morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2004-03-05
To: Supply Acquisition
Miles today: 0.0

Well, I just spent about $200 at the local Sam's Club and got most of my provisions for the next six months. I think the checkout lady wondered if I knew something she didn't and that she might want to build a bomb shelter soon.I took a shakedown hike this afternoon to test out some new boots that need to be broken in. It went well. Now that I've moved to South Carolina to get ready for the hike, I'm noticing how different the south is from the north. For example, my right arm is sore tonight from waving to so many people while on my hike. Complete strangers say "hi" to you and all one must do to elicit this is to make eye contact. On the down side, South Carolina doesn't have a bottle deposit like Michigan, and therefore, an "empty" while driving seems like it, more often than not, becomes litter. I think my sister and brother-in-law were getting irritated with me because I couldn't easily break my habit of stacking all of my beer/soda bottles in one corner of the counter and not just throwing them away.I sent out an email this past week letting folks know how things were going. It was awesome the number of email addresses of people I consider "more than acquantences" I had to load into that distribution. What was even more touching still was the number of people who responded and wished me luck on this hike. I am truly blessed by God in this life. Sometime, I'll jot down all of the crazy things that have happened to me this year that have pointed (PUSHED) me in the direction to take this hike. I don't have time to jot right now.One last note in my first journal entry...I was looking through an old journal and discovered that I had written of the exact time that I decided I was going to attempt a thru-hike. It was September 29, 2001 - shortly after I moved to Maine to become a boat-builder (huge change in my life) and shortly after 9/11 (HUGE, HUGE change in everyone's lives). Two and a half years later...here I go!
Date: 2004-03-09
To: Mail Drop Preparation
Miles today: 0.0

I spent half of my day today seam-sealing my tent/fly and pack rain cover. The other half I spent cleaning up my sister and brother-in-law's garage so that I would have plenty of room to put my mail drops together. I set up a nice workbench so that I would have a good countertop to use for mixing and bagging.I have to laugh at myself whenever I approach a clean-up task. My mother will attest that I was a complete pig when it came to having a clean room as a kid. I can remember one time, specifically, that she had to help me clean my room and it took us ALL day. She started out the day with a fairly good attitude: patient and determined. By the end of the day, I think she was on the verge of creating her own curse-words.After moving out, my "nesting" characteristics changed somewhat. I developed a need to absolutely have a cleared walkway through the house. It didn't matter how much paraphenalia lined the walls to the ceiling, as long as I could easly traverse a room from one end to the other without having to kick anything out of the way.Somehow, when my marriage ended (with a slightly neurotic neat-freak), I came to despise disorganization. Today's events cinched it for me. I rearranged my sister's freezer, built the family a shelf system for their shoes in the garage, and reorganized my brother-in-law's tool bench - it all started because I didn't have room on the back porch to seal the seams on all of my stuff.I'm hoping that my trail experience helps me to chill out a bit in this area.We'll see. I have to go alphabetize my socks (by purpose) now.
Date: 2004-03-17
To: Two Weeks Left!
Miles today: 0.0

Tomorrow will be two weeks until I hit the trail at Amicalola State Park in Georgia. I am trying to wrap up my planning and attempting to put more miles on each day with a full pack. I hiked 14 miles yesterday with a 50lb pack. With my boots and clothing, I think the weight totaled 65-70lbs - I was miserable. My feet were sore and one heel had a good-sized blister on it from the boots I have been trying to break in. I will have to put a pad in the heel of those because no amount of breaking in is going to take away the seam at the back of the heel. I took today off and just went for a "no-weight" run - playing the hare instead of the tortoise, I guess. I'll be back in the tortoise's boots tomorrow though (after I pad that heel).Well, I have $2500 left at this point. I was hoping to have $3500 by the time that I hit the trail. My time taken off for planning has been without income, so I'll have to be satisfied with $1000 less. I also paid off my car/laptop and insurance until October, so there are no bills to worry about when I leave. I hate dependence on money, but I guess that's just the way it goes. I can imagine myself working three jobs again next year so that I can do another big hike in 2006 :-) I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.My sister has been really helpful today. She's assisting in putting my mail drop boxes together and it made things go by faster today - more pleasant, too. She had a good idea today, I thought. She said I should package all of my planning tools that I've created on the computer and sell them to others preparing to hike the trail. I don't know how feasible this might be since everyone's hike is so very different. I'll think about it after I get done with the hike and can truly measure how much my high tech tools really helped me. It makes me thankful that I've had so much computer experience over the years because I think I've saved myself a lot of time in planning by using a computer. My close friends who know how I've come to feel about technology "helping" us will probably sneer at that last comment.
Date: 2004-03-19
To: 2nd major panic attack
Miles today: 0.0

Well, tonight my heart is pounding. I am panicking big-time. Last night, I came to the conclusion that my current mail-drop plan will have me carrying too much weight. So tonight I started going back through my plan and adding mail drop locations to cut my times between resupply to 7 days or so (original averaged 10 days between drops). Talk about cracking open a nasty painstaking can of worms!Adding mail drops was fairly easy - I just "split" my biggest gaps and spread things around a bit. The hard part comes in adjusting my meal plans and figuring out what needs to go in each drop. Once I get the meals figured out and the ingredients broken down, I may find that I don't have enough food! I know, it seems logical that adding mail drops shouldn't change the amount of food that I'm eating, but with my meal plan "system", it does. So now I'm freaking out - mostly because I could go through all of this work and still have to pack all of my mail drops before next Saturday when I head out for the trail.I'm quitting for the night and going for a run to blow off some of this nervousness. I think I'll finish the hypothetical new mail drop scheme and see how much damage it does to my plans, and then decide from there what I'll do. On the bright side - I do have a whole week left. On the down side - I ONLY have a week left!This is what I get for being a nerd and trying to set up a fancy system for this stuff.
Date: 2004-03-31
To: Set status to 
Miles today: 0.0

one last night in a warm, soft bed for a few weeks...Tomorrow morning at 7am, my friend Derek and I will head south about 2 1/2 hours so that he can drop me off at Springer Mountain in Georgia. I will have most of the day to hike about 10.8 miles to get to Stover Creek shelter as I had planned. To say that I'm excited would be the understatement of a lifetime.Things have come together as well as they are going to before I leave. I had my pack weight down to 48lbs for my hike today, but that was not counting cheese/margarine/eggs and my dehydrated food. I'm looking at around 53lbs for the trip tomorrow. It is much heavier than I'd prefer, but if I go lighter, I won't be able to hike the whole trail within my budget (i.e. I go broke). I'm confident that things will work out fine, though. I put in more than 13 miles today at the Great Smokey Mountain National Park - Deep Creek trails and I felt great, considering. The temperature was below freezing and I had to deal with sleet and rain for most of the day. With my gear, I stayed warm and dry and had a great hike - can't ask for more...I had a list of things I wanted to do tonight, but only accomplished calling my folks to say goodbye. I hope people know that I am thinking of them, even if I didn't get to tell them personally. Some people I specifically didn't call, just because my time on the trail is meant for me to come to terms with a lot of relationship questions I've had for myself for a while.I haven't come up with a trail name yet - have had a ton of suggestions from friends and family (some not mentionable). I am going to wait to see how things go and see what characteristics people (strangers) see in me and then go from there.It's almost midnight, so I'm going to turn in. Tomorrow is the first page of the first chapter of what is going to be the adventure of my life. It's kind of weird being in this position. It is nothing like any other experience I've had in my life. I can't wait.
Date: 2004-04-07
To: First Week Update
Miles today: 0.0

First week on the trail is over ¢¦ It has been a long one, but exhilarating and fun.Day 2 was the longest ¢ I planned to do 12 miles but let myself get talked into going 1712. I met a couple of Georgia Boys: Mark and Matt, who escorted a couple of us into Dahlonega for pizza and a motel room. Thanks for the warm southern hospitality, the hiking poles and glasses strap guys!I dropped a wad at Mountain Crossings at Neels Gap for new insoles, socks and a bunk for the night. My body is holding up fairly well, all things considered. My knees are a little tender from descents and I¢m nursing a couple of hot spots on my feet ¢ otherwise, I¢m great!So much has happened this past week, but I¢d rather write a little bit about the people I¢ve met instead:Matt and Mark: good old Georgia Boys short-timing it on the Springer to Woody Gap stint. The poles saved my knees coming down Blood Mtn, and I¢m going to love the glasses strap this summer.Lisa: I haven¢t seen you since Stover Creek, but your company made Springer a ¢breeze¢ ¢ pun intended.Krewzer: Always chugging onward ¢ an inspiration to me and a smile to my face every time we run across each other.Momma¢s Boy: Good company and a tireless pace. We¢ll be tight before this whole thing is through. Keep on truckin¢!Skippy and Poppins: Can¢t wait to play frisbee again. Can wait to hear that snore again. Eggs and Sal: We¢ll miss you guys ¢ wish you were going all the way with us ¢ you actually are. I won¢t forget your company ¢ Look for postcards boys!Speak up: Keep on keepin¢ on, bro. I¢ll probably be seeing you shortly after Hiawassee.That¢s all for now ¢ next update in maybe a week (Wesser, NC) ¢¦That¢s right, North Carolina, here I come!
Date: 2004-04-15
From: Wesser, NC - N.O.C.

To: Fontana Village, NC
Miles today: 28.0

I'm off the trail again...arrived at the NOC on Tuesday night and got picked up by my pals, Jen and Derek Oetting for a night of feasting and fun. Since I was there two days early for the weekend break, they decided to stick me back out on the trail for another couple of days to get closer to Fontana Village where they'd pick me up again.What follows is, to me, the most emotionally and physically moving day I've spent on the trail.So yesterday I was back to the NOC heading North. I dumped all but two days food and fuel and the normal overnight equipment and I switched to my other Merrill trail runners (instead of my ailing boots). I didn't hike out of the Nantahala Gorge, I flew. My pack was around 35lbs and my feet felt like they weren't even touching the ground. I made 8 miles in around 3 hours - ENTIRELY uphill to the Sassafras Gap shelter. Needless to say, I moved on - it was only 11:30am.There was snow on the tops of these mountains, and I had to hike through several 8-12" drifts at spots where the wind was blowing really hard. Eventually I worked my way out of the snow, but because the temperature was getting warmer, the trails were degrading rapidly. I fell several times coming down to Stecoah Gap because the trails were a sloppy, slippery mess.I reached the Brown Fork gap shelter at around 4:15pm and it was full. There were also about 5-6 people right behind me that I knew would be quitting for the night there - SO, I moved on. I'd gone 16 miles so far. The weather had taken a bright turn, and it was sunny and about 50 degrees.The next two hours were a blur for me, but I reached the Cable Gap shelter at 6:15pm and was blazing along at 3mph, which is almost my flatland pace. There was no one else at the shelter, so I pondered the situation...and decided to move on. I had about 2 hours of sunlight left and the temperature was already starting to fall with the sun. I had 5.5 miles to get to NC28 which would lead me to Fontana Village.I hit NC28 at 8:15 - thankfully, most of the last section was downhill. My body was feeling like it had almost had all it could take at this point. When I found out that all of the town shuttles stopped running at 5pm, needless to say, I was disappointed. I had gone about a mile down the road towards town when a friendly passer-by stopped and gave me a ride the rest of the way to town. I had walked more than 28 miles and had come from the NOC in Wesser to Fontana Village in less than 12 hours. I can't describe how amazing this walk was for me. It tested me emotionally and physically and I experienced what felt like all four seasons in the course of one day. When I lay down in bed last night, I thanked God for giving me the strength and ability to go even when my body said stop. I felt like I moved a mountain yesterday.I have a break the next couple of days to attend the Trail Fest in Hot Springs with Derek and Jen (and I roped Momma's Boy in for some fun, too). I'm going to be good and ready to tackle the Smokies this coming week.Keep praying for me folks - it's working wonders...
Date: 2004-05-03
To: Erwin, Tennessee
Miles today: 0.0

Made it to Erwin, TN...This week has held my longest stretch on the trail without a town or hostel stay - 5 nights!The trail has been a rainy and chilly one this past week, and it is rumored that they'll get snow tonight (I'll be indoors somewhere!).I love the day before a town visit. Everyone begins to verbally dream of all of the things they'll eat, see and do while in town. You'd think we were going to be visiting a major metropolitan area by the way we talk. The funniest part of it, is that almost every "dream" is a simple thing. One person would really like to catch a movie and eat a big bowl of buttered popcorn. One person is dying for a cup of butterscotch pudding. Another person is eager to send email to his girlfriend or parents. Many folks are excited by the prospect of all-you-can-eat (AYCE-on the trail) buffets ahead.So, for this journal entry, I thought I'd let everyone into my little world of trail desires that grip me before entering this town: I dreamt of a donut, custard-filled and fine. I pictured myself lounging on a couch, with a big glass of sweet-tea in my hand, my head tilted back and resting on the soft cushions behind. I felt myself wearing clean clothes, some of which were actually made of a natural material, something extremely soft, something that is worn despite its poor "wicking" and insulative properties. I lost myself in the prospect of possibly sleeping somewhere where I would not be bound by a zipper. I can already feel the clean, dry socks on my feet and calmly ponder a bathroom trip in which there is no trowel involved. Ahhhhhhhhh, Paradise.I was talking with some folks on the trail this past week and we wondered how long after our hike was complete, that we'd start taking simple things for granted again. I know that I'll never be the same after the long haul. I just hope that the simple pleasures I relish now, will linger with me for a good long time even when they are readily available to me again.Keepin' it simple,Tim
Date: 2004-05-14
From: Damascas, VA

To: Trail Days in State No. 4!
Miles today: 0.0

I'm finally in D-town: Damascas, Virginia. It's Trail Days weekend and I'm surrounded by old and new friends, good food, funky merchandise, all the gear you could imagine, drum circles and dancing hippies. Pretty cool.Swiss Miss and I hiked in yesterday (her first 20-miler) to meet with our friends at "The Place" - a fine Methodist hostel downtown. The sun in shining today and it's quite warm - too warm for my thick Michigan blood, but the sweet tea is going down easy and I'm enjoying myself immensely.The past couple of days have been somewhat bittersweet for me. I have crossed the 450-mile mark for the hike and have entered my fourth (and longest) state - what some hikers refer to as "the continent of Virginia". The bittersweet part comes in that I know in just 10 days I will be getting off the trail for another 15 to visit family, see my niece baptized, see my bro graduate, celebrate his and my other niece's birthday and get all of my supplies together for the rest of my hike. At about the same time, my hiking partner (since Standing Bear Farm just out of GSMNP) and great friend, Swiss Miss will be heading home and ending her hike.When I get back from this break, I will be alone in a way unlike any other time from the beginning of this trip. As folks may or may not know, I believe that things happen for specific reasons, and I think this transition period actually is intended to move me from a kind of dependence to a new independence in my hike.From day one, I have been fortunate to have friends and family within a short driving distance any time I've needed them - most times only a phone call away. I have also met many good people on the trail that have offered and cared about me and kept me motivated when my drive waned. While I know these same friends would still do whatever I needed if I was in trouble, I have moved beyond a convenient distance for their assistance.I realized this past week that I have not once spent a night alone on the trail. I resolve to do this intentionally after my break. I will meet new people and make new friends, but my first months on the trail will be set apart in my mind as a really special time of transition. After I return, I will have no other external deadlines that I must meet before I reach Katahdin - this means my schedule will be free-floating and I can walk as fast or as slow as my body allows. It feels like the floodgates are slowly being opened. I have been given a nice long break with my family, whom I've grown to appreciate beyond anything I would have imagined before the trip. It will definitely be a time of mental preparation for the remainder of the thru-hike.I am going to try to "concentrate" on kicking back and enjoying this weekend and the remainder of my time on the trail before my departure. There's a long road ahead.
Date: 2004-05-15
From: Trail Days in State No. 4!

To: A vacation from the vacation - Bay City, MI
Miles today: 572.6

I'm going to keep this entry short (hopefully, as usual), because I have a ton to do while I'm off the trail.Miracles never cease while on the trail - a brief prelude: A day before I'm supposed to be taken off the trail, things started falling apart. I ran out of fuel for my stove and my lighter. Swiss Miss lost her sandals and bear line. And I realized that I had miscalculated the AT/Bland, Virginia trail crossing and we would have to hike an additional 3 miles if we couldn't catch a hitch. I had also promised three other ladies that dad could shuttle them to town and back using my faulty trail crossing information.So, I was sitting at Jenkens shelter on Sunday after hiking 11 miles. I was wondering how I was going to get to the Bland Dairy Queen 14 miles away to meet my dad by Monday, 2pm. Stewing away, I leaned against a tree, deep in thought. Suddenly, Swiss Miss's voice came into my ears - she was reading a sign on the wall of the shelter...some Methodist church is hosting a free breakfast every MONDAY from April to June. All we need to do is be at the next road crossing (about 5 miles) by 9:30 on Monday morning. All problems were solved by this simple find and had we been at this shelter any other day than Sunday, we'd have missed it.The next morning, we were at the road crossing and the folks from New Union Methodist Church near Bastien, Virginia picked us up, stuffed us with wonderful homemade food and shuttled us to Bland by 11am on Monday. Swiss Miss and I sat at the DQ for 3 hours until my dad arrived. The only part of my original (misshapen) plan that didn't come off was the shuttling of the three other hikers. We went back to the trail, but they hadn't come through yet at 3pm, so we called it good and headed on.So, I'm home now. I've had a good night's rest in my own bed. I'm wearing cotton and relaxing for a few minutes before I start doing the thousand things I need to do before heading back to the trail.I hope everyone is having a peaceful day - do what it takes to make it that way if you're not. Do what matters...The Sheriff
Date: 2004-06-22
From: Bay City, Michigan

To: Waynesboro, VA
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

Just a short entry for this week, although so much has happened to me these past two weeks back on the trail. It has been an up and down journey (no pun intended).I am just starting to get my stride back. It seems that once one injury is nearly healed, something else pops up. My spirits are much better since we've had low humidity and cooler days this past week. The heat and rain were sucking the life out of me, almost literally.I'm meeting all sorts of new people, folks that have been way behind me until now. All of my old hiking pals are at least 8-15 days ahead of me and I don't know if I'll ever catch them. I'm not even going to try, actually. It's too stressful.I did see my first bear yesterday - up close and personal. It walked out onto the trail about 10 feet ahead of me. I froze and as soon as she saw me, she ran up the trail, thundering like a horse. The odd thing about seeing my first bear yesterday, is that I saw my second and much larger male bear today! He was huge and I only caught him from the rear storming up the AT due north. They are amazing beasts.Trail magic has been plentiful in Virginia. I love coming to a road crossing and seeing a cooler filled with cold sodas or oranges. We've passed several stream in which someone has chilled beer or pop. They're lovely surprises when the temperatures drift near the 90s about the same percentage of humidity.I'll close for now, since my time at the library terminal is almost up and I have so much to do...God's peace to all.