, but Fig and Just Visiting moved on. The cabin is enclosed and we figure we will stay in here tonight.