morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2016-07-07
From: Denning Hill Ledge

To: Random Tentsite
Miles today: 23.0
Weather: moderate rain

Why is it so hot? The air is so thick and stagnant, and it feels like it takes some extra effort just to breathe it in. Ew! Simmer down summer! We met Rainbow and Old Hiker on our first water break of the day. It seems we're in a weird off-bubble where we don't see many people at all and definitely don't see many people we know. It's weird! After our water break, Verge and I felt really light headed and a little nauseous and were a little worried about the effects of the heat. We continued on, however, and started to feel a little better. It helped even more when it rained! Then Old Hiker gave us his untouched bag of trail mix because he had too much weight in his pack and was trying to lighten up! At first, I was hesitant (we have a lot of food weight too), but then I saw how very different his trail mix is from ours--yogurt covered raisins, raisins, dark chocolate m&ms, honey roasted peanuts, chunks of dried pineapple, and most importantly, starburst jelly beans! I thought I didn't really care for jelly beans but oh man was I wrong! I love them! (Starburst ones). They're amazing and I want to eat them all! Mmmmm! (Our batch of trail mix was just almonds, plain peanuts, and some m&ms, so you can see why his was so enticing...thank you for the trail magic trail mix Old Hiker!)So it rained on us all day. Rain, rain, rain. It even picked up at one point and was ominously dark and thundery, and it began to downpour. Awesome! I love hiking in a downpour. There's something so therapeutic and relaxing about it. I couldn't stop smiling. The sun even poked out for a bit to attempt to dry us off (it didn't really work). We got to the RPH shelter and after a quick snack we continued on to try to make it to the Morgan something shelter. We didn't quite make it because we don't like hiking much past 8:30pm and we were tired. Tomorrow will just be a big day too I guess!
Date: 2016-07-08
From: Random Tentsite

To: Wiley Shelter
Miles today: 20.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Rough morning. When we unpacked last night, everything was wet. So, yes, I love hiking in the rain, but it certainly has its drawbacks. My sleeping pad was soaked, which got my sleeping bag soaked when I slept on top of it, my shoes were soaked, my socks were soaked, my bag--soaked, and, of course, my clothes--soaked. As we packed up, we had to pick off DOZENS of slugs off the tent. Ew.Thankfully, none of this messed with my mood very much. I was happy. It was less hot and there was a slight breeze--improvements!On our first water break, we met Mr. Wizard and Salty and saw Scarfoot. Scarfoot and Mr. Wizard were just passing through, but we had a nice conversation with Salty while we downed the last of our trail magic trail mix. He's a very interesting and friendly fellow! It was nice chatting with him in the sunshine by the railroad tracks as we filled up on our suspect bog water. As Verge and I hiked on, we talked again about buddies we'll meet up with in Massachusetts and how excited we are for zeroing with our grandparents in NH. I think we're about 290 miles away from NH, which means we'll hopefully get there the last weekend in July! We'll see! So exciting! We also saw the biggest oak on the AT (Verge pictured above standing next to it.) Later, we were passing a road when we heard someone call to us; its Jingle, Sweets, and Wheels! Finally caught up to them! Yes! That was a fun surprise! We all hung out at this cool, hiker friendly "native landscaping" place (which had Klondike bars for sale mmmm). I'm an ice cream fiend these days! I actually even was almost on a five day streak! Pretty impressive for being on the trail! We were originally heading to the Ten Mile River Shelter, which would coincidentally be (just under) ten more miles, but Sweets suggested we have the post office move our box to the outfitter so that we wouldn't have a time constraint. Smart Sweets! She then, therefore, convinced us to just go to the Wiley shelter with them, which would only be 5.6 more miles. Okay you win Sweets!I enjoyed my mushroom flavored Knorr rice side (a little on the salty side) while chatting with Jingle, Sweets, Wheels, Salty, and this guy who just started the trail today! He was a riot! His pack weighed 65 lbs and he had at least 10 pairs of socks, 7 changes of clothes, and a blow torch! (Among many other things he will not need). It was so fun to see him on his first day and think back to my first day. I also met Dreamcatcher, Rambo, Honeybuns and saw Scarfoot again. Lovely night, a little mosquito-filled. Excited for entering New England tomorrow! I'm comin for ya Katahdin!
Date: 2016-07-10
From: Stewart Hollow Brook Shelter

To: Toy Maker Cafe Tentsite; Fall River, CT
Miles today: 18.0
Weather: clear sky

Verge and I had a bit of a grumpy morning with having to pack up the dirty, soaking wet tent and getting a late start. We were rubbing each other the wrong way and there was just a lot of negativity, so thankfully, we had a mini fight (which helped us up a steep mountain) and worked it out. We had a mixture of scattered showers and sunshine in the beautiful green forest, but it was still so humid and everything we own is wet and stinky. It seemed like overnight the terrain changed. All of a sudden we both could actually tell we were in New England. We know this land! It's familiar and wonderful and filled with pine needles, wet rocks, roots, and hills! Today was difficult, but we were both so blown away by the fact that we are really here. We're in New England! What's even weirder is that we'll be in Massachusetts tomorrow! We will have really done it: hiked from Georgia to home. Crazy. 700 or so more miles to go! People keep saying, "you're almost there!" But, even though there are only four states left, it will be the hardest terrain yet, and it's still 700 miles! When I think back to my first 700 miles, I remember how long it took! I still have a long way to go. Good thing too! I don't want this adventure to end!We were planning on hiking up the mountain to the next shelter, but I got a text from my friend Mountain Goat telling me about this cool place in Fall River (0.3 off trail) where we could tent behind this cafe! Sounds good to me! There's even an outdoor shower nearby! Verge and I made our way to the shower (and it was wide open so we just kept our clothes on and did a quick refreshing bronner's rinse--with a little pert for our hair--and BAM good as new) then made our way to town to find our buddies! There they all were in this cute backyard: Mountain Goat, Princess Peach, Wheels, Jingle, Sweets, Great P, even Chicken Feet! It was fun to regroup and hangout. It's so nice to have a little bubble to be in because I think back to a lot of people I've met and how far apart people can get. Verge and I were at Woods Hole Hostel near Pearisburg and met Endless and Terrible Lizard, both of whom we really liked, and now, Endless just finished the trail and Terrible Lizard is just getting out of Pennsylvania! Crazy to think about the difference. I feel very lucky to be in my bubble of wonderful people, though I do really miss people from earlier in my trip as well (Commando, Packrat, Lil Santa, Lucky, Wook, Beast, the Goon Squad, part of Quest, etc.) Anyway, in summary, I'm happy to be feeling so close to home. I can't wrap my head around the fact that I'll be in Massachusetts tomorrow. I love my friends. I'm forever hungry. Excited for better weather and less rain. Good night!
Date: 2016-07-13
From: Great Barrington, MA

To: Shaker Campsite
Miles today: 17.5
Weather: clear sky

We took a while to leave. Who wants to leave a cool hotel room with a shower to go out into the humid heat of the world outside? We do, I guess. I shamelessly asked a nice lady and her daughter who were walking out of CVS if they were driving the direction of the trail and if they would give us a lift if it wasn't a hassle. The mom seemed hesitant, but the daughter was totally gung-ho, so they drove us! The daughter was so sweet and asked lots of questions, and I found out she might go to Umass next year! The mom started to warm up to us and relayed that she'd never driven strangers before, but by the end, you could tell she liked us and was glad she helped. Too cute!It was almost noon by the time we started hiking, and it was disgustingly hot. I sweat a lot. It's probably healthy, but it's darn gross. My stomach also wasn't feeling top notch because of the heat, the Thai, the wine, and gummy bears. Odd mixture. Not pleasant. You know what fixed it right up though? 8 liters of water and 17.5 miles of hiking.We hauled our butts to camp to get there before dark and saw Whitecap and Braids! They're so sweet; it's nice to run into them. We also met a newby section hiker out for a couple days. The mosquitos were horrid. Beyond horrid. Ick. Take cover!
Date: 2016-07-14
From: Shaker Campsite

To: Cookie Lady's House
Miles today: 21.0
Weather: clear sky

Saw a bear while getting water this morning. Amazing watermelon trail magic--unexpected and delicious!We also ran into a cool trail stand with drinks and food you could buy cheaply.Massachusetts is wonderful; it's just very hot, humid, and mosquito-y. The terrain is nice but is sometimes difficult because of the frequent ups and downs, but it seems we just power through them because our bodies remember what New England hiking is like (though not very fast and definitely dripping with sweat).It rained on us later in the day. It really came down, actually. When we finally got to he Coolie Lady's house, it had stopped but we were soaked. At first I was confused because no one was around, but soon after, Marilyn (the cookie lady) came out with a couple cookies and told us where we could tent in her yard. Awesome!Later, my mom visited! She took us to Walmart for a couple things we needed, brought me my shoes from home, brought Verge her new shoes/shirt/bra, and brought me my new I.D. Yay for superhero moms! Verge was in desperate need of all three things. Tired!
Date: 2016-07-15
From: Cookie Lady's House

To: Cheshire Church Hostel
Miles today: 19.0
Weather: light rain

Late start from the Cookie Lady's house (10:30ish); got into Dalton in the afternoon and ran into Mountaingoat, Great P, and Peach who were doing a near-o day.Verge and I were getting a lunch at Cumberland Farms (first Cumby's of the trail!!) when we met Rafiki, who knew dad! Always fun to meet his friends. I then hiked alone and jammed out to music all the way into Cheshire. Fun! Got to the church hostel where there was a geocaching event just finishing up; they were nice enough to give us their leftover pizza (and I've been craving cold pizza! Yum!) I saw London Jack, met Odie, and also a couple sobos. When it started storming very badly outside I got worried about Verge stuck in the downpour, so a very nice geocacher guy from Dallas offered me a ride to get her! It worked out perfectly with timing, and we rescued her! (She was already soaked though.) We somehow got a room to ourselves and wnt to bed happy. I'm so thankful for places like this. A roof over my head and some cold pizza and I'm one happy girl!
Date: 2016-07-16
From: Cheshire Church Hostel

To: Stealth Campsite
Miles today: 19.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Long uphill to Greylock!Everything smelled so good--it was like a mini Moosilauke. I love New England!!Cute though crowded top; construction on the look out tower. Boo.First view of our favorite mountain from home: Mt. Monadnock!My friend Nate came and did some amazing trail magic!He made his own pasta salad, cookies, fruit salad, and brought soda. It couldn't have been more perfect. It was so nice seeing a familiar face, and it was fun to just hang out on a sunny mountain top and have him meet and treat my buddies, Mountaingoat, Great P, and Peach too. Thanks Nate! You're awesome!Time to get hiking again! I fell on the steep downhill from Greylock. Ow. Also there were tons of teeny tiny toads everywhere. Like do you want to get stepped on?! Stupid cute tiny toads...Hiked with Peach for part of the downhill, and as we approached route 2, I mentioned Desperados and burritos and he was hooked! He convinced me we should hitch in, get our free hiker burritos (Desperados gives an automatic $12 off to thru-hikers) then quickly hitch back out. Well it was certainly an adventure! The hitch in was surprisingly easy, the food and company was delightful (veggie-Tito and fun chatting with Peach and the bartender) and though hitching out was not successful, we walked by a nice lady gardening and she offered to help us out! Thanks Sue!Up up up, stupid rock "garden" aka horrible pile of rocks to navigate over, sunset, Vermont!!
Date: 2016-07-17
From: Stealth Campsite

To: Bennington, VT
Miles today: 14.0
Weather: broken clouds

Waking up in a wet tent is one of the things that Verge and I hate the most. Being in a wet tent means that it's wet outside, which means that our shoes our damp, our food bag is soaked, and there are more than likely slugs on the tent. Being in a wet tent means that we wake up in a puddle INSIDE the tent--somehow--which means that my sleeping pad is soaked and my sleeping bag is damp. Waking up in a wet tent means that we will more than likely take over an hour to pack up and get going because we have to vigorously shake out the oversized, soggy mass that is our tent. It also means we will probably be in bad moods.We awkwardly arranged parts of the tent to hang on the outside of our bags in the hopes that it might dry as we hiked. Luckily, about four miles into the day, I came across a nice open, sunny, windy area near power lines where I spread out the tent fly and dried it right out (I found out later that Verge did the same thing.)For lunch, I sat in a stream and ate trail mix in the sun. It was fantastic. Thank you Vermont!We only had 14 miles to hike today to meet my friend Kyle, who was coming to visit! He hiked up a steep two miles to meet us, and then we hiked back down to his car where he took us into Bennington, Vermont. We had dinner at a nice little brewery, walked around the town, and decided we'd stay the night! We got a room at the Autumn Inn, did laundry and took showers, then went to see the new Ghostbusters! It was so fun! We got back to the room and hung out and stayed up way too late, but it was well worth it. Loved getting to see my buddy. Thanks for coming out Kyle!
Date: 2016-07-18
From: Bennington, VT

To: Story Spring Shelter
Miles today: 19.0
Weather: broken clouds

Hiking out of town is always difficult. We said our goodbyes to Kyle and were on our way. We soon realized it was going to storm on us, but hiking through the rain is no big deal, so onward we ventured! Vermont is SO beautiful. It is definitely still my favorite state on the AT so far. Everything is covered in moss and delightful pine needles; however, there is a LOT of mud. A lot, a lot. On the trail today I met Wild Turkey and then also a girl named Mouse--she hikes with no poles--a rarity this far on the trail.We hiked up Glastenbury Mountain where there was a lookout tower on top. I hiked up and was immediately hit with a powerful wind and a beautiful view! All the scenery today was magical. The sun was shining through the pines into the moss in a way that looked like I should be in a fairytale. Vermont is just a wonderful magical forest and I love it.As we hiked further and further, my back started to hurt more and more. We had pretty heavy bags because we were trying to make a 5 day resupply last 7 days because my mom said she wanted to resupply us when she does trail magic for us on Thursday! Not only did my back hurt, but we realized that deer flies are a big issue in Vermont. They were relentless! They are so much harder to kill too! You land a hard smack, and they somehow still fly away unharmed. We were planning on hiking past the shelter if we got there before 7:40, but we got there at 7:42 and our buddies Mountain Goat, Princess Peach, and Great P were there, so we stayed. Luckily, they had a fire going and the wind was blowing, so the bugs stayed away, allowing us to set up in the shelter. We enjoyed their company as we prepared and ate our dinner; we also met Curry and a section hiker named Cardinal65. Peach threw a toad at me. Sadly, it didn't turn into a Prince when I kissed it, though...just kidding I didn't kiss it--that'd probably affect it's waterproof coating! It was a lovely end to the day.
Date: 2016-07-19
From: Story Spring Shelter

To: Bromley Shelter
Miles today: 23.0
Weather: clear sky

I woke up, and it was chilly! I was so happy that it was chilly. I also haven't had very good service, so I went to sleep early, which meant I woke up early! (6:15) I felt ready to go. Oatmeal and I was on my way!I started my day with a lovely climb up Stratton Mountain. This was particularly special to me for a couple reasons:1: I hiked up Stratton to pick up my parents from one of their training hikes last summer--a couple of my first steps on the AT ever!2: Stratton was where Benton MacKaye first got the idea to create the Appalachian Trail!3: I can tell the terrain is changing. 4: I can taste the finish line.It was chilly all day! It was in the 60s, and later in the day it reached the 70s, but it was still windy and gorgeous. Perfect! I was SO happy all day. It definitely was muddy, though. I told myself, you just have to avoid the mud by finding the best routes and skillfully hopping from rock to root to rock root, but alas, I hopped onto what I thought was a barely hidden rock, which actually turned out to be a VERY deep mud pit (it went up to my knee). Oops.At about 18 or 19 miles in, I started to get tired, but the terrain was being pretty nice to me. There was even a nice long section of a dirt road that sloped downhill for a while! 2 miles left uphill, and I decided to rinse my shoes in a babbling brook in the hopes that it would get the mud off--who cares if it got my foot wet, they were already wet from mud.I got to the shelter, and no one else was there yet. It was a nice, big shelter and it didn't seem too buggy, so I set up my stuff. I then met Slim Rims, a nobo like me, and Librarian, a sobo, and Old toad, a nobo Long Trail hiker, and lil Whip, a nobo Long trail hiker as well. It's really cool to see the collision of all the different types of hikers, but it also means the trail is more crowded than usual. Great P, Peach, and Mountain Goat all showed up with their heavy resupplies, newly laundered clothes, and packed out pizza and booze from Manchester Center. Mountain Goat shared a beer with me, and we all sat by the fire and hung out. Slim Rims shared stories of her time in the peace corps in Africa (awesome), and I learned that Peach has been to Kenya and almost was in the peace corps too! Mouse joined us as well! Another lovely night shared with great people.
Date: 2016-07-21
From: Little Rock Pond

To: Governor Clement Shelter
Miles today: 20.0
Weather: clear sky

FOUR MONTHS ON THE TRAIL.Has it really been that long? Has it only been that long?It was a wonderful 12 mile hike from the pond to Clarendon Gorge, where my mom (Goldberry) and her friend Sue met us for trail magic! She made a beautiful veggie quiche and the most splendiferous rhubarb squares (our favorite) and brought drinks, watermelon, peaches, and chips. YUM! Mountain Goat, Great P, and Peach all met us there and indulged in the magic. We also met Blacksmith and Mishap, and Nail Gun came and enjoyed some food too. After a resupply that cost way too much, my mom, Sue, Verge, and I all hung out in the water at the gorge. It was quite relaxing, but all the sun and food and nice water made me sleepy. Hiking out would not be fun.I was right. It wasn't. We didn't get started until my mom left, which was around 4. It was in the upper 80s, and we had to hike up a very steep hill (and then go 6 more miles after that as well). Even though I'm not a fan of "end-of-the-day" hikes at all, we managed and got to the shelter just before 8. We also passed a HUGE milestone (or miletree as the case may be--pictured above). Only 500 miles left until Katahdin. WHAT?! Crazy. 500 miles seems like nothing! (Obviously its still like a month or so, but still...its only like a month or so!!) We got to the shelter and Slim rims was there! We also saw Blacksmith and Mishap again. The boys (Peach, Mountain Goat, and Great P) had decided to push on 4 miles to the top of Killington where they hoped to get a nice sunset and moonrise. Killington would have to wait until tomorrow for us.Since our gas wasn't getting along with our stove for some reason, we decided to have oreos and peanut butter for dinner. YES PLEASE. Mmmmm. There's a reason why we don't usually buy oreos and peanut butter, though...and that would be because we almost demolished the entire container in one sitting! We may need a break from oreos for a little while. What a nice 4 monthiversary and lovely way to celebrate only 500 miles left to go.
Date: 2016-07-22
From: Governor Clement Shelter

To: Thunderhill Road
Miles today: 16.0
Weather: overcast clouds

It rained at 5am, so we had to pack up a wet tent again. Gross. My dad, Bombadil, has been texting us non-stop about trying to see us one time when we're in the same-ish area, but we were convinced his plan wouldn't work for us. We were set on hiking into Hanover and not going there any sooner (because it would mess up the magic of hiking into New Hampshire); however, when we realized this might be our last chance to see him (until we catch him on the trail) we decided to give in--except we didn't have service, so we'd have to hike into higher elevation before we could contact our grandparents to make a plan.I hiked to the top of Killington (2nd highest peak in Vermont) and made plans for our grandparents to pick us up at the end of a 16 mile day and surprise our dad (who would be at our grandparents house) for dinner. I met Verge at the top, and we had a nice hike down the mountain, chatting. The day took a little bit of a turn for the worse when I fell on my face and started to feel nauseous, but luckily, that cleared up and my face recovered, and all was happy again when I got to see my grandpa! He drove us to one of our favorite places on earth, their house. Their house in Lebanon, NH (the town right next to Hanover) feels like home to me (even more than my actual home does). I got to see my Uncle Paul, who I haven't seen in a while, and I was greeted with hugs from my grandma and loads of delicious veggies and freshly picked blueberries! A little while after, my dad arrived! He was surprised, and it was so good to see him. We all enjoyed an amazing vegetable-filled dinner (much needed vitamins) and got to chat for a bit before going to bed. Finally got to fill in a few days of my blog! Back to the trail tomorrow morning.