morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2013-07-14
From: Glencliff

To: NH 112
Miles today: 9.5

We all started off the day with a great $5.00 breakfast of pancakes,eggs,bacon and coffee. Then we started out over Mt. Mooselaike, one of the harder sections of the trail. The climb up was long and steep, but a good trail. Most everyone passed me early except for Shaking, a retired truck driver who was slack packing the trail.We got to the top where Foxy and Roadrunner were taking a break. The top is an interesting alpine environment with stunted trees and wildflowers low to the ground. It was very pretty. Unfortunately, the clouds came in just as got to the top and therefore we could not see the nice views. It also got quite a bit cooler. The climb down was very steep, and slippery and and I fell twice. The distance was 3.6 miles and it took us almost three hours. When we got to the trail someone had left a huge pile of trail magic, including Mountain Dew, Coke, Sam Adams, cookies, Oreos and snacks. I sat around with a SOBO and Moonwalker for awhile enjoying the beer. It was more than five miles to the next shelter over pretty steep terrain, so I pitched a tent early.
Date: 2013-07-15
From: NH 112

To: Kinsman Pond Shelter
Miles today: 12.5

It was only 12.5 miles but it took from 6:00 am to almost 5:00 pm to do. It was steep with a lot of bouldering. It was not so much hard as just slow since you needed to be careful. I had to use my hands a lot. It was a nice weather day and the views from the top of Kinsman were great. I met a few SOBO's who were all slack packing the Whites. Kinsman Pond was really pretty and what is know as a pond in New England would be a good size lake in New Mexico. I am not even sure that we have natural lakes this big. The only people at the shelter was a youth group doing a short introduction to back packing trip. I used one of the tent platforms. These site requires an $8.00 fee and has a caretaker.
Date: 2013-07-16
From: Kinsman Pond Shelter

To: I93/US 3 Lafayette Campground
Miles today: 4.8

I did an accidental blue blaze by taking the Kinsman trail for a couple of miles before it joined the AT. (A "blue blaze is when you take a trail other than the actual AT.) When I got to the highway I managed to hitch a ride into the campground where I had a maildrop waiting. This is a large campground for car campers. It was a great place to stop and get a shower and eat pop and ice cream.
Date: 2013-07-18
From: Garfield Ridge Shelter

To: US 302 
Miles today: 17.2

This was a really long day. Great views and weather again. It was mainly downhill, but still slow going, because you have to watch each step. At the end I got a ride into Gorham NH to rest. After I got into town I decided to end the trip for this summer. I did about 830 miles and have only 345.4 to go. This will leave me a great vacation for next year.
Date: 2014-06-30
From: US 302 

To: Mizpah hut
Miles today: 6.0

Took an AMC shuttle to trail head. I have a light pack because I will be staying at full service huts that include bunks,dinner and breakfast. This is a different experience. That hut is full,about 60 people doing 1-3 nights. The mindset is different than long distance hikers. I think they are having more fun!!The long distance people are focused on the next stop and miles.
Date: 2014-07-01
From: Mizpah hut

To: Madison hut
Miles today: 12.0

This was a really tough day. Only 12 miles but very rocky and lots of elevation gain and loss. The trail went over Mt. Washington that is supposed to have the worst weather in the country. I was lucky and had a clear day.There is a railway and a road to the top. Lots of tourists. Had lunch with a young couple who I had met on the shuttle.They served breakfast at 7 so I did not get on the trail until 8. It took me until 6 to make it to the hut, just in time for dinner .My legs were pretty tired. I was really lucky that I had good weather. There is supposed to be a storm tomorrow.
Date: 2014-07-02
From: Madison hut

To: Carter Notch Hut
Miles today: 13.3

The weather turned out to be good,which was a good thing. The first few miles were on a rocky ridge with great views, but slow going. It was 7.8 miles down to Pinkham Notch and then a steep uphill to Carter Notch. It took me 14 hours!!! I have misjudged how tough this section is going to be.
Date: 2014-07-03
From: Carter Notch Hut

To: gorham
Miles today: 14.9

Very long day, mostly downhill. My legs are shot Lots of hikers on the trail. This is a very popular New England tourist area. It is really very pretty.I had dinner at an all you can eat Chinese restaurant, but was too tired to eat much.Got a room at the Colonial Fort motel for two nights. Only $59 per night which is really cheap in NE.
Date: 2014-07-04
From: gorham

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

I am taking a badly needed zero day in Gorham. It rained hard last night so I go lucky again on weather.I did laundry and got some supplies at Walmart. Otherwise my feet are up all day.I got a new samsung camera that has wifi just before left. It took me about two hours to figure out how to move pictures from that to my iPhone. It would take my grand kids 5 minutesI am using the iPhone and Verizon this year and have much better service so far.I will be in Maine in a couple of days. It will be interesting to see how will that holds up.The really good news is that I only have 289 miles to go. However Maine is supposed to be tough.
Date: 2014-07-07
From: Full Goose Shelter

To: Speck Pond
Miles today: 5.1

Only a few miles but this included Mahoosuc Notch which is the toughest mile on the AT. Actually it is 1.1 miles. It is a pile of huge boulders that you climb up over or through. Tough, but not as bad as I feared. I was lucky and had good weather. It would be scary in the rain. There were lots of interesting ice caves. At one point I started to hear voices!! Then I realized that it was " Siri is not available". Mr iPhone button was getting pushed going through tight spots and it was in airplane mode.
Date: 2014-07-08
From: Speck Pond

To: Andover
Miles today: 14.9

Really hard day. I plan on doing some slack packing for the next few days where I just carrying a day pack and hire a shuttle to take me to and pick me up. That also allows me to eat And sleep better.The picture is part of Mahoosuc Notch. There were several times that I had to take off my pack.
Date: 2014-07-12
From: ME 27 Stratton

To: Little Bigelow Shelter
Miles today: 15.3

Really tough day.The Bigelows are a tough climb, but pretty. Not many people on the trail. Most of the people who are southbound have already past this point. Most of the northbound hikers won't be here for another month or so. I do miss hearing the various stories from the long distance hikers. I am pretty bored and ready to finish this trip.
Date: 2014-07-24
To: Mt. Katadin
Miles today: 194.0

I apologize for not keeping this up to date. I did not even make many entries into my written journal during the last 200 miles or so. I was simply too tired most of the time. I later found that I was pretty anemic. I am not sure of the cause. I also was facing surgery for cancer a few days after I finished this section. That went well and I recovered from that. The pain from the spinal stenosis has also calmed down. I almost did not make it to the top, which is a tough, steep, rocky climb that has a lot of sections where you need all four limbs to get up. I met a day hike about my age, whose name I now forgot. He was a retired dentist from Idaho out peak bagging. We hiked together and he urged me on. I don't think that I could have made it without him. That is just another example of the kind of magic that happens along the trail. That is my greatest impression of the AT. It is all of the people along the way. First, there are the other hikers. There is this fabulous camaraderie among long distance hikers that is hard to describe. Everyone helps out when needed, especially with the encouragement to keep going. Second, there are all of the trail angels along the way with snacks, drinks, fruit, and most of all a friendly smile. Many people went out of their way to give me a ride into town or back to the trail. Third, where all of the super people in the towns along the way. People were always willing to go that extra mile to help. Of course, the country itself was fantastic. It is amazing that I hiked over 2000 miles near some of the most populated parts of the country, while in the wild forest. Americans don't give themselves another credit for the progress we have made in the last 50 years in preserving the environment. I had never hiked in the eastern US before this trip. I was very impressed with the forests. However, I doubt that I will go back for awhile. Not that my health has improved, I plan on doing a thru hike of the Colorado Trail. I will try and keep that journal up to date!
Date: 2007-07-02
To: Adventure with son
Miles today: 0.0

My son Jesse and I have hiked up the trail a couple of times. At first we hiked from Winding stair gap to Nantahala. He wanted to give up after the second night because of the heat and soreness. I explained to him we are 2 days from anywhere so suck it up. After that, he began to love backpacking. We hiked into NOC and spent the night having dinner, relaxing. He now loves it and is thinking of joining us during our Thru hike next year for a small section.
Date: 2009-05-26
To: Getting our gear ready
Miles today: 0.0

Half Left and I hike using our existing gear frequently. This trip, we parked our truck at Fontana Dam and hiked to Nantahala. Our friends met us there for a Memorial weekend hike. We hiked back to Fontana and rented one of their cabins. This was the most exciting Memorial weekends I have ever had. We also had other friends that live in Maryville pick us up and take us fishing above the dam. We caught a few bass and drank a few beers. Our equipment worked out fine. Our waterfilter is slow going and we are thinking of replacing it with one of the new kind. Half Left got new boots which he said we terrific! We stopped at Mountain Crossings during another trip and they fitted him with some Salomon boots. Cheers to Salomon!! They are great boots.
Date: 2009-07-01
To: Dreaming about the trail everyday, every minute
Miles today: 0.0

My husband "Half Left" and I talk everyday, every minute about our Thru hike. We are so excited it's hard to stand. We have hiked quite a bit along the AT between Springer and Fontana. We also frequent the Florida Trail and Cumberland Island. Backpacking is in our blood. It is like an aching need to get out in the woods. We have all of our gear although we are contemplating a few changes. Our water filter is a Sweetwater. They are coming up with new ways to filter that are lighter and easier such as the gravity flow filters and the ionizers. So we are trying to decide what to do. Also we need to upgrade one of our sleeping bags because of our early start. It will be real cold!!! and more than likely snowing frequently. So we need to buy a new bag. They are also making them lighter and smaller packing. Other stuff to replace is not that big of a deal. We are selling our house and moving into our camper for a little while. Also we own a business that we are training 2 of our adult children to run while we are gone. We had planned to sell the house anyway because we are downsizing.
Date: 2009-07-20
To: Gathering all Angels
Miles today: 0.0

We have been talking to our friends about helping us along the way. Both of our parents have said they will send us food and goodies. Our trail friend Girl Hobo says she will update our journal. Our Trail Angel Allen from Athens, TN says he will trail angel us in the lower sections. My best friend DonnaMarie from Maryville, TN said she would meet us in Fontana for a weekend of fishing and relaxing. Our friends Jo and Jeff McCrory from Sevierville, TN will meet us possibly in Cosby, TN for a much needed shower, trail magic, and sleep in their guesthouse. My daughter will be in school in NY. She will rent a car and pick us up off the trail near New York City. Our list is growing. Friends are also suppose to meet us in Damascus to walk north with us. Including the infamous Wild Poodle (section hiker). She has made it all the way to Damascus and is ready to continue her track north. Girl Hobo is also going to join us for a couple of weeks of hiking north of Damascus. Any other Angels wanting to join the cause, let us know.
Date: 2009-08-03
To: Getting house ready to sell
Miles today: 0.0

We have been working really hard getting our house ready to put up for sale.The laminate floors look amazing! The fresh paint brightens up the room. Our houselooks new. The kitchen is next to be finished. Then signs out "For Sale" I'm hoping to have it sold within a couple of months. Our gear is ready except for hiking poles for Half Left and a new sleeping bag. It is really hard to keep focused on the present because I am constantly thinking of being back on the trail.Wish us luck on the house for sale.
Date: 2009-08-07
To: Meeting with hiker friends
Miles today: 0.0

Our starting date is February 26, 2010. I got a phone call from a hiker friend named Carol. She is also from Jacksonville, FL. She is going to join us on our thru hike. She has made a few attempts making it to Harpers Ferry. Also a trail angel from Athens, TN, (Allen) who we met in 2005 on the trail is also going to join us for a few weeks. Tonight, Carol and Wild Poodle are coming by to our house. We are going to exchange gear that we aren't using. It's nice to have hiker friends living near to run things by each other. We are so looking forward to being back on the trail and making it to !Katahdin. I have been following a few hikers from this year just to see how they are doing. It is so interesting reading their journals and pretending we are there on the trail experiencing it with them. I hope people follow us and feel the same way.
Date: 2009-09-16
To: Research
Miles today: 0.0

Things are progressing. It's slightly over 5 months until we are starting our quest. We have been following a few hikers that thru hiked this year. Their stories are so interesting. One of the hikers goes by the trail name "Loon" She has a very good journal. We found some intriguing information about food on the beginning of her site where she mentions the web site www.beprepared.com. It is so unique, they sell bulk freeze dried foods that can be combined to make many meals for drop boxes. We have considered dehydrating but they sell meats, vegetables, spices, starches and just about everything you could possibly combine to make some nutritious meals. We are going to order a few of the things and do some trial combinations for our hike over Thanksgiving weekend to Cumberland Island, GA. If any of you want to get away from society and be with the wilderness, that is definitely a great experience. You can look it up on the internet and get some great information about the ferry ride, backcountry camping, etc.Other things we have researched are, a new sleeping bag for 2, puff jacket, waterproof gloves and water filtration. The bag is called "Big Agnes".It weighs about 5 lbs. but that is for 2. We are going to split up our gear and share the weight so that weight wont be too heavy for either of us. We are considering a new rain/wind jacket for Half Left. I think we are going to order him a jacket like mine, the Marmot Precip. It seems to be the best cost wise, weight, versatile we have found. Also our water filter is still an item we are thinking of replacing. The Steripen is very inticing, with it's weight, reliability, we think it would be money well spent. I think keeping our Sweetwater filter is a good decision. We will break it out when the water gets nasty. Gloves will be fleece liner with a waterproof ski type glove. The puff jacket is very costly, we may have to forget purchasing it.In closing, both of us are steadily moving forward with all the things we need to finish in order to make the trip possible. (Finishing the remodeling on the house, putting it up for sale next week, training son and daughter to run co., donating a bunch of our stuff to charity thrift stores, packing the other stuff)We have 6 children between us, Joshua (26) who will be combining with Samantha (23) to run our business. Josie (25) who is in NY going to school at Parsons, studying fashion design. Jeffrey (20)who is doing freelance portait painting and making music. Jesse (18) who is in Gainesville at Sante Fe Comm College studying Chemistry, and little Hannah (9) who lives with her mom in St. Augustine. She asks us many questions about our adventure. She has hiked with us on the Florida Trail and some of the trails in the Smokies. We are going to take her up Springer this fall so she can see where the trail begins. We bought her a map of the trail so she can follow our progress. We are just hoping and praying everything falls into place!
Date: 2009-09-23
To: House for sale
Miles today: 0.0

A little less than 5 months to go. We ordered some stuff from Campmor for Tom. Rain gear & gaitors. We only have a few more things to add. The most important part of our hike is to sell the house. It's ready for the market, finally. Signs going up this weekend. Open house soon. Hope and pray it sells. After that, we will live in our travel trailer until we leave for the hike. When we return, we will buy land and build. Excitement is hard to contain, so I wont bother. I tell everyone and even made koozies with our trail names to pass out so people can follow us if they wish.Life can only be understood backwards, but must be lived forward.
Date: 2009-10-05
To: Wild Poodle
Miles today: 0.0

Great news! The infamous "Wild Poodle" will be joining us on our hike. We are starting a couple of days later because she has her class reunion Feb 27 & 28. So we are changing our start date to March 1 to accommodate her. Anyone who has met her would remember her always smiling face and her Poodle hair. We are grateful to have her start with us.We have received some new gear that we ordered. It all fits well. We will try it out during our Thanksgiving Cumberland Island hike. Poodle will also join us then.We are waiting on our Big Agnes double Sleeping bag. It should arrive today or tomorrow. It should fit well in our Hubba Bubba tent.We are without words waiting on the day we get to begin. I just saw Bark and Berry got to finish after his infection. I was so glad to see they made it, congrats to them.
Date: 2009-10-15
To: Remodeling complete, sign up
Miles today: 0.0

Signs up, remodeling finished and house is FOR SALE. Everyone tells us, oh the market is down, you should keep it for a few more years. But we are ready to leave this huge 2500 square foot house and live in the woods for 6 months. No more $400 electric bills, cable tv, pool chemicals, just us and the wild.      Following the 2009 hikers has made me crave the trail even more. Loon, Gangsta, Rocket, Wags, Katchup, Bark & Berry and NedtheFed had such great journals. Reading the daily entries made us feel as if we were right there and boy do we want to be. Pray that we sell the house, pay off debt, hand over the business to 2 of the kids and continue on our voyage. We ordered our sleeping bag from a company called C & C Outdoors who sent us an email stating they shipped our bag back on 9/29. Well no bag yet, even after I emailed them requesting tracking numbers. They sent an email saying our bag is on backorder, then why the email saying they shipped it? I told them someone needs to fired, where is our bag. Oh we had such a big response to this particular bag and it will be 3 more weeks. Hopefully it will arrive before Thanksgiving weekend so we can use it at Cumberland Island and hopefully they haven't ripped us off. Has anyone else ordered anything from them?By the way, in between selling the house and the trail, we will live in our travel trailer to save even more money, sell house sell!!!
Date: 2009-10-20
To: Want to get on with it
Miles today: 0.0

We ordered some food to try, some of the new burgers from mountain house and a few other entrees. Also in our order, we added a few stuff sacks by Outdoor research. They are top loading with a zipper. I had one from Granite gear and loved the bag but I think they discontinued them. Anyway, we ordered them from Travel Country, good price and close to home, can you believe they backordered them? I guess they will come in when our sleeping bag comes in. I can't believe these companies don't have enough stock. The new bags we order have the top zipper just like the Granite gear bag, it makes them perfect to use for a kitchen bag. We keep all our cooking stuff, food, and misc eating stuff. It is so easy to retrieve the items because the top opens all up. I love it just wish it would be here instead of backordered.On another topic, we sure wish our house would sell soon. I love the house but it is very large and we use so much extra electricity keeping it comfortable for us. It also has a pool that takes chemicals to keep it clean. We are anxious to get things going. I am ready to live and play on the trail!!! Well I guess work on the trail too. Wish us luck on the sale.
Date: 2009-11-02
To: Flatlanders
Miles today: 0.0

We met with the other 2 hikers that will be starting with us last weekend to go over the big "plan" and gear. Cahoda and Wild Poodle brought wine, dessert and potato salad, we added fried chicken and poof a yummy afternoon meal. It was delicious but then to work we go. Cahoda has lots of great gear, she has upgraded lots of her stuff over the last couple of years, getting lighter, better stuff helps her keep her weight a remarkable 20 lbs. without food and water. She is helping Poodle by suggesting specific gear to lighten her pack. It's great having friends so close by to knock heads together to get some great ideas. After still not receiving our Big Agnes bag,I phoned C&C outdoors. They say "oh, didn't you get the email we sent", "they will ship it directly from Big Agnes around the 14th of November". These people are so bogous it's crazy. First they sent me an email on the 29th of Sept saying it has been mailed by FedEx. Then after not receiving it for 2 weeks, I send them an email and they say it's backordered. I told them someone needs to be fired!! The women says I guess I need to be fired because it was me who is in charge. They keep asking if I want to cancel my order, no just get me the bag!!!ON a lighter note: I'm deciding whether to change my backpack to a Granite Gear Latimus Ki, Cahoda has it extra and said I can use it if I want. I use an Osprey Ariel 75 which is about 6 lbs I think, and the Latimus weighs 3 + lbs. Has anyone used a latimus and were they happy with it?The house selling isn't going real good right now, I've had a couple of calls and one showing, but no offers. Getting anxious because I want to thru hike!!!Someone please show up and buy our wonderful house!!! Soon. It's hard, when your planning a thru hike to concentrate on anything else, this is really trying my patience. I guess that's the lessen patience, patience. Another meeting on the 9th with our "Flatlander" GROUP. Well we are from Florida and it is Flat Land, hence the group name.Over and out, great hiking to all for the fall, see you on the trail in 2010!!!