morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2014-01-31
To: Where?
Miles today: 0.0

Today's question is WHERE? I just finished my last day at the Post Office and I no longer have to work to support myself and my family. I should be thankful that I reached this milestone in life but I can't stop thinking, WHERE did those 61 years go? As excited as I am about retiring from work I really wouldn't mind having about 40 of those years back. Since there probably isn't a fountain of youth somewhere on the trail, starting over isn't really an option. I may have fewer years left to enjoy family and friends but I will have more free time to enjoy them. Now that I know what the important things are in life I will just have to focus more on them. The other question is, Where am I going? The simple answer is out on the trail through 14 states. Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. Hopefully in that order or I've went and got myself lost somewhere. The answer will change by the day, by the hour as I head north. I will have close to 200 days this year where I will wake up in a different place than I started the day before. Every sunrise and sunset will look a little bit different than the one before,and I plan to enjoy each and every one of them. Now I can truly hike my own hike, if only for a few months of my life. That degree of freedom may never be experienced by me again and I will not forget the people back home as I embrace this opportunity. I hope that everyone in the 2014 class of thru-hikers shares some of this excitement and that they enjoy the 5 million steps of their journey.
Date: 2014-02-06
To: Why?
Miles today: 0.0

Now that I am officially retired people are asking me what I want to do with all of my free time. When I tell them about my upcoming hike some of them respond with positive comments and even a few of them share my opinion that it would be an incredible journey. However, the vast majority of people think that I am either an impossible dreamer or that I am making up the biggest yarn that they have heard in quite a while. Certain parts of the story seem incredulous to them; the sheer distance of the hike,the unlimited physical challenges, or the crazy idea that I will be gone from my family for 4-6 months. WHY would anyone torture themselves to this extent? Wouldn't an overnight hike be just as full filling? My best answer for them is that we all have different things that we want out of life. I could pitch a tent in my backyard if I just wanted to sleep on the ground or I could take a walk in the nearby woods if I only wanted to get closer to nature. I could visit a zoo if I just wanted to see some animals or I could go on a crazy diet if I just wanted to starve myself. I hope that the doubters can see where this argument is going. The sum of the challenges on the trail is what attracts me to it the most. Multiply these challenges over several months and you have my complete attention. This is the same reason that I used to train to run marathons and trail races instead of just doing 5k races. It doesn't make me better than someone with smaller goals as long as we are all satisfied with our individual accomplishments. We just have different ideas on what types of challenges will satisfy our competitive spirit. An Appalachian thru hike is not that crazy of an idea because a few thousand people attempt one every year. It's not impossible because about 25% of them actually achieve their goal. Even if you aren't successful you will still enjoy the journey and have incredible memories. My fellow thru hikers in 2014 will probably agree with me that the bigger the challenge the bigger the reward. Something this rewarding cannot be torture, just a dream full filled. So when you ask me WHY? I say WHY NOT!
Date: 2014-02-17
To: Cabin Fever or Springer Fever?
Miles today: 0.0

My wife Paige and I arrived late Thursday night February 13th in the western Pennsylvania mountains. We are visiting her mom and stepdad John and Fredi Zimmerman of Hooversville. They live in a three-story farmhouse that is at least 150 years old and sits on the 100 acre farmstead that has been in the family for three generations. It is a perfect place to rest and recharge your batteries but I am too restless to enjoy it. We are going to visit with them for awhile and hopefully I will get in some short hikes up and down the mountains. This area will be similar to the terrain on the AT, quite different from the flat farmland back home in Illinois. Looking out the window at the mountains makes me think more and more of my upcoming hike. I feel the trail pulling me in like a magnet. The closer it gets to March 30th the stronger it pulls me to Springer Mountain. The plan right now is to hike the approach trail with my daughter Meghan. If the weather is ok we would like to bring my three year old granddaughter Rhain with us. She certainly has the agility and energy for it and even has her own backpack. When you mention camping to her she walks over to the map of the Appalachian Trail that I gave her and points to Amicalola Falls State Park. She is looking forward to camping with Papa and probably has her backpack ready full of marshmallows. The following morning we will hike to Big Stamp Gap where we will meet up with my brother-in-law Mike Reagan. The girls will head back home with Grandma while Mike and I head north. Besides the enjoyment of hiking with my daughter and granddaughter I will also have the benefit of hiking the first day with a lighter pack for the uphill climb to Springer Mountain. Mike plans on hiking 7 days with me so we will take 3 days of food with us to get to Neel's Gap and then pick up a food drop at the Crossing to get us to Dick's Creek Gap 4 days later. After an AYCE lunch in Hiawasee my sister Susan, and possibly a few more friends will take Mike's place and hike for 5 days with me ending at Albert Mtn. Fire Tower. It will be a lot of fun hiking with family at the start and we won't be pushing it too hard for the first 100 miles of the trail. If they can convince other family members that it was a memorable experience then maybe I will have other family members or friends join me somewhere else on the hike. I will still have 13 states and 2100 more miles to explore. I also look forward to meeting other thru hikers along the way that are making their dreams come true.
Date: 2014-03-04
To: The Shawshank Redemption Part II
Miles today: 0.0

I hadn't planned on using this journal to talk about anything besides hiking, let alone tell others how to live their lives. But, please allow me this one exception, it also explains part of my desire to hike the AT. In an earlier post I talked about Andy Dufrane's plan to escape and how he had his future all planned even before breaking out of prison.I think that my favorite line in the movie came from the Morgan Freeman character. It's what set Andy on the right path."Get busy living or get busy dying!" This mantra can hold true for everybody, not just those in prison. Unfortunately, some people have become prisoners in their everyday lives and don't even realize it. My message is get out and find something that makes your life more full filling and stop making excuses why you can't do it. A simple thing like a daily walk in an area park not only gives you physical exercise, but makes you feel better mentally and emotionally. Volunteer work or social groups can get you up and moving and help you get out of the rut you have let yourself get stuck in. Don't overlook the importance of family and friends and make an effort to spend more time with them. I watched my parents make health decisions that shortened their lives and made the quality of their lives diminished in their retirement years. Retiring from work is not meant to be a retirement from living. Now that we are in Pennsylvania with my wife's family I am seeing this tragedy play out once again. Maybe when you reach your 80's it is too difficult to change so I will try and reach out to anyone that is getting close to retirement and will listen. You need to become more active and change your lifestyle. For you younger adults don't let older family members or friends use their age as an excuse not to enjoy retirement. If you are the person being encouraged by your family, embrace it, don't fight it. Don't turn your golden years into your "olden" years. Don't let little aches and pains give you an excuse not to get out and enjoy life. Your body needs to stay active in order to stay healthy. Don't ignore health professionals advice because it seems annoying at the time, you just don't feel like it,or worse you think that you can't afford it. Your health is more important than leaving money to your kids. It is more important that you are there to spend more quality time with your kids and grand kids. To me it is the quality of life that is important not the quantity. If you live to be 100 years old and you did nothing to enrich your life or others than what is the point? I have noticed that there are a lot of "seniors" like me hiking the trail and that is promising. Even a 5 million step journey like thru-hiking the AT begins with the first step, so get up and get moving! You might be surprised where it leads you, find your Mt. Katahdin.
Date: 2014-03-07
To: Make Everyday Count
Miles today: 0.0

On Wednesday, March 5 our host in Pennsylvania, and my wife Paige's stepfather John Zimmerman passed away at his home. He was 90 years old and his body finally gave out from constantly trying to move enough oxygen through his body. He died peacefully and will be missed by his family. Paige and I were glad that we were there during this difficult time and also glad that we got to spend a few weeks with John before his passing. John's untimely death makes my previous post seem a little awkward but it really doesn't change the message that I was trying to convey.If anything it should tell people that you really don't know when you will run out of time on this earth, so you need to enjoy a little bit each day. Hopefully, now we can talk Paige's mom Fredi to come home with her and spend some time with her great grand kids in the Midwest. Since I had to go home and take care of the bills and issues related to my upcoming trip that leaves the burden to Paige. Fredi has been taking care of John's mom and then John for the past 30 years. I think that she is entitled to some time away from the mountain. The problem will be convincing her that leaving the comfort of home to stay with someone else will be worth the anxiety. Just remember Fredi, a bird has to leave the comfort of its nest in order to learn to fly. In my future journals I hope to get back to talking about more lighthearted subjects. My goal is to try and describe my hiking experience and make it an entertaining read for family and friends.
Date: 2014-03-23
To: One More Week!
Miles today: 0.0

In one more week I will begin my epic journey. I woke up this morning and it hit me that we will be hiking the Approach Trail next Sunday. Yikes! It's not like I forgot about the trail because I think about it every day, it's just that time seems to have really sped up this past month. I got way more trail- related issues taken care of when I was still working. Lately it has been more important to spend extra time with family before I disappear into the woods.   Somehow, I have purchased more gear than I can possibly squeeze into my backpack and I have gotten attached to every one of them. I will be making some tough decisions later this week and there will be some disappointed gadgets staying at home, but my titanium french coffee press will not be one of them. Hopefully, the weather will warm up and I can leave some winter gear behind. After 27 years of carrying mail I don't really like winter that much anyway. I did get the last two problems taken care of this weekend. I purchased 46 Mountain House meals on Amazon for just over $4 per meal. The best part is that I will know exactly what meals I will be getting and I have already taste tested this brand a few times. They are filling and tasty, not a bad combination for trail food. I have researched different brands for the last couple of months and these are also the cheapest that I have found. I will buy the rest of my food locally in stores and then put together about two months worth of meals. My daughter Meghan will come over this week and help me package them up in daily portions. She will also be in charge of my early food drops, so I want her to see what I will be eating on the trail. We will see how this works out before we worry about future meals, it sounds like food isn't that hard to obtain in most places. I also bought a new Droid smart phone, my kids were almost as worried about my old phone dying on the trail as they were me. It is the Droid Max, long battery life and durable case,just like me. I also have a portable keyboard that will link up with my phone by blue tooth so I can continue my journals. That's assuming that I am up to the technical challenge. That's about it for now, sounds like this years group of hikers are enjoying their time on the trail in spite of the weather. In a few more days when it warms up I will be happy to join them. Also, looking forward to meeting Zip Code on the trail, we may have a few things in common.
Date: 2014-03-29
To: Tomorrow's the Big Day
Miles today: 0.0

We are spending the night in Calhoun, Georgia and will be heading over to Amicalola Falls State Park in the morning. I will be hiking the Approach Trail with my daughter Meghan and my grand daughter Rhain. They are excited about hiking the first day of my journey and I am excited to have them along, even if it is only for one night. I have decided to hike the Approach Trail because I have been to the park a few times and that is the place that really got me interested in hiking the AT. The past few days have been mostly doing things that I will be doing for the last time in a few months. Things like sleeping in my own bed , driving a car, watching TV, or pretty much anything that I have done for most of my life. The hardest part was seeing family members and friends for the last time in quite a while. Paige take care of them till I get back. Starting tomorrow I will be doing a lot of things for the first time. Things like sleeping in a tent alone, cooking meals and finding drinking water on the trail. Traveling by foot instead of a car, meeting new people daily as I travel along. Admiring the sunrise and sunset in a different place everyday, and seeing some beautiful parts of the country for the first time. These challenges are exciting, but at the same time they are causing me some anxious moments. Only time on the trail will erase any doubts that I may have concerning my ability to successfully through hike the entire trail. I hope that I am up to the challenge and come home a better person because of it.
Date: 2014-03-30
From: Amicalola Falls State Park

To: Black Gap Shelter
Miles today: 7.3
Weather: clear sky

Mailman,wife Paige,daughter Meghan,and grand daughters Rhain and Ember met up with brother-in-law Mike, sister Susan, and nieces Roxanne and Rachel at Amicalola Falls State Park for a picnic lunch provided by Susan before the hike. Trail magic before we even started! Thanks Susan. It was windy and in the low 40's so it was hard to stay outside unless you were hiking. We walked around in the visitors center and I signed in as thru hiker #778. A hiker was there that just started yesterday and was inquiring about a ride to the airport in Atlanta. She looked like she had a rough night up on Springer Mtn. last night and was ready to go back home. Maybe this hiking is going to be harder than I thought. Paige bought me an AT passport that I can get stamped at some hostels and businesses on the trail. Meghan and I finally started out at 12:30 for our hike up to Springer. The falls alone had 604 steps to the top.It was pretty windy at times and climbed up to 3300 feet. We met a couple of guys on the trail that had hiked up to Springer the night before and we talked awhile. They said it got down in the twenties with 70 mile an hour winds with snow and sleet. Glad we started a day later. Meghan and I got to Black Gap Shelter about 5:30 and set up camp. We hiked down a hill to get water coming out of the mountain. The water trails are marked with blue blazes. Unfortunately, part of the plastic on the pump to my Dragonfly stove had a crack in it rendering it useless. Meghan pulled some hot dogs out of her pack and we built a fire and we cooked hot dogs and s'mores over the fire. We met Zuker and Hardway (trail names) that were camping at the shelter and shared some food with them and stood around the fire and talked awhile. Everyone had turned in for the night by 8:30. Night Lion came in after dark and camped in the shelter.
Date: 2014-03-31
From: Black Gap Shelter

To: Hawk Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

Day two started at 7:00 A.M. We talked to Zuker, Hardway, and Night Lion before we broke camp about 8:45. Night Lion had through hiked before and he told us an amusing story. About a couple of months into his hike he had a pretty good beard and sometimes he would have food in it and not know it. One night he woke up and there was a mouse in the shelter eating food out of his beard. LOL We also tried duct tape on our stove to cook breakfast but it didn't work. The fuel just dissolved the adhesive on the tape and Zuker let us use his stove to fix breakfast. Thanks! Meghan and I hiked up to Springer Mountain for some nice pictures and I signed the register to officially begin my hike. We hiked down to Big Stamp Gap to meet up with brother-in-law Mike so he could take Meghan's place on the trail. Mike had to pick up a new stove and some other issues left us waiting for about 4 hours before they arrived. We met Mountain Squid, Mountain Lion again and several other hikers starting at the parking lot and hiking up to Springer to get started. Mountain Lion made me a pop can stove in case Mike doesn't find anything. Mountain Squid is retired navy and he takes time to track all thru hikers and get their names, or trail names if they have one already. Some people wait until they start and let the trail name them. I also talked for quite awhile with a ridge runner who works for the Appalachian Trail Conservancy. She gave me some good info on water sources and bear canister requirements in certain areas. Mike, Paige and grand daughters Rhain and Ember finally showed up at 3:00. We took some more pictures and started out about 3:30. The girls all took off for a few days of rest and relaxation on the beach in South Carolina. The hike to Hawk Mountain was a beautiful hike along creeks and huge rhododendrons. The biggest I ever saw. We took a side trail to Long Falls that was well worth the short hike. Mike and I set up camp just short of Hawk Mountain Shelter at 3209 feet. We were in our tents by 8:30. My phone was about dead from constantly trying to reach Mike and the rest of the crew. Reception is really spotty in the mountains.I am pretty sure I had a bear in camp during the night because I could here something pretty big sniffing around our campsite.
Date: 2014-04-01
From: Hawk Mountain Shelter

To: Gooch Gap Shelter
Miles today: 7.7

Up at first light,about 7:00. Drank coffee and watched sun come over the mountain. Made oatmeal for breakfast and Mike and I broke camp about 8:30. Mike and I hiked up to Hawk Mountain Shelter to look around,get water, and to check out the privy. My hiking partner Mike explained to me that he was having problems with his right shoulder and felt that he should turn back and try and get a ride home. He got the strap tangled up while putting it on at Long Falls and the pain kept him from sleeping last night. I totally understand his decision but I wish he could have enjoyed a few more days on the trail. I was loaded for water so I thanked Mike for everything and headed to Sassafras Mountain. It was one tough climb but I met a new hiking partner Anthony from New York. We talked all day while hiking a few more climbs. Actually Anthony did most of the talking but I learned a lot about forest management. We took a lot of nice pictures because the weather was clear and beautiful. Anthony and I camped at Gooch Gap with Chance and Dustin. We had camp set up, fixed dinner and talked around a nice fire before going to bed at 9:00 (hiker midnight).
Date: 2014-04-02
From: Gooch Gap Shelter

To: Neel's Gap
Miles today: 14.4

Up at first light and out of camp by 8:00. Hoping to get to The Crossing at Neel's Gap. The only thing standing in our way is Blood Mountain, the highest point on the AT in Georgia. (4461 ft.) The weather has been perfect for camping but a little warm for hiking. Anthony and I will at least get to Lance Creek before we decide if we can make it all the way to Neel's. From there across Blood Mountain you can't camp without a bear canister to store your food. They weigh a little over 2 pounds empty so who needs that extra weight! We got to Lance Creek too early to camp so we made the push to The Crossing with the thoughts of a nice shower as our motivation. Blood Mountain was a long grind to the top, but we got excellent pictures because of the clear weather. The problem with the big climbs is that you trash your legs going up and then you start down but your legs haven't recovered. The hiking poles have been a big help, you can use your upper body going up and then take a lot of weight off your knees going down. They also help your balance because you usually have at least three points of contact with the ground.We got into Neel's Gap about 6:00, had a pizza, hot shower, and a Powerade. Not sure about tomorrow's plan just yet, would like to do some laundry and see how our legs feel. Didn't run a marathon today but it was just as punishing. I am a little ahead of schedule before I meet my sister Susie on Sunday so will probably leave around noon to take advantage of the nice weather. Anthony and I experienced Trail Magic at Woody's Gap, a bag with Snickers, Twix, and Slim Jims. I know my grand son Keaton would have enjoyed them even more then I did. They were provided by the good folks at the St. Mathews Episcopal Church in Snellville Georgia. We also found some water at another stop but I am not sure if it was for hikers or Army Rangers training in the area.