morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2016-06-25
From: Goddard Shelter

To: Kid Gore Shelter
Miles today: 4.3
Weather: clear sky

Slept late this morning so didn't get up until 7:30 and left camp at 10:00. We filtered water before we left because we didn't want to have to stop along the way today. The spring here had very cold water and we wanted to take plenty with us. In .3 mile we were at Glastenbury Mtn. fire tower. The view was magnificent -- mountains in all directions. It was a short day today and we wanted to wash out some clothes when we got to the shelter. We arrived around 2:45 and met 2 thru hikers (Dr. Trail and Blue Bandana). Snailblaze was already here. We got a great campsite even though sites were scarce. We are on the side of a hill all by ourselves.We cooked dinner at the shelter with about 10 other hikers. Everyone is doing different sections and spending different amounts of time hiking...it's interesting to hear what everyone is doing. The people definitely make the trail what it is!!
Date: 2016-06-26
From: Kid Gore Shelter

To:  Black Brook Campsite
Miles today: 7.3
Weather: clear sky

Got up really early...6:30 but still didn't get on the trail until 8:30. Today was an easier hike and we got to the shelter at 1:30 so decided to hike further so we could get closer to Stratton Mtn. base. That will make tomorrow's hike up the mountain easier because we won't have to hike to the base...we'll already be there. Found a nice campsite next to Black Brook and put our feet in the water. Felt so good to get out of our hiking boots and into cold water. Snailblaze is here with us (across the brook) as well as 3 Long Trail hikers. The Long Trail follows the AT for at least half of VT then the Long Trail heads for Canada and the AT for NH. We're covered with bug bites -- from mosquitos andblack flies. Yvonne has 3 blisters on her feet but I've been lucky and haven't gotten any yet. It's kinda ironic because she's the one who suggested a new way for me to wrap my little toes so I wouldn't get blisters. We'll try toe sleeves for her tomorrow. I'm beat and Yvonne is already asleep so will close for now.
Date: 2016-06-27
From:  Black Brook Campsite

To: Stealth Campsite - 1640.1 mi
Miles today: 7.4
Weather: broken clouds

Left campsite by 9:00. Had a .9 mile walk to the base of Stratton Mtn. Took us over 3 hrs. to climb 1700 ft to the top. Had lunch there and talked to the caretaker who lives at the top. I was looking forward to seeing the big bear statue we had seen when we day hiked several years ago but it was .7 mile off the trail and that was too far when we had so much distance still to cover. The statue commemorates where Benton Mackay got the idea for the AT.   Finally had a cell signal so called Mom. I walked up the fire tower. It was so cold and windy that I didn't even take any pictures.   The view was spectacular. We hiked down in 2 hours and it sprinkled all the way down.We stealth camped .3 mile before the shelter because it looked like it was going to pour and we wanted to get the tent set up before the heavy rain started. We were ready for the rain by 4:30 and thankfully it never came. Spent several hours in the tent because we didn't want to undo all the precautions we'd taken. Had a good nite's sleep.
Date: 2016-06-28
From: Stealth Campsite - 1640.1 mi

To: Spruce Peak Shelter
Miles today: 8.2
Weather: broken clouds

Started hiking at 8:15. Got to Stratton Pond which is a beautiful lake soon after we started hiking. The terrain was fairly easy today but the temps were warm so made for uncomfortable hiking. We had 8 miles to do and pushed on until we did it.Ran into Snailblazer this afternoon...it's always good to see her. We pitched our tent on a platform tonite because rain and thunderstorms are expected again. Met a natve Hoosier who tentrd right next to us (mr. Nzature). His wife is providing support for him and she may give us a ride to town to resupply and zero tomorrow. Another trail angel!!!
Date: 2016-06-29
From: Spruce Peak Shelter

To: Manchester Center, VT
Miles today: 2.8

Today was a short day since we're going into town. Mr. Nature's wife, Susan, gave us a ride into town. She was kind enough to take us to the post office to pick up our dropboxes and then she took us to two places looking for a motel. Thanks Susan!! We ended up at the Chalet Motel. We walked into town to do laundry and pick up some supplies. We ate at Subway -- yum yum. Spent the rest of the day drying out the tent,etc. from the rain last nite. Our room is very large and we are the only ones in this building which is an annex across the street from the main motel, very quiet and private. It feels great to sleep in a soft bed.
Date: 2016-06-30
From: Manchester Center, VT

To: Manchester Center, VT
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Today was a zero day. We went back to town which is probably a mile walk one wayalong a 2-lane highway. It is very hot walking on or beside asphalt but we didn't have any luck hitching yesterday so we just stuck out our thumbs a couple of times and then just walked. When we were a little over half way there a man stopped and asked usvif we wanted a ride so he took us to the post office and offered to take us back tp the trail tomorrow. Trail angels are wonderful -- thanks Phil. We took care of a few more chores and headed back to the motel and relaxed for the rest of the day. Back to the trail tomorrow.
Date: 2016-07-01
From: Manchester Center, VT

To: Bromley warming station
Miles today: 3.0

Today we headed out of Manchester Center at 9:45. Philip picked us up at the motel and took us back to the trail. Thanks to Trail Angel Philip! We hiked 3.0 miles to the top of Bromley Mountain. The climb wasn't too hard until the last .3 mile where it went straight up. We stopped at Bromley Shelter to get more water because there's no water on top of the mountain. That made the climb harder with the weight from a full food supply and the extra water for today's and tomorrow's hike.They are predicting hail, thunderstorms and there's a tornado watch. Sky is getting darker so we'll see what happens. The shelter is a warming hut for the skiers so we're fully enclosed.
Date: 2016-07-02
From: Bromley warming station

To: Peru Peak
Miles today: 7.1
Weather: few clouds

The weather forecast was mostly correct. About 6:15 it rained with thunder and lightning and hail. It rained off and on most of the nite. So glad we were inside. Today it was windy and cold all day. We wore our rain jackets to keep warm while hiking. This is 4th of July weekend, isn't it?   Most of the country is probably hot, but not us. We left at 8:15 and the wind was so strong on the mountain. We ate lunch at Spires Peak with a beautiful view. Walked thru lots of mud today and slippery rocks and roots. Spending the nite at Peru Peak Shelter in our tent.
Date: 2016-07-03
From: Peru Peak

To: Stealth campsite
Miles today: 7.5
Weather: light rain

Left camp around 9:00 and in 1/2 mile passed by Griffith Lake. It was beautiful and we wished we had camped in that campground instead of at the shelter. Soon after we had walked for 30 minutes and Yvonne saw blue blazes instead of the white ones that signify the AT. We backtracked and found we'd missed a turn and went about .5 mile out of our way, which meant 1 mile total because we had to walk back. It was a nice trail just going in the wrong direction.We had lunch at Baker's Peak. It was a walk straight up boulders. We had a signal so Yvonne called home to wish Kevin a Happy Birthday (his birthday was yesterday but we had no cell signal).The trail this afternoon was a slight steady descent so our knees and ankles got a workout. We stopped at Lost Pond Shelter for a quick break then off to Big Branch Shelter where we had planned to camp. No one was there and there were no tentsites anywhere. We were exhausted but decided to hike on and find a stealth site. We had hoped to find someplace close to the road crossing or at the parking lot but when we got to the road there were at least 8 police and forest ranger vehicles. One sped away with lights on just as we came out of the woods. Guess we'd better not camp there. We asked what was happening and one officer told us it was The Gathering. We'd been hearing about this for a week but didn't know we would be close to it. We're not sure what kind of group it is, but seems to attract a lot of hippie looking people. The road was closed for 7 miles.We walked on and found a campsite and finally got settled for the nite. We didn't even cook dinner, just ate PB&J. We're beat and lokking forward to a good nite's sleep.
Date: 2016-07-04
From: Stealth campsite

To: Stealth Campsite
Miles today: 7.7

What a day! We left our campsite at 9:30 and had a pleasant hike for a couple miles. We walked by Little Rock Pond...one hiker was taking a dip. Then the trail changed. VT must be trying to challenge PA in the number of rocks. So we walked on rocks and roots most of the rest of the day. We stopped at Greenwall Shelter for the nite but found there was no water and we were almost out. That was .2 mile in and .2 mile back to the trail. At the end of the day that was no fun. We only had to go .7 mile further for water and found a canpsite by Bully Brook. We put out feet in the water and ate snacks for dinner because we were too tired to cook. Heard fireworks but didn't see them.
Date: 2016-07-05
From: Stealth Campsite

To: Minerva Hinchey Shelter
Miles today: 4.4
Weather: moderate rain

We got a slow start this morning because we were too tired last nite to filter enough water for hiking today. Started out at 9:30. We walked up Bear Mtn. which was a killer. It was hot and humid in addition to a 1100 ft. ascent. Finally made it up and back down. Hiked on and made it to the Minerva Hinchey Shelter. It was nice to get set up early and have time to relax. The water source is a cold spring...great to have cold water on a hot day. We met a nice couple from Boston who are hiking the Long Trail (Critter and Low Tide) and we enjoyed eating dinner together.We had some excitement tonight. We were in our tent getting ready for bed and we hear this loud crashing noise outside. We knew it was a tree falling but we couldn't see anything because our tent has no opening on that side. We just got out of the tent asap and saw it had landed a few yards from our tent. Sure sounded like it was coming thru the top of the tent.
Date: 2016-07-06
From: Minerva Hinchey Shelter

To: Rutland Vt
Miles today: 2.7

We were up and out by 9:00. We were headed into town for some much needed rest and cleanup. Only had 2.7 miles to the road and it was a fairly easy hike. Walked thru a pine forest which was easy on the feet because of the pine needle-covered trail. Hiked up just a bit to a rock outcropping which overlooked the Rutland airport in the distance and enjoyed the view. Got down to the road around 10:30. We had met a woman hiking over Bear Mtn. yesterday that offered to take us into town and she was going to text us her phone number but we never got the text so we started walking toward the Whistle Stop Cafe .5 mile down the road. We knew it would be closed today since they're closed on Wednesdays but thought there might be a chance of getting a ride since it's popular with hikers. No luck so we took a break and then kept walking. Another .5 mile down the road we stopped at Loretta's Deli and had wonderful sandwiches and sodas. The cashier said she was getting off in an hour and she"d be glad to take us to town.   A few minutes later she realized she had another obligation and wouldn't be able to take us so we started walking. Town was 4.5 miles and it was a hot and muggy day with no shade on the road or even a place to get off the road to get out of the sun. We weren't having any luck getting a ride so we just kept walking. I was very concerned about Rosie Red because she was getting overheated. Finally after walking a total of 1.5 miles a wonderful Trail Angel came out of no where and picked us up. She had been headed the opposite direction and had seen my frustration when we weren't getting a ride and turned around. There was road construction up ahead and it was very dusty and she didn't want us to have to walk thru that. Thank you Trail Angel!!! Rutland was a couple miles further so soon we were sitting in our air conditioned room at the Day's Inn. God definitely provided!We did laundry at the hotel, showered and ate dinner at the Taco Bell across the street. Rosie Red has recovered from the heat and so have I. We'll take a zero day tomorrow.
Date: 2016-07-08
From: Rutland Vt

To: Rutland Vt
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Decided to spend another day in town. Rode the bus downtown to Walmart. Then bought frozen food at the grocery to fix in the microwave for dinner. Dinner tasted so good...we had chicken, mac and cheese and broccoli, then ice cream for dessert.Set up a shuttle ride for tomorrow morning to get back to the trail. We're not going to try to hitch back to the trailhead. We are rested and ready to get going again.
Date: 2016-07-09
From: Rutland Vt

To: Gov. Clement. Shelter
Miles today: 6.8

Today was a busy one. Our shuttle ride (Rutland Taxi) dropped us at the trail at 10:00. it started sprinkling just before we got to the trail. We immediately went up a mountain and back down then climbed up Beacon Hill. Lots of slippery rocks and roots and mud.Ate lunch around 2 then the trail went thru a pine forest and crossed many streams. At one point we were walking on an island between two branches of a stream but we were up high so that we could hear the water on both sides but couldn't see it. The forest was eerie due to cloudy conditions. We almost needed our headlamps. It rained off and on all day.We had planned to stealth camp but decided we could make it to the shelter after all. There was a big fire going in the fireplace in the shelter but there were too many people so we pitched our tent. Had dehydrated macaroni, spaghetti sauce, pepperoni and veggies for dinner. Added butter powder to make the sauce richer. Tasted pretty good. It started raining just as we finished so we got in the tent and settled in for the nite.
Date: 2016-07-11
From: Clement Shelter

To: Cooper Lodge Shelter
Miles today: 4.3
Weather: overcast clouds

Woke to beautiful sunshine without a cloud in the sky. Took us a while to pack up because everything was wet, but we managed ro leave by 8:45. It was a long climb up Killington -- 2000 ft ascent however it wasn't too bad except Rosie Red wasn't feeling well so we took it slow. Lots of slippery rocks and in a couple places we had to just throw down the hiking poles and hug a tree to get over the rocks. We pushed on and made it to Cooper Lodge Shelter at 1:30.We set up the tent on one of 3 platforms and hung out our stuff to dry. The guidebook said there was a steep .2 mi trail up to the peak of Killington and Peak Lodge had a restaurant, so we decided to try to have lunch up there. Half the people we asked said there was no food up there and the other half said there was but we were willing to make the climb to find out. It was a very rocky, extremely steep trail but we made it up and found the Lodge and had a delicious cheeseburger, fries and a coke. Tasted wonderful!!! And we had a great view of all the mountains in the area. What a great place to relax and it was worth the climb. One of the hikers we met at the last shelter joined us just as we finished eating. He is called Hoover and is from the Chicago area. As we talked he mentioned that his hammock netting had ripped and asked if we had a sewing kit. I told him he didn't know who he was talking to since Rosie Red works at a theatre making costumes. To make a long story short she spent about an hour that evening sewing up his hammock and helping him reinforce it with duct tape. Boy was he grateful to have it repaired.Came back down and finished setting up camp. We have thru hikers on either side of us. One couple is NOBO and the other is SOBO. It was interesting and entertaining to listen to them give each other advice and tips about the sections they've already done.Here's the kicker -- we found out there is another trail to the peak. It goes up without rocks and follows a padded ramp.   Can't believe we took the hard way both up and back. We can say we earned that burger for sure. By the way, Rosie Red was feeling fine before we started up to the peak so she enjoyed the food too.
Date: 2016-07-12
From: Cooper Lodge Shelter

To: Churchill Scott Shelter
Miles today: 4.4
Weather: clear sky

We hiked down off of Killington today. It was a gradual descent and most of the puddles were just mud now.Hoover passed us up a mile before the shelter but he waited for us because he wanted a picture of us. I'm sure he figures we won't see each other again because he's going into town today.We waited until we got to the shelter to eat lunch. The guidebook said the water situation was not good but we found there was a piped spring with very cold water down the hill. So we stopped here (Churchill Scott Shelter) for the nite. We still had damp gear from when it rained a couple nites ago, so we put it out in the sun. Finally everything dried.We're camped on the only platform at this shelter. The tent sites are non-existent so other tenters are camped in less than ideal conditions. Glad we stopped early!
Date: 2016-07-13
From: Churchill Scott

To: Rutland Vt
Miles today: 1.9
Weather: broken clouds

We hiked out and made it to Rt 4 by 10:30. Since we'd been in Rutland the week before we knew how the bus system worked. We just missed The Bus (which will take you any where from Killington, the town not the mountain) to the bus station in downtown Rutland for $2. You just flag it down anywhere along Rt 4. So 45 minutes later we flagged it down and as Rosie Red started to get on the bus the driver asked her to wait until the hiker on the bus got off. We were so surprised to see Hoover get off. He'd been in town for the nite and was getting back on the trail. We said a quick hello and got on the bus. We rode to the terminal in Rutland and went to Subway for lunch then to the PO to pick up our dropboxes. Took the local bus to the Day's Inn for the nite. Showered, did laundry, went to the grocery store to pick up some food for dinner and rested our feet. We had a microwave and fridge in our room so we were able to heat up chicken tenders and ate cheese and crackers and a fruit platter with them. What a feast!
Date: 2016-07-14
From: Rutland Vt

To: Rutland Vt
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: few clouds

Rosie Red's ankle has had it. We've decided to get off the trail. She will hike with me next year to finish VT and hopefully hike Vermont and Maine.I plan to hike another section, probably CT and MA but will go to RI with Yvonne and regroup for a week or so. Will write again when I get back on the trail.Just an interesting fact -- when you hike the AT you hike the official miles which are calculated at the top of the journal entries,but you also hike a lot of extra miles off the trail going into town and getting to shelters that are .1 or .2 mile off the trail. So in addition to the 108.3 official miles we hiked I calculated the unofficial ones just out of curosity. It was a total of 14.7 miles...making total miles hiked in VT 123.0.
Date: 2016-07-25
From: Rhode Island

To: Pawling, NY
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Today was a travel day. I took the Amtrak train from RI to NYC and met Jot and Huck at Penn Station. We had lunch and they helped me get to Grand Central Station where I took a train to Pawling, NY to get on the trail. I'm hiking CT and MA next. Rosie Red wants to finish our hike in VT so I'll wait and do that later with her.I took a taxi from the Pawling train station to Tony's Deli where I camped overnight. I had almost finished setting up my tent when it started sprinkling and then it rained for an hour and a half steadily. Thankfully I was able to go into the deli and eat while waiting for the rain to stop. Everyone working at the deli was extremely friendly and helpful. There were 2 other hikers camping and they told us we could hang out inside until they closed at 11:30. We didn't need to do that but it was very nice of them to offer. The camping fee is only $2.There was only one problem   The campground site is bordered by train tracks on one side and a busy 2 lane county highway on the other. Needless to say I didn't get much sleep. The trains ran twice an hour and semis were downshifting most of the nite.
Date: 2016-07-26
From: Pawling NY

To: Wiley Shelter
Miles today: 5.7
Weather: few clouds

5.7 mi1448.7 to 1454.4It was hot here today just like everywhere else. Walked down the road to the Nature Gatden Center to buy a fuel cannister. They have an outdoor shower so hikers can rinse off. I opted to skip the shower because there was a worker watering plants nearby and I didn't feel comfortable but I did rinse off my face. The trail crossed the road and went thru some farm pastures. No tree cover and it was incredibly hot. I sure needed that shower later.Fairly flat today going thru Pawling Nature Reserve. Made it to Wiley Shelter by 2:30 so took a break from the heat and stayed put. A summer camp group arrived around dinnertime. They spent a lot of time trying to hang bear bags. They were also interested in my water filter. It was fun showing them how it worked. I didn't find out much about the group except they were 14 yr olds out for a 3 day backpacking trip. They were very well behaved until about 9:00 when they got a little noisy and didn't calm down until 11:30.
Date: 2016-07-27
From: Wiley Shelter

To: Campsite
Miles today: 9.5

9.5 miles1454.4 to 1463.9Slept in until 8:00 and hit the trail by 9:30...yes it only took me an hour and a half to pack up rather than the usual 2 hrs!!!The hike started out going thru a nice area that reminded me of IN state parks. I met a hiker coming toward me with the news that every hiker likes to hear...there's trail magic ahead. So I was on the lookout. When I got to the NY/CT border the trail crossed a road. There was a problem though because there was no blaze or sign telling me which way to go. So I turned left and started walking. Got to a road crossing in about 1/4 mi. I knew that wasn't right because the guide pages didn't show that road. I did find a map in my guide pages that showed walking on the road going to the right so I walked back and found a blaze a little ways beyond where I came out of the woods. Why there wasn't a sign of some sort showing which way to go baffles me. So I'm back on track but I figured I was too late for the trail magic. Not so...a fw minutes later I saw a big yellow sign saying Trail Magic and an arrow pointing to a parking lot. John and James (father & son Trail Angels) had bacon, egg and cheese sandwiches. I'd just eaten breakfast so I drank a cold bottle of water and visited with them for 1/2 hr snd sat in the shade. They were switching over to hamburgers and hot dogs for lunch but I still wasn't hungry but certainly appreciated the ice cold water.Started off again and stopped at Ten Mile Shelter for lunch. Filled up 2 1/2 water containers because it was so hot. Fell today but it was just a hard sitdown and fell backon my pack so no damage done. Had planned on staying the nite here but it was only 1:00 and I didn't want to waste the afternoon. Kept walking by Ten Mile River then the trail changed. It was a tough climb up Schaghticoke Mtn. There was nowhere to camp and the next campsite was 5.5 mi away. I had wondered if there would be anywhere to camp but what I didn'expect was all the streams were dried up. So when I arrived at the campsites the big stream there was also dry. I had a little water left but not enough to cook dinner. So I had peanut butter crackers and dehydrated strawberry applesauce. I was so tired and hot I didn't even care.The most interesting thing about this camp was the privy -- it had no walls. It was just a john sitting in a clearing. I was camped with 2 male hikers and one of them said we needed a warning system. We were all so tired we didn't do that   I never ran into either of them so everything was ok. We all were in our tents by 9pm and then at 9:30 someone comes in camp and starts setting up and pounding in stakes and making lots of noise. What was he thinking??