morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2014-06-30
From: MA 23

To: upper goose pond
Miles today: 19.1
Weather: light rain

We got up, ate doughnuts like you would and got ready for the day. We piled all our stuff in the car and got back to the trail. The trail went immediately uphill to beartown mt and to the ledges. I hoped the ledges were going to be awesome but it was a little anticlimactic. It was pretty rough past the Mt Wilcox south shelters and stayed rough for a while. Then it was down over a couple gravel gravel roads and down to a nice campsite with good water. I watered up to get me to main rd where i hoped for trail magic from a friend. Cobble hill was unexpected and seemed much bigger than the guide showed. At main rd we hung out and waited for a while, took a nice nap under a shade tree, and ate some snacks. It was getting to the time that we had to get going so i found out joe was running a bit late. We made plans to meet him at the next road crossing. It was good to see him for a bit and drink his drinks. We planned on staying at upper goose pond and joes map showed a road that went near it so we hoped we could meet again there. It turns out that there is no road so i didnt get to see him again. Thanks for the drinks buddy. We covered the last 5 miles in a couple hours and made our way a half mile off trail to the cabin. Its a really nice place that has canoes, swimming, tent platforms, and picnic tables to eat on. There is quite a bit of room to sleep inside in bunks but i as usual opted for my mobile home. I tented next to mobious, it was the first time i have seen him for a while. Hes a nice ex mason. I swam in the pond to clean off and rinsed off my clothes too. Its nice to be next to a pond the size of a lake. Im hoping to have that happen a lot more on our way north. I ate a nice dinner of rice, beans, and ramen. Then it was off to bed. It was a good day and a fairly easy 19 miles. I slept with my rain fly off so i could look up at the sky and ponder whats going on up there. I also listened to the mass turnpike only a mile away. I have thought about crossing over that for more than a day now. This will be a big moment for me tomorrow. I fell to sleep listening to traffic and small wilderness animals scrambling through the leaves. What more could a fella want?
Date: 2014-07-01
From: upper goose pond

To: dalton, ma
Miles today: 20.6
Weather: clear sky

With hopes of getting to dalton by 4 to watch the united states soccer game we left early. I was on the trail just after six. I thought i was avoiding some of the heat but it was already humid out. About a mile into the hike i passed over the mass turnpike. It was pretty cool. All the times i have driven under and read the sign that says appalachian trail, i always thought i would like to walk that. Today was the day. It was also the first day of the fourth month on the trail. After the tpke was the biggest hill of the day. I got to the top of becket mt just in time to see the last dry spot on my shirt disappear. Then it was a walk around finerty pond, a big adirondack looking pond with big rocks around the edge. I noticed beavers have been chewing away at the trees but didnt see any. Its nice to see the big bodies of water and the animals that hang around them. Usually there is at least a heron fishing. We met up at october mt shelter for a quick break and a snack. The terrain looked perfectly flat on the guide for about five miles. It was not exactly flat but there were no big ups or downs and there was plenty of roots to walk over. The worst was the black flysthat love to seem to buzz right in front of your eyes. They have been getting worse and seem to like landing in your eyes as of late. They were driving me crazy. I was glad to get to the cookie ladys house. Shes a trail angel that gives hikers cookies. You can also buy sodas, klondike bars, and hard boiled eggs. I had two sodas and three eggs. It was a nice break from the bugs. There was nine miles to get to dalton and we had four hours to get there, should be fine. We then set out on a death march 6 miles to the kay wood shelter. Half way there i saw moose tracks in mud on the trail. I was real surprised to see moose prints in mass but i found out after that there are a fair amiunt of moose in the area. We took a quick break at the kay wood and got ready for the last three miles. It went by quickly. The worst was when we walked out into the sun a few times at the end. It was like being in an oven. Thank god we were in the woods for the hike. Thru the day it got hotter but at least the humidity went down. The last of the day was a hike into town. We made it to the shamrock inn, got drinks, showers and headed to jacobs pub to watxh the game. There were six other hikers there to watch. The game didnt go that well but we had fun regardless. Then we walked to a gas station to get ice cream to finish the day. It was a good day as they all are. Two more short days till i take a zero. Looking forward to fireworks. Though i dont feel like i need a day off it will be nice to get all my gear cleaned and ready for the final push north. Maine seems like its getting so close even though we still have 620 more miles to go. Im gonna ponder that while i digest ice cream.......
Date: 2014-07-02
From: dalton, ma

To: cheshire, ma
Miles today: 10.1
Weather: broken clouds

Today was originally going to be a short day so we hit the local diner for breakfast before heading out. It was so hot that we were getting sweaty just walking back to the hotel room with no packbacks on! This eats at my mental stability. I can just picture my fat crying as i hike down the trail, i dont want that. If anyone said, 'lets zero', i would have in a second. Nobody spoke up so we headed out. We had a little trouble following the trail thru town but manages to find our way with only a little retracing our steps. The first three miles when back in the woods was all uphill, yuck. Im not gonna harp on the heat anymore because im sure its getting old but just let it be known that i wouldnt mind fifty degrees. I was glad to get to the top and head downhill to cheshire. Thankfully i crossed a couple streams to get a drink from and to splash water on my face. My filter is running very slow these days even after flushing it, not sure what im gonna do about that. Anyway thats down the road. As i dropped down to town i came to the cobbles, thats a marble outcropping that overlooks the hoosic river and over to mt greylock, beautiful. Then the last few miles down to town. The first thing you pass is dianes twist, an ice cream store. Luckily it was time for lunch so we all stopped for the feed. We all went in twice and it was good each time. Then bad noises came from over the hill and dark clouds were coming our way. Loopers phone gave an alert for hail in the area so we talked about changing our plans. We had planned on another five miles today with a ten mile day tomorrow to meet loopers wife. We decided to go to a pizza store to see what the weather was gonna do. The weather wanted to rain while we were eating. There was a church in town that lets hikers sleep on the floor and use the bathroom. That was definitely an option. We walked back to the church to check out the situation. There was nobody there so we walked in. There are two rooms for us to hang out in and a huge room with tables for to sit at. Also there is a ping pong table for us to play with. We played some pong while it rained, looked like we were staying as the rain came down harder. The church was so quiet and nobody was there to give us the lay of the land it was erie. A few more hikers came in out of the rain for the night. We took a walk back to the pizza store for dinner and then back to the church for to settle in for the night. Everyone was in bed by 8:30 which was nice but a cement block building with cement floors is very echoey. So think about the gas hikers have, now think about echoey. Yup it was pretty funny for a while. This short day left us with about 14 tomorrow, no biggy. It was gonna be an early morning so it was of to sleep feeling holier than i have yet on the trail. In god i trust.
Date: 2014-07-03
From: cheshire, ma

To: MA 2 hoosic river
Miles today: 14.7
Weather: scattered clouds

We were on the trail before six with a big ol climb up mt greylock in front of us. It was about six miles to the first place it levelled off before greylock. There were a couple nice lookouts over the low lands that had clouds settled down in the valley. I hoped that would stay that way for the top of greylock. We made our way up to the summit by ten to beautiful views. The tower is not open yet but the view is still great. We got drinks and ice cream from the bascom lodge. The lodge is pretty fancy and would be a great place to stay. There were a few people staying there but no other thru hikers only drive uppers. We moved on about 10:30 with about six miles to go. Not far from the top there was a snapping turtle in the trail, strange place for a snapper i thought. Why would he be on the highest peak in Mass? I asked, he didnt say, so i hiked on. From there it was mostly downhill and most of the downhill was steeply downhill. We made good time down the trail and got to the road by 12:30 and mrs looper was there and waiting for us with a car that had air conditioning! Shes a nice lady as i expected and took us to mc donalds for lunch, mmmm. Then it was off to lenox to our hotel room. We settled with the usual ritual, spread out everything and take showers. Then it was a short walk to the grocery to load up on food for the room. We both got enough food that it was a test to carry it all back to the hotel. Its pretty nice when you dont have to buy food based on weight. For the rest of the night we laid around and snacked on food while watching a marathon of cops. When i had enough of americas worst i switched it to beverly hills cop, eddie murphy never gets old. Its nice falling asleep knowing that i have all day tomorrow to get things in order for the trail. With my mind at ease i look forward to celebrating the birthday of the united states.
Date: 2014-07-04
From: MA 2 hoosic river

To: MA 2 hoosic river
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: few clouds

Today is a vacation day for to celebrate the fourth. I slept in till 8 and really didnt do much since it rained all day. Literally all day. Around ten we walked over to burger king for breakfast and to cvs to pick up a couple things. Then back to the room to watch the history channel for hours with my feet up. They were doing the history of the US from start to now and was pretty good. I wish i knew more about our history. Today was the most zero of any zero i have had yet. We went back out for dinner with mr and mrs looper with a stop at friendlys for ice cream on the way back. After that with my full belly i caught up on my journal and now gonna put my pack together for tomorrow. Should be fresh as a daisy when i get back to the trail since the weather is cooling off greatly. I cant wait to breathe the fresh air of VT!
Date: 2014-07-10
From: governor clement shelter

To: vt 100 killington vt
Miles today: 13.9

My original plan for the day was to get to killington, get some resupply at the little market and make a few more miles. New plan was to get there and find a olace to stay to dry out. Newest plan, my friend pam was in the area so i would hang out with her for a while and get a ride to where i needed to go, perfect. From the start it was a cool clear morning, perfect for a hike up killington mt. It was over 2000' up to the summit. I took some really cool sunbeam oictures on the way up the mt and when i got to the shelter on top i took the side trail to the actual summit. The side bit is only. 2 miles but its a rough .2 miles but also well worth it. The views were perfect with blue blue sky amd some big white puffy clouds moving by. Back on the trail i made my way down the other side. The trail isnt bad but muddy from all the rain. I had had enough of wet feet, all i wanted was to get them dry. It was a long drop down to vt 4 then a hill to climb over before the end of my day. On the way up the hill i got to the maine junction, the point where the LT turns off the AT, only AT from here on out. As i got down to gifford woods state park i heard rumor that pam was already there so i went up to the headquarters to find her. I saw her car so i waited there and talked to a couple hikers that gave me some good scoop. They said there is a bus from rutland to killington that costs two bucks and they told of a good diner to eat at. I thought i would be staying near killington which does not have a lot of options but rutland is bigger with more amenities. Pam came along with her dog jake and we rolled over to rutland with my info. We ate at the yellow diner that was great. Its a diner run by the Simon the Tanner group, i should look it up but i think they are the 12 tribes. I like their style, kind of a commune i think. I have been to a few of the stores they have and its always a good experience. Then i got scoop from a local on a good cheap place to stay. I got a room for 65 dollars! As pam brought me to my home for the night i noticed a gas station right across the road, sweet. I would be abke to walk right across the road for treats and drinks. I said good bye to my friend and thanked her for lunch, took a shower and did laundry before i went for snacks. They had enough choices that i pretty much resupplied there. The only thing i can say bad is that there is no hair dryer in the room, hope i can get my boots dry. I noticed red spots on my feet from being wet for so long, better to nip that in the bud. I lay in bed watching mission impossible, what more could a fella ask for.
Date: 2014-07-13
From: hanover, nh

To: trapper john shelter
Miles today: 16.6

My sis and i got up and took advantage of the motel breakfast of cereal, waffles, fruit, muffins, and coffee. I ate all i could to minimize food i would have to carry for the day. We then drove to town to get groceries and resume the trail. There is a grocery in hanover but as it turns out its not open limited hours and has not much for food. They were closed but it didnt really matter because, after peeking in the window, we found out they sell primarily beer for the college kids. Ok, plan b, resupply at the gas station, im flexible so i can figure out something to get me thru a couple days. I got what i needed and we got things underway. We hiked out of town and back to the woods. Vik was gonna hike with me for a bit then head back. We walked and chatted which was nice. I dont get to see my sis that often so its good to catch up on whats going on with each other. Its easy to fill her in on what ive been up to, i walk nearly every day. We walked about 5 miles when we found a nice spot for lunch next to a stream. When finished we said good bye and took a selfies, possibly a bothie since it was a pic of both of us. Poor vik got a little lost on the way back due to someone painting white blazes on a side trail. She did make it back after asking someone where to go. It was a good few miles until my first hill of the day, moose mtn. After moose mt, where i saw no moose, it was a big drop down the other side. The bad thing is that when you you get to the bottom you will certainly have another hill to climb. In this case it was up to holts ledge. I was about 3/4 of the way up the 1000' climb when i saw something in front of me. It was a stone wall up here, how in the heck did people make a stone wall up here? No, the better question is why? When i see things like this i realize how easy i have it on this trying journey. Most of the stones were way bigger than i could pick up and these old timey folks somehow brought them over to the wall then stacked them up neatly. That kind of thing blows my mind. I trudged the rest of the way up the hill without a wimper. Due to my long day yesterday i could do a short day today and i was going to take advantage of that and stop at the next shelter. I got to trapper john shelter without seeing any nobo hikers all day but my friends cornwall and cowboy were there. That surprised me, i thought they would have been further ahead. We talked for a bit then i set up camp and climbed in my tent as it started to rain. I had my clothes hung up but it didnt look like they were gonna dry but maybe they would get a nature wash. I was happy to stop a little early since i was tired from being up so darn late last night. The second most important thing on the trail is sleep, the most important is food. I never have a good hike after sleeping not enough. I listened to the pitter patter of the drops on my mobile home and faded of to dream. Funny how i live the dream then fall asleep and dream, pretty fancy. Thanks again to my big sis for the trail magic.
Date: 2014-07-16
From: kinsman notch

To: kinsman notch
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Taking a zero now was welcomed. It had been 11 days without even a short day. With the white mtns on the horizon a little rest was a good idea. We went and did laundry, got groceries, and drank coffee. The mountains surrounding Lincoln were beautiful this morning with low clouds surrounding the peaks. It was something i hoped the locals never take for granite, they are lucky to have this on their doorstep. Then we took a little ride to check out the area. Thats one bad thing about the trail is that you dont see the whole towns and their outskirts because you dont have the transportation. Many of these towns are quaint american villiages that we dont get to explore but thats part of the journey. Then we picked up a couple fellow nobos that needed a ride back to the trail. Dozer and u-haul are brothers on a thru hike that i have not met yet. They are nice guys that have had a few set backs that they have pushed thru and kept going. U-haul jist finished his last antibiotic for lyme disease. They still had good attitudes and were still positive. We got them to the trail and gave a soda and wished them luck. Then we drove up rt 118 looking for a moose. Locals said that was a good place to see one, we didnt see one. Back to the room ma packed up as she had to get back home. She left about 2:30 to get back before dark. I typed up some journal entries and slipped over to the gas station for a box of cereal and milk for breakfast. Then i watched vh1 best songs of the 2000's. I miss music so i liked hearing all the songs. I did bring my i pod with me but it seems everytime i wanted to listen to it, the battery was dead. I sent it home with ma, no need for dead weight. So, feet up, everything ready to hit the road again i just needed to rest, more is better. Anxious to get myself into the big whites tomorrow. More beauty lies ahead, cant wait to get there!
Date: 2014-07-25
From: south arm rd

To: south arm rd
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

The original plan was that cindy was going to hike for three days with me but now it was going to be two days to get to a road that we could hitch back to her car so im taking a zero, a much needed zero. I can feel myself getting rundown and tired and really not wanting to hike for a day. We did the usual day off things, went to breakfast, bought food, did laundry, and rested. I can admit that i didnt want to do much but take a nap. Even driving around checking out the sights was more energy than i wanted to expend. We did take a little drive later on and went to dinner at the mill hill inn, the food was amazing! It is a casual place with high end food reasonably priced. Then back to the room to get things packed for the morning and a day of hiking. I was glad to go to bed, still feeling like i needed some more sleep. With an easy day behind me and a couoke of shorter days in front im sure i will be ready for the final push to the finish.
Date: 2014-07-26
From: south arm rd

To: campsite
Miles today: 12.2
Weather: overcast clouds

We got everything packed and all loaded up in the car and were off to andover to resume the trail after a quick breakfast at the little red hen diner. I got the hungry hiker breakfast, what an amount of food that was. Exactly what a hiker wants. We got to the trailhead and were on trail by ten thirty. The first bit was going to be the hardest for the next two days. A 2000' ascent of old blue mt. Shortly into the climb we met a trail maintainance crew building a new set of rock stairs. We chatted for a bit, thanked them for their work and carried on about the day. The hill was a long steep climb but we made the summit. We had some good views from the top but i have become something of a view snob, unfortunately. At this point i have seen this kind of view many many times so i kinda look and think thats nice. By the top of bemis mt we were slowing down so a break was in order. With good views we took a sit down to refresh. From there it was mostly downhill to the campsite we hoped to stay at. We passed the bemis mt leanto and clumb the bemis mt second peak. Second peak? Yup thats what its called but its not really much of a peak. Its mostly exposed rock making for good sight seeing. We had two more miles and it was 6 o clock so i rallied the troops and we made our way down to the river. Downhill is tough for a non thru hiker with a pack, especially with lots of roots. It was a slow steady drop down to our site. There was nobody else there and it was a wonderful tenting spot with lots of flat ground. Peopke are really missing out by staying in the shelters. We set up the tent that is only a two person tent but seems like a mansion to me. If it wasnt two pounds heavier i would definitely carry this till the end. I got water from the stream and started dinner. While eating we heard a bunch of grunting off in the woods. I thought probly it was a bear. It carried on for a while while we ate and it solidified my thoughts to hang our food. There was not many good options for the rope but i found one and got things hung safely in a tree so nothing would steal it. Then to bed in this spacious tent. Wow, how the other half live!
Date: 2014-07-28
From: ME 4 Rangely

To: mile 1966.5
Miles today: 1.0

Yup, you read that right, 1 mile. We got up and packed up most of my stuff. Then caught up on my journal. Cindy had to leave by ten to get back hime but a friend of mine was in maine and coming for a visit. We went for breakfast before cindy left and then headed back to the room to wait for mike to show up. Cindy left, i continued to type away until mike and karla kellogg showed up. They came on their vacation to help me with whatever i needed and to do some trail magic. First we took a ride to look for more moose with no avail, then to the grocery to get lots of sida and sime fruit for the magic. Mike bought 36 sodas, a bunch of bananas, and a sack of apples for the hikers. We left them off at a road cross. It had been raining since the morning and was still coming down, i didnt want to set out into the rain. Not to mention i had just gotten my boots dry. I only wanted to get ten miles in today to shorten the hike to caratunk for my next resupply. 70 miles was too far for three days. Well we road around for a while and finally it was time to get out in the rain. I really didnt want to but the kelloggs had to be on their way too. They left me off at the trail and i set off into the woods. It started to really come down and i thought, what am i doing getting soaked when the next few days are going to be good weather? I vowed to stay at the first good spot for my tent and thats what i did. Exactly one mile from the road i set up my house and snuggled in for the night. I was in my tent before five with nothing to do but listen to the rain and thunder, but at least i wasnt getting any wetter. I decided to plan the rest of my hike. I laid it out with a zero in monson and an extra day in the 100 mile wilderness to look for moose. Then i turned off the lights knowing i had to make up those ten miles i didnt hike today. No worries, im a thru hiker, thru hikers can do anything right? I hope so. Glad to be inside, glad to have good friends, glad the lightning was not that close.