morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2013-06-15
From: Stealth site mile 1308

To: Mashipacong Shelter
Miles today: 16.0
Weather: few clouds

Day 109Saturday June 15, I was out early with high hopes of second breakfast at Joe-to-go on rt 206. It turned out that the owner was ill and not cooking. Still, coffee and bagels look good. I sat with Little Rock and ZZ Topless to show down. Sunrise Mt was a cool view from the pavilion with a nice bench to rest on. I had tip-toed through a lot of areas flooded by the recent storms. By the time I arrived at Mashipacong Shelter in HIgh Point State Park my feet were sore and I was not looking forward to 6 more miles. The water is listed as .6 on a red blaze but the Ridge Runner who was in for the night said the bear box was full of water. Good enough for me! In for the night. Rocky stumbled in soon after me in her normal cranky/hungry mood. While I was setting up for the night two park rangers showed up looking for me. It took a moment to recognize my given name but when I responded they told me to turn on my phone and call home.This will be my last entry for a while. My youngest daughter was diagnosed with Leukemia and my presence is needed at home. We all wait the out come of tests to determine the type and course of treatment. I would like to think that all will be well and I will return to the trail. Either way I want to thank all who have followed my journal and supported me in thought and prayer. I would now ask that you focus those efforts and prayer on my daughter Kristina. We live that life we have been given and not all trail Angels are in the woods. Grrrr
Date: 2013-08-14
From: Home

To: Millinocket, Me
Miles today: 0.0

So here I am again. Two and a half months after leaving the trail my daughter is doing well and I have a green light to return. The plan is to drive to Maine tomorrow, hike Katadin on Friday and start south on Saturday the 17th. One of the people that I had hiked with for a while was Zook from Wisconsin. We will be hiking together hopefully back to Ct. I need to be back here by Nov 1st. Again I want to thank all who have supported me and my family on and off trail.GRRRR
Date: 2013-08-15
From: Millinocket, Me

To: millinocket
Miles today: 0.0

Registered at the Appalachian Trail Lodge, fed, watered & ready to crash. Tomorrow starts the second half of the adventure with a climb up Katadin.   Still up in the air about our ability to stay in the park tomorrow night. It will depend on the kindness of the rangers and other people. We would prefer not to hitch back to town at the end of the day. From what we are being told this will be different than anything we haven't experienced so far. Grrrr
Date: 2013-08-19
To: home
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Monday August, 19For all intents and purposes my hike is over. The plan to flip has been spoiled by a twist. On Thursday the 15th Zook and I traveled to the Appalachian Trail Lodge in Millinocket. By 8am Friday we were headed up Katadin. In February I had given myself every possible advantage. I wore a knee brace and had a series of injections to lubricate the joint. The brace no longer fits and the injection has worn off. The mountain was more demanding than I had expected.   I had hoped for some time at the summit to relax before the climb down but that never happened. Fortunately having learned from my first 1300 miles I started taking pictures 2/3 up, as soon as I saw the clouds start to roll in. The rain started even before the table land. The rocks seemed slicker and my knee was less and less happy. I had hoped to sleep it off with enough vitamin ¢I¢ and walk out Saturday. The next day I was able to walk on the flat but anything that required a weight bearing step up or down hurt. After doing the 10 miles to Abol Bridge I decided it was smarter to quit now than get stuck in the middle of the ¢Wilderness.¢   The best part of those two days was meeting NOBOs who I had hiked with in the south. Sherpa passed me coming down the mountain while I was still going up. He recognized me and remembered my son Pete doing Trail Magic in Pine Grove Furnace. Bean and his partner were part of the group that rode out of a blizzard in the back of a pickup truck south of Hot Springs. Most of all there was Zook who tried so hard to walk as slow as I was. For two days of ¢Daddy Day Care¢ I am grateful. To all still moving up or down the trail. Be safe, enjoy, and God Bless.Grrrr
Date: 2014-05-02
From: Mashipicong shelter

To: High Point Shelter High Point State Park NJ
Miles today: 7.0

Got a ride with Hobs wife Deb to High Point Park, NJ where I ended last years hike.   Boots on the ground at 10:45 and logged 7 miles to High Point Shelter I remember hiking seemed much easier after doing 1300 miles than it seemed today after 7. I can feel my legs starting to cramp up. It will be a thought night. Alone in the shelter until the mice and critters show up. It will be a cool night, hope I have enough warm cloths. GRRRR
Date: 2013-01-20
To: Opening entry for 2013
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

This is just an opening entry to start the journal for my 2013 Georgia to Maine Appalachian Trail hike with my son Daniel.I expect to make the required next 2 entries to have the journal become "active" by mid/late February. Expected start date at this stage is 22nd March.About this journal.The main purpose of this journal is to provide a means to keep family and friends in Australia informed of our progress.Recent friendships formed on Whiteblaze.net also mean that friends there can track our progress as well, especially cafe regulars. :-)Hopefully it may also prove useful for other Australians in preparing for their own AT hike, just as I found the journals of other Australians very informative, eg. Phatmandu. Thanks Gary.Finally I hope to use it in the years to come to remember some of the nitty gritty of this six months of my life.The plan is that there will be some entries prior to our departure advising some of the details of our preparation and a daily entry while on the hike.Many of the daily entries will be brief, mainly intended to record our continued progress and will be posted by phone on the trail.Whenever internet access is available for a reasonable period, a fuller update will be posted.I have a camera that can GPS tag photos so hopefully we will upload these at regular intervals and advise a link for these and will only post a small number of photos on this site.
Date: 2013-02-10
To: Getting closer
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: few clouds

It's hard to think sitting here in the middle of 4 days with maximums of 40 Celsius or more that in less than 6 weeks Daniel and I will be probably needing to sleep with our water bottles to stop them freezing. And for all that we won't technically have a winter this year.Our tickets to New York are bought and after thinking for the last couple of months that we would be flying Qatar Airlines and arriving at 3:15pm local time we ended up getting Emirates Airlines tickets and arrive at 8:15am.The Emirates tickets were actually about $50 dearer but the arrival time sold me as it means the Saturday will still have enough hours to do things after getting through customs etc. Both airlines have high standards and most importantly, the most legroom you can get in economy class. For those interested the tickets are costing $3800 for the pair.While the two nights before starting on 22nd are booked at the Hiker Hostel in Georgia (i.e.20th and 21st), the rest of the gap between arrival and then is not. My wife is keen on us flying direct on to Atlanta and finding a cheap stay option (e.g. through airbnb.com) there and doing the phone and food shopping etc there. Daniel and I are keener on driving from NYC to Atlanta by the slightly longer (1000mile or 1600km) way, mostly on the west side of the Appalachians. This would allow us to better familiarise ourselves with the AT's hinterland from Georgia to NY and have a better mental image of trail towns etc on the way. At first we thought this would work out no dearer based on initial looks at car rental quotes we searched for, but when you look more closely the "extra" charges on a car rental are quite significant (e.g. at least $300 for different city return). However as we can look at hostel type accomodation on the way down, this can offset the overall price comparison so we aren't ruling either option out yet. We will work out some itineraries for both options and decide by the first week of March.Our second Henry Shires TarpTent arrived this week and we are honestly waiting for the temperatures to drop before we try setting it up. The only thing moving on my lawn are the ants and the grass as it curls up and dies.I don't think I have anything else that needs to be purchased before departure except the paper copies of the 2013 guides which I will do in the coming week.There is a daunting amount of preparation of the house to be done before I leave though. There are problems with our pool filtration and our reticulation system has a kaput control box. Some excess furniture needs to be sold and a fair amount of reorganisation and culling in my shed and garage needs to be done. This should well and truly keep me busy between leaving work and leaving Australia.
Date: 2013-02-21
To: More time?
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Well I finished up at work this week and supposedly I now have more time to prepare. However I realise that as far as preparing to hike is concerned I am pretty well ahead of myself with anything to do with gear and I only need a day or so to pack everything and I'm right to go.Physically it's another matter. I'm disappointed I am currently 5kg (12lb) over my starting weight when I did the Bibbulmun. I try to be realistic and know that I lost 9kg on the Bib and that 15kg at least will drop off on the AT. But I am making Georgia and North Carolina MUCH harder than I had hoped. Daniel is probably a few kg more than me over what we would like to start at. We had hoped to do at least a few days hiking in the last two weeks before we go but his commitment to work a bit longer and my to do list suggest this won't happen. On the positive side we both feel strong in the legs and are confident that the propulsion is okay, just the load bearing is high.   For this reason the first 2-3 weeks are low expectation in mileage.Whilst I am pretty well right to go, I have much to do around here before I leave. It is going to be hard for Anne while I am gone and I want to ensure that things are as easy for her around here as I can leave them.
Date: 2013-03-12
To: Counting down
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Well it's almost time to leave, so a quick update of where we're at.Gear is mostly packed and ready to go. About the only thing not settled on is Daniel's cookware as I don't think he will get his cone made so while he has his alcohol stove, windshield options not finalised. May wait until we are in USA for that.Almost forgot to seam seal the 2nd TarpTent, but did it today. Hope I did a good enough job, my other one was kindly done by Franco in Victoria so it was my first time.For those unfamiliar with what I am talking about, ultralight tents and tarps need a silicone sealant "smeared" on the stitch lines to fully waterproof them. I hope I don't find out I've made a mess of the job at 3:00 am in a downpour.We did a whirlwind trip down south with a drive through the Porongorups and Stirlings. Initially the plan was to hike up to the top of Castle Rock in the Porongorups but we were surprised with rain and low cloud that meant as well as getting wet (we didn't have waterproofs), we wouldn't have had a view anyway.We drove up to the car park at Bluff Knoll in the Stirling Ranges and I took a few photos.I have just paid and printed off our permits to camp in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.Introduced over the last year this fee is very unpopular and a bit of a pain for the hiking community, but with a maximum cost of $20, it is the only fee payable to hike the AT at the moment. The need to have a printed copy of your receipt is amongst the biggest pains for hikers to deal with.I have also booked a hire car (sorry "rental"), for the drive from NYC to Atlanta. Looking forward to a short "road trip" to get us into holiday mode.Daniel left increasing his medical cover for better dental cover very late and after serving his waiting period for claims has been rushing through all his delayed dental treatment.He had 2 wisdom teeth extracted last Wednesday and has several fillings tomorrow to complete the work needed. He may be uncomfortable on the plane less than 48 hours later.I have been watching weather forecasts for NYC and also for the Georgia mountains. It looks like we should have reasonable weather when we arrive, but they have certainly had a bit of a sting in the tail of their winter. The groundhog lied!I expect I will be making one more journal entry before I leave but at the moment it is still all go and very close.
Date: 2013-03-14
To: Final entry before departure
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Today we had the coolest day I can recall for a long time and it rained pretty well all day. Also an uncommon experience this year so far.Despite the rain I collected a stone from the Bib Track northern Terminus to carry to Mt Katahdin in Maine.It is a tradition (the AT has lots of them) to take a stone from the start at Mt Springer in Georgia and carry it to the northern terminus, Mt Katahdin. I thought it would be appropriate for me to carry a stone from the Bib instead.There has been a fairly major change to the start of our trip in the USA.We had accepted a wonderful offer from Andy - a Whiteblaze.net friend to spend our first night in the US with him as he only lives 5 mile from JFK airport.Due to a sudden change in his circumstance he has a month or two free and will now be travelling to Georgia with us and hiking with us until he feels he has had enough. Daniel and I are looking forward to an enjoyable roadtrip!!We are set to leave Friday afternoon and will be arriving NYC Sat morning local time. The last details are being packed and the wait is nearly over.The next entry here will be from the USA.
Date: 2013-03-19
To: Travel
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Well I'm sorry for the long gap in entries.We only got this PC today and while I tried to do some journals and posting with my new cellphone, my fingers had so much trouble with the tiny screen that I limited myself to a couple of emails. Now have a stylus so that may improve.Flying here was a trial.Got up about 6am Friday WA time and was dropped at airport just after 12 midday by Anne.Flight left at 3:10pm, arrived at Dubai 10:50pm local (01:50am WA).Boarded plane 02:50am Dubai (05:50 WA).Sat in plane on tarmac until 06:20 am Dubai (09:20 WA) due to fog closing one runway.Arrived at JFK 11:20 am USA (11:20pm WA) and cleared customs/immigration at 13:20 USA (01:20 WA).You work it out I'm trying to forget it, but it was tough. I slept about 1 or 2 hours and Daniel about 5 or 6.Met by Coach Lou and Andy (HikerBoy) from Whiteblaze. Wonderful meal at Franks Steakhouse after some drama getting USA "cell" phones.After a night at Andy's house we had a breakfast at a pancake restaurant and then "hit" REI (a large retailer of outdoor gear).We were like kids in a lollyshop and bought most of the items we needed and could have happily bought another 20 kilograms worth.We then farewelled Coach and headed out of town with Andy driving.With heavy storms predicted in the northeast the next day, Andy drove us all the way to Front Royal in Virginia where we stayed at the Budget Inn. On the way stopped at Delaware Water Gap and saw our first AT white blazes.Andy again volunteered to keep driving the next day, so as he was making better speed than we would have "all was good".Spent the next night at Damascus and met Lone Wolf, a very well known member of Whiteblaze. Also met Andys friends Fidjit and Dot Com, who have just moved to Damascus. Andy stayed with them and Daniel and I stayed at "The Place" with Lone Wolf's permission.Today have driven all the way to Amicalola (Andy again!) and are staying here at the magnificent Lodge. Had dinner with ATMilkman and his wife Shuttle Shellie from Whiteblaze and Milkman's hiking partner (Mother) Therese.Tomorrow Daniel and I return the car to Avis and get a shuttle back to the Hiker Hostel.We will be starting the trail (no Approach Trail sadly) on Thursday morning with Milkman, Andy and Therese - a day earlier than originally planned.Lots more in the detail but I must sleep.All is well although I have had "the trots" since arrival due I think to my last plane meal.CheersJacko
Date: 2013-03-20
To: The night before.
Miles today: 0.0

Just a short post to say all the preliminaries are over.It is nearly 10pm and I am in the Hiker Hostel in Dahlonega Georgia.After breakfast (sharp at 7:30), Daniel and I and about 6 others will be driven to the top of Springer Mountain. We will walk 0.9 miles in the wrong direction and reach the start of the AT. After signing the register we will retrace our steps and head north.We are not doing the Approach trail to try and remain as a group for as long as possible with ATMilkman and his friend Mother Teresa, HikerBoy, and Army Ant.Also due to our lack of preparation, we think the strain of the climb of the Approach trail might start us off with strain issues.We will try and stay a group as much as possible until at least the 30th March when we are all having a "zero" mileage day together.We are both well and keen.Today was another full day returning the rental car and getting breakfast and "snack" foods.Not sure of accuracy of scale here but Daniels pack came in at 28lbs without water and mine at 35lbs with. A quart (litre) of milk to be added to that as well. Daniel has taken some of my stuff to balance us a bit more and I will carry the milk.Must go now.From now on entries will include mileage details.Jacko
Date: 2013-03-21
From: Springer mountain

To: Hawk mtn shelter
Miles today: 8.1

After much anticipation, today finally came.Everyone began getting up at the Hiker Hostel before the morning "quiet" time ended at 7:00am. Breakfast served at 7:30 and unsusally it would seem the hikers were all ready before the shuttles. One woman was being shuttled to Neels Gap and I took the opportunity to send my PC there instead of by post to North Carolina as I had originally planned.Three of the potential thru hikers are what we dubbed "the Friars Club" and are an interesting mix. One weighs 450lb and is carrying a hatchet, a machete and a skinning knife on the belt on his robe. Another describes himself as a Wican priest. They have no stove and the big guy carries a 3 peron tent. They have no sleeping bags (their robes are woolen) or mats. We do not consider their odds of making Maine are good but who are we to know.A long shuttle ride along forest roads took us to the carpark 0.9 mile from the start at Springer Mountain. The rest of our group (Hikerboy, ATMilkman, Mother Teresa, Army Ant and Wilson) met us their. We all hiked up to Springer (southbound) to reach the official start. After signing the rgister and the obligatory photos we officially began hiking to Maine.Weather was sunny but very cold, mostly high 20's, low 30's. Trail was easier than we had expected although our poor physical preparation made it hard enough. We passed the first shelter (Stover Creek) and felt good. Late in the day the climb up Hawk Mountain reminded us we were out of condition badly at the start.Hawk Mountain Shelter was crowded, with many tents. I estimate in excess of 40, possibly 50, hikers. Daniel had gone ahead of us in the later stages and at the shelter turn off had asked someone there where the shelter was. Possibly a misunderstanding due to accent but he was directed down the AT not the spur trail. He subsequently did another mile or so before backtracking. I was concerned at his absence and along with fatigue and a buildup of lack of sleep I felt I had hit a wall. When Daniel finally arrived I had already setup the smaller TarpTent and after eating a quickly made cup of chicken noodle soup I went straight to bed while the others enjoyed a bigger meal and a small campfire. We slept with our food and wall bottles between us but not in our bags. HooRoo hung in a tree outside and kept the bears away.
Date: 2013-03-22
From: Hawk mtn shelter

To: suches
Miles today: 9.1
Weather: overcast clouds

We awoke to a very cold morning, no more than high 20's at most.Due to my early bedtime I was awake well before dawn and eventually had to get up for a nature break just after 6:00am.With my thermal longjohns on and gloves I was warm enough sitting next to the tents and amused myself by listening to each of the tents "waking up". There were many of what Hikerboy refers to as "barking spiders" during this process.Most of us had water that was not frozen but HB had left a platypus bag half full which had frozen solid. The day was overcast and we never saw the sun all day. Forecasts were for extremely heavy rain storms and below freezing temperatures.We are a group of 7 but Army Ant and Milkman are quickly showing as the guide and weather readers and we are following their lead. I haven't even looked at my guide since we started, and it's in my pack now anyway.Again the trail is surprising Daniel and I with it's ease compared to what we had expected. Sassafras Mountain and Justus Mountain again highlighted our lack of trail fitness but we don't feel that it is any harder here than much of the hillier parts of the jarrah forest regions near Perth. The ground is generally very good underfoot and while there is a lot of granite at times it is quite smooth compared to our granite. The ground in the jarrah forest is much harder with the ironstone content for which there appears to be no equivalent here.We are all happy staying as a group and feel we will continue to do so until at least Easter when we are having a zero day in North Carolina with Train Wreck from WhiteBlaze.net.After that we may start to string out if we feel that we want to hike at different speeds.Due to the extreme conditions being forecast we passed by Gooch Mountain shelter and went on to Gooch Gap after Army Ant organised a shuttle pickup to take us into Suches to the Wolf Pen Gap Country Store. On arrival at Gooch Gap we chatted briefly with a hiker who was going to camp there with his dog Chewbacca. It is so much harder to hike with a dog and while I think it would be wonderful to share the experience it with your dog, I think section hikes would be best as a thruhike becomes even more of an ordeal dealing with the extra problems caused.
Date: 2013-03-23
From: suches

To: suches
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Today was a zero day in Suches and we didn't stray more than 10 yards from the hostel which is above the store/gas station.They make a fantastic pizza here but other food choices are limited. Thankfully a burger was available on the evening menu as after a pizza the night before and another for breakfast and lunch, we had the rare phenonemon of hikers declining pizza.This town has several colourful characters and they all seem to come thru the store during the day. The man we dubbed the "turkey shooter" was a nice bloke. He said he worked 4 days a week and hunted 3 days a week.23 hikers stayed here last night and while many moved on this morning more came in so we're looking at similar numbers tonight. The rain and cold are slowing down the progress of most and driving many like us out of the hills.A lot of discussion today on how far to go tomorrow as after 9.5 miles we enter a stretch that you are required to have a bear canister to overnight there and none of us do. 9.5 miles doesn't seem enough after a rest day but we are looking at 14.5 to get through that zone and the last stretch includes Blood Mountain which has a reputation for being hard, especially on the descent.