morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2013-08-13
From: Goddard shelter

To: Bennington- Catamount Motel
Miles today: 0.0

Day 52-8/13. Woke at 6:30; everyone in shelter up by 7:00. Everyone had breakfast and packed but there was a lethargy about all of us. Flatfoot finally got service on his phone about nine and it showed bands of heavy rain heading straight at us; literally within minutes it was pouring. Most of us got out our sleeping bags, crawled in and slept, lounged, journaled or visited for the next three hours. Finally the rain stopped and we repacked and prepared to leave.The original plan was for Red Blaze to hike down to the shelter just out of Bennington but I want to try to catch my buddy Airborne at Hanover, so I decided to go down to Bennington with her and share a room for tonight. She is scheduled to leave tomorrow for Albany and the airport and I will take a zero to rest my knee and the get a ride up the trail so I can make it to Hanover by Monday and meet Airborne on Tuesday. We made a quick trip back down to the hiway through mud a d even trails that had turned into small creeks. I called Alan and be picked us up at 6:30. We stopped at a quickie mart to get beer and my knee totally locked up and felt like I had been shot. I made it back to the car and by the time we made it to the motel, most of the pain was gone. I'm wondering if I have some loose cartilage moving Round in the knee and a piece got stuck in the wrong place. After a shower, Alan loaned us the car and we went to Ramunto's Pizza. We ordered a Sicilian meat lovers pizza and could only eat half of it, but we did find room to share a pint of black cherry ice cream...yum.Total miles- 10.1, but they don't count since they were the same miles we hiked the day before.
Date: 2013-08-14
From: Bennington- Catamount Motel

To: Bennington
Miles today: 0.0

Day 53-8/14. Red Blaze and I took her poles and stakes to the PO to mail since she can't carry them on the plane, and then walked around downtown Bennington. Very nice shops and galleries and public buildings with a small memorial to the 9/11 victims with a piece of a steel beam from the WTC. We stopped in at Friendly's and had a repeat of our ice cream sundaes from the other night for lunch (see photos). About 2:00, the shuttle driver picked up Red Blaze to take her to Albany, and I spent the rest of the day visiting with Steve and Alan, getting this blog updated, and icing my knee. Steve is driving me to Killington on Friday to get back on the trail and my plan is to meet Airborne in Hanover, NH on Monday. Then we tackle the Whites. Zero day- no miles except strolling around town
Date: 2013-08-15
From: Bennington

To: Bennington
Miles today: 0.0

Day 54-8/15. Another zero. Mailed all my used pages of the guide to David, then walked around town to keep loose and iced knee off and on. Bought a copy of Bertrand Russell essays at the Salvation Army thrift store for 14 cents and read for a while.In the afternoon Steve took me to visit the Old First Church,Vermont's first church (see photos page). In the churchyard are graves dating from the middle 18th century. Robert Frost is buried here with all of his immediate family. There is also a section for the Buckley family which may be related to home. We then went to and up the Battle of Bennington monument, built in late 1800s with local (new York) stone cut on site.Bennington is a beautiful town and I really like the catamounts decorating the city sidewalks.
Date: 2013-08-16
From: Bennington

To: lookout cabin
Miles today: 14.0

Day55-8/16. Trail angel Steve from Bennington drove me to Killington so I could jump ahead and catch Airborne in Hanover. I got on trail at 11:45. Made it to Stoney Brook shelter (6.9 miles) by 3:30, had a snack a d decided to move on to the lookout cabin. I saw where the Bears and Alphadog had signed the shelter log earlier and had a feeling I might catch them there. I arrived just before dark Nd sure enough the three of them were inside with a roaring fire. We caught up on trail news while I fixed on of the dinners Red Blaze left for me. It was a Natural High Honey Lime Chicken and i can only say that I'm glad I didn't pay money for it and I'm sorry she did. YUCK! So I threw out most of it and had a zone bar which she also left me and IT WAS GOOD. In bed by nine.Total or the day- 14 miles. To Katahdin-471 miles.
Date: 2013-08-17
From: lookout cabin

To: Thistle Hill shelter
Miles today: 14.2
Weather: broken clouds

Day 56-8/17. The Bears and ADog were up at 5:30 but I stayed in my bag until 6:30-too comfortable to get up. They said they were going to do 28 miles and wanted to get an early start. Ha!The first half of the day was great-mostly level-smooth tread. About 10 o'clock I arrived at highway 12 and walked 2/10 of a mile to the One The Edge Farm store And bought ham/cheese and a beautiful tomato plus a pint of black raspberry ice cream. Ate the ice cream and packed the rest for later, and walked down the road to the trailhead. It was a horrible walk. My knee hurts so bad all I could think of was quitting and going home. That wasn't really an option however since I had a maildrop coming to Hanover. The trail was rough, my knee was killing me, and I could think of nothing else but how to go about getting off the trail. I finally made it to the Thistle Hill shelter and called it a day. Ziploc and two section hikers arrived later, one of them from the Falkland Islands. I had a good dinner of ham and cheese sandwiches, we built a really nice fire and chatted for a couple of hours and then everyone went to bed. Total miles-14.2
Date: 2013-08-18
From: Thistle Hill shelter

To: Hanover, NH
Miles today: 14.7

Day 57-8/18. Up at 6:30, and on the trail at eight. My knee was working okay; it was annoying rather than excruciating; I have no idea why if felt better but I'll take it. The trail was great. Lots of ups and downs but nothing big. The tread was mostly soft and it was easy to make good miles. There were two sets of road walks in today's mileage. The first went through West Hartford. I stopped at the West Hartford village store and had three scoops of ice cream and a root beer. It's very trail friendly place with a hikers log. Jabber wicket and Goldilocks were there having a sandwich but I scream for ice cream. However, I have to give kudos to Sweet pea's in Dalton-the scoops were three times as big and the ice cream was the best. A couple of hours later I stopped at the happy pill shelter for lunch. Had two ham and cheese sandwiches on tortillas plus a ripe fresh tomato. Yum!!! Goldilocks popped in to sign the shelter journal. The Bears and Alpha Dog had signed it earlier but neither of us saw them pass??? I took a short rest and was on the trail at two. It was 5.3 miles to the border of Vermont and New Hampshire and the last 2.4 were road Miles. I arrived in Hanover at 4:00 and walked another 2 miles to the Sunset motel, checked in, and had a shower. Took a cab to town and had my free slice of hikers pizza at Ramunto's +2 more and a couple of beers. I bought a six pack of Rolling Rock and two packs of peanut butter cups at the CVS and called the cab for a ride back to the motel.Day total-14.1 miles Total so far-641.4 miles
Date: 2013-08-19
From: Hanover, NH

To: Hanover
Miles today: 0.0

Day 58-8/19. Zero day in Hanover. I caught the free city bus into Hanover and walked around the Dartmouth campus, and then went shopping for a birthday present for Emma. Bought her a sweatshirt and got a Dartmouth tshirt for Kate. At noon, Airborne's bus arrived and I called Garbear and arranged to meet them at Molly's. we had a great lunch (avocado grilled chicken sandwich for me) with 3 appetizers- seared ahi tuna with seaweed salad. Buffalo wings, and fried calamari.After dinner I sent the shirts to Emma and Kate and picked up my package from David (shoes, fleece jacket and gloves). We to the outfitter and bought a puffy down jacket (North Face). Kinda spendy ($249) but I do like NF stuff. And it's going to be cold- we start the White Mountains in 3 days and if was down in the twenties there last week. Got the bus down to West Lebanon and stocked up on food at Price Choppers and Walmart a d caught the bus back to the motel. Getting close to hiker midnight (9:30) and we will start back on the trail in the morning. New Hampshire has the reputation of being really tough- big elevation changes and Mt Washington has the highest wind speed ever recorded so it could be quite an ADVENTURE.
Date: 2013-08-20
From: Hanover, NH

To: trapper john shelter, NH
Miles today: 16.5

Day 59-8/20. Up at 7:00 and packed-waited for lousy motel owners to have cont brekkie ready at 8:00. Airborne and I caught the bus toHanover at 8:25 and I bought a new pair of reading glasses at the CVS. Hit the trail at 9:00 and hiked steadily until reaching the Moose Mountain shelter at 10.8 miles. Took a lunch break and moved on to the next shelter-Trapper John shelter at 16.5 miles. The last two miles were a brutal uphill and we arrived at the shelter at 7:30, almost dark. Set up tents , filtered water and had a dinner of cheddar and summer sausage on a whole grain tortilla. Beer would have been good - perhaps a nice nut brown ale would have set off the contrast of sharp cheese and fatty sweet sausage rather well. Off to tent at 8:30. Total miles for day-16.5To Katahdin-425.5 miles to go.
Date: 2013-08-21
From: trapper john shelter, NH

To: Hexacuba shelter
Miles today: 12.0

Day 60-8/21. Woke up at 5:45 to the sound of birds. Hung out in my sleeping bag until 6:30 and then started packing. Breakfast was frosted blueberry PopTarts smeared with peanut butter. Hit the trail at 7:45 and hiked down about 1 mile to Bill Ackerly's house right by the trail (see photo) where we sat on the deck and had a free ice cream bar and visited with Bill and several thru hikers who had camped in his yard. Bill is a very personable man of 85 years who welcomes passing hikers to his home, and also loves to school the hikers in croquet. We left at 9:00 and had a brutally tough day of hiking, with lots (about 3500 ft) of very steep rocky hiking. We had hoped to hike to the Mt Cube Sugar farm where they allow hikers to tent and feed them with pancakes covered with homemade maple syrup, but we were just too tired to hike 17 miles. We stayed at the Hexacuba shelter (log built hexagonal structure). No other hikers but there were two groups: one freshman orientation group from Harvard and two, a group of Dartmouth students doing trail maintenance. I hope they aren't too noisy.Miles today-12.0
Date: 2013-08-22
From: Hexacuba shelter

To: Hikers Welcome Hostel, Glencliff NH
Miles today: 14.8

Day 61-8/22. Left Hexacuba at 7:10. The kids from both schools were very quiet so we got a good night sleep. met more Harvard freshmen doing orientation. After a short uphill we were mostly down for 5 miles before climbing Mt Mist, a 2200foot climb. The rest of the day was a pretty steepDownhill. Walked a short way up the highway to the Hikers Welcome Hostel, a home outfitted to take in LOTS of hikers and do shuttles. There are bunks inside and a big tent with 8 beds in the yard plus several dozen places to put up tents. They serve breakfast of eggs, pancakes and bacon and it's fairly chaotic but fun. Miss Janet (well-known trail angel and smart aleck) shuttled groups of us to a pizza restaurant where we drank beer and ate lots of pizza (i ate half of a large meatlovers) and two hikers failed the Moosilauke Monster challenge (see photos). Total miles for day-14.8
Date: 2013-08-23
From: Hikers Welcome Hostel, Glencliff NH

To: Hikers Welcome
Miles today: 9.3

Day 62- 8/23. In the morning Miss Janet shuttled a bunch of us north to slack pack Mt Moosilauke north to south (the easier way). It was excruciating steep for along way (up over 3000 feet of vertical to a summit at 4800 feet) but one of the best hikes I've ever done. This was the first above timberline hike and the views were 360 degree amazing. The hike down was long and steep but no big deal. Went back for more pizza and beer when we got to the hostel. All in all, a great day.Total miles for day-9.3 miles
Date: 2013-08-24
From: Hikers Welcome Hostel

To: Kinsman Pond Shelter
Miles today: 11.5

Day 63-8/24. We started out the day with breakfast at the hostel and a shuttle ride back to where we slacked the previous day. The day was long and mostly up very rocky and steep slopes but I thi k I have finally found my trail legs and a good solid pace. Airborne and I have a system- he leads on the uphills and I lead the downhills. Look at the photos page And you can see that many of the slopes are just vertical rock piles. The trick is to go slow and easy; going either up or down frequently requires putting the trekking poles aside and going hand over hand. It is tough going but kind of fun at the same time. It was long day but we finally made it to the Kinsman pond shelter, one of the AMC shelters that has a caretaker and charges $8 to stay. We were the 37th and 38th hikers to Arrive and several more arrived later setting a new record for number of hikers. We shared the shelter with a large group of MIT freshmen and a few section hikers and there were tents everywhere. Got into my bag about 9:00 PM and was out.Miles-11.5
Date: 2013-08-25
From: Kinsman Pond Shelter

To: Comfort Inn, Lincoln NH
Miles today: 4.8

Day 64-8/25. Woke to the loud sounds of the MIT students packing to leave at 5:00 AM. Much less thoughtful students than either Dartmouth or Harvard. Packed and had Mac n cheese for breakfast. On the trail at 7:20. Planning a nero in Lincoln, NH. Trail was steep and rocky down to the Lonesome Lake AMC Hut. (AMC is the Appalachian Mountain Club which maintains huts throughout the White Mountains. A bunk plus breakfast and dinner is $120 per person or $98 if you're a member which I am. A couple hikers a day are allowed "work for stay" (WFS) each day, which means you do a few minimal chores and get to stay for free and eat leftovers from the paying crowd. Really a kind of charity since the work is usually just nominal.) Stopped in at the Hut after 1.8 miles of knee cracking rock hopping. Beautiful hike down from the hut as the trail ran steeply downhill along Cascade Brook, over steep rocky pools and falls. Arrived finally at interstate 93 and hiked a paved trail to the Flume and Gorge state park where I ate three scoops of black raspberry Ice cream (yes Red Blaze, I can find it anywhere with my sensitive ice cream sensor). Hitched a ride to the Comfort Inn and will resupply, rest and recuperate for he rest of he day. Back on the rocks tomorrow to climb the Whites.Total miles-4.8. To Katahdin-373.1 miles
Date: 2013-08-26
From: Comfort Inn, Lincoln NH

To: Garfield AMC Shelter
Miles today: 10.3

Day 65-8/26. Up at 6:30 and had a very filling complimentary breakfast of waffles (2), eggs (2), and sausage patties (8). Shuttle Connection ($7 per person) delivered us to the trail and started hiking at 9:30. Hiked steadily uphill over very rocky trail to Mt Liberty, Little Haystack, Mt Lincoln, and Mt Lafayette. As soon S we reached tree line we were in a thick cloud with winds of 30+ mph. Visibility was about 30 feet (see photo) and the blowing mist soaked the left side of my clothes and pack while my right side stayed dry. By the time we reached tree line heading down, everyone was cold and wet and Airborne took a tumble down some wet rocks and lost a good bit of skin from his leg. Our total elevation gain was over 4000 feet. By the time we reached the AMC Garfield shelter, I was exhausted. A group of freshmen from Tufts Univ were at the shelter and a bear had just raided their food- we could hear whistles and banging of pots. Later in the evening, A bear broke into Alphadog's tent and broke the poles while he was at Garbear's tent. The shelter was at over capacity with 22 hikers in a 20 person shelter. Total for day-10.3 miles
Date: 2013-08-27
From: Garfield AMC Shelter

To: Zealand Falls AMC Shelter
Miles today: 9.5

Day 66-8/27. Terrible time sleeping. Too many people making too much noise, knee really throbbing after he hard day, and people started packing up before 5 AM. We started hiking at 7:15 and the first mile was a super steep boulder field which took us over and hour to get down 0.8 miles. Both Airborne and I had sore knees from the previous climbs. We followed this with a 1 mile climb of 1000 vert. over South Twin Mt which took another hour. The rest of the day was rolling ups and downs mostly over big rocks and I was totally ecstatic when we finally reached the Zealand Falls AMC Hut. I walked up to the falls a d washed the trail dirt off and put on clean clothes. Had a great dinner of veg. Lasagna, green peas, lentil soup and salad with fresh baked baguette. The meal is served family style at long tables and there was lots of good conversation, Lights out is at 9:30 and I'm ready now. People are all over the common room playing cards or games or reading. In the morning breakfast is at 7:00 and I'm already hungry.Total miles for today-9.5 very tiring miles.
Date: 2013-08-28
From: Zealand Falls AMC Shelter

To: AMC Highland Center NH
Miles today: 0.0

Day 67-8/29. Had a HORRIBLE breakfast at the Zealand Hut. Quiche was overcooked to tastelessness and bacon was turned into a rock hard inedibility. Left shelter and headed down to hiway 302 and the Highland Center. Trail crosses the road a out three miles from the Center and as we were trying to hitch a ride, Jackalope rode up with his dad who had been slacking him. He was about to hit the trail up the slope of Mt Washington so we waited and caught a ride with his dad. Checked in to the Highland Center about 3:30, had a sandwich and got showered and dressed. Dinner was excellent (stuffed chicken breast, risotto, mashed potatoes, corn and devils for cake. And they serve beer and wine.I have decided to leave the trail (hopefully temporarily) while I return to Oxford and get an orthopedic opinion on my knee. It has reached the point where I can't cover any reasonable distance and the pain is nonstop even with multiple Aleve tablets in me. So tomorrow I will ride up the Mt Washington cog railway to the summit and hobble down 1.5 miles to Lake of the Clouds AMC Hut and meet Airborne. Then, after spending the night, I will hike up and ride the Mt railway down and arrange transportation to Oxford.TotalMiles for day-7.5
Date: 2013-08-29
From: AMC Highland Center NH

To: lakes of the Clouds AMC Hut, Mt Washinton
Miles today: 0.0

Day 68-8/29. Had AYCE breakfast at Highland Center and Cayuga a ride to the Mt Washington base area where I got the 9:30 ride up the cog railroad. Ran into Wetbag and Olive Oyl and Jackalope at the summit and had a snack with Nanniegoat before hiking down 1.5 miles to Lakes of the Clouds hut. Visibility was maybe 100 feet and drizzling. The rocks were extremely slippery and knee was not so good so the short hike took over an hour. Only fell once and no serious damage done. Got checked into bunkhouse and read and drank coffee until dinner.
Date: 2013-08-30
From: lakes of the Clouds AMC Hut, Mt Washinton

To: Mt Washington summit
Miles today: 1.5

Day 69-8/30. Up at 6:15 and breakfast at 7:00. The Croo here at Lakes of the Clouds does a good job on he meals. Packed and left hut at 8:00. Visibility was about 100 feet again but I did get a pshort sun break long enough to get one picture. Temperature was about 48 when I started up to the summit but I was fairly comfortable hiking in tshirt and shorts until the last quarter mile to the summit when the wind began gusting up to 40mph. The trip up took about an hour. I waited around until Dr Sally (section hiker we met at Lakes of the Clouds) made it up and then we rode the cog railway down. Sally offered to give me a ride to a motel nearby but there were none with vacancies; she was heading south so she took me to Brattleboro (2.5 hours away but only 40 miles from Bennington). She dropped me off on the road to Bennington and I hitched a ride almost right away with a very nice young woman and her teenage son; they took me almost half way and within 10 minutes I hitched another ride with a very interesting man who took me all the way to Bennington. He had given a ride a couple weeks before to Goldilocks and Jaberwocky, who gave him the name Wizard. I told him that after our brief conversation I saw a strong Gandalf connection which seemed to please him...he was kind of New Agey but dressed expensively and driving a brand new Lexus. I enjoyed the conversation from both of my ride angels and arrived at the Catamount about 6:30. Allan and Annie greeted me warmly and put me in a free room (one that they hold out for emergencies). Steve (trail angel) dropped by later and he is going to help me get to the train in a couple of days.SO...I guess today was my last trail day with my hike up to Mt Washington summit... Total miles for day-1.5Total miles for trip-740.6
Date: 2013-08-31
From: Mt Washington summit

To: catamount motel Bennington
Miles today: 0.0

Day 70-8/31. In Bennington. Used Allan's car to take a couple of hikers to the trail and get to the laundromat. About noon Allan drove me to the Southern Vermont Herb And Garlic festival where I wandered around and sampled lots of good stuff and bought a few things. I walked (limped) to the Battle of Bennington Monument and hung out for a while. Walked back Dow town Slowly, stopped to check out the Saint Francis de Sales church interior (when I was here earlier, Brianna and I could 't see the interior because there was a funeral going on) its got some really nice stained glass and interior structural woodwork.Had some black raspberry ice cream at the candy store Downtown and am having the first of a projected several beers.Total miles for hike from Harpers Ferry to Mt Washington-740.2 and done, at least temporarily.
Date: 2013-09-06
From: catamount motel Bennington

To: Oxford, Mississippi
Miles today: 0.0

For anyone still following: I took the train from Albany, NY to Chicago and then on to Memphis where my brother David picked me up. I have an appointment with and orthopedist Monday morning. I hope at that time or soon after to have a prognosis on my chances to return to the trail. If affirmative, I will try to get started southbound out of Harpers Ferry as soon as possible. CHECK THIS SPACE FOR FURTHER UPDATES??