morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2019-08-03
From: Lost Pond Shelter 

To: Minerva Hinchey shelter
Miles today: 14.9
Weather: clear sky

Day 124The rain came quickly in the morning just before I packed my tent. It left quickly too, 20 minutes after I started hiking in the rain, the sun came out again. But I had to carry a wet tent for the rest of the day.I started hiking with ¢Stripe¢ who carried am American flag on his backpack. He proudly telling the hikers that at his home which is close to an airport, he hangs a huge flag so that every plane can see it.Before 10am, I reached road 10 where there were 2 trail magic going on. The first one was a guy from Syracuse area. His decorations were also  very cute with colorful tablecloth,lots of toys, and flowers. I ate a lot of food there, including 2 fried eggs, some potato, a sausage, two large pieces of bread, and 2 pieces of watermelon. A short distance later, another group of local people also setup trails magic to cook full breakfast and lunch. I only took a few pieces of gummy bear candy and took a picture of the set up.In early afternoon, the trail passed an area with large boulders. People put many rocks on top of the boulders for the balancing art work. It looked cool.After a hard climb in the afternoon, I was ready to set up tent and settle for the night. A group of young Boy Scouts cooked too much food. So each hiker at the shelter shared their bean and rice burrito. Consider this as the third trail magic for today!
Date: 2019-08-04
From: Minerva Hinchey shelter

To: Copper Lodge
Miles today: 14.1

Day 125Big climb was expected today for going up to Killington Peak. But before that 2200ft climbing in the afternoon, there was a steep walk going down to a gorge, then climb back up about 700ft in the morning. This plus some minor ups, made the total elevation gain for about 3700ft for today. It turned out all was manageable. Even though it was steep, there was hardly any big rocks to negotiate on the route. So I just took baby steps to get it done. Along the way there was a nice view point to look at the Rutland regional airport. It was fun to look at it from one ridge, then went around, climb up a hill and look at it from another angle. The creeks in the gorge was very clear and happy too. There was quite a few of bridges to cross today. The bid boulders in the creeks were nicely rounded. The final 2200ft climb was mostly walking through the roots. Lots of roots, live and dead trees roots, along a narrow pathway on steep slopes. I had the company of young ¢Orange¢, chatting along the way. So time passed quickly. Before we stopped for a break, we were already only need to climb less than 500ft!There were also two trail magic today. One was in two coolers at a road crossing. Cool soda and cookies were satisfying for my energy needs. Then a guy with a truck was doing trail magic yesterday and today at a later road crossing. Thanks for all nice treats!After I reached the Cooper Lodge shelter near Killington Peak, I was informed that the water source has dried up there. Two young boys told me there could be water at the peak lodge. I climbed the 0.2 mile spur trail to the peak. The views wowed me. At over 4200ft, on large rock bed, all mountains in 360 degrees view were lower than where I was standing. Late evening sun lit the rocks a soft yellow gleaming color. I walked to the peak lodge, but after searching for half hour, I found no place to get water. However, the views were still worth the effort to get up here. On top of the peak, there were 12 NoBos sitting here waiting for the sunset. Some of us might be go together all the way to Kartadin. This thought made me smile.PS: I uploaded more sunset pictures on Killington Peak. Check the photos pages.
Date: 2019-08-05
From: Copper Lodge

To: Stony Brook Shelter 
Miles today: 16.3

Day 126It was pretty cold last night and this morning. I can feel the nippy air from north. When I started hiking, I wear three layers. Since there was no water at the shelter last night, I had only 4 oz of water left this morning. So I didn¢t cook breakfast until I reached a stream 20 minutes into the hike. It was fun to cook and ate a hot meal on the trail side. Especially at a place carpeted with hemlock dry leaves and velvet cushion of mosses. A few miles into the hike, I saw a stone marked 1700 on the ground. Here I have completed 1700 miles of A.T.. Yeah!Even though climbing up to Killington Peak yesterday was steep, coming down from it today was more gradual. The real hard work was in the afternoon after the trail passed Thundering Falls. It helped that I had a big ice cream cone and a can of sugary lemonade at Gifford Woods State Park before climbed the Quimby Mountain. I don¢t know how many peaks are on this mountain. It felt one after another, and another, and another. When I reached Stony Brook shelter, I was tired, so was my trekking pole. The new one that I bought in Damascus was bent when I accidentally stepped on it, the old one that I brought from home had hardly any tip left. Time to shop for a new pair of poles.
Date: 2019-08-06
From: Stony Brook Shelter 

To: After Dana Hill
Miles today: 16.3

Day 127Recently I have been more and more aware how obsessed hikers are with food. Not all types of food, but food cooked by a human, less processed, or naturally edible, such as fresh fruits. I observed this not only on other hikers behavior, but also on myself. Yesterday in the Gifford Woods State Park, a camper offered me two peaches. He said that I could eat one at that time, and carry another one with me. I ate both on the spot. The peaches never tasted so good. Secretly I wished he could gave me more. If he gave me five, I would have ate them all on the spot! Through out my hike, especially in warm weather, I craved for watermelon the most. Any trail magic that had watermelon, believe me, I wanted to kiss the trail angels for that. Being said this, a hiker would also walk extra miles in order to reach a restaurant or a farm stand for the cooked food and fresh produce. As of today, the guide book said that ¢On the Edge¢ farm stand is only 0.2 miles from A.T. crossing a road. Every hiker I had met today planned to go there. Unfortunately, it was not open today. When I learned this information, I was disappointed so much that I felt my stomach sank. When I told other hikers about this, I can see their expressions as the news sinking in: disbelief, denial, sad, maybe a little bit of anger, then withdrew. Everyone¢s dinner plan was ruined! Fortunately, there will be another farm market open tomorrow 6 miles further at another road crossing. This thought lifted everyone¢s spirit. It was amazing to see and realize how our humans life depends on food and controlled by food. It is built into our DNA. We just can¢t help it. Hiking for many months had robbed our easy access to home cooked meals and fresh tasty produces. So our body naturally reacted with cravings of them. For today¢s hike, it was mostly small ups and downs with a few hundreds feet couple of times. Some were steeper than others. But all were not too bad. Trail conditions were also nice, little mud and little rocks. A few places were blocked by broken trees where I had to go around. The next a few days look like similar profile as today. I call it calming eye center before we reach the vortex of the White mountains.l
Date: 2019-08-07
From: After Dana Hill

To: Happy Hill shelter 
Miles today: 15.1

Day 128It turned out that the Cloudland farm market was a disappointment. They only got some jerky and one flavor of ice cream. Their restaurant is for reserved dinner only. However, on the trail at one road crossing earlier, a yellow sign pinned on a tree led me to A.T. thru-hiker in year 2016 ¢Firefly & Loon¢¢s back porch. They bought this property 2 years ago, only 100 yards from A.T.. on their back porch, they stocked lots of goodies, drinks, hard boiled eggs and fresh fruits for very reasonable prices. I got my sweet watermelon, chocolate milk and a cheese stick for $3.50. Relaxed on their nice porch, overlooking their beautiful yard with many colorful flowers and nice vegetable garden. A swallowtail butterfly danced in their day lily patch while I was eating the watermelon. This was a pleasant treat for today.In the afternoon, the trail led me through a town of West Hartford. There¢s a nice river in the town. Many people were swimming in there. A sign announced farmers market for today. There was only one guy selling a few vegetables. He was the only vender in the farmers market. A village store was closed for good, and the church looked very sad too. I really hope the town can do better.In late afternoon just when I started to climb the last hill for the day, a shower brought thunders and rain. If you have not hiked in a shower in a forest before, you really missed something in your life. In a thunderstorm the forest becomes dark and quiet, a little bit prohibitively fearful, but full of energy and excitement. The only sounds you can hear are the roaring thunders and rain drops. As you walk through the forest, all the green leaves become wet and shiny, looked cleaner and greener. You could see small fragile salamanders wandering out to get as much moist air through their skin as they can. You might discover all colors of mushrooms, white, yellow, orange, red, brown, black, or even green, eagerly pushing out through the moist soil. The rocks would be also wet and shiny, remind you to be careful for the slippery surface. But their colors would be more intense, Black would be more dark, white would be more bright. By contrast, the green mosses would be greener.  For the best part if it is a fast moving storm as today¢s was, in a short time, the Sun would be breaking out and having patches of golden light shine on the wet leaves. So next time when there is a shower, don¢t run back home, take some rain gears and go for a walk in the woods.Today was my last full day in Vermont. On a hill under a big apple tree, there is a bench. The following words carved on the bench:¢VT Relax and Enjoy¢. It summarized all of Vermont, it¢s been great in Vermont Green Mountains.
Date: 2019-08-08
From: Happy Hill shelter 

To: In the Woods outside of Hanover 
Miles today: 6.5

Day 129It drizzled last night and this morning. I walked the last 5 miles in Vermont. In the moist air and trail, I noticed there were many orange spotted salamanders. I started to count them. There was 3 miles of forested trail. I saw 31 salamanders!  They were really out there. Please slow down for them. They looked so cute but helplessly fragile. In mid morning, the trail went on Elm street in Norwich, VT - the last town in Vermont. It was so hiker friendly. Many homes had hiker trail magic boxes and coolers at the drive entrance. Chairs, candies and drinks were provided. It rained hard when I was there. So I only stopped for a piece of candy. But I had a good breakfast break in Blue Sparrow Kitchen while waiting for the rain to go lighter. I didn¢t have more time to visit other side of the town. But along the street where A.T.  is part of it, I can see this is a town with lots of history and charm.Before noontime, I crossed the bridge over Connecticut River. The VT/NH state line is in the middle of the bridge. Now, Vermont is done, New Hampshire, I came!It was busy on the road that led to Hanover, NH. Traffic, road construction and houses construction all go on here. The town of Hanover was nice and hiker friendly. For $5 I got a shower and laundry done in their community center, which also serves as a daycare center. The people on the street and in town hall were all very nice to hikers, helped me with directions and restaurant choices. I wanted to spend some time in the art museum. But after I did resupplies shopping and sorted out all the stuff I washed and bought, it was too late for the museum. I only had time to have a dinner with two fellow hikers in a Thai restaurant before go out of the town for camping.Just by a soccer field at the edge of the town where the trees concealed everything from the hustle bustle place, I found a nice spot to set up my tent. Sweat dreams accompanied by street noises.
Date: 2019-08-09
From: In the Woods outside of Hanover 

To: Lyme-Dorchester Rd, Skiway
Miles today: 18.4

Day 130This was the first full day in New Hampshire. My original plan was going into the woods for 5 days, then check into a hostel. But I met two hikers and they asked me to join them for slackpacking. So today was a slackpacking day.I walked 0.8 miles back into downtown Hanover. At the post office the hostel driver picked up my heavy backpack, leaving me, ¢Brave Heart¢ and ¢Cowboy ¢ with only daypacks. We walked into the forest, light as if we can fly. A few hills later, we had walked 9 miles. They walked much faster than I did, so that I always lagged behind.  It was nice to have some accompany, and some one close by to take pictures. We also admired NH¢s trail signs. They were just cute and clear! By 5pm we came to a road and find our driver has been waiting for us. There were lots of discussions on the slackpacking. At the end,we decided to go back to backpacking way.
Date: 2019-08-10
From: Lyme-Dorchester Rd, Skiway

To: Mountain Cube
Miles today: 13.0

Day 131Back to backpacking style today. It will take two days to reach the next hostel. It was on the cold side, great for hiking and literally bug free! I loved it. We got a late start since ¢Brave Heart¢ needs to return her tent from post office. So we only started hiking after about 9 am. In a couple of hours we started to climb Smarty Mountain. It was steep on the upper side. Still manageable. At a point there was a great area with boulders on trail. It was open views. The first boulder field was sunny, rolling clouds formed dramatic forms. The second boulder field had many blueberry shrubs. The berries were small but very tasty. By the time I reached the third boulder field, it started drizzling, only for a few minutes. On the top of Smarts mountain there is a fire watch tower. On the windy top, I could see the mountains after mountains, layers of green, blue and grey, in all directions! An old fire Walden ¢s cabin had converted into a shelter for hikers. On the way down from the mountain, I think I found the rabbit hole fit for Alice in the wonderland. And I saw a fuzzy green puppy (a tree trunk covered by a layer of green mosses) waiting patiently for its master to come back home.In the afternoon just before we reached the intersection to Hexacuba shelter, a shower came rapidly. It was a very cold shower. Within a few minutes my fingers numb. We decided to hike another 1.6 miles to stay on top of mountain cube to watch the scenery since the showers were predicted short live. It was a hard climb with many boulders, slick and wet. Slowly we pushed near the top while admiring the power of the rolling clouds on the ridges. Before we could reach the top, it was getting late. Time to stop going and settling down for the night. In the deep forest, I am rested and grateful for the views and the fine hiking day whilst my wet clothes were put aside. Sweat dreams.
Date: 2019-08-11
To: NH 25 - Hikers Welcome Hostel 
Miles today: 13.2

Day 132I had a late woke up at 6:30am. By the time I hit the trail it¢s already 8:00am. It was chilly. Everything was still wet from last night rain. My wet pants and socks felt cold. It was like going back to the wet days in April. When I got to the top of Mountain Cube, the views were incredible. White clouds spread in the low valley like a white river. Rain washed sky and mountains peaks were clear and clean. I breathed in the cold air, felt my soul renewed. A sign at the top says it is only 2909 feet. It definitely felt much higher with surrounding mountains were lower, the clouds were very low and the temperature was also so low.Then I got a long way down followed by more ups and downs for the rest of the day. But there was no difficulties. Near Mt.Mist, I met many kids doing a 17 miles hike over big Mt. Moosilauke. Even with the long and hard hiking day, the kids were in good spirits. Some of them looked like less than 10 years old, super boys and girls. I was very impressed.Checked in at Hikers Welcome Hostel after 13 miles hike. The staff even fixed my hiking poles! I also liked their outdoor shower and restroom with all the hot water plumbing but rustic outdoor setting. Great place for hikers.
Date: 2019-08-12
From: NH 25 - Hikers Welcome Hostel 

To: Notch Hostel 
Miles today: 9.5

Day 133Last night stay in the Hikers Welcome Hostel was nice. ¢Buffalo¢ the staff in there was so helpful that he fixed both of my trekking poles - changed a new tip on the black diamond, replaced the bent section on the other. The outdoor plumbed shower and restroom were also cool. But sleeping was not too good since some hikers kept walking on the squeaky floor all night long.I am officially in the Whites now! And I reached 1800 miles marker! Today I climbed Mt. Moosilauke - the first above tree line mountain peaks in the Whites. I teamed up with 3 other hikers, going north to south to be on the safer side since the large rocks in the north side of the mountain were steeper and wet year round. Some places there are wooden blocks installed, some had hand rails too. As we climbed up, it was strenuous, but less scary. I can picture the hikers coming down, looking at the path almost vertically downward for at least 50 to 80 feet with only wet wooden blocks for footing with nothing to hold on. I would have go down that mile on my butt all the time! When we were at the top of that section, we met ¢Doc¢ and ¢Champy¢ - two NOBO thru-hikers we had seen earlier. ¢Champy¢ just had a fall on the rocks. His leg was bleeding. It was lucky that he didn¢t get hurt more seriously.In about 3 hours we reached the treeless top of the mountain. All of a sudden the trees became short and gnarled. Branches grew longer in the windward direction only. The harsh cold wind stunned their growth. Large piles of rock canine marked the trail to the wind swept summit. Even in a summer sunny day, I felt more comfortable to put on a fleece layer and a windbreaker with the hood on. The Summit offered stunning 360 degree views of mountain peaks, river, lakes, and forest below. The landscape reminded me of the Wild West - alpine peaks in Colorado and California. I felt home on there.At the summit, many hikers enjoyed their world. We took turns to take pictures with the summit sign post. Even this was a Monday, there was still a short line for picture taking. One guy was doing ¢50 at 62¢ challenge. He¢s 62 years old, need to complete 50 miles of mountain trail run within 24 hours. A group of his friends were there to support him. He was steaming when he came up to the summit, wearing only a pair of shorts! The down hill from the Moosilauke was relatively easy. There were one mile gentle slope that also goes to the south peak, followed by 1.5 miles of steeper but not challenging trails, and the rest of strolling grade back to the trailhead. All done before 2:30pm. A first rewarding and beautiful day in the Whites.
Date: 2019-08-13
From: Notch Hostel 

To: Notch Hostel 
Miles today: 0.0

Day 134Took a zero today in Notch Hostel and went to North Woodstock and Lincoln, NH. The two little towns are connected by a sidewalk, separated by hwy 93. They are resort towns for winter snow sports and summer hiking and river activities. ¢Brave Heart¢ and me walked the 2.5 miles stretch for both towns, exploded the shops along the way. We did resupplies shopping, went to multiple outfitters, and watched Hobbs & Shaw action movie. The little town of North Woodstock has a very efficient government. In one small building housed its police department, town offices, clerk/tax collector, and the library. At the Roadside rest graveyard, a beautiful poem was written as shown in the picture. It¢s the most heart touching poem I have seen.
Date: 2019-08-14
From: Notch Hostel 

To: Kinsman Pond shelter 
Miles today: 11.4

Day 135Perfect backpacking day in the Whites today. I left Notch Hostel¢s cozy house at 7 to start the hike. It was very steep right from the mountain Trail head. Before I left the hostel, I weighed my backpack, it was 33.5lbs including camera. Gee, it was heavy for the Whites!Off we go, me, Brave Heart backpacking style, another lady, slackpacking style. From Kinsman Notch, it¢s steep but easy going with steps. Then good trail for couple of miles. When we near Wolf Mountain climb, it¢s steep again with lots of mud. That slowed us down. We got to Eliza Brook Shelter just past noontime for a lunch break. There were many creeks near the shelter with nice water. By this time the slackpacking lady had gone ahead of us long ago. For the next 2.5 miles, the trail was easy climbing at first, but about a mile before Kinsman south peak, we met with lots of boulders which I need to use both of my hands to pull me up. It was exhausting with a heavy pack. But at the same time, it¢s definitely not boring. I kind of liked it. Some places were steep. Many times we felt we¢d done more than 0.8 miles, we found out that we only progressed about 0.3 mile! Finally we pulled ourselves up to the south peak, exactly 2.5 hours for the 2.5 miles. The views on the peak was nice, but not as spectacular as on Moosilauke.From South Peak to North Peak was mostly flat and easy. Only the last 0.1 mile was steep and rock scrambling. Then it was the dreaded down hill part. We had to butt slide a few times. Also it was taxing on our legs and knees. Finally we reached Kinsman Pond shelter just before 6:00 pm, leaving us no desire to push to Loonsome Lake, 2 more steep miles down hill from the shelter. The water for the shelter is a pond. It was murky and brown, looks very unpleasant. But after filtering or boiling it was okay, without any odd taste and didn¢t make me sick. Setting up ZPacks¢s dueplex tent on wooden platform was tricky. With a few tries, we were settled. At the shelter I met a guy 70 years old. He had decided to go home. After the hard 1800 miles, he had enough. I thought the fun just began.