morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2007-08-11
From: Home

To: Rutland, VT
Miles today: 0.0

On the train up to Rutland, planning on hiking tomorrow.Spent the night last night at my sister and brother-in-law's place, hanging out with my nephews, and they took me to my mom's place (I forgot my Leki poles there....) and off to the train to Penn Station, and then another train to Rutland.The ride up here was beautiful. The train runs right along the Hudson, under all of the bridges, up to Albany, through Kurt Vonnegutt's town of Scenecktady (sp??), and then east into VT. Was about an hour late, unfortunately.Got in to my motel after getting lost and milling around Rutland for a while, then some kids drove by and took pity on me and drove me there. I signed the inside roof of their car 'Kilgore Trout 06'.Starting again tomorrow! Extremely worried about my body... I hope it behaves.Thanks to my momma for taking such good care of me when I was home .
Date: 2007-08-12
From: Rutland, VT

To: Stoney Brook Shelter
Miles today: 10.0
Weather: broken clouds

Good first day.Had an awful sleep in my motel bed last night. At this point I was more worried than excited; I had no idea how my knee would behave, and I was scared to death about having to quit *again*.Luckily, though, the terrain wasn't too bad. Some good climbs, waaay up and waaay down, but not rocky. No features at all today, really. Didn't have any knee problems at all but I don't think today was a good test. Beautiful day, feeling good so far. Was probably from my Burger King breakfast. Taking it easy again tomorrow and it's supposed to be a nice day. In pretty good spirits. Sheltering tonight to leave room for lots of day hikers. Nice breeze blowing, so no bugs.Met a girl out here who's hiking with Lyme disease.. says she feels fine. HOW does she feel fine ?!
Date: 2007-08-13
From: Stoney Brook Shelter

To: Winturri Shelter
Miles today: 9.9

Another nice day (when it wasn't raining, at least).Slept awfully for no reason, really. Rained through the night and into the morning, but it finally gave way in the afternoon to a beautiful day.Only one real 'thing' to see today, a cabin at the top of a mtn with a 360 degree firetower view. Got to the top and saw a wall of rain coming my way and almost jumped down to get undercover. Other than that, the trail was pretty easy. The knee reminded me today that it's not quite right, but it behaved throughout the hike. Made me nervous, though.Been hiking the last two days with loads of girls! Four nurses from Yale, and Pete Lake and Scratchy, girls who went to college together, all sectioning, and a Sobo named Take Two. I made a fire tonight to impress them with my awesome woodsman skills . In the next weeks college will be starting up, so there'll probably be a big drop in section hikers, and the Nobo's won't be friends with me ...Beautiful, cool night. Rumors of a meteor shower.My hiking kilt is falling apart... need a sewing kit.
Date: 2007-08-14
From: Winturri Shelter

To: Thistle Hill Shelter
Miles today: 11.6
Weather: overcast clouds

Today kicked my ass but it was still a great day. Perfect temperature, cool breeze, no bugs, lots of sun, no humidity.Sheltered again and finally slept; it was bordering on cold, and there were no bugs with a good breeze so it was fantastic sleeping weather.It was four miles to a farmstand where I had a Coke, a 32oz Snapple, a banana, and an entire strawberry ruhbarb pie (got that for you, Hawkeye). Lots of feul for the furnance! Was expecting to see Pete Lake and Scratchy there but they took off before it opened. Punks.Lord only knows what the elevation changes were today; we never went too high but it was *steep*, all day. My knee was complaining rather loudly, unfortunately, but I kept stretching it and trying different ways to do the downhills so it wasn't debilhitating. Close, though.. When we weren't climbing PUDS there were plenty of sunny fields, stone walls, lots of nice spots. Made the day worth it.Ate a huge dinner with a smoked chicken breast I bought at the farm, so now I'm full and feel like a million bucks. Finally got a tent site tonight so I should sleep pretty well. Looks like I'll be a nice night. Here with Riggy, the Nurses, who are going home tomorrow, and the group-we-thought-were-a-family-but-isn't.
Date: 2007-08-15
From: Thistle Hill Shelter

To: View Entry
Miles today: 8.8

Another perfect weather day. Mother Nature has a plan for us later, I know it. Just like last year, with the floods.Pretty easy day, 8.8 to the shelter. After 4 miles of downhill, blackberries, an Adirondack Chair, the guy who maintains the adirondack chair, and some bugs, we got to West Hartford. West Hartford has the best deli I've seen yet. Had a huge turkey sandwich and a coke. Very trail friendly. Did some white water swimming in the White River. Got stuck in a rapid and lost my kilt for a bit and flashed anyone who might have been watching from the bridge. Water felt fanstastic though. Then a pretty steep climb up to the 'Happy Hill' to the shelter.Been hiking the past few days with a Nobo named Riggy. After I heard that he hitched into a small town just to buy bacon, I decided immediately that I liked him. Lost the Nurses today, they went home to go back to school. Sucks for them!Knee is about the same as yesterday.. hurts, but walkable. If it stays like this the whole trip I don't think I'll have any more trouble.
Date: 2007-08-16
From: Happy Hill Shelter

To: Velvet Rocks Shelter
Miles today: 7.3
Weather: broken clouds

Made it to New Hampshire! 10 states down, 2 to go.Bad sleep last night. One group with their Dragonfly stove roaring away and another drunken mob that came in like a tornado at about 9pm and made noise till midnight. Also had to fight some rodents.. a mouse that fell off the ceiling onto my legs (he got flung), another mouse that made it 1/2 way through my food bag (he escaped unflug), and a brave chimpmunk that I scared half to death. He popped about 2' vertically in the air when he heard me, like toast from a toaster.Did a very smooth 6 miles over the VT/NH border into Hanover. Nice town but a little too much going on for my quieted trail brain. Got a big breakfast with at Lou's Riggy and then took a nap on the Dartmouth green while trying to finish Catch 22.Got to the shelter by about 5:30 and went on an adventure to find water. A woman that we met told us that the spring was over a mountain, then down a cliff, then left down another trail, and she was right. And it was a slimey, still, man-made pool that a frog was drowning in.Weathered a pretty rough thunderstorm in the shelter.. been so long since we've had a rain that the ground absorbed it like a sponge. Now the whole shelter smells like shit; the hard rain must have flooded the privy. Gross.Just me and Riggy tonight.. we must be in a no-nobo bubble. The shelter here has a clear roof, will be nice to watch the lightning if another storm comes through.
Date: 2007-08-17
From: Velvet Rocks Shelter

To: Moose Mtn Shelter
Miles today: 9.5
Weather: clear sky

Yet another perfect weather day. A bit humid in the morning while last night's rains burned away, but fanstastic after that. Not much to report trailwise.. I got in today by 1:30 and just read a bit, played some harmonica, ate, dried my stuff.. quiet, sunny afternoon.The shelter here has an awful water source, so a local family, the Dannas, every night hike 2ish miles to bring 4+ gallons of water to the shelter. That is *extremely* nice of them. If that water wasn't there we'd be S.O.L.Here tonight with Riggy, Chef (who I met in Mass last year), Buzz, Bucket and Water, and a sobo named Treehouse. B&W packed out some maple sausages from Hanover and grilled 'em up tonight for dinner.. good stuff.Felt great today, really strong, really healthy. Not one hint of pain from my knee all day. Even my chronic lyme or CFS or IBS or PMS or whatever it is that I've got has been keeping quiet (knock on wood).Tommorow's got some serious climbs and I'm pushing the milage a bit.. will be interesting to see how I go. I have a bad feeling that today was the last easy-terrain day for the next 250, 300 miles.
Date: 2007-08-18
From: Moose Mtn Shelter

To: Firewarden's Cabin, Smart's Mtn.
Miles today: 12.4
Weather: broken clouds

Worked hard today, muscles are tired. It got very cold last night, probably in the 40's this morning, with a light rain. Very, very windy. Packed up quick to get the blood flowing and was out before 8, down Moose Mtn, up Holtz Ledges and down again. Once the rain cleared it became a perfect high pressure day.. lots of wind, big puffy 'Simpsons Intro' clouds in front of solid blue skies.The SOBO's told us that Smart's Mtn is completely dry, which means we had to hike 5 or 6 quarts of water up about 2100' to get to the shelter. That did a number on my legs, but it'll make them that much stronger for the Whites.Really nice spot up here. All hemlocks. Cold and windy, but pretty clear with 360 deg. views from the firetower. One could spend the night up in there if one were so inclined, but it's blowing a gale and the whole tower is rattling and banging. I'll stick to my tent, on the downwind face of the mtn. Early to bed, listening to the trees creak.Damn knee hurt today..
Date: 2007-08-19
From: Firewarden's Cabin, Smart's Mtn.

To: Ore Hill Shelter
Miles today: 12.6

Long day. Was supposed to be in the 30's last night, but the wind subsided a bit so it didn't feel that cold. Didn't get out of camp until 10:30, got down to the bottom of Smarts and there was trail magic! Celt from '99 and his family cooked us up some burgers, hotdogs, brownies, strawberry shortcake.. all kinds of good stuff. Fueled me for climbing up Mt Cube (my favorite mtn name on the trail). That was a great mountain.. lots of fun to climb, and great views. Saw a Pergrin Falcon hovering and then tuck and drop straight down out of sight. Good stuff.At the bottom of Cube was yet more trail magic.. Circus from '03 and his buddy gave us a few beers before the last 3 miles and 1000'. Beer was a bad idea.. didn't get to the shelter until the sun was nearly down and I was hurting. Didn't even clean my pot after dinner, too tired.Going to sleep with the sound of snoring and coyotes.
Date: 2007-08-20
From: Ore Hill Shelter

To: Glencliff, NH
Miles today: 7.4

easy day into Glencliff. Hiked mst of it with Riggy and Dustin, who gave us a ride over to the hostel.Went to check my email and found out that my Dad was coming up from Mass, and showed up about 30 minutes later. Very nice surprise! Drove to Hanover to pick up ERock to save him a $75 shuttle fee from the Hostel. Went into town for some food and a hotel room. Sorry this is short but we're tired!Whites tomorrow!
Date: 2007-08-21
From: Glencliff, NH

To: Summit of Mt. Moosilauke
Miles today: 5.7

Got an early start this morning at the motel, threw some laundry in the machine, and ERock took us all out for a nice breakfast at the local diner. We were trying to get to the Glenclif post office before it closed and just missed it, meaning we had to start our day at 3pm instead of 11pm. Looks like they take a 4 hour lunch break.Said goodbye and thanks to my Dad and Linda for the surprise visit and for shuttling us around for a day, and stuck around the hostel for a bit. ERock's package was there and mine was AWOL.. hoping they find it before I get to Gorham! Mala was at the hostel which in a way surprised me, and in a way really didn't. Mala always seemed to be close by somehow. Good to see him.SO! On to the hiking. The day was beautiful, and we were going up Moosilauke, which is the first above-treeline hike for us at 4800 ft. It was a nice steady climb which was tiring but kept getting more and more scenic as we went. The summit was fantastic.. low wind, 360 degree views and near unlimited visability. After very little discussion ERock and I decided we should cowboy camp on the top. Weather like that on Moosilauke is extremely rare, so we figured why the hell not.We watched a perfect sunset, took a million pictures, and hunkered down for what promises to be a very, very cold sleep. Wrapped our bags in our tents to help keep out the morning dew. Clouds are coming in...
Date: 2007-08-22
From: Summit of Mt. Moosilauke

To: Eliza Brook Shelter
Miles today: 11.3
Weather: scattered clouds

Fantastic day. First, last night..ERock and I spent last night on top of Mt. Moosilauke, above treeline, in our sleeping bags and a makeshift bivy using our tents. The stars were absolutely unbelievable. We saw the international space station go by early in the evening. ERock was reading about how/when you can see it; it looked like a satelite but was brighter than venus. Later we could see a rotating satelite.. it would alternate between very bright and very dim as it went across the sky. Billions of stars.Got a bit cloudy and we got soaked with mist, but between all the layers we had on and our bivy sacks, we managed to not freeze to death. It was actually very cozy until sunrise. Just before sunrise we woke up to see what we could see, and it was as clear as the night before. Fantastic. Sun came up right over the Whites. Only downside was that out of our bags we were *freezing* cold. Took pictures and got moving as fast as we could to get our asses below treeline. Was worth every second though.The downhill off of Moosilauke has one of the worst reputations on the trail; I've heard that it's very steep, treacherous, and poorly mantained, and I was really looking forward to it. Goes down 3000' from the road in a very short time. It's probably because we had ideal weather, but I had a great time going down there. It follows a cascading waterfall for nearly two miles, and the terrain is steep but I could almost always manage to find flat, dry footing. Some of the most beautiful trail I've seen to date.. between the perfect night and perfect morning, you couldn't wipe the smile off my face.The rest of the day was relatively quiet. Climbed back up a few thousand feet, but did it slowly enough that we didn't really have to overwork ourselves. Great weather continued through the day. Sun and slight, icy breezes.ERock is doing very well for starting a trek in the Whites. He's stiff and has been doctoring some blisters, but to be honest I don't think he even notices. Been great having him out here.Going over the Kinsman peaks tomorrow, our first real 'Whites' climb. 2000' straight up.Perfect day of hiking today.
Date: 2007-08-23
From: Eliza Brook Shelter

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Slept like a dead man last night, felt great this morning. ERock and I had expected it to rain but it held out; just a dark, comfortably cool, cloudy day.Did our first real climb today up Kinsman Mtn. Started out hard, but not rediculously hard, and soon we were at the top. Oh wait, that flat, open part was *not* the top, as we found out when we looked straight up and saw more mountain. That happend twice. Each time the terrain got more and more difficult, until we were nearly climbing rock walls, throwing our hiking poles ahead of us to get the use of our hands. Finally once we did reach the top, we were pretty fogged in. South Kinsman was a bit more open but still not much to see as far as vistas were concerned. Beautiful rolling fog, though.The way down was nearly as difficult, but there was a hut half way with $2 AYCE soup! By about 4:30 we were on the road to Lincoln.ERock and I had heard awful things about that hitch, that since it was on an interstate it was nearly impossible to get a ride. We got lucky and after 15 mins or so a woman picked us up. She was in a rush so she dropped us off at the exit, which we found out was about 4 miles *past* Lincoln. So we started walking into town and about 2 miles in another woman picked us up, who was actually the girlfriend of the hostel owner. If she hadn't have come by we probably would have walked the whole thing. Very lucky!Nice hostel, new this year. Run by a young guy named Chet who basically gives you the run of the place.Not sure what we're doing tomorrow.. it's supposed to thunderstorm and going over Franconia Ridge in a thunderstorm is a bad idea. Several miles are above treeline.Feelin' good!
Date: 2007-08-24
From: Chet's Place, Lincoln, NH

To: Liberty Tent Site, Liberty Mtn
Miles today: 2.6

(Mostly) town day today, staying at Chet's place. The weather looked pretty rough and the weather channel was calling for t-storms, so we decided to just relax in town for a while and do a quick day to get back into the woods.Nice chill day, went out for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and after we stuffed ourselves completely full to the point of popping, we did a 2400' climb just before sunset. It involed a lot of burping, but by the top, breakfast, lunch, and dinner had been completely incinerated. It was very hot and very humid and we were soaked through with sweat.Met Cup-a-joe '05, he's the caretaker up at this tent site erock and I are staying at. Heluva nice guy.. he knew a lot of 06ers so we talked trail for quite a while. The platform we're on is quite nice, right on the side of the mountain, but both ERock and I just don't fit on it. Our tents are right up against each other and only 1/2 pitched. Looks rediculous. If it rains I'm screwed!Tomorrow has a 50% chance of being fantastic and a 50% chance of sucking. We're going over Franconia Ridge, "considered by many to be the most scenic part of the trail." Problem is the weather; it's unclear whether we're going to be pummelled (sp?) with storms or have a great, clear day. Forcast keeps flip-flopping. Guess we'll see... pretty damn excited either way.
Date: 2007-08-25
From: Liberty Tent Site, Liberty Mtn

To: Garfield Ridge Campsite 
Miles today: 7.7
Weather: light rain

Might die as I'm writing this; we're in the middle of a horiffic thunderstorm at dangerously high altitudes. But more on that in a bit...We were spared rain last night but got it in the morning, pretty heavily. By the time we got to hay stack mountain it had cleared, and our view of Franconia Ridge was fantastic. It was hot and a bit hazy, but much clearer than we expected. The ridge is about 6 miles of above tree-line ridges, from peak to peak. Great stuff. The kilt was a big hit with the day-hikers, esp. when it caught the wind. (Storm update : storm has moved through: I survived.).The trek from Lafayette to Garfield was only about 3 miles long but what an ass kicker.. absurd uphills and downhills, and a constant view of this monolithic mountain that you'll have to climb before camp. Very, very tired. (storm update: not completely gone. Rain is gone but lightening still exploding over us. We're toast.)Got a great campsite on the side of Garfield Mtn. Weather was beautiful, nice and dry after a humid day, and the sky was threating so we got our errands done and hopped into the tent at the first few raindrops. (Storm update: Passed. For real this time. The sun is going down and the entire sky is bright, deep pink-orange. Thunder rolling away to the east of us. Beautiful.)Then we had a storm and went to sleep.(Watching a thunderstorm on a mountainside is great stuff, you can see the lightening go below you, into the valley.)
Date: 2007-08-26
From: Garfield Ridge Campsite 

To: Zealand Falls Hut
Miles today: 9.7

Yet more storms rolled through last night so there was a good amount of rolling into a ball on my foam mat and praying. None of the storms were as bad as the first, and even with the wind and the rain we managed to survive relatively dry through the night.Breakfast was interesting. Pulled out my bag of gorp and it all started pouring out a 2" hole in the bottom. Checked my food bag and there was a 2" in that, and checked my tent and sure enough there was a 2" hole in *that*. Some animal 2" in diamater chewed through all those layers and stole 3 red M&M's, 2 blue ones, and several peanuts. They were in a nice pile under my tent. Thank you again, duct tape.The hike wasnt't too bad at all.. very cool with some mist-rain thing all day, not-too-bad terrain (realatively speaking), and some beautiful woods. We ate the Galehead Hut out of soup, and mugged Plodder and Barking Spider for 3 sandwiches on their SOBO slackpack which they handed over kindly.It was cloudy and foggy in the morning; we figured it would burn off but it never did. Was still a beautiful day though.. no views but lots of misty, mossy, boreal forest.Did a work-for-stay at Zealand Hut with a very nice croo (sic), some sobo sections hikers, and about 200 kids. ERock and I slept on the porches because there were no free bunks, but between the beauitful sky and the sound of the falls, we definitely got the better deal.
Date: 2007-08-27
From: Zealand Falls Hut

To: AMC Highland Center
Miles today: 7.7

Short journal today.. getting late and I want to go to sleep. Long day tomorrow.Slept great on the porch execpt for bad flute rendition of Stairway To Heaven, got up early, swept hut, left hut, perfectly clear cool day, erock took side trail, I eat lunch on rock at pond, get to road, can't hitch, walked whole thing, got gumpy, got there finally, erock there, bitched and moaned about road walking, took shower with clothes on, dried clothes in sun, called nephew to wish him a happy bday but it was 4 days before, ate dinner with nice strangers, wrote journal, brushed teeth, said prayers, went to bed.
Date: 2007-08-28
From: AMC Highland Center

To: Lakes of the Clouds Hut
Miles today: 11.2
Weather: broken clouds

Spectacular, unbelievable day. Got up early after a fanstastic sleep, had an AYCE breakfast, and scored a ride to the trail so we didn't have to blue blaze.Trudged up Webster Cliffs and had insane views of Crawford Notch and the western mountains. You'll have to wait until I post the pictures to get it, I think. We were exposed with 100+ miles views for the next 9 miles or so. The entire time Washington was looming over us with so many towers and smoke on top that it looked like an Indiana iron works factory. This type of weather happens only a few times of year; we were pretty lucky SOB's to have this day to (mostly) climb up to Washington. Like I said, you'll have to see the pictures.Spending the night doing work-for-stay at Lakes of the Clouds (or Crowds) Hut, nestled here in the alpine zone. It's extremely noisey. ERock and I were sitting watching thw sunset and little kids kept running into our pictures. Brats! Anyway, the weather was so good we (well, I) went swimming in one of the lakes here. Swimming! At 5100 feet! Unheard of. Most people get windburn, snowed in, hypothermia etc up here.. we got a suntan.That's about all I can say about today, it was perfect. Might have been my finest hiking day ever. Like I said, you need to see the pictures. Supposed to be perfect tomorrow as well through the Presidentials, which will be a hard day.Ah, forgot to mention this.. yesterday I saw a guy I met i on Killington named Dick, and today I bumped into another guy who was staying at the 12 Tribes place with me. Both finished the Long Trail and were out day hiking. Small world.One other thing I forgot.. yesterday I was told by a pretty, grandmotherly lady that I should be drawn and quartered for wearing a kilt with a tartan that isn't my family's. Never realized that plaid could piss someone off so badly.