morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2014-08-23
From: Shaw's Hostel in Monson, ME

To: Cloud Pond Lean-to
Miles today: 19.1
Weather: light rain

The breakfast at Shaw's lived up to its billing. The way it worked was that, after a French toast starter, Mr. Shaw asked each guest how many eggs he or she wanted. The number of eggs you asked for determined the amount of bacon and home fries you got: the more eggs, the more of everything else. I asked for four eggs and walked away from the breakfast table feeling satisfied. And the food was delicious as well.Shaw's provides a shuttle ride back to the trail, and despite there being about 20 guests at the hostel last night, there were only two of us in the shuttle at 8:15. During the short ride to the trailhead, I felt the same excitement as I had four months earlier in being driven to Amicalola Falls State Park and the start of the approach trail to Springer. The other hiker in the shuttle was Daisy, a woman in her early 20s who works for IBM in Burlington, VT and is section hiking from Monson to Katahdin. We ended up hiking together much of the day. She's in excellent shape, as evidenced by the fact that she was able to hike 19 miles through rugged terrain her first day on the trail.The excitement of being in the Hundred Mile Wilderness didn't last long, as my pack felt exceptionally heavy due to my resupply in Monson to get me through the next 100 miles. A week ago, Rabbit and I had discussed the service provided by hostels in Monson to make a food drop half way through the wilderness at a logging road crossing. Rabbit said that would feel like cheating, and I feel it would make the Hundred Mile Wilderness into two Fifty Mile Wildernesses. As a purist, or perhaps masochist, I wanted to have to carry 100 miles of food on my back into the wilderness, so I declined to sign up for the food drop.There were several more rivers to ford today, including the Little and Big Wilson Streams. I reenacted the camo guy's wipeout from yesterday, slipping on my first step into the Little Wilson and landing on my butt in the river as Daisy filtered water on the far bank. She was polite enough not to laugh at me.In preparing last night for today's hike, I broke out AT-22, the last of my 22-map set of the entire AT. At the start of the day I had 114.5 miles to go to finish the trail; I'm now down to 95.4.
Date: 2014-08-24
From: Cloud Pond Lean-to

To: Logan Brook Lean-to
Miles today: 24.0

Ever since receiving the text from Thor the Red on Wednesday while I was crossing the Bigelow ridge, I've been madly chasing him, ABear, and a few others so that I can summit with them on Thursday. Yesterday I saw ABear's note in the log at the Long Pond Stream Lean-to indicating he, and I presume the others, spent the night there Friday. So in getting to the Cloud Pond Lean-to last night, I gained four miles on them. Yesterday ABear did 21 miles and stayed at the Carl A. Newhall Lean-to, so in doing 24 today I picked up another three miles. They were hard-earned, however, as the trail went up and down all day, climbing over eight named peaks. I expect ABear and company did 19 today and will do 21 and 20 on Monday and Tuesday, respectively, leaving an almost ceremonial 13 on Wednesday to get to The Birches Lean-to, which sits at the base of Katahdin, for Thursday's summit day. To catch them, I plan to do 23 tomorrow and 30 Tuesday to get to the Hurd Brook Lean-to where I'm anticipating they'll be Tuesday night. It's an awful lot of work, but it's important to me to summit with friends I've been hiking off and on with for almost 2000 miles.In the meantime, everything seems to be wearing out, including myself. The soles of my feet have been numb since Virginia, my aching knees wake me up at night, and the heavy pack since resupplying in Monson is irritating my hips and shoulders. Both shoes have rips along the seams in front, and my backpack looks like it's been through a war. My stove died while Jeff was hiking with me in Southern Maine, so he lent me his awesome Jetboil for the remainder of my trip. Tonight I hung my food bag up from a line in the shelter used to keep the mice away. A few minutes later the bag's strap broke, sending the food bag crashing to the ground. Fortunately, I was able to perform a MacGyver-like repair using my bear bag coard.This morning, while reading the log at the Chairback Mountain Lean-to, I absentmindedly ate an entire $5 package of Chips Ahoy cookies and then washed it down with peanuts and Fritos. An hour later, I found myself having a major sugar crash, starting to question why I was bothering climbing Katahdin in the first place. A refreshing swim in the West Branch of the Pleasant River, the last ford required on the AT, snapped me out of it.I reached the summit of White Cap Mountain, the last and highest peak of the day, around 6:00 pm. The summit is right at tree line, and off to the north I got my first definitive view of Katahdin, 40 miles away. However, with all the twists and turns the AT makes, it's still over 70 trail miles away. The AT descended off the summit of Whitecap directly toward Katahdin, and I stopped several times to gaze at the mountain I've been hiking towards for over four months.I'm all alone at the Logan Brook Lean-to tonight, which is fine with me, because it means I don't need to worry about being quiet when my alarm goes off at 5:00 am and I start tomorrow's dawn-to-dusk marathon.
Date: 2014-08-25
From: Logan Brook Lean-to

To: Stealth campsite at mile 2144.2
Miles today: 30.3
Weather: clear sky

The chase to catch ABear, Thor the Red, and company continued today, and if my intuition is correct, I've whittled their lead down to less than three miles, thanks to another 30-mile day. Unfortunately, I ran out of daylight to close the final gap and am stealth camping tonight just inches from the trail. It's not that ABear and Thor don't want me to catch them. They do. But to get through the Hundred Mile Wilderness, plus the additional 10 miles from Abol Bridge to the Birches Shelter, on time for Thursday's summit, they need to do big miles, like 20 a day. And it's awfully hard to catch someone who's doing 20 a day. ABear has been signing every shelter log indicating when he passed through and where he intends to spend, or has spent, the night. So far he's stayed at all the shelters I thought he would. Today he stopped at the Potaywadjo Spring Lean-to at 2:00 and happened to mention he saw two naked women earlier in the day on the beach at the Anters Campsite. I stopped at Potaywadjo at 3:30, and, when I passed by Antlers, saw only one bare-chested woman. Despite doing 20s though the HMW, ABear, who is a stop-and-smell-the-roses type of guy, seems to still be finding time to stop and smell the roses.In signing the log at the Carl A. Newhall Lean-to yesterday, ABear said it was a sad but productive day and that life goes on. When I arrived at the East Branch Lean-to this morning, I realized what he meant. Pockets was there with her partner, Rebekka, who came over from Europe to join her in Monson for the 100-Mile and to summit with her. ABear and Pockets had been hiking together for well over a month and had become close friends as a result. When ABear, who set out through the HMW a day later than Pockets, eventually passed her, he must have had to say goodbye to her one final time. Bonds developed along the trail can be surprisingly strong.Down south on the AT I could set my watch by my three-miles-per-hour pace. If a sign said a shelter was 2.5 miles ahead, I knew I'd arrive there in 50 minutes, give or take a minute. Once I got north of Virginia and the trails started getting rougher, that rule no longer applied, particularly up here in Maine, where the combination of rocks, roots, mud, and steep up and downs, often slows me to a crawl. Today, for long stretches, the three-mile-per-hour trails returned. In the final run-up to Katahdin there's a long, flat section that is often free of rocks and roots, and with dry weather the past week, mud as well.Also down south there was discussion among thru-hikers about whether, when they got close to Katahdin, they'd slow down to savor the final days or speed up. It appears most thru-hikers, me included, are choosing the latter. As wonderful an experience as my thru-hike has been, I'm ready to be done. I'm thoroughly exhausted, both physically and mentally, and am ready to get back to my family and former life.
Date: 2014-08-27
From: Hurd Brook Lean-to

To: The Birches Lean-to
Miles today: 13.4
Weather: few clouds

As I lie here in my sleeping bag in the Birches Lean-to, 5.2 trail miles below the summit of Katahdin, it's hard to believe my journey along the AT will soon be over. The last five days through the Hundred Mile Wilderness and into Baxter State Park feel like a dream. The first three-plus days were incredibly taxing chasing down ABear so I could summit with him tomorrow, while most of yesterday and all of today were about recovering for tomorrow's summit climb.ABear and I started the day with an easy three-mile hike to Abol Bridge, where the trail exits the HMW and briefly joins a logging road to cross the mighty Penobscot River. On a clear day, the opening in the woods created by the river affords a grand view of Katahdin, but on this morning the mountain was completely socked in. ABear and I stopped on the bridge to watch a fly fisherman cast his line several times from a calm inlet near the edge of a river before the draw of junk food at the general store across the bridge got the better of us. Unfortunately, the restaurant there wasn't due to open until 11:00, so we settled for soda, ice cream, honey buns, chips and other thru-hiker staples. We both wanted to see Thor the Red after he summited today, so we left the store at 9:30 to hike the last 10 miles to Katahdin Stream Campground, where thru-hikers congregate after completing their AT journey. Fortunately the trail to KSC was mostly smooth and flat, so we made great time, arriving by 1:00. When I registered with the ranger at KSC, I was assigned number 340, meaning 339 NOBO thru-hikers had come through before me.Thor had already come down from the mountain by the time ABear and I arrived, and the rest of the afternoon was a reunion of thru-hikers like Thor, Scout, UPS, Snapper, and Aquaman and prospective thru-hikers like ABear, Rambling Rose, Lotus, Toto, and me. Thor said he had an emotional moment on the summit when he reached the famous sign at the trail's northern terminus, shedding tears, as I expect I'll do tomorrow. Although the summit was still covered in clouds when he was on top, it cleared shortly after he started descending.Thor put it best when he compared the end of his thru-hike to a graduation. There is an intense closeness among your companions leading up to and including summit day. Then suddenly it's over and everyone disperses.Tomorrow's summiters, including ABear, Rambling Rose, Toto, and Timon, who we all met for the first time today because he took the month of July off before racing along for an August finish, had a spirited dinner together tonight at the Birches. Daisy, the woman I hiked with the first day in the HMW, showed up just on time to sit down and eat with us. Tomorrow we may decide to leave mid-morning for the summit, as the forecast is calling for improving weather during the day.
Date: 2014-01-24
To: 21 Days left
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

In 21 days at 5:03PM February 13th, my daughter Kaytlin and I will be boarding a train at the Amtrak station in Cary, NC heading for Atlanta, GA. It will be daddy/daughter time as we ride the train, spend the day at the Coca-Cola museum, and find a cool place to eat. We stay at the Hiker Hostel on the night of the 15th, and the next morning, (my 39th birthday) Kaytlin, her mom, and I are driving to USFS 42 to begin our climb to Springer Mountain. The southern start of the Appalachian Trail. I can't wait! Unfortunately though my daughter will have to go home, but my 6 month 2185.3 mile journey will begin. On my way to Maine!As for now, I'm planning, thinking, dreaming, pre-hiking, blogging, you-tubing, and wasting a bunch time at REI. I have been thinking about this for over 10 months now, and it's hard to believe that this will soon be a reality. I believe I am over-prepared, and knowledge constipated at this point. I just want to go!I have no illusions however that this will be easy. It's anything but. Only 18-20% of the attempts are successful. A bunch of hikers don't even make it out of Georgia (78.5 miles). All for various reasons. They get hurt, tired, over-whelmed, bored, or sick. I know it's going to be cold, and hot, and rainy, and buggy. I know the climbs of thousands of feet over and over again will be redundant. I know that I will miss my daughter, be hungry, and long for a hot shower and a cold beer. I do know that I will want to quit at some point, maybe several times during this hike. I will wonder what the hell am I doing out here, what is the purpose of all this nonsense. I'm glad I know all this. I'm not coming into this blind with wonderful thoughts and expectations of tenting under the stars to a campfire with a group of new friends, and remarkably one that can play the heck out of a harmonica. Not to say that might not happen from time to time, but it won't be the norm for sure. I'm going to take what the trail gives me..... it's as simple as that. There is a reason I'm out here, only heaven knows why cause I sure don't. So if I get stuck in a snowstorm, I will simply deal with it, learn from it, and accept it. I will attempt to have that same mindset if it rains for 5 straight days, or the shelter is full and I have to tent in the cold, or if I can't get any sleep due to the loudest snorer this side of Damascus is in the shelter next to me. I will take what the trail gives me. ALL OF IT!So until then, more dreaming and planning, spending too much time on whiteblaze.com, and the Class of 2014 Facebook group. And of course bothering the poor workers at REI who know me like Cheers knew Norm. Don't know how much more blogging I will do before my start, so if I don't I'll see ya on the Ole' Dusty Trail!Figgy
Date: 2014-01-30
To: Shelter Practice
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

With the recent cold snap and snow storm I figured it would be a good opportunity to test my gear. Since I will be spending most my time in shelters I used my shed as a practice. It got down to about 12 degrees, and I left the doors open to try and simulate a 3 wall shelter.I slept pretty good to be honest. I did leave my nice warm bag and got up around 3:30 to do a nature call. After making yellow snow I looked at the house, then looked at the concrete floor. Figuring this was a good 1st test I trudged on to the house and slept in my bed. My sleeping system consist of:Big Agnus Insulated Q-core sleeping padSierra Designs 12 degree down sleeping bagSea to Summit sleeping bag silk liner.*I did order a Go Lite Z-10 bag though. Supposed to be very warm and I will return my Sierra Design.-Figgy (14 days and counting)
Date: 2014-02-08
To: Getting ready! 
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Almost there.... leaving in 5 days!Getting "Trail Central" set up as much as I can. Getting my food and mail drops ready today. Made 20 GORP packages as you can see in the picture. Also my Mountain House freeze dried dinners are ready to go as well. I can only seem to be able to pack 2500 calories per day. Considering you burn about 6000 per day..... well.... my 25 lb weight gain over the last few months should be gone in about 6 weeks!I did change one of my gear. I returned the High Sierra sleeping bag for a Go Lite Z-10 bag that is supposed to be top rated. I used it a couple of nights ago tenting in the back yard. My daughter Kaytlin also tested out her Hennessey Hammock. She lasted till 5 in the morning! Was so proud of her. She cant wait to join me in late April for a couple weeks. Tonight I will sleep in my shed again and practice shelter sleeping. Isn't gonna get down too low tonight, but I'm just trying to get used to sleeping on my mat. I did clean up the shed however so its very nice now. A few moments of self doubt recently, but im filing it away as normal. So as for now just tidying up a few details and counting the days.-Figgy
Date: 2014-02-13
To: A delay in my start
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: snow

With winter storm (whatever it's name is), the train that I was supposed to depart in got cancelled.So it's the start of many changes in my plans that I'm sure I will have over the next 6 months. I just have to learn to be flexible, and follow my motto. "Take what the trail gives me" A test.So I was thinking of other options and even had my good friend David Williams come up with a solution for me trying to get down to Atlanta. I appreciate the thought D-Dub. But for now I booked the same train only for Friday instead of Thursday. Hopefully it will not cancel as this storm seems to be dwindling down. We will see. Kaytlin has been looking forward to this train ride for months now, and I'm trying to make that happen. I already had to cancel my Friday with her in the ATL, but we should hopefully still be able to get to the Coca-Cola museum on Saturday.So as far as my original plan to be on the trail (Springer Mountain)on my birthday, Sunday the 16th, it still looks likes that will happen. The weather is gonna break and it should be real nice hiking weather for my 1st few days.I already sent out my 1st package to myself. 4 dehydrated meals and 4 bags of snacks, GORP. I sent it to the 1st hostel I plan on stopping at. The Mountain Crossings hostel in Gainesville, GA. Weather I stay there for the night or night depends on a lot of things, but if the weather is great I'll try to push on to the famous Blueberry Patch hostel.The time is here, and I want to thank all the people who have helped me out and gave me encouragement over the last few months. Even the people who said that I'm crazy and stupid, I actually appreciate that as well. Extra motivation. Some of you asked if there is anything they can do to help. Just know that I will still have some communication out there and can receive text/e-mails/calls. Never know when a message will be needed out there, could be perfect timing. Also, if anyone is interested in sending a care package down the trail for me, well I'm not ashamed to ask. Just let me know, and I can tell you how you can help!Just sitting around waiting now.On the Ole Dusty Trail........
Date: 2014-02-15
To: Last day before start
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Kaytlin and I took a long train ride from Cary, NC to Atlanta,GA. We had a 6 hour layover in Greensboro which was excruciatingly long, but we were able to walk a few blocks for a good burger and a fantastic espresso cheesecake!We arrived in GA about 9:30 this morning and rode public transportation around to Centennial Place, home of the '06 Olympics. We ended up eating at a Waffle House that was filled with young girls competing this weekend in a national cheer competition just across the street. Kaytlin's mom, who drove drown from NC eventually found us, and we were off to the Coca-Cola Museum. Jammed frickin packed! I knew it would be, being Saturday and all. It was fun even though I get very antsy in bigger crowds. We learned a few things, tasted a lot a good, and a few nasty type worldwide Coke products. Ate at the Atlanta staple, The Varsity, for a chili cheese dog then hit the road for the mountains.I was so tired at this point I really couldn't see straight and was getting nervous. We arrived at The Hiker Hostel in Dohlanga, GA right at sunset. This is a very nice log cabin type place that can hold a good amount of people. 3 stories with bunks and a couple private rooms. Up on the 3rd floor Kaytlin and her mom opted for a private, and I am in a bunk room a couple nice guys from Ontario who are down here for 5 days of bicycle riding. On the bottom floor there seems to be a bit of ruckus and haven't ventured down to explore. Sounds like some potential thru-hikers but at this point I don't know. I laid down on my bunk for a second and ended up napping for a good 45 minutes. Just exhausted! I'm here and I'm going. I thought I would be more thrilled than this, one night away from starting the Appalachian Trail, but it's a mixture of a lot of thoughts and feelings. Again...."What am I doing?" keeps running through my head. But I'm going, that's not a doubt. Full goal of making it to Maine. 2200 miles away!As for now, a good nights sleep in a real bed. Might be a while before I experience it again. After all the weather is supposed to improve dramatically. At least for the next few days. Full expectation that it won't stay that way.
Date: 2014-02-17
From: Springer Mountain

To: Cooper Gap
Miles today: 12.3

We tried to drive up to Springer Mountain on some forest roads but the van just couldn't make it. The roads were still icy and I didnt want Kaytlin's mom to drive it own by herself. We drove back and headed to town to regroup and enjoy a Dunkin Donut coffee, probably my last for a while. So i ended up getting to the start of the AT the long way. The Approach Trail. The falls at Amicalola State Park of some of the tallest in the east coast. A very good spot to start my hike and leave my daughter. She probably said goodbye via hugs 5 different times. It was emotional but I knew it would be. I started way late at 5pm from the falls and walked to Black Gap shelter, 7.3 miles. Most of my hike was in the dark but with a full moon and my 130 lumens head lamp it seemed like daytime. I stopped at the shelter and 4 people were already there. 2 guys and 2 girls. They had a roaring fire going and seemed like they were having a good time. Im pretty sure they didnt expect another hiker to come through at 8:30 at night. They made room in the shelter and said for me to join them when i got settled in. I was fully prepared to do so but the more i thought about it, I didnt want to be a 5th wheel. So I turned in and went to bed.Woke up early, ready to climb Springer. Adrenaline was pumping. After chit chatting with the 2 guys I realized they weren't even with those girls. Oh well. Neither of the 4 were thru hiking and were actually heading back to the falls.I have thought about being at Springer for 10 months now. I have seen the pictures and the views in books, now at 9am I am finally here! Thank goodness the weather was perfect. The views from the top were spectacular! Now my journey begins. The 1st step of 5 million!The ranger at the station said the week before 16 people registered for a thru hike and 9 already quit. One of the guys I met only hiked to Springer before turning around to go home. Its sad, but this is not an amusement park. I met Penguinman, a flat lander Floridian who also has a blog on trail journals as well. He actually came up to me and asked me if I was Figgy. Real nice guy however his wife could not understand why he was doing this. I told her that Penguinman and I are not sane people. We are messed up in the brain. She agreed. I also met a woman named Meredith who happened to have the same birthday as I (Even though she was probably much younger than me). I gave her husband and her my journal website, and Meredith and I took a picture. Very nice couple.A wide eyed 13-14 year old boy named Christian was so in awe when he found out I was thru hiking to Maine. He asked questions, and seemed very interested in possibly one day doing the same. I hope he does. I gave him my journal site as well. I hope he follows.Ended my 12.3 day hike in Cooper Gap. I tented by myself with no one around. The skies were so clear and the stars so bright it was just incredible. My 1st day was a success even with the late start. Im having the time of my life!God's beauty is glorious!