morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2018-11-24
From: Paducah 

To: Paducah
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

November 24I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! I¢ve been enjoying my kids and grands, and thinking about my final leg on the A.T. Many thanks to my readers who suggested David Ackerson. He and I have a plan. Even better, Big Kahuna is coming for a couple of the days! He¢ll hike in with me a little each day, then go back to the car so he can pick me up at the end of my day. He is THE BEST trail brother ever! EVER! Transitioning back into the real world has been in the forefront of my mind. This is not going to be easy. I did some Black Friday shopping with my girls. Ugh! I just couldn¢t believe that I used to feel the need to be a part of that madness. It was horrible! Everybody is being inundated with mind altering garble. I won¢t ever go again!We¢re doing family photos today, and a big dinner tomorrow. Papa Big Swig and I will be on the road right after dinner. Speaking of photos  Today is a Picture of our old girl Gypsy Rose.  She didn¢t seem to mind the spectaclesI plan to finish up Vermont on the 28th! Until Next Time Blue Raccoon (2018)Where¢s your faith?
Date: 2018-11-24
From: Paducah 

To: Paducah
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: moderate rain

November 24I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! I¢ve been enjoying my kids and grands, and thinking about my final leg on the A.T. Many thanks to my readers who suggested David Ackerson. He and I have a plan. Even better, Big Kahuna is coming for a couple of the days! He¢ll hike in with me a little each day, then go back to the car so he can pick me up at the end of my day. He is THE BEST trail brother ever! EVER! Transitioning back into the real world has been in the forefront of my mind. This is not going to be easy. I did some Black Friday shopping with my girls. Ugh! I just couldn¢t believe that I used to feel the need to be a part of that madness. It was horrible! Everybody is being inundated with mind altering garble. I won¢t ever go again!We¢re doing family photos today, and a big dinner tomorrow. Papa Big Swig and I will be on the road right after dinner. Speaking of photos  Today is a Picture of our old girl Gypsy Rose.  She didn¢t seem to mind the spectaclesI plan to finish up Vermont on the 28th! Until Next Time Blue Raccoon (2018)Where¢s your faith?
Date: 2018-11-26
From: Louisville KY

To: Dunkirk NY 
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

We are in Dunkirk NY tonight. Tomorrow will be the last leg of our drive. Happy happy! I¢m so tired of being in a vehicle.  I have a chiropractor appointment tomorrow afternoon with Dr Q again. She¢s really great! I¢ll be good and ready to hike! According to the folks at our hotel front desk a big snow is on its way in. I hope that doesn¢t put a damper on my hiking plans. As of now I still plan to finish up Vermont on Wednesday.  This past week has been about family. Today¢s photo is of my middle daughter Kayla and her family. Until Next Time Blue Raccoon (2018)Where¢s your faith?
Date: 2018-11-26
From: Louisville KY

To: Dunkirk NY 
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: snow

We are in Dunkirk NY tonight. Tomorrow will be the last leg of our drive. Happy happy! I¢m so tired of being in a vehicle.  I have a chiropractor appointment tomorrow afternoon with Dr Q again. She¢s really great! I¢ll be good and ready to hike! According to the folks at our hotel front desk a big snow is on its way in. I hope that doesn¢t put a damper on my hiking plans. As of now I still plan to finish up Vermont on Wednesday.  This past week has been about family. Today¢s photo is of my middle daughter Kayla and her family. Until Next Time Blue Raccoon (2018)Where¢s your faith?
Date: 2018-12-01
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

I had plans to hike a little over 8 miles today starting in Vermont ending in Massachusetts. The weather is warmer now. I thought it would be a good time to go back north and finish up Vermont.  As Papa Big Swig was driving me to my start location,which was at about 2000ft elevation, the snow on the roads kept getting worse and worse. They were driveable until we passed a cute little country cottage. (Pictured) About an eighth of a mile past that cottage the roads became impassable.  We were forced to abandon plan A. I quickly came up with a plan B. It would only be a 5.5 miles hike but the roads were main roads so they should be ok. However, this hike would put me at 3000ft elevation. Snow remained a concern, but Papa Big Swig has bought me some snow shoes. I¢m anxious to try them out! Part of our route to my drop off location requires that we drive through Greylock Park. It was closed. Gated off and everything. Sigh! By now it was nearly noon. This day has become an unplanned zero.  It¢s becoming clear to me that I¢m just too far north to be hiking this late in the year. I¢m so sad. So so sad.  At this point in time I¢ve decided to continue south from where I am. This will leave a 72.7 miles gap. It feels like a knife in my heart, but hiking these areas right now is a dangerous endeavor. Dad would not want me to take the risk. I know he wouldn¢t. The ATC recognizes me at 2000 miles. I get the same certificate as a thruhiker. Even though they may categorize me as a thruhiker, we all know at 2000 miles I am not.  So here is my plan: I will continue hiking south from where I am until I pass the 2000 mile mark. Then I will go home. I am returning around March 5th to New York where I will start back northbound until I reach where I stopped for my 2000 miles. Papa Big Swig will then shuttle me back up north to fill in this 72.7 miles gap I¢ve created. If I can get it all done on or before March 28, then I will be a TRUE thruhiker and still be in the class of 2018.  This is not an easy decision. I have fears. Fears that I won¢t be able to get off from work again to come back and finish. I¢ll need about 3 weeks to get it done. I know Papa Big Swig will do all he can to help this plan become a reality. Even knowing I have his support, I¢m still so sad. Sooo heartbroken and sad. Until Next Time Blue Raccoon (2018) Where¢s your faith?
Date: 2018-12-03
From: Mount Everett Road

To: Salisbury 
Miles today: 12.1

I should just stop making plans. ¢Go with the flow¢ is my new motto!  The weather today was great so I decided to go back north and fill in that little 12 miles gap in Mass. It required a one mile walk to get to the trail. That makes a 13 mile day for me. I¢m fine with that. It was snowy as I completed my hike up Mount Everett. I probably could have used my snow shoes but didn¢t bring them. MT. Everett is 2602 Ft elevation. I hiked most of that two days ago, so I only climbed about 500ft of it today. When I reached the summit there were four concrete bases left from a fire tower. There was a sign stating the fire tower was built in 1915 and taken down on 2002.  The snow was pretty much melted on the summit. That created a lot of water run-off. There were plenty of wet slabs to deal with going down. I chose to sit and slide down one of them, otherwise I stayed on my feet.  When I reached the bottom I heard a couple of birds chirping as I immediately started my climb up Mount Race at 2365ft. There was a ton of water on the way up. Flowing water, and large pools of water. It¢s unbelievable the amount of run-off there is from the snow!  Summiting Mt Race was awesome! First I turned around and took a photo of Mt Everett. I love to look back at where I had been. Soon I came to some ledges that gave beautiful views 360 degrees! I thought of Hugs. She LOVED a view! I was lost in thought on the way down. I was thinking about how I choose a stopping point before I go home for the winter. I think I really want to finish up Vermont first. A million thoughts were racing through my mind when the sounds of hammers and saws from below snapped me back to reality.  I crossed a stream using large flat boulders. I actually said out loud God bless the volunteers who put those huge heavy things there.  Right past the stream was a fallen tree. The sun was shining right on it. I was hungry so I stopped there for lunch. Tuna salad and Cheetos. I was fueled up for my next climb. A climb it was! I became a rock climber today as I made my way to the summit of Bear Mountain at 2316ft. It would be a challenging climb anytime, but the continuous stream of water added to the difficulty.  At the summit was a rock monument with an engraved plaque marking that monument as the highest ground in Connecticut. It made me think of a doctor I used to work with. She¢s on a mission of visiting the highest point in every state. I wonder if she¢s been here yet? I was blessed by more beautiful views from Bear Mountain. Who would ever think in December I could be enjoying all of this? One last little mountain for me today. Lions Head at 1738ft elevation. It was quick and easy. On the way down I met a couple groups of young people with full packs on. I¢m guessing they were 12-14 years old. I was impressed that they¢re planning an overnight tonight! Soon a saw my little floppy eared girl running towards me. Gypsy Rose was full of energy today. Papa Big Swig and Seylor Jo were right behind her. We hiked out together. Until Next Time Blue Raccoon (2018) Where¢s your faith?
Date: 2018-12-12
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Since being off trail many things have happened. Last November we sold our home in Galesburg Illinois. We are officially moving to Paducah Ky where most of the kids and all of the grands are currently located. Though they will soon be scattering again. This process alone has been a challenge.  To date we have been to one choir concert, one orchestra concert, and one basketball game. These are the joys of being a grandparent! I wouldn¢t trade any of that! I would however trade a lot of other things that come with being in society. More than ever I am now keenly aware of the way media is used to alter individual thoughts. For example making folks believe they need something they really don¢t. I still have no TV and probably never will. Speaking of ¢don¢t need¢. There are very few things in life that I really need. The nice thing is that I don¢t want much more than that either. That¢s a change since being on trail. I¢m calling it a good change! I have been unsuccessful in finding a pair of gym shoes that feel good on my feet. My feet remain a half size larger! I still wear my boots. It¢s difficult to find peace. I long to be out there. Where everything just is what it is. All of that being said, I do enjoy a long soak in the tub. I love my mattress, and being in a comfortably controlled climate. I feel myself getting soft already! Wishing everyone a very blessed and merry Christmas!  Until Next Time Blue Raccoon (2018)Where¢s your faith?
Date: 2019-03-05
From: Village Vista Trail 

To: NY Rte 17A
Miles today: 2.1

My plane from Chicago to White Plains was delayed yesterday. I landed about 10:40pm last night. Papa Big Swig and our granddaughter Charley Faye were there to pick me up. It was after midnight by the time we finally made it to the hotel.  Charley Faye is our 12 year old granddaughter. She¢s hiking this last 168 miles with me! I¢m so excited! She¢s only ever done day hikes, and not a lot of them. Definitely never in the snow. This will be a challenge for her, but I know she will dig deep and do it. Between getting in late and needing to organize a base at the hotel for Papa Big Swig, we didn¢t set out with our slack packs to hike until 11:40 this morning. This would be our day #1 NERO. We started at a bus garage. Getting to the trail was 0.8 miles of blue blaze going UP. Being there really brought back memories. Hugs and I had hiked to that very same bus garage on our last NOBO day before we flipped up to Katahdin. We didn¢t hit the trail right away though. One of my readers works at that bus garage and I decided to see if I could find him. He was working today, but unfortunately had left for lunch. Sorry I missed you Rich. Baby Girl and I eventually found ourselves hiking UP the blue blaze towards the trail. With her tail wagging Seylor Jo joined us too. There was 5 or 6 inches of soft powdery snow, and Seylor loves that! I didn¢t watch the clock, but getting up that ¢hill¢ took forever! Baby Girl (now her trail name) had a rough go. It didn¢t seem difficult to me at all, but she even shed some tears. She sat down quite often, and I began to worry if she would really be my partner in this adventure or not.  That first UP took us about an hour. I stayed patient, and she kept on pushing. The payoff was great! It¢s been too long since I¢ve seen such a nice view. We took time for a photo op and she seemed to cheer up. No more tears. From there we were pretty much ridge hiking. Nice winter views to the right and beautiful barren mountain to our left. It was calming and rejuvenating at the same time. I loved it! Ridge hiking is my favorite!  There were two logs coming up. One on each side of the trail. I decided to clear the snow and take a break right there. Just as Baby Girl was walking up she said ¢look at the sun Nama, it¢s so pretty¢. Oh yeah! Got her! She¢s a hiker, hook line and sinker!  We enjoyed a snack while sitting there on the logs. Good times! With only about a half mile left of this NERO, we took our time enjoying the views. Baby Girl saw her first ski slope. She took pictures of the terrain and enjoyed herself. Before we expected it, there was the parking space, and Papa Big Swig patiently waiting. We can only claim 2.1 miles of trail, but Baby Girl says that 0.8 blue blaze counts! Ha-ha!  We have a bigger day planned for tomorrow. I¢m trying to ease her into it. Hopefully by the end of the week she¢ll be ready for an overnight.  Until Next Time Blue Raccoon (2018/2019) Where¢s your faith?
Date: 2019-03-10
From: Arbor Ridge Inn

To: Arbor Ridge Inn 
Miles today: 0.0

The weather today is less than desirable. A ZERO day it is! I like to take Zero day journals to explain unanswered questions.  Today I¢m going to focus on money. If I¢m being completely open, I should tell you that I have spent more than triple my budget on this hike. Mostly that¢s because Papa Big Swig and I decided to do the last half of my journey as a team of sorts. He is my better half, and it¢s been fun! During the fall months he pulled our camper and stayed in campgrounds close to where I was hiking. Most of the time I could come down to a pick up location and sleep in a warm camper at night. This was a fairly inexpensive plan. Then the snow came and campgrounds closed. We were forced to use hotels as a base. Hotels can be costly. In addition, we have dogs.  Dogs create another lodging issue. Many hotels do not accept pets, but some do. The hotels that do, charge a pet fee. That¢s where we are now. The campgrounds have not reopened yet, so it¢s hotels or nothing for us. Even the cheapest of hotels with a pet fee is $100+ a night.  That being said, you can certainly imagine the joy I felt when Big Kahuna called to gift us a week long stay at his timeshare in Pittsfield Mass!  That will be my next base of operation. He¢s such an awesome trail brother! This gift will save us about $700. I don¢t even know what to say, I just love that guy! Tramily for life! The next money question is income? How do we earn money while on this adventure? Papa Big Swig does I.T. work from home. As long as he can get high speed internet access he can work from anywhere. His company is based out of NYC. This week, he could literally drive to the office every day If he wanted. I think the sign said 34 miles to NYC. As for me... I¢m a trauma nurse. I¢ve been doing contract ER work for 4 or 5 years now. However, I think I might be done with hospitals and ER¢s. We winter in Florida every year. I usually take a 13 weeks contract in an ER down there each winter. But this year I didn¢t have 13 weeks to give. I knew I was coming back to the trail in early March. So instead I took high-tech pediatric home health cases. I still contracted myself out, but it was basically shift to shift. I had plenty of work, and It was great! Not to mention that I fell in love with all of those little cuties!  It might be time for a permanent professional change. Lastly, I just want to say how much it means to me to have Baby Girl along for the fun. She¢s not really an outdoors person...she says. But everyday she finds herself in awe of God¢s creations. She asks really good questions, and even starts planning for the next day. She makes my heart happy!  143.5 miles left to go on this grand adventure! I¢m loving every minute of it! Until Next Time Blue Raccoon (2018/2019) Where¢s your faith?
Date: 2019-03-12
From: Appalacian Market 

To: Dennytown Roaf 
Miles today: 8.7
Weather: light snow

I had a rough night trying to sleep last night. Yesterday¢s fall has me aching. Nonetheless I was up early and hit the trail about 7.40am.  The snow was crunchy underneath my boots. After melting some yesterday it had frozen over the top again through the night. I was armed with micro-spikes today! It was myself, Baby Girl, and Seylor Jo enjoying today¢s adventure. Right away Baby Girl saw a deer. It was running away. From that moment on there was almost never a time when we couldn¢t spot deer tracks.  Our hike took us past another rock wall. I was thinking to myself, those walls have got to be over 100 years old. And I truly cannot imagine the man hours put into it.  We had several water crossings today. Most of them were good sources if we had needed water. The melting snow is doing its job. We climbed up Canopus Hill 808ft. The trail took us across a country road up there to a place where lots of rock walls were at. We chose one and sat down for lunch. Seylor carries her food, so she dined too. The trail today was a consistent mix of UP and DOWN. Nothing big either direction. It should have been an easy day, but my hip was killing me! I decided to take some Tylenol. I opened my fanny pack to find that my pill pouch had fallen out. It must have happened at lunch. I had contemplated taking some then, and pulled it out, but I thought I had put it back. Ugh! Baby Girl had Advil, but I took an anti-inflammatory this morning and can¢t have anymore. I hiked on... what else is there to do?  For a bit we hiked beside a flowing creek. It¢s still music to my ears. Occasionally I could hear the chirp of busy birds. At one point I looked up to see a beautiful Hawk circling above. It was nice. Papa Big Swig brought some Tylenol to a parking lot I had to cross. I had planned to send Seylor home with him while me and Baby Girl did 4 more miles. As I was hiking the 2 miles towards him, I decided I was ready to call it a day myself. Only 8.7 miles. Until Next Time Blue Raccoon (2018/2019) Where¢s your faith?
Date: 2019-03-16
From: West Dover Road 

To: CT route 55
Miles today: 10.0

We intentionally got off to a late start today. Papa Big Swig will be relocating is to a time share in Massachusetts while we hike. Long story short we had to do some creative thinking to work out the timing. So at 11:30am Baby Girl and I were boots down. Right away we heard gunshots, but neither of us were concerned this time. We hiked through some pastures and into the woods. Several day hikers were out today. The weekend always brings company to the trail.  We crossed paths first with an Asian man. He had a full pack on, and was also carrying a duffel bag by hand. That¢s so unusual! I just had to ask! He said he¢s camping and these are his camping things.  We also crossed paths with a bird watcher, a father and son along with their dog Harper. Harper looks a lot like Seylor Jo. A group of kids, and two or three single hikers. Everyone was pleasant on the trail. I have found that to be true in every state along the way. We crossed Swamp River on a very long elaborate boardwalk. It was very nice. There were beautiful cattails and tall grasses that look like wheat. We moseyed along enjoying the beauty. Eventually the boardwalk ended and we came out to a road. Across the road started another series of fields. The first field was empty except for a good amount of deer poop. The second field was a grazing pasture for cows. Lots of cows! AND they were all herded up right by the blaze! Ok Blue Raccoon there are no horns in site, and you can¢t act like a chicken in front of Baby Girl! One slow deep breath, and I was over the fence. Praying silently the whole way, I kept Baby Girl farthest away from the cows, and I bravely hiked right through that field!  I was quite relieved when we crossed over the fence on the other side. The next field was empty, and the sun came out from behind the clouds for a while. It felt nice and warm right there, so we got out our sit-upons and had lunch.  From our lunch site on, the trail became a steady flow of small UPs and small DOWNs. Most of the snow is gone so there was either mud or brown leaves from last fall below my boots. Both are better than ice! The unmistakable aroma from a skunk accompanied us for about a half mile to the Wiley Shelter. Hikers had built a fire at the shelter, and that definitely helped disguise the skunk scent.  It was downhill from the shelter to a stream. We hiked beside that stream a good distance. It became quite wide and the sound was so relaxing. I¢m sure the melting snow has increased water levels in the creeks. It makes for nice music to hike to.  A group of crows were squawking just as we came out onto another road. We crossed over and about 20 yards down was the sign. Welcome to Connecticut! Yay!! Baby Girl and I took one giant step together across the line as we said adios to New York.  Less than a mile away Papa Big Swig picked us up. He says our new place is awesome! Until Next Time Blue Raccoon (2018/2019)Where¢s your faith?
Date: 2019-03-18
From: Time Share 

To: Time Share 
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

I had full intentions of hiking today, but with almost zero sleep last night, this day became a zero too. My sciatica is driving me crazy!  I have a chiropractor friend near here and I saw her today. It is definitely improved.  Praying for sleep tonight. I¢ve recently been asked where do I live. That¢s a good question! We sold our house in Illinois November 2017. I am from Illinois. However, we also own a condo in Florida where we spend our winters. We started doing that about 4 years ago when the youngest went off to college. So long story short, we sold our house in Illinois November 2017. We went to Florida for the winter, then I started my hike March 2018. I literally hiked until December 2018. You guessed it, it¢s time for Florida again!  Most of the kids live in or near Paducah Kentucky so that¢s probably where we will end up, but rather than buying something quickly we rented an apartment when I got off trail in December. At least we got our things out of storage.  So now we have a one year lease and can take our time looking for a home.  I hope that makes sense. Until Next Time Blue Raccoon (2018/2019) Where¢s your faith?