morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2008-06-28
From: Home Tonight - Trail Tomorrow!!!!

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

I got home Friday night and I guess all of the stress and responsibility from the past few months at work had taken its toll and I didn't realize it. I was exhausted. I felt this relief and like a huge load was lifted from me and I felt so light and free at last. I also felt very,very tired. I could barley eat dinner that night and I fell asleep for a while thinking it would be ok when I woke up. I had some last minute stuff to pack and do before I left in the morning. But I woke up later and was a physical and emotional wreak. Not quite how I thought I would feel. After talking it over with my husband and friend of 30 plus years who knows me better than anyone else, we felt it was better that I take a day to unwind and rest before tackling that first mountain. I knew it would be physically hard for me to start after being so inactive with exercise and all because of work and I did not want my first day to be filled with agony and tears. So I rested and reated some more. I got my stuff togeather and am now ready to be taken to the trail and dropped off so I can hike. I guess I should have figured I would be tired but I think I was going on pure adrenalin wanting to get to the day I can hike and didn't really notice. So now I am waiting for him to come home from work early today and take me to the trail for an early start tomorrow morning. I felt mentally and physically ready to tackle those mountains and hike. Just wanted to update and let you all know I was still on track, just a day behind. Will update later when I can from the trail.ShuffleShuffle
Date: 2008-06-30
From: On The Road

To: The AT
Miles today: 0.0

This afternoon I was dropped off at the Dutch Haus B & B in Montebello, VA. Since I had taken the extra days to recuperate from all the craziness at work and the fact that I was exhausted and didn't realize it, I left at 2:00pm on Monday and was driven to the drop off point. This place is awesome!!! Lois certainly has it all together there and offers a premium service to hikers. It is 2.5 miles off the trail but they will pick you up at Fish Hatchery Road if you call them. There are opportunities to slack pack and and all the services are well within a great price range for what they include. When I arrived I was hesitant as to what my plans were because I was unsure of what my body would allow me to do. We talked and Lois thought if I started at Salt Log Gap and worked my way to Fish Hatchery Road, which she thought was an easy hike, it would be almost 10 miles. I was very apprehensive about it because after all, I had been a desk potato for the last 4 months with little or no exercise in the plan. I would be going with a day pack and that would help. I decided that I would go for it. My husband left then to go home and that was hard for me.I think with all the uncertainty about my abilities and the exhaustion, I was an emotional wreak. I really needed to get out in the woods.   So I packed what I would need in the day pack, got clothes ready and food & water, and then tried to sleep. I was too excited so I put in a movie, Patch Adams, and watched it until I got sleepy. I woke up a few times during the night but eventally morning came.
Date: 2008-07-02
From: Dutch Haus

To: Zero
Miles today: 0.0

When I got up this morning and my feet touched the floor, I suddenly remembered where I was and what I had put my body through yesterday. I moved slowly at first but the need to use the bathroom made me move faster. Not real fast, but faster. I dressed VERY slowly and went out to start the coffee. I inched my way to the chair and sat and sipped coffee. Breakfast was ready and Lois was wondering whether I was going with plan A or plan B. We had already contemplated the fact that since I had gone the 10 miles I may not be able to move the next day. SO Plan B was to stick around and walk to the country store, which was about 1 mile, that day and sort of relax the legs for the next day. I opted for Plan B. I know, sounds like I'm wimping out but I could hardly move. I could not go as far today to be able to be picked up at the next slack pack point which would be another 10-12 miles. Lois insisted I walk some so I walked to the store and sat and had a Diet Coke and a cup of veggie soup. I bought a few post cards and sent them to people at work, letting them know that I was alive, but sore and how much I was enjoying being away from work. I caught up on my journal and took a nap. I took my shower before the rest got back so they could use the shower. Tomorrow is another day and I will be ready to go. I will be dropped off on up the trail and hike to Seeley Woodworth Shelter for the day.   When the group got back we had another great dinner made by Lois. We left the table full and ready to go to bed. I watched a little television and then fell asleep.
Date: 2008-07-05
From: Waynesboro

To: Zero
Miles today: 0.0

I woke up early and ate my breakfast pizza and then began packing things back in my bag. I wanted to be ready when they got there since we were moving to the Sleep Inn at Staunton. My daughter works for Comfort Inn and she can stay at their motels at a reduced rate. They also allow dogs to stay there since my husband was babysitting her dog for the week, he would be along. Her dog is a big golden retriever named Kip who would not be trail trained and would chase anything that moved so we did not want to take him much to his dismay and my husband's.   I called them to see how far they were and they had been on their way since 6 am so they would be there soon after 9 am. I couldn't wait. Soon they pulled into the motel parking lot and I took the dog out to do his business and give him some exercise. He had 3 1/2 hours on the road and needed to get rid of some energy. Then we piled into the car and went to the Sleep Inn. We checked in and then went to do my laundry and get some supplies for our meals that week. We went to the outfitters at Waynesboro and got her some shoes and a new pack. I needed a sleeping bag as mine was too heavy for this season. It is really a nice outfitter and they were very helpful in allowing us to try stuff out before we decided. When we left, we were both feeling ready to hit the trail tomorrow. We packed her things in the new pack and I replaced mine.   We went back to the motel and ordered pizza, of all things and then just kind of layed around for the evening. I fell asleep early after a shower and clean clothes. The adventure would start in the morning.
From: West Carry Pond

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

rom: West Carry Pond Lean-to<To: Caratunk, METoday's Mileage:14.0Total Mileage: 2022.8Miles to Go: 151.2We again were walking by 7:00 and it was a very cloudy day but the path was relatively easy. We went through Arnold Swamp. In 1775 Benedict Arnold and an army of 1,150 men traded this trail towards Quebec but because of the swamps, only 650 men came out alive. Luckily we fared better than that thanks to the Maine ATC clubs work at putting planks, logs, and rocks along the way for us to walk on today.Around 9:30 the rain started and continued for awhile but did stop after an hour or so, but it still managed to make the trial muddy and slick. As we were walking along a southbounder, Chevorlegs, came by and asked are you Signage and Recon. He had a birthday card from my friend, Mary Anne. I turned 60 on the trail today!We still got to the shelter at 12:30 and even though it was a really nice place, Ben and Ishmel said the bugs were bad and they were going to try to make the 3:00 ferry across the Kennebec River and go into Caratunk. Mary Anne was suppose to pick us up tomorrow but we sent word with Ishmel to tell her we on our way and off we went. We had to go over this slippery dam and Recon fell on her hand, but she was a trooper and got back on her feet and we went quickly on down the trail. We walked at a much faster pace than we have been doing and arrived at the ferry by 3:30. The last one is at 4:00. He was just pulling out as went down this steep hill to the bank of the Kennebec River and we called for him to wait. I got to sit up front and paddle and the current was really strong but we made it across the river and walked to the road as Mary Anne pulled up. Perfect timing.We went to Northern Outdoors and had an ice cream sundae to celebrate my birthday and then went for hot showerrs! Northern Outdoors has tent cabins for thru-hikers for $8.00 each so that is not bad and a very good resturant.Mary Anne had already invited Down Easter and Barefodder for dinner so we all ate inside Mary Ann's screen house as it started raining again. So again after a wonderful birthday dinner, and good conversation, it was good to go to sleep in a dry bug free huge tent.
Date: 2008-05-07
To: Back on to finish!
Miles today: 0.0

My first entry for 2008 will explain a little about who I am and why I am back on TJ¢s. I am once again attempting to finish my AT journey which I started March 7, 2007. I hiked from Springer to Maine, but not to Katahdin. I stress fractured my foot some place in Vermont, and by Maine I was dragging my foot and it was taking me all-day to slog just 10 miles. I was emotionally and physically done and decided to end my travels on September 4, at Grafton Notch with 266.8 miles to go. And so, I am going to return to the same spot on July 7, 2008. A friend, Yvonne, will be joining me for the whole trip (my son and a friend of his were also going to join me, but due to an unfortunate accident in Mexico, they will not be able to make it, but at least they were all unscathed by their adventure). Also my last year¢s trail support extraordinaire friend, Mary Anne, will again help me along the AT by staying up in Maine and helping both Yvonne and me get to the big ¢K.¢ I will make an effort to fill in a few gaps as to what I have been doing since I got off last year and write about a few recent trips that I have taken lately to keep my legs and feet in Trail shape.I have recently acquired a new pair of orthotics to help with my factures joint as it is still swollen after 10 months of not hiking (well not a lot of miles anyway). I hiked 7 miles with them today and they seem to work pretty well.I have read many 2008 Trail Journals this year as I am trying to keep up with a few of the Class of 08. I have followed Certain as she makes her attempt, but think I will be ahead her. Pebble and Sunnyside are in NH at the moment so I hope to see them along the way. And I met VigilAuntie and ¢Y¢ at a hiker feed on the Blue Ridge Parkway I helped with, but they too will be too far behind me to see me in July.I have enjoyed keeping up with the lives of many of the 07¢ hikers this year and hope that some of you will continue to follow along here in this wonderful space devoted to those who love to hike themselves or to hike vicariously through someone else¢s words. For those of you who hiked with me last year, I finally finished putting up all my pictures of the time I spent on the trail.
Date: 2008-05-08
To: Out West
Miles today: 0.0

I took a trip out west to visit my younger son, Jason, and his wife Julie. They had moved to Phoenix, AZ last year while I was on the trail and Jason and I car camped and day hiked the Grand Canyon, Zion, and Bryce National Parks for five days. I had never been out west, except to fly over and it was amazing country. I can see why people want to hike the CDT and the PCT. We hiked 7 to 13 miles each day and went through some pretty big elevation changes. At the first sight of the Grand Canyon, I was in awe. The power of water over millions of years on the earth is just phenomenal. The only problem was that of course, you always started each day hiking down and then when you are tired you must hike up the whole way. The are no PUD¢s in the Grand Canyon.Of the three parks I enjoyed Zion the most, because of its quaint town and our camp site was located at the bottom of the canyon and you got sit around your fire and look up at the majestic sights the place had to offer. Also here you are at the bottom so each day you hike up first and then down! On Mother¢s Day, Jason and I hiked up to Angles Landing. At one point where I was holding on tightly to the chains attached to the sides of the rock and could look out ahead and see tiny hikers moving up a narrow ridge with nothing for thousands of feet down on either side, I said that I would be fine waiting for him on this nice flat spot be he encouraged me on and I completed the climb. What a gorgeous place to be on Mother¢s Day with my son.We next visited Bryce, which was so different than either of the two parks before. It consisted of hundreds, if not thousand, of sculptured rocks called hoodoos that look like they are built up out of the ground but in actuality are pieces of rock that have not been worn away by natures elements. The trail we hiked went down to the bottom of the canyon and we walked among those imposing structures. The temperature must have fallen 20 degrees in the time it took us to hike 8 or so miles. I was freezing by the end and they were predicting snow during the night.We drove home through Flagstaff in a snowstorm that had dropped more than a foot of snow, but then back to Tempe, AZ where the temps were in the 90¢s. I guess that is a big difference between the east and the west as well and I will pack differently the next time I go on a camping trip to the mountains of the Arizona and Utah.I had a great time and it was very special for me to spend the five days with my 30-year-old son doing what I love to do; camping and hiking.
Date: 2008-05-17
To: Trail Days
Miles today: 0.0

I traveled down to Trail Days just for the day this year as I live just a few hours form Damascus and was not sure who was going to be there. Blissful and I had been emailing each other a few times so set a time to meet up. It was certainly good to see her and I got to meet her husband who would like to hike the Trail some day soon. And of course Paul Bunyan who was socializing, as usual. I saw Stubble who had gotten off the trail about the same spot I did and will go back and finish in August. I then heard someone yell, ¢SIGNAGE¢ and turned to see Bonnie Carolyn walking towards me. We also talked for a while. I ran into Focus (I had met Focus when he had Katie his dog the night at Apple Orchard Shelter when we heard about the tragedy at Virginia Tech. Then I met him again at the first White Mountains Hut, Lonesome Lake)and Backyard Boogie and we talked about the last days we spent together. I saw Focus and Ms. Focus. That is a long time in between but he had gotten off for a while. And I also saw him the day I got off. While I wandered through the vendors I met Pebble and Sunnyside. I had not seen them since Erwin, I think. I had started out with Pebble in March and was with her the first days of my 07 hike. I also got to see Snack Break who was so kind to me at the Bear¢s Den Hostel and again at Lake of the Clouds Hut in NH and on the day I left the trail in Maine. I talked to Waffle and Yardsale two of my favorite young people. I met Waffle the day I hiked into Damascus and he was sleeping along side of the trail and I almost poked him with my pole. We have been friends ever since. As I was walking in the parade trying to avoid all the water balloons Pebble¢s mom came up and told me MA and Marshal were here also. So after the parade I went searching for them and finally found them. Now I had not seen them since Watauga Lake and they said they were about one week behind me the whole time. I really wish I had known that. As I was so lonely by the end. But I guess it was not meant to be. We watched the talent show and the Colonel sang his hiker song he had been writing for awhile. Then Backyard told me Marco Solo was going to also sing a song and I waited until he finished to greet him. It was wonderful to see him. I was nervous going down there today wondering if I would feel strange because I had not finished or that who would want to talk to and old lady like me but left feeling like I belong to a very special group of people who I will remember and hopefully stay in touch with for the rest of my life. It is amazing to me how close you feel to people you started this adventure with even if you have not know them before or seen them for months.
Date: 2008-06-06
To: Trail Magic
Miles today: 0.0

A friend who I have not talked to for years suddenly emailed me as she had been on White Blaze advertising the fact that she and some friends were going to put on a hiker feed at mile marker 76.3 of the Blue ridge Parkway, just before Thunder Hill Shelter on June 6th and 7th and did I want to get involved. One, it was so nice to see her and two I had wanted to do something all year but just didn¢t. So I jumped at the chance to help. As I drove up on Friday there were already six or seven hikers there and my friend Ann. I got to meet her friends, Lizard, (02 I think) and her husband, Loon, who has hiked the trail numerous times and is doing it again this year. These wonderful people had set out a magnificent spread for these hikers. There were many types of salad, drinks (with bags of ice), lasagna, chicken off the grill, and hot bread in a Dutch oven. , then topped it all off with desserts and candy. I had only brought cookies, candy, and water. The hikers were in heaven and just did not want leave. I think there were around twelve in all.The next day we repeated the event and there were even more hikers, some actually waiting there as Ann drove up. Loon had spread the word while hiking north. Tonight, I met two women "Y" and VigilAuntie who had followed my journey on TJ¢s last year, I was touched at what they remembered of my adventure and will follow them along on theirs this year. We exchanged info and thus another friendship via the trail has begun.Two more previous Thru¢s arrived and brought more food with them and I got to meet and talk with them. Again the hikers hung around until we asked them politely to get off of the chairs as it was 7:00 PM and the food was mostly gone and time to close up shop. They were very gracious and thankful for all the food and time to sit and rest out of the heat of the day and did a great job of helping us clean up the site.
Date: 2008-07-07
From: Grafton notch

To: East B Hill
Miles today: 10.1

From:Grafton NotchTo: East B Hill RdToday's Mileage: 10.1Total Mileage: 1919.7Miles to Go: 256.5Today was my first day back on the trial after a 10 month hiateus! I was joined today by my friend, Yvonne, and Auntie Mame. Some of you may have been reading Autie Mame's and V8's journals (twin sisters). They needed to get off the trial and so Auntie Mame, who lives in Maine (I had hiked with her husband, Uncle Tom, some last year) emailed me and asked if she could join us for the first few days of slack packing and I said sureMary Anne (trail support) dropped us off at 9:15 AM at Grafton Notch (and picked up a hiker, Floater, to take back to Andover) and off we went. Well we were hiking along and talking a lot and all of a sudden we were only seeing blue blazes. Somehow we had gotten on the trial to Table Rock. We looked at the map and the book and both said it was a loop trial and the decision was made to continue on. When we got to the top, Table Rock did have a great view but the blue blaze turned into orange. Now I have hiked almost 2000 miles and have yet to see a orange blazed trial near the AT, so after Yvonne (who has acquired the trail name of Recon) did some scouting another decision was made to hike all the way back and find the white blazes. So we added an extra mile to our day. Once back on the correct trail I was reminded as to just how hard Maine can be as we climbed up and up for a very long time. As we were climbing, a northbounder, Topo, came along. She, like me, had had to get off last year (she got off in Gorham) and was just back on and joined our trio for the day and also for the night. We finally made it up to Baldplate MT West and collapsed to have lunch. It was now 1:00 PM and we had been hiking since 9:00 AM and gone 3 miles with 7 still to go! But the top was beautiful with panoramic views of the Maine Mtns. as you walk along on all rock. We could see where we were headed and hiked across to East Baldplate for another short rest and to admire the views.We met a few southbounders at Fry Notch Lean-to, but did not linger as we had to be on the move so Mary Anne would not worry too much when we did not show up on time. The four of us walked out of the woods at 6:30 tired and of course hungry. Mary Anne was there with chocolate milk, sodas, and whoopy pies for all. Also Medicine Man (southbounder) was sitting next to the car. We squished five smelly hikers into the car and headed off. Medicine Man got dropped off in Andover and we went to South Arm campgrond where Mary Anne had set up a base camp. We took showers and went to bed.I had a lot of emotions running through my brain today. I was thrilled to be back on the trail heading north but also very apprehensive about the difficulty of the trail itself as well as my body holding up and not getting injured. But I will just take it one day, one white blaze, and one mountain at a time. I was very greatful to have the company of others so thank you Yvonne (Recon from now on), Auntie Mame, and Topo for walking along.
Date: 2008-07-08
From: East B Hill Rd

To: South Arm Rd. 
Miles today: 10.1

From: East B Hill RdTo. South Arm Rd.Today's Mileage: 10.1Total Mileage: 1929.8Miles to Go: 246.4I woke up this morning with my left knee hurting a lot so that was somewhat disconcerting. I wore knee bands all last year and never really had a problem, so I am not sure how it happened except there was a lot of steep down yesterday. I started the day at 9:00 AM with Recon, Auntie Mame, and Topo and as we hiked by Surplus Pond and the discussion was what constitutes a pond from a lake because in Maine the ponds look like lakes to those of us from the south. Recon has the toy Gumby attached to her pack as he has travled a lot with her all over the US and even overseas. We were four women hiking together today ranging in age from early 20's to 60 but all managing to stay together and moving around to have engaging conversations on varying topics. It was so different for me from the end of my hike when I was hiking for hundreds of miles alone with just myself to have conversations with, especially during the day. We went over Wyman Mtn looking for the vista but never really found a good one so finally just sat down and took a break in a wide spot on the trail.Floater, who Mary Anne had driven to Andover, had passed us during the morning and we again met him at Hall Mtn Shelter for lunch. My knee was hurting again and Floater gave me his knee brace. He had needed it earlier and now was glad to get rid of the weight. So thank you Floater, for my first real trail magic of this trip. And we then had a huge down to traverse and my knee actually got better the more I hiked. The first ford of this trip occurred at Sawyer Brook. We took boots off and waded across without incident and enjoyed the coolness on our hot feet, as we knew we had a huge climb up Moody Mtn ahead. Now I have heard many hikers complain about Old Blue (coming tomorrow) but not Moody. For day two of this hike it was very difficult with hand over hand, on your knees, steep rocks, iron rungs to climb, and lots of high rock stairs but like always we made it to the top with many short breaks and were prepared for the same kind of decent and it was steep but dirt and we went down quickly to Black Rock stream. The others did not have to ford as they could rock hop but I, with my much shorter legs could not. I got half way over with the help of Recon, but had to sit on a rock and take my boots off but we were right at the road and Mary Anne was waiting with cold drinks so again I just enjoyed the cold water on my feet.Topo had left us to go to a hostel she had plans with and we went back to South Arm.Mary Anne fixed us all a great steak dinner over an open fire and we went to bed sore and exhausted.