morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2009-08-26
From: Lakes of the Clouds Hut

To: Mitzpah Hut
Miles today: 4.7
Weather: fog

It was a cold and miserable morning, i left in long underwear, shorts, long sleeve shirt, fleece jacket, rain jacket and toque /beanie/ hat. It was COLD!!!We made it to the next hut and went in for lunch and a hot cup of coffee. We played scrabble, it continued to rain even harder, so we decided not to go back into the cold wet rain and called it a day.We were lucky again to get work for stay, I had to scrap out the pot they use to boil hot water (a pretty easy job), for dinner we had ham. I ate a ton of ham, a plate full that was a replica of a mountain. It was amazing. Most of the day was spent reading, traded in my first book and picked up another. I'm now reading a book called 'Waiter Rant'.
Date: 2009-08-27
From: Mitzpah Hut

To: Zealand Falls Hut
Miles today: 13.9

Yay a beautiful day. I had done my work for stay last night so was able to get out early. The plan was for me to get down to the highway ASAP and hitch hike to the general store and pick up a 30pk of beer. Hunter, Favre and myself were going to celebrate being on the trail for about a month and share the beer with our fellow thru hikers.Of course things don't always work out as planned, this is an adventure after all. I tried to hitch a ride for about 1 1/2 hours and did not get picked up so I ended up walking the 4 or so miles to the store. Then at the store the house policy was to only sell 12 beer per person. I convinced her that it was not all for me and was able to get 24. After about 1/2 an hour I eventually got a lift back to the trail where I met up wit Hunter and Favre.I was getting concerned about the time and thought we may have a hard time getting work for stay, we may be too late and all of the spots could be taken up, so I picked up the pace and just about ran the next 8 miles to the hut. When I got there it was about 6 pm and there was only 1 other thru hiker there so I got work for stay. The others showed up around 8 and were lucky enough to get work for stay as well. It was a great night, there were 2 new south bound (Miss Step and Swamp Cricket)hikers and a north bound hiker (Crow)that stayed there with us. Lesson of the day is that Beer is Heavy, don't carry too many and don't carry them for too long. Between all of us we finished up all the beer in order to lighten up the pack you know
Date: 2009-08-28
From: Zealand Falls Hut

To: Garfield Ridge Shelter
Miles today: 9.7
Weather: overcast clouds

When we got up we discovered that 2 more south bound hikers had made it to the hut at about 6:30 that morning. Femur and Just Joe had hiked all day and night and not slept yet they had some breakfast and decided to push on. I hiked with them and kept them company, alive, and sane for the day. It was a very slow and steady hike that took us about 9 hours. Femur ran off cause he was starting to feel exhausted and wanted to get to the shelter ASAP so I hiked with Just Joe who was deliriously funny and entertaining. We got to the shelter around 6pm, and met the caretaker Matt who has only spent 2 days out of the woods since mid May. He's quite the character. Thru hikers who have done zero days in the area have supplied him with a ton of beer so each thru hiker gets 2 beer. Always a nice way to end the day.Hunter and Favre took a really short day and stayed at the hut 4 miles prior to the shelter. I'll try to let them catch up, if not I'll see them in Lincoln.
Date: 2009-08-29
From: Garfield Ridge Shelter

To: Lincoln, New Hampshire
Miles today: 10.3

Today is not a day that you want to be hiking but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. For starters I didn't sleep much last night because the temperature fell bellow freezing and the wind blew straight into the shelter. When I got up the winds were blowing at about 50mph (80km) and it was raining. I hiked up and over the Franconia ridge which brought me above treeline and exposed to the elements for approximately 5 miles. The winds picked up to around 60mph, the rain turned into hail and the rocks were extremely slippery with some ice forming on them. I got very wet and very cold. The hike would be nice in good weather but I pretty much ran through it as fast as I could under the circumstances. I haven't seen Favre or Hunter in a few days but figure they will show up in Lincoln sometime. I hiked with Just Joe and Femur for a while but left them just before the top of the mountain. I was glad to get down the ridge and into Lincoln where it was nice and warm.
Date: 2009-09-01
From: Lincoln, New Hampshire

To: Glencliff, New Hampshire
Miles today: 25.8

Since I did a double zero and am now behind Favre and Hunter I decided to slack pack my way to Glencliff. Slack packing is when you get most of your gear shuttled for you somewhere further down the trail and you just hike with a day pack. We actually hiked about 27.5 miles when you include the approach trails, a very long day up and down some big mountains. There were people who had to get to Glencliff to pick up some stuff at the post office so they volunteered to drop my pack off for me. I hiked with Squatch and Jaws. I met up with Hunter, Just Joe and Favre around 9am at the Lonesome lake hut. They only hiked about 3 mile the day before so I jumped past them early in the day. I got to the top of Mooselauke Mtn around 5:30 and enjoyed a bit of sunshine on top of the mountain and began my descent into Glencliff just before sunset. I got to the Hiker Welcome Hostel around 8pm.
Date: 2009-09-02
From: Glencliff, New Hampshire

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

My journey so far has been nothing but a bunch of coincidences...to begin with just before I decided to come back and hike the trail I got an e-mail from Robo, a man that I hiked with on the trail in 2005, and he was back on the trail. I tried to catch up to him before he got called back into work but missed him by 2 days. In 2005 I picked up a book on the trail, well half of a book cause hikers will rip books into pieces to cut weight, the book was 'Confessions of a Shopaholic', I never found the second half...on my plane ride from Australia the movie in the plane was Confessions of a Shopaholic so I got to see the end. Yesterday I was talking to a northbounder who told me about a man going south, Restless, he's about 5 days ahead of me, I hiked with him for about 2 weeks in 2005. I hope to catch up with him in a few weeks or so. And another crazy coincidence, in 2005 at the Hikers Welcome Hostel, I bought a documentary on the Appalachian Trail, it was made by a thru hiker named Lion King. Well I'm back at the Hikers Welcome hostel and this time Lion King is here. I chilled out with him for a day, wound up taking an unexpected zero day but it was cool to meet him and talk to him about hiking and other long distance hiking trails. I'll have to make it up by hiking another long day somewhere, someday, maybe today, we'll see.
Date: 2009-09-03
From: Glencliff, New Hampshire

To: Hexacuba Shelter
Miles today: 14.6
Weather: broken clouds

Got off to a late start out of Glencliff, we left around lunch time. About 2 miles into our hike we came upon an unexpected and curious scene, 4 kids probably in their late teens all dressed up in tie dyed clothes and sparkly stuff all over with their hair spray painted all different colors. I was speechless so I just said hello and kept walking Joe talked to them, I guess they were college kids that were going to suprise some of their friends that were hiking a section of the trail. It was all a bit weird for me to even ask any questions, I was just looking forward to seeing the rest of the circus down the trail.I hiked with Joe and Favre, Hunter stayed back and slack packed with some other hikers. It was about 8pm by the time we got to the top of Mt. Cube, it was dark but we were welcomed by some North bound hikers who were spending the night on top of the mountain and had made a little fire. We hung out for a bit then headed out in the dark to find our shelter for the night. We finally made it to the shelter around 10pm, it was full of college kids who were out on their freshman orientation, we squeezed in and made ourselves at home. It was close quarters for the night, I think I may have kicked a kid a few times during my sleep, I dreamt/thought he was a mouse. Oops!
Date: 2009-09-04
From: Hexacuba Shelter

To: Hanover, New Hampshire
Miles today: 11.1

We decided to take a short day today and hitch into Hanover in time to get to the post office and for me to find a Notary Public to prove that I really am who I am in order to get some money back from the Australian government. I got my stuff done and we tried to find a place to stay in a fraternaty or hostel but we had no luck so we spent the night in the woods just outside of town.We went and watched a high school football game, drank some beers and ate some free pizza. A good night but too bad we had to spend the night in the woods.
Date: 2009-09-05
From: Hanover, New Hampshire

To: Hanover
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Found a place to stay in Hanover and Hunter has finally made it to town so we decided to zero in town for the day. Hanover is home to Dartmouth College, an Ivy League university in the US, kind of a big thing I guess...lots of rich and smart people in town. There's also a really cool coffee shop in town called The Cowboy Cafe, they make each cup of coffee individually and have about 50 different kinds from around the world to chose from. I was in heaven!
Date: 2009-09-06
From: Hanover

To: Hanover
Miles today: 17.6
Weather: scattered clouds

Joe and I got up early and got a ride back to the trail, we slack packed our way back to Hanover to do the miles we missed because of our first hitch into town.In Hanover I played my first real game of beer pong, with ping pong paddles, I guess it was invented here. Dartmouth college is where/what the movie Animal House is based on, I can see why. I went to see the movie Inglorious Bastards, Quentin Tarantino's latest movie, it was OK I guess. I ate lots of free pizza, one of the pizza shops gave thru hikers all of the left-over pizza at the end of the night...lot's and lot's of pizza. I stayed at an art community / frat house for 3 nights, interesting. My friend Squatch got his foot run over and had tire marks on his boot for 2 days. I tried Keystone beer, not good but cheap.Hanover was fun but I'm glad I left.
Date: 2009-09-07
From: Hanover

To: Happy Hill Shelter
Miles today: 5.8
Weather: overcast clouds

YAY! We finally left Hanover, was starting to feel like we may get stuck there for a while. YAY! We are all through with another state, New Hampshire done, now into Vermont.Today was another late start, around 1pm, planned on getting a lot farther but we got sidetracked. There was a brewery/brewpub pretty much right on the trail, the trail actually went straight through Hanover and up the highway for about a mile into Vermont, we felt it was necessary to stop in for a sampling. I got to the shelter around 6pm, it was full of kids from Dartmouth out for their freshman orientation, I let them know that there was going to be at least 2 more thru hikers show up and that they would have to share the shelter. They were really cool about it and made some room, they even offered us some of their dinner. They had collected some firewood, so I made a fire and we hung around talking all night. Joe made a game out of getting to know each of their names, it was kind of funny because we got to know all of their names but they still didn't know the names of everyone in their group. Word-Up group F04 ( I think that's right) from Dartmouth.I ended up sleeping under a tree, Joe in his tent and Hunter in the shelter. At around midnight a guy in a chicken suit, one in a lobster suit, a guy in floruescent clothes and a guitar and another guy showed up singing their way down the trail carrying 3 pizza's. They were from Dartmouth and decided to bring the freshman a surprise but got lost in the woods and finally made it at midnight, they were originally supposed to show up aroud 9 I think. Another weird scene in the woods provided by the kids from Dartmouth.
Date: 2009-09-08
From: Happy Hill Shelter

To: Thistle Hill Shelter
Miles today: 8.8
Weather: broken clouds

I wasn't feeling very well so I decided to cut the day short, Joe and Hunter carried on.We got to eat at a general store that was on the trail, then went swimming. We jumped off the bridge into the chilly river then would swim to shore to do it all over again, a few of the Dartmouth kids joined us and jumped off the bridge too.I spent the night with the Dartmouth kids again, they got into the shelter really late so I helped out their group leaders and made their dinner. I read an article from the New York Times Magazine, that I had been carrying for a few days, titled 'How the Economists got it all Wrong'. I gave it to one of the Dartmouth kids to read.Something to think about.
Date: 2009-09-11
From: Rutland

To: Rutland
Miles today: 0.0

My parcel didn't arrive yesterday, but Joe and Hunter made it into town today. So I did yet another zero day and waited for my parcel, still a no show so it looks like another day in Rutland.We stayed with the TwelveTribes, at their hostel/recruiting center, have a look on google about them. In a few words I would say a religious, hippy, cult. Very strange but friendly. We were invited to and attended one of their weddings, absolutely out of this world, like some sort of twisted religious play where the women gives herself to her king. Lot's of song and dance and holding hands...way too much for me I got out of there before they tried to indoctrinate me.Nice people but not my kind of thing, to each his own I guess.
Date: 2009-09-12
From: Rutland

To: Cooper Lodge
Miles today: 6.3
Weather: overcast clouds

My parcel arrived from home so I now have a lighter, less bulky camera, a new Thermarest sleeping pad, and my MP3 player with a new charger. I also got to get some new hiking shoes. Thanks Dad!I'm still waiting for my $$$ from Australia to come in and pretty much depleted all of my resources until it finally arrives. Thanks to my amazing Mom and Dad I have some cash to continue my journey, I really was hoping to do it all on without any help but got into a situation where it was get off the trail. Hopefully I have done enough jumping through hoops to finally get my money from my SuperAnuation fund to FUND the rest of my trip.Thanks Mom and Dad.Back on the trail, new shoes, a new day, another mountain to sleep on top of
Date: 2009-09-13
From: Cooper Lodge

To: Greenwall Shelter
Miles today: 18.9
Weather: broken clouds

Alright it's time to start moving south, time to start moving south in a hurry. It was freezing last night, the wind blew straight into the shelter and it was cloudy, raining and freaking cold. Didn't get much sleep, too busy shivering. Next time I'll sleep at the bottom of the mountain instead of the top, hopefully it will be a lot warmer. Not much of a view from the top of the mountain but I did go check out the ski lift/ gondola, I heard that the restaurant was open on top of the mountain...not when I got there, was really looking forward to a hot cup of coffee in the end I had to make it myself.The days hike was fairly uneventful, we tried to go to the Whistle Stop restaurant for lunch but it was closed so we continued on to the general store and got some sandwiches. Met Rabbit again at the Clarendon Gorge. Hiked on to the sheleter, tempted to stay at the gorge/river and go for a swim but I don't have a tent so I had to get going and make my way to the shelter.
Date: 2009-09-30
From: Bromley Mountain

To: Kent, Connecticut
Miles today: 188.0

Sorry I haven't been able to update this lately...I'm going to try to let you know what I have been up to / the highlights of the past couple of weeks now in one or two big posts and maybe get some new pictures up if the computer co-operates with me. Here we go...I am an idiot and now know why I'm single, or at least have re-enforced some of the reasons why. I have a sign that I carry with me that says 'Hiker to Trail or Your House' on one side and 'Hiker to Town or Pub' on the other side. Well I was hitch hiking out of town back to the trail from Manchester Center and a car drove past me, did a u-turn, drove past me again and stopped ahead of me and probably the most beautiful girl in the world (well at least the prettiest I have seen in a while),driving a Lexus SUV, jumped out and approached me asking what was up. Here's kind of how it went...Beautiful girl- Hey how are you doing? What are you up to?Me - I'm great, hiking the Appalachian Trail, just trying to get back to the trail.Beautiful girl - I see hikers all the time and am fascinated by what you guys are up to and am really interested in the Appalachian Trail. So what's the deal?Me - Yeah it's an amazing journey, I'm just trying to get back to the trail and keep going.Beautiful girl - That's awesome, (pointing at my sign) so what's the deal?Me - not realizing that she was pointing at the fact that my sign says to trail or your houseBeautiful girl - Do you want to come home with me? Me - After finally realizing that she was pointing at the sign and that it says your house...Yeah sure, why not.A beautiful girl invites me to her house for the night and I reply "Yeah sure, why not"...real smooth.Me - So you live in Manchester Center?Beautiful girl - No I live in Woodstock.I started thinking at a time where I shouldn't have. I was in/around Woodstock about 3 days ago, it's about 50miles up the trail, the part of the trail I have already done. I'm going back about 3 days on the trail.Me - Walking to the car with the Beautiful girl I think too much and tell her 'That I will have to respectively decline' her offer to go home with her as it's too far out of my way and is bringing me north when I have to get south. Yup I used those exact words 'respectively decline'Beautiful girl - Are you serious? You don't want to come home with me? She's looking upset that I declined her offer and starts to get mad at meMe - yeah I think I'm just going to get back on the trail, thanks for the offer, do you think I could just get a lift to the trail?Beautiful girl - No I'm headed in the other direction, I'm sure someone will pick you up.So instead of going home will a Beautiful girl I went back to the woods, I have no game, I'm a bit slow at times, yup I'm single and it's probably my own fault. Lesson of the day is sometimes don't think about things too much, just let them happen. Next time a Beautiful girl decides to pick me up I will say YES and I will go home with her.
Date: 2009-09-30
From: Kent, Connecticut

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

I am hiking alone once again...I think Just Joe is ahead of me somewhere, Hunter has gone home so I'm not sure when I'll see him again and Rabbit has gone into NY city for a while. I'm in Kent Connecticut and will be in NY tomorrow.In the past two weeks I have met, re-met, and ran into once again, YAK. It was great to run into him so often, his wife Pam was really kind to me as well. One day she gave me snacks for breakfast and took my order for dinner, gave me a beer as well. It was great talking to them, she has been reading my journal and is actually from near where I'm from in New Brunswick, their going to build a retirement home for themselves in Pugwash NS. I stayed in Bennington with Chris and Arla in their Barn, it was sweet, they had a room all done up, Chris called it his man den. Nice couches, pool table, dart board. They let hikers stay for free, we wound up staying for two days. I saw a moose one morning and the other evening I scared about 6 or so white tail deer, I was running down the trail into town and startled them I think. I retired my old boots, got new shoes, destroyed the new shoes in about 2 weeks, gonna send them back and get a new pair. It's been getting cold, and has rained almost everyday this week...getting cold...getting very cold! I've been inconsistent with my daily mileage, some days I hike around 25 miles (40km's) and then the next I'll only do about 10. I have to get into a routine, gotta get moving. Speaking of moving I'm getting kicked out of the library, guess I'm going to move. I'm finally going to get some cash in about a week or two and am going to buy one of those smart phone things with the internet so I can start updating this journal thing daily or at least every other day...keep posted, I promise to be a bit more consistent soon!Onward to New York, and eventually to Georgia.
Date: 2009-10-26
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

So my new smart phone isn't as smart as I had hoped and it will not let me update trailjournals on it...so I will update this site as often as I can but will send out group emails with updates evry couple of days. If you want to keep following my journey the send me your email address and I will add it to the list. Cheers.
Date: 2001-03-27
To: How it all began
Miles today: 0.0

March 27, 2001 was probably the day that the thought of hiking the AT subconsciously entered my being. This was the day that my husband Ron and I watched our daughter Irene and her husband Armand (Armie), begin their thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail. Just 10 days earlier we had watched as they were joined in marriage. Now we were witness to the beginning of what was sure to be the greatest adventure of their lives! Who could have imagined that "The Honeymooner's" AT thru-hike would influence my future hiking plans?Ron and I were the "support crew" for The Honeymooner's hike, sending their mail drops, meeting them in numerous locations along the trail, and then meeting them at the conclusion of their hike at Baxter State Park. This experience piqued my interest in long-distance hiking.But....back to the beginning....I became interested in backpacking in the late 1990's. At that time I joined the Applachian Mountain Club (AMC), and began participating in weekend backpacking seminars at the Mohican Outdoor Center in Blairstown, NJ. These seminars introduced me to the basics of backpacking. Classroom instruction, along with actual hiking and backpacking experience on the AT in New Jersey fueled my interest. Weekend group hikes with the AMC in NJ progressed to AMC group hikes in the Presidental's in New Hampshire. Irene and I participated in the 34th Annual Presidential Range Hike in 2000. This 8 day hike took us from Franconia Notch (Mt. Lafayette), to Mt. Madison. I was hooked on hiking after doing this traverse. Throughout the following years my sister Annette and I have been on other hikes in Northern New Jersey, New York, and in the Presidentals of New Hampshire. What a great way to spend quality time with your sister!
Date: 2008-07-04
To: Dehydrating 101
Miles today: 0.0

Summertime in Southern New Jersey means that the farm stands are bursting with a rainbow of fresh fruits and vegetables. This is the perfect time to dehydrate vegetables and fruits for the meals for my hike. I am dehydrating strawberries, blueberries, zuchinni, tomatos, kale, carrots, etc.I will be following recipes for meals that Irene and Armie used during their 2001 AT thru-hike. These recipes have been trail-tested and are excellent. Breakfasts include a variety of hot cereals with dried fruit and nuts. The vegetarian dinners include all-American favorites such as Mac & Cheese, Chili, and Stew, to name a few. And then there are Mexican, Indian, Italian, and Cuban selections also. I will partake in quite a variety of culinary cuisines while hiking the trail. There will be no monotony in my food choices!My physical prep includes walking/jogging and bike riding. The terrain is very flat in this area, so this is the best that I can do at this point in time.
Date: 2008-08-16
To: Off we go to Oregon...
Miles today: 0.0

Annette and I were off to Corvallis, Oregon to vacation with Irene and Armie, and to do a bit of hiking in the Cascades.After flying in to Portland we drove to the Alberta Street section of the city, and had a great lunch at the Tin Shed. Then on to Corvallis, and a relaxing evening at Irene and Armie's home. Tomorrow we will take a short hike through Chip Ross Park in Corvallis, get some last minute supplies for our hike, and get our gear packed.