morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2006-07-20
From: ten mile hill

To: Pawling 
Miles today: 11.3

I am officially in New England!!!!! After a slow start after a crazy night I made it safely across the New York/ Connecticut border. After being woken up by the people who we probably kept up last night when we returned from our swim we made the trek back into town. When I got to town I found out that all the people from the pavilion had been trying to hitch but weren¢t having any luck.   We ate at a real New York Italian deli with possible illegal action going on in the basement but I would never admit to in a court of law. We stopped at the library to check e-mail then sat out side procrastinating. As we were sitting there we saw two guys back into each other with their cars. One guy in a big truck and the other in a compact car. The guy in the small car was a dork. Take what you picture an older guy who has beenA dork his whole life and that was this guy. When the two cars hit the dorky guy was steamed up. He gets out of the car screaming and calls the guy in the truck "a big dummy". If that wasn¢t funny enough when he got out of the car his hair or lack their of was all over the place. He had the worst comb over I have ever seen and it was all frizzed to one side. When he started yelling at the guy we were hoping the truck guy just decked him for acting like a fool but it didn¢t happen. Once the two parties went their separate ways we decided we needed to move closer to Connecticut so we got a ride back to the trail. We ran into a college kid who was doing a summer internship for the Appalachian Trail Conservancy who gave FDR, Mule, and I a ride to the trail. Where the trail went back into the woods was an oak tree. It is locally known as the Dover oak. It is estimated to be over 350 years old. Further down the trail I crossed a set of railroad tracks. The train platform there is known as the Appalachian Trail Station. The train stops there on weekends from New York City. Further down the trail we ran into an old metal arch way in the middle of nowhere. It said ¢Gates of Heaven.¢ Now this was a little scary. I know I was a long way from home but honestly. We later found out it was an old cemetery. Deciding that we defiantly didn¢t want to stay there we kept moving till we came to a cooler and some chairs. We had some ice cold water and PB&J sandwiches. Then proceeded to the Connecticut border and camped there for the night.
Date: 2006-07-23
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Waking up on a love seat in a random college apartment after a night of drinking use to be a normal occurrence for me but not lately. We got packed up and told Spencer thanks and hit the local diner for breakfast. When we got to the trail head we dropped off FDR and Rainmaker to head south. Mule and I drove back to where we left off and started hiking north. After a hard long climb up we ran into the guys hiking south at the top of Bear Mountain. we handed off the key, ate a snack and continued. While going through Sages Ravine we came to a huge milestone. The Mass boarder. I grabbed a couple pictures and headed out. While heading towards the car I saw one of the best sunsets on the trail so far. When we got to the car FDR and Rain Maker were waiting for Mule and I. We decided to that since we had to drop the car off tomorrow we should re supply tonight. We re supplied and headed back to the trail head to camp for the night. I ended up setting up my hammock while the rest slept in the truck.
Date: 2006-07-24
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

We woke up and loaded up the truck and did our final drop day of Team Enterprise. Rain Maker and I headed north while FDR and Mule drove up to drop off the truck at a trail head. It was a nice hike. Since Rain Maker doesn¢t hike, he runs, he took off and I never saw him again. He is trying to finish for school so when he got to the truck he got his stuff and took off. When I got to the road where the truck was I saw a group of Boy Scouts who was trying to hitch hike into town. They asked I was a thru hiking. They asked the typical questions. I told them I would give them a ride into town once I got the truck. They laughed and thought I was joking. When I pulled up in the huge truck they were shocked. I gave them a ride into town then headed to meet the boys. Once I picked them up they decided to drop me off in town and they went to return the truck. Since we were a good ways up the trail from where we got the truck it would take a while to hitch back up I planned on staying just a few more miles up the trail. They dropped me off at the brewery so I could get some food and rehydrate. After that I hitched back out to the trail and did a few miles and solo camped. It was nice to be back to the regular hiking camping but I have to say Team Enterprise was a major highlight of the trail.
Date: 2006-07-25
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Just another walk in the woods. The weather has been really nice lately but rain is supposed to be on the way. The weather has cooled off and made it nice hiking weather. That doesn¢t mean that you don¢t sweat through your shirt right away. The farther north I get I am starting to pass lakes and ponds more frequently. They are perfect for going swimming. I have gotten in a few but I don¢t like hiking in wet shorts so I just pass them. Another reason I go by them is because where there is sitting water there are usually mosquitoes. I pushedOn to the next "lean-to" to camp for the evening. A "lean-to" is whatMassachusetts and Connecticut call shelters because they are so much better than the other 48 states in the country. It has been a while since I have slept at a shelter. At the beginning I was in a shelter every night but now I try to avoid sleeping near them. I just use them as rest stops now. While getting asked a hundred questions while I was trying to eat was kind of annoying but that¢s how it goes at the shelters.
Date: 2006-07-26
To: Dalton, Mass
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

I got up and got moving pretty early today. My first stop was at the Cookie Lady¢s house. She is legendary on the trail. She started giving hikers cookies and they never stopped coming. I have to admit the cookies weren¢t as good as momma made them but they were good. The Cookie Lady and her husband own a blueberry patch that you can pick ¢¦. Well blueberries. After my cookies and a brief conversation with the Cookie Lady I started to fill up my water bottles but noticed some thing. The water smelled like rotten eggs. Since the water was filtered with sulfur I decided not to drink it. I needed water pretty bad but defiantly not that bad. I thanked the Cookie duo and went on my way. I made pretty good time on fairly easy terrain before I came in to the town of Dalton. I had a package waiting there that I had been bouncing forward from town to town with different stuff waiting for me at the post office. The trail goes right through down town and by the post office. My plan was to roll through town, grab my package, a beer and head out. I wanted to stay in Williamstown, Mass the next town the next day to catch up with Donkey (love) and Hot Springs who had slowed down just a bit to hike with Donkeys dad. As I have learned that never goes as planned. As I was walking down the street I noticed a man standing next to the road with hedge trimmers in his hand acting like he was trimming the bushes. He asked if I wanted a soda. I still had some time before the post office closed so I decided to take him up on it. While I was sitting there he asked if I liked ice cream. I mean who doesn¢t like ice cream? He went inside and came out with a bowl of ice cream that was stacked almost a foot high. I devoured it. While eating the ice cream and talking to the guy he introduced himself as Tom Lavardi. He said he let hikers stay at his house for free. I told him I was just passing through and going to the post office. He said he would give me a ride down there. When I got to the post office I asked for my package. When they went in the back to look for my package they couldn¢t find it. Great. I asked to look again and sure enough they didn¢t have it. So my package was lost somewhere in the USA. Since there wasn¢t much else I could do there I left and headed over to the Irish pub. I grabbed a few drinks and something to eat. Several more hikers were in town and Tom keep insisting that I should stay. Every excuse I said he had a reason to stay. He said he would drive me to Williamstown tomorrow so I could slack pack the 20+ miles back to Dalton. I figured I might as well do it. I stayed in town and hung out with the other hikers. While at Tom¢s I got my first chance to hang out with a Southbounder (Sobo) Pepper. We had been talking about when we would get to hang out with Sobo for a night then part our ways. Pepper and I went and got food and talked about were we had been and what was ahead of each other since we both had information that the other needed about the trail.
Date: 2006-07-27
From: Dalton, Mass

To: Dalton, Mass
Miles today: 23.3
Weather: haze

After getting a big breakfast Tom did as he said and drove me over to Williamstown and dropped me off at the trail. I headed south up the steep side of Mount Graylock. Everyone I have talked to in Mass brags about Mount Graylock. I think they forget that we have walked from Georgia at this point. But I do have to say that the climb up Graylock was tough going south. When I got to the top I ran into Donkey(love) and his dad. We got caught up for a bit but I had a long way to go before dark so I kept moving for about a quarter a mile till I ran into Hot Springs and we also got caught up. We planned to meet up tomorrow or the next day in Vermont. I went on my way and made really good time. After reaching the top of Graylock the rest of the day was down hill then 10 miles flat. When I got in town I decided to get something to eat before I started running into all the other hikers back at Tom¢s house so I could get caught up on my journal. I made it into the restaurant with out being seen. But soon Mule walked in. He had seen my trekking poles out side. It was my signature move. In town there were tons of hikers and we all went out and got a bit rowdy. Mule, FDR, Slick B, Fiddlehead, Indiana, Rucsh Hour, Pepper, Tec, Coolhand and others. We watched baseball and im sure we pissed off all the locals if not all of them.
Date: 2006-07-28
From: Dalton, Mass

To: Boston
Miles today: 0.0

After being dropped off at the Williamstown post office by Tom I picked up my package and headed for the outfitter. They didn¢t have the pack cover I needed. I was very upset. This out fitter was more like a high end clothing store. Since it was starting to rain I asked where a good place to get lunch would be before hitting the trail. They pointed me to the pub across the street that had a great buffet. Pub. Buffet. Imp in. This was the best buffet that I have seen in my life. I felt like Templeton from Charlotte¢s web going to the Fair. After 5 plates and a few pints the rain kept falling. I did my usually stealth charging of my phone. While sitting there I placed a call to my old college pal KP who lives in Boston. After about 4 minutes of nonsense talking like always with KP he asked if I was coming into Boston this weekend. The great thing about being on the trail is that you can do anything any time you want. The forecast called for rain all weekend so I figured what the heck. I told him I would see what I could do. After settling my check I headed down the bus station to see what was available. When I walked up to the bus station there was one bus outside. I asked the driver if it was going to Boston. He said yeah but I had to hurry. When I went running inside and asked for a ticket to Boston the lady said the bus had already left. I informed her that the driver was waiting and she needed to get her fingers in gear and print me a ticket. I paid and sprinted out the door towards the bus. The driver had held the bus for me and I was on my way to Boston. Im sure the people sitting next to me weren¢t excited but I was. My first trip to Bean Town. When I got there I caught a cab to KP¢s apartment. We hung out for a bit then went out and met up with Jon-o another college buddy at some bars. I was told I had a ¢fierce¢ beard not once but twice. Even though I had a collard shirt on I still stuck out like a dirty trail hiker.
Date: 2006-08-01
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

It is my 4 month anniversary on this great adventure. Many crazy things have happened on and off the trail.After being bus-lagged I finally got out of town. It was extremely hot today. But the humidity was worse. Sweat poured off everyone and everything. Even the rocks we soaked with water and it hadn¢t rained in a while. Several of the climbs were tough but the sweating was the worst. I had stopped to catch my breath and was dripping all over the place. It was ridiculous. I never sweat that much when I was trying to lose weight for wrestling in high school. I finally reached the Vermont border. When I got to the state line there was a post but not your typical sign to get a picture with. The sign was missing so some creative hiker made their own sign. It was a piece of paper torn out of a notebook that said ¢Welcome to Vermont¢. Right when you hit Vermont everything changes. You actually feel like you are back in the woods. For a long time there has been a road with a deli almost twice a day. Plus everything is greener. Entering Vermont is also the beginning of the Long Trail which runs the entire length of Vermont and also follows the AT for around 100 miles. When I got to the shelter there were a couple people there. I wanted to push on to try and catch up with FDR but it was just too hot. I knew I was dehydrated and needed to listen to my body so I set up shop. There was a good crowd at the shelter and it was nice to hang out with everyone. Plus there were several Long Trail hikers who were on their first night on the trail. It was nice to be around hikers again after my CRAZY Boston excursion.
Date: 2006-08-02
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

It was still burning hot when I woke up. I got packed up and headed north. I had checked my messages and had one from FDR. He had gotten a hotel room with A/C to beat the heat. The message said he was staying another day and if I wanted to join him to come on. While I was trucking along I came to a dirt road crossing. As I crossed the road I heard someone say ¢Hey, you're River Weasel. I have seen you on trailjournals.¢ I was very freaked out. They offered me an apple. I didn¢t really want it cause I was on a mission for A/C but I took it anyway. As I was talking to the couple they said the hikers before me had said I was coming through. They were Bruiser's parents who I hadn¢t met yet but she was right behind me only a few miles. I left them and headed for town. I continued to sweat constantly. When I got to town I hitched down to the hotel. When I got there FDR said he hadn¢t shut off the A/C since he walked in the room. It was one of the greatest feelings to be out of the heat. After soaking up cold air and getting a cold shower I headed into town to look for a pack cover and to get some food. It was definatly a great idea to get out of the heat. While in the room we watched the news and they were talking about the heat wave that was sweeping through the northeast.
Date: 2006-08-04
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Getting woken up every 2 minutes from the awful storm that hit last night was not fun. The weather was kind of crummy when I first started going but started to clear as the day went on. I came across 2 fire towers today. It was awesome being above everything and seeing the storms roll through the valleys below. Also when you are looking from the towers you can¢t see civilization everywhere. The first fire tower I came too I was all by myself and spent quite a good bit of time there. The second one FDR and I ran into Carbomb, Liken, Moe, andPonch. They warned us it was a little wobbly but we figured it was safe. When we got to the top we could feel the wind pounding against the sides of the tower. It was a good little rush defiantly worth the views. Since it was getting dark and there was no camping at the tower we pushed on down the mountain and made our own camp site. The bugs forced us to crash early.
Date: 2006-08-06
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

So some how after 1600 miles I still got a blister. I have been lucky by not getting very many blisters overall but I don¢t understand how I got one now.Anyways after an early start I hiked about a mile and came across an opening in a field which I walked up for a while. I soon realized that it wasn¢t a field at all it was a ski slope I was walking up. I was sure it was one of the harder slopes but found out at the top that it was an easy slope. When I got to the top it looked like the top of every other ski slope but with out snow. They had an observation tower on top which offered an excellent 360 view of Vermont. I looked around for a while then went and climbed on the chair lift before heading on my way. I passed several nice ponds but the best one was where we decided to stay. The campsite was right by the pond (I would call it a small lake by the size). It was another beautiful day and the weather couldn¢t have been better. We got a fire going and sat around talking about how tomorrow we should hit the less than 500 to go mark. But we all agreed that 500 miles is still 500 miles no matter how you look at it.
Date: 2006-08-09
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

After getting a surprisingly early start today. It wasn¢t to bad just a little warm but after putting in some big miles early FDR and I ran into several trail maintainers. Most of them were around my age. One of them said he was going on a beer run. We talked him into getting some for us and deliver it to a road crossing farther up the trail. He agreed and took off.   We continued to hike till we got to the road crossing. Sure enough the guy had left the beer for us. We sat there drinking a few then decided to camp in the field we had just came through. When we went back to it was full of cows. They came from the other field and had taken over our potential camp site. The cows must have known that I was from Tennessee because they came right up to me. Next thing I knew I was surrounded by the cows. I felt this was a perfect time to get some pictures. After playing with the cows we set up camp for the night close by but not in the same field as the cows. We aren¢t that brave.
Date: 2006-08-10
To: Hanover, NH
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

The crowds started forming the closer we got to town. Today we left Vermont and entered New Hampshire. It was one of those state lines where right when you get there things change. After having nice weather most of the day it started pouring when we neared the boarder. Right across the border is the town of Hanover. While getting completely soaked we made it into town with no place to stay but we wanted to get out of the rain. We went into the local pub to get a game plan together for our stay in Hanover.
Date: 2006-08-13
From: DONE

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Welcome back to the mountains. The climbs have started again. After getting my ass kicked climbing up the last mountain it was well worth it. The shelter up there is the old park ranger¢s cabin. It was nice to see an enclosed building with four walls since it is freezing at higher elevations in New Hampshire. Once I got set up I went up to the fire tower with FDR and Lebowski. You could see for ever. You could see where we had been and where we were going. And where we were going was a lot bigger than what we had done. Lebowski and I can not stop talking like two old British chaps. It is starting to become contagious.
Date: 2006-08-14
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Our bloody accents are getting thick. Real thick. Lebowski and I pretty much talk with the bloody accent full time. We have now sucked in FDR and several others. One south bounder we met atop Cole Mountain even started talking like us from time to time. It even got so bad that Lebowski and I had come up with a story of how we met at a prep school for boys in southern England. FDR was ahead and was laying the ground work. He would tell any south bounders he passed about the two British chaps who talked a lot. We were getting prepared to try and pull this off but our accents aren¢t very good. The first two chaps we ran into I went to work. I noticed when the first one said hello he had an accent to. I thought abort, but wanted to see a bit more. I asked where they were from. Sure enough they say the old mother land of England. Now I was done I exchanged a few more words and told them the guy right behind me was from England. I took off as Lebowski was coming over the hill. They walked towards him and kind of stopped to talk to him. He just lets out a big "ello chaps" and keeps walking pretending he is listening to the radio. I wait around the corner to tell him where those two chaps were from and we got a good chuckle out of it. We then got ready for the next south bounders. Sure enough the next guy who comes says he ran into FDR and he mentioned us. We had him going till he asked us our names. When I said River Weasel he kind of looked at me different. So I bloody figured he didn¢t understand with my British accent so I repeat my self. He then replies "you¢re not English I met you before." I soon found out it was Mandingo who had gotten to Virginia and jumped ahead to Maine and was hiking south back to where he left off. So our bloody plan was shot again. We are wondering if these accents will ever leave us. I bloody hope so and fast. It¢s getting quite annoying.
Date: 2006-08-15
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Welcome to the River Weasel and Lebowski show. We are continuing to speak in accents but not nearly as bad.   After a short hike in the morning we came to the road to it was only .5 to the hostel so we of course decided to hitch. We had walked from Georgia and felt we couldn¢t walk the .5 down hill to the hostel and got a ride from the nicest lady. As we were driving it happened. As my luck has been I happened to see my first moose of the trip from a car window. Just like the bear in the dumpster the moose was right on the side of the road for all to see. There are so many people in the world who have hiked the Appalachian Trail. It is a great accomplishment rewarded with breathtaking views and incredibly close encounters with wild life. Most of my "wildlife" experiences have been in situations where any average Joe (or Jane) can experience. I defiantly took advantage of a clear shot of the moose and paparazzied her. After that we showed up at the hostel and hung out for a while. Respelled and headed on our way a mile down the trail to the next shelter. Tomorrow is a big day. It¢s the first climb over 4000 feet since southern Virginia. Plus it¢s a climb of over 3000 feet up. Not looking forward to it but imp sure there are great views.
Date: 2006-08-16
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

I was right the climb was bad but not as bad as the weather on top of Mt. Moosilauke. It was freezing and made glad I bought a jacket and hat in Hanover. There were also tons of people at the top. Thru hikers, section hikers, and lots of day hikers. Since it was so cold FDR and I took off to get below tree line to get warm. Right when I got below tree line I was able to get service on my cell phone to call home and finalize everything with my parents about meeting them tomorrow for the weekend. Now that the meeting place was set, I just had to get there.
Date: 2006-08-17
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

We got an early start today since town beconed. I had planned to meet my parents in town sometime early afternoon. We got to town and hitched in. FDR and I had ran into Pi and they decided to split a room so I tagged along till meeting up with my parents. We went out to lunch then took FDR to resupply and dropped him back off. He is planning on taking a few days off after the White Mountains so we planned on meeting back up at the Maine border and head north. We went back to the hotel that I was probably the first hiker to stay at since it didn¢t look like your ¢typical¢ hiker hotel.