morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2009-07-11
From: October Mountain Lean-to

To: Tom Lombardi's in Dalton, MA
Miles today: 11.8
Weather: few clouds

5:50 am wake up. I was anxious to get to town and take my first shower in a week. Wags slept in a little longer, so I headed out on my own. It's been a while since we've hiked separately, and it was a nice change (not that hiking with Wags isn't great!). I listened to the birds singing (which I always do), saw a doe with THREE fawns, a bunch of toads, was hoping to see a moose and never did, and enjoyed hiking early. I love hiking bright and early when it seems like most of the world is still asleep - it's like you get to see the woods in a special light. These woods are definitely different from the ones I grew up in - there are hemlocks, and maples, and birch trees, and HUGE black cherry's. I'm use to oaks, hickory's, and pines dominating. It's really cool to be hiking in new and unusual territory, but I definitely feel homesickness creeping in more and more these days. But I'm working on enjoying the present, and realizing that this adventure wil be over before I know it.I got to Tom Lombardi's house by 11:30 where I ran back into Snake Eyes, took a shower, and waited for Wags to show up. Then I ran down to the local bar where I enjoyed being the only customer, ate by myself in a restaurant for the first time in my whole life (inspired by James who never seems to mind eating alone), and (here's the BEST part) got to watch SEC football! Yeah, it was a re-run, but it was awesome to see it. It was the Tennessee/Kentucky game from last year. It was great. Now some other folks have showed up and we're truly enjoying Tom's amazing and inspiring hospitality!
Date: 2009-07-12
From: Tom Lombardi's in Dalton, MA

To: tom levardis house
Miles today: 23.3

7.12 mass 2 to tom levardi's house 23.3 miles housetom's hospitality is constantly surprising! He offered to drive usnorth so we could slack pack back to his house and spend a secondnight with him! We, of course, took him up on the offer. Some folks(purists) may look down on slackpacking but yanno what? Hike your ownhike folks! That's what it's all about!we hit the trail and made good time up mount greylock (the highestpoint on the at in mass). On the way up we ran into blue jay who had acooler full of goodies. I selected the jamacan ginger ale because im ahuge fan of ginger ale! It was great to meet blue jay - he's beenreading our journals and successfully inflated our egos. Then we kepthiking - the weather was absolutely gorgeous today! The one awesomething about such a wet year is that it keeps the temperature a littlecooler.wags and i ran into moonwalker and no nails and enjoyed catching upwith them. We also past freeze and the gang. And we met hot pantswho's wife is from athens!It was a really great hike today but i was glad to be done at the end.We were late getting back so wags and i headed down to the tavern andhad a few drinks with our dinner and played zac brown band on thejukebox. A great end to the day!
Date: 2009-07-13
From: tom levardis house

To: congdon shelter
Miles today: 14.1
Weather: light rain

we were sad to say bye to tom but the trail called. And 4 miles intothe hike we walked into vermont! Plunger, mr. Right, wags and i tookpictures and had a snack on the muddy state line. I had a hard timegettin into trail mentality - it's hard sometimes because there arethings that go on back home which are hard to deal with out here dueto lack of cell service, privacy, phone battery or any combination ofthe three.hot pants came by again today but this time i hiked with him for awhile. It was great to talk to a north carolinian who's familiar withathens. The scenery is gorgeous and the trail is muddy but it all addsup to a great adventure. Now its time to keep reading "my sister'skeeper" so me and wags can chat
Date: 2009-07-14
From: congdon shelter

To: Goddard Shelter
Miles today: 14.4
Weather: scattered clouds

The Long Trail is officially paralleling the AT now, and with most folks starting their LT thru-hike at the southern terminus we are now meeting folks who are starting a similar, but shorter, thru-hike. It's really interesting to meet folks who are novices. While it totally evidences my growth as a hiker, it's also inspiring to see folks who are excited yet intimidated to be out camping. It reminds me of what I was like as a young hiker myself, long ago. Ha! It also reminds me that, one day not too far from now, I too will be out camping, feeling a little rusty, but thrilled to be away from the bump and grind of the "real world." I think back to those first few nights of my thru-hike and am in total awe of my ability to stay out for FOUR months (today) and still be rocking it. We had another nice hike in Vermont. It's a gorgeous state, and one I've never been to before. Towards the end of the day, we realized that it was actually kind of cold so Wags and I decided to call it an early day due to fear of rain. Mr. Right and Plunger headed to the next shelter, but we're planning on meeting back up with them soon. We were welcomed at the shelter by the famous (or infamous, depending on your point of view) Baltimore Jack. He's a legend on the trail, and has apparently thru-hiked multiple times. We chatted for a bit and then he took a nap. We also met some cool folks out doing section hikes or thru-hiking the LT. We had a great night by the campfire, and I got a lot of reading done. It's REALLY cold though, and I'm guessing the temperatures are going to dip into the 30s tonight. BRRRRR.
Date: 2009-07-15
From: Goddard Shelter

To: Stratton Pond Shelter
Miles today: 19.3
Weather: few clouds

SHIVER ME TIMBERS! 42 degrees at 7:30am. Gangsta was not thrilled to be moving this time of day, but I was. Wags, Knee High (a guy thru-hiking the LT) and I headed out into the brisk morning and checked out the view from the firetower on top of the mountain. It was GORGEOUS! We looked down onto the tops of Hemlocks spreading out for miles. It looked liked Santa's vacation home! We also spotted a moose track a few miles afterwards, and some mystery poop that may or may not be moose scat (it looked like very large rabbit poop). We made it up and over Stratton Mountain, and down to the shelter. The day warmed up as we hiked, and we had a good conversation going for most of the day getting to know Knee-high.Tomorrow we're headed into Manchester Center where Rainman's (a fellow AT hiker) mom is picking us (Wags, Mr. Right, and Plunger) up and taking us to her home for some trail magic! We're very excited!
Date: 2009-07-16
From: Stratton Pond Shelter

To: Manchester Center
Miles today: 10.7
Weather: broken clouds

Why was Gangsta up at 5:30 am?? Mozzies, that's why! They buzzed in our ears all night, biting at our faces and ripping away our flesh (ok, that might be an exaggeration). Plunger and Mr. Right were anxious to get to town, and since I was awake and saw Wags stirring I figured I might as well pack up and head out. Knee-high joined us, and we marched into town, fairly hungry. We saw lots of HUGE moose tracks but no moose (one day!).Wags and I decimated a pizza in about 3 seconds, we possibly loitered for about 3 hours outside of the shopping plaza, and now we're thoroughly enjoying the hospitality of Rainman's family.Wags and I rocked out McDonalds, and there was lots of hustle and bustle in the fast food joint. During a lull in customers, I overheard the manager quoting stats regarding the average time it took to serve customers. Everyone cheered and clapped when he said, "Drive thru, 42 seconds." And it was so strange to me. Most of us wear watches and are aware of time while we're in the woods. And we try to enjoy ourselves and get the most out of our adventure. However, in the "real world" it seems that time is a commodity that is precious in a different sense - a lot of people seem to spend a lot of it discussing how they don't have much of it. And it seems like the less time you have available, the more prestigious you are (not always). And I absolutely don't get it. We are all gonna be stone cold dead one day, and I don't think half of what we worry ourselves about is going to amount to a hill of beans.
Date: 2009-07-18
From: Manchester Center

To: big branch selter
Miles today: 16.5
Weather: light rain

7.18 manchester center to big branch shelter 16.5 miles tentwe spent a glorious zero day with the fox family yesterday. Theirhospitality and generosity was amazing! Like all other zero days,though, it ended and we headed back to the trail. Before we left ahabbeatboxed for us - he's this years trail days talent show champion.we hiked up bromley mountain where i decided that if i was ever superposh and had twins i'd name them stratton and bromley. I will never besuper posh. We enjoyed some great trail magic from fire who we alsomet! Mr. Right, plunger, wags and i are all tenting next to big branchriver. I was hoping to read some more of my book but my headlampbatteries died. Bummer! Gonna break out the ipod and watch sex&thecity...
Date: 2009-07-19
From: big branch selter

To: clarendon shelter
Miles today: 16.9
Weather: overcast clouds

7.19 big branch to clarendon shelter 16.9 miles shelteri'm going to forgo my normal trail banter for something a little moreentertaining:last night wags and i pitched our tents approximately 4 feet apart.Plunger and mr. Right were nearby. At midnight i awoke to what ithought was a mouse crawling on the outside of my tent - my butt waspushed out a little and the creature crawling on it startled me. A fewmoments later i was surprised to hear wags say, "g?" "yeah wags?!""oh good, thats you walking near my tent." "no it's not!!" a startledand scared silence ensued. Then i said, "i think a rat was justcrawling on me..." "G, this thing is way too big to be a rat........okit's gone." silence. "oh shit wags, its right next to my head! I canhear it. Shit! My headlamps dead. Omigod! Omigod! Its right here!" iyelled this as i fumbled with my ipod, hoping to use the screen as alight source. When i finally managed to push the right button thenoise had stopped. I frantically shinned the ipod, scanning My vestibule hoping to see the culprit. Or maybe hoping not to.Suddenly the masked bandit popped its head under my vestibule. Istared into its beady eyes and my mind flashed to the story of therabid skunk that bit early bear, haunting stories of this creaturestenacity and rancor, and sheer terror trembled through me, echoing outmy throat in a blood curdling scream. When i looked back, the raccoonhad disappeared. Mr right appeared moments later - "g are you ok?""yeah...will you make sure the raccoons gone?" "sure.   hey g, yourplatypus is over here." the raccoon unzipped my brain, rummagedthrough my gear and ganked my platypus. It took an episode ofsex&they city to put me back to sleep.
Date: 2009-07-20
From: clarendon shelter

To: Pico Camp Shelter
Miles today: 12.6
Weather: few clouds

Ah, Killington. We climbed up this badboy today. It's the highest peak in Vermont on the A.T. And you know, the climb wasn't too bad. Wags, Mr. Right, Plunger, Loon, Dom (Loon's manfriend), a L.T.er (long trail) named Bono, and I enjoyed some nice beverages and snakes at the shop on top of the mountain. Then we took a free gondola ride down and back up again. It was a gorgeous day with a gorgeous view. Vermont has been amazing!We're camping at the Pico camp shelter, and there's a resident porqipine that lives nearby. Needless to say, I'm hoping to avoid any encounters. We've also been passing a lot of ATC conference attendees, and there's one particular group we keep seeing. They're really nice folks, but I have yet to get their names.
Date: 2009-07-21
From: Pico Camp Shelter

To: Stony Brook Shelter
Miles today: 13.8
Weather: overcast clouds

We parted ways with Loon, Plunger and Mr. Right today who are neroing. We're hoping to see them again in Hanover. I don't think I've detailed these folks, so here it goes! Loon is a fellow trail journaler (she seems really popular with tj readers!) who lives in Portland, Maine with her boyfriend Dom. She went to Bates College and works for an environmental firm. She's really funny and has the most intense sense of smell, EVER. Plunger is originally from South Dakota and a few other places, but has been living in San Fransico for the past few years. She's into theater and works as both an actress and a teacher. She's my first theater friend! Most of the drama folks in high school were a little odd, but she's really cool! Her and Mr. Right also have a trail journal. Mr. Right grew up in the same town in Mississippi as my friends Boss and Adam (a small world!), but has also been living in San Fransico for a few years. He's hoping to make it as a writer one day, when he's not busy saving G from raccoons. He has a great sense of humor, and I really enjoy his company.Today we past where the L.T. breaks off from the A.T. - Maine Junction. It was exciting to see the word "Maine" written on a sign in the woods without 301559 billion miles next to it. We also swung by the Base Camp Outfitters - they were AWESOME! We ran to the shell station to resupply, and I met a guy named Matt who thru-hiked in '03.Of course it started raining again on our way out of town, and it rained all the way to the shelter. Yuck. I finished "My Sister's Keeper" and fell asleep.
Date: 2009-07-22
From: Stony Brook Shelter

To: Woodstock, VT
Miles today: 13.7

The rain stopped this morning, but it did pour down all last night. It was great to be in a shelter packed full of folks all finding a reprieve from the constant splatter. But it's also a little stressful when you have 10+ people plus their wet gear in an 8 person shelter - I never want to be in anyone's way, but I also have this deep-rooted (I blame you, Daddy) need to have my things all in order, aligned, organized and accounted for. I am slightly anal, I cannot lie. I'm working on it. So when everyone else started moving at 6:30am, I laid in my bag until 7:15 and waited for folks to head out. It was great to just chill in my bag and chat a little before scrambling to pack up my stuff.I was not feeling it today. Wags and I have talked about our mental state of mind throughout the trip, and for the majority of Vermont I was definitely focused on the present. During the mid-Atlantic portion of the trail, I daydreamed about Katahdin every hour, on the hour. In Pennsylvania, it came on the 8s. Every since we crossed into my current favorite state, I've really enjoyed where I am, when I am. Maybe it's the weather (it's been sunny, with the exception of yesterday, for 2 weeks!). Maybe it's the uniqueness of my surrondings. Maybe I'm finally confident with my ability to make it to Maine and no longer feel the tug of uncertainty dragging me up the trail. Regardless of why, I've been feeling pretty good...until today. I realize that, just like everyone else back home, I go through emotional ups and downs on the trail. When I'm feeling blue at home, I can curl up in bed and read a book, play with my pups, crawl onto the lazy boy with James, etc. Here, I just hike and think, and marinade in blues. And basically, I just have to feel blue for a day or two, let it work itself out, and then I'm back to being gangstarific. So I put my ipod on, jammed to silly music, wrote Plunger's name in moose poop (yes, I used my hands...) on the trail, got shocked by an electric fence (to be honest, I consciously grabbed the thing for some idiotic reason...I do things like hat), ate a pint of ice cream, and got over it. We tented in the Quinn's yard, rinsed off in the creek, and enjoyed a super chilled evening, just me and Wags. It was really serene and laid back.
Date: 2009-07-23
From: Woodstock, VT

To: Happy Hill Shelter
Miles today: 16.6
Weather: light rain

Our last full day in Vermont!! WOW! I can't believe tomorrow we'll be hiking into New Hampshire. I've only been to NH once or twice to go cross-country skiing. Rein it back in, G, focus on today...I had yet another animal encounter, this time a lot milder. I told a rooster he looked like a cross between a ewok and a gremlin, favoring the gremlin a little more. He literally jumped me 30 seconds later. I screamed and it clucked away. I'm telling you if there's a critter around, I'm gonna have some sort of beef with it.We said goodbye and thanks to Daniel Quinn, and headed up the trail. Within 1/4 of a mile I felt the urge to stop. Wags waited a little ways down the trail while I took care of business. As I was filling in my cat hole, something caught my eye. An older gentleman was stopped in the trail and was looking my way (hint: that's a socially awkward way to respond when you see a backpack sitting on the side of the trail). He offered me a banana. ??? We sashayed the next 7 or so miles in about 4 to 5 hours. I have NO earthly idea what took us so long, but we've since talked to other thru-hikers who mentioned that stretch of the trail was challenging for them, too. We met Leebo who attempted a thru-hike this year but had to get off the trail due to injury. We also passed a few southbounders (SOBO'ers). Now, I'm not trying to hate on anybody or feed into stereotypes, but I have to say this: sometimes stereotypes exist for a reason. A few of the SOBO'ers we've met have been totally cool. But a lot of them are....birds of a different feather. A little more isolated, a little more quirky, etc etc. Most of the time they seem odd, but harmless. A few encounters have left me checking over my shoulder from time to time. Strange birds migrating south this time of year.We finally arrived at the shelter tonight and shared it with Jim and his son who are out for the night. Jim is going to finish the Vermont section tomorrow, completing the state. Wags and I watched an episode of S&tC, I jammed out to music, and then past out. Tomorrow -- Hanover!!
Date: 2009-07-24
From: Happy Hill Shelter

To: Hanover, NH
Miles today: 5.8
Weather: light rain

I'm only happy when it rains... I've heard a couple of '03'ers say that '09 isn't nearly as rain-filled as '03, but I'd like to know how exactly they would know that if they're not currently thru-hiking. Regardless of who is the bigger badass for withstanding the most rain, it has rained a LOT this year, and no one can deny that. Town, laundry and shower after EIGHT days was more than enough of an inducement to get me rolling this morning. This is the 4th time we've gone a week or more without a shower/laundry. I guarantee that will probably be the aspect of thru-hiking I will be happiest to do away with when this baby is all said and done.We're even more excited because Loon's boyfriend's (Dom) mom's (Linda) best friend (Betsy) has opened her house up to us, and is offering to let us zero with her on Saturday. Wags and I didn't even have to talk about it when we heard the voicemail - we just squealed like pigs in mud! Betsy's son thru-hiked in '07, and their house is RIGHT on the trail. We're very excited to stay and meet these wonderful folks! Wags and I hiked 3.5 miles in just over an hour. The rain has a way of making your feet move a lot faster than usual. So do the thoughts of a shower and clean clothes! We unknowingly past Betsy's home, crossed into New Hampshire when we went over the Connecticut River bridge, and made it to Hanover which was super exciting. Hanover is home to Dartmouth College where the likes of Robert Frost, Dr. Seuss, and Stephen Colbert studied. EXCITING. We stunk up the streets for a few hours - we ran into Moonwalker, Skittles and No Nails. Then we saw Stone, Freeze, Motor, Sir Richard, David, and Coal (the dog). We went to the Brick&Brew where we got our free slice of pizza and I drank 22 ounces of beer and got drunk at 11:30 am. Then we sauntered over to the post office and checked our mail. I had a lovely package from Julie, one from James, and FIVE letters: my Baka, Kerrie Anne, Peaches, Grey, and Crystal all sent me letters! The postal worker said I've gotten the most letters this season. That was a great feeling! Wags received two packages from trail journal junkies, one from the Kellers in Mississippi and one from Tim "Soup" Campbell. They were full of delicious goodies and inspiring letters. Wags also received a couple more packages, one from her friend Lilli who enclosed a wag-bag. I thought it was an emergency blanket at first, and I guess that's not too far off.We met Dom's parents tonight - Linda and Bernie - who cooked a delicious meal for us. Her friend Pam, Pam's son Ben and his girlfriend Maggie also joined us for dinner. We had a great time chatting and enjoying the company of folks we never would have met had we not decided to pursue our individual crazy dreams of hiking from Georgia to Maine. Linda also does massage therapy as a hobby and gave us all a massage. HEAVEN! Tomorrow we're zeroing. Zero is another word for happiness. And Sam I am.
Date: 2009-07-26
From: Hanover, NH

To: Moose Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 11.0
Weather: light rain

We said bye to Betsy and Bill, officially waved bye to Vermont and headed into New Hampshire. We did the 11 miles, and to be honest I can't really remember a lot of it. The hikes are definitely blending into one another. And I wasn't even drunk or anything! Go figure....Wags, Loon, Plunger, Mr. Right and me are all enjoying the shelter, a nice big campfire, the Big Mac poster plastered on the inside of the shelter (haha, very funny), and an impromptu bang photo-shoot. We're having a blast!We have 430 miles to go as of today - or, 4.5 weeks. In a very literal sense, I feel emotionally retarded. I can't wait to see James, my friends and family and be home. I definitely miss the land of cicadas, lightning bugs, and whip-poor-wills. On the other hand, I don't want to say bye to Wags and the rest of the trail community. I love how easily we meet people out here, and how friendly most folks are. I don't think I'll have such an easy time building a community around myself anywhere else besides the trail, but I know there are great folks everywhere so hopefully it'll be ok. I think I'll be on a roller coaster the next few weeks - both literally and emotionally. The Whites are coming up!I also have been meaning to give a shout out to Little Tree's dad - Wags and I were both super excited when you signed our trail journal, but we didn't get your email address so we couldn't write you back ourselves. We noticed Little Tree's entry's in the trail registers back in North Carolina because her handwriting is SO awesome! We're excited every time we see her name in one. I hope she's had a great hike, and I'm guessing she's probably wrapping up her hike pretty soon. Take care!
Date: 2009-07-27
From: Moose Mountain Shelter

To: Hexacuba Shelter
Miles today: 17.7
Weather: broken clouds

Moose Mountain has an open-air privy. That was an experience.Communing with nature has never been so....refreshing.While taking a break today, a couple of day hikers came by with theirGerman Shepard on a leash. He was excited to see us, but the ownerskept him on leash and kept hiking. I guess they let him off the leashafter they past, because he came barreling down the trail, straighttowards me. "Oh, shit, here comes another TJ story," I thought.Nope, he just wanted to give me a little kiss on the cheek, and thenhe ran back up the trail. I think June had something to do with it.We came across a sign on the trail that advertised free water and icecream. Being thru-hikers, we automatically hooked a left withoutdiscussion. We came to Bill's home. Bill is an older gentleman wholikes to take stats on AT hikers and gives us free ice cream bars andwater. The five of us noticed a croquet court set up, and Billchallenged us to a game. We had a BALL playing croquet for an hourand a half. Bill was amazingly hospitable, and seemed to thoroughlyenjoy our company. He would make a WONDERFUL grandfather, and I hopehe has some grandkids somewhere. It was a great afternoon.We took our time climbing up Holt's Ledges, Smarts mountain where weenjoyed an awesome firetower at the top. I wish we could watch theBachelorette, but I'm secretly hoping Sandalwood will update me on thedrama again! Ok, I'm typing this after the 27th at a hostel, but theBachelorette is actually RERUNNING as I type this. OMG!!!Less than a month baby!!!