morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2003-02-19
To: Please Do Not Abuse the Guestbook
Miles today: 0.0

This is a note from a disgruntled and dismayed author:to whomever left a nasty message about my Israel poem in the guestbook:1. You misinterpreted the poem. But I understand why and have changed it to be more clear (please go to Previous Entry). However, 2. You don't have to read this stuff. And3. It is a "guestbook," not a "letmeespousemypoliticalopinionbook"4. I get to edit the guestbook, which is why your entry is no longer there.That said, I should warn readers that while this is a TRAILjournal, and most entries will have something to do with the trail, it is also a trailJOURNAL and therefore I will write what is on my mind. While I don't want to censor anything anyone else wants to post, I feel that since I am doing something somewhat brave by writing about my life and experience, if I feel a posting is hateful (argumentative is okay) then it won't stay.Back to business: it is almost official that my start date is bumped to 3/3/2003, not only for the numerical symmetry but also to see my sister in the city and the acclaimed Bonnie and Clyde, er, Russell (aunt and uncle). Today I got better Patagonia long underwear (who knew you could wear women's long undies for a year, return them because they stretched out, and get full store credit towards an upgrade?), bought two LIGHT and SNAZZY watercolor books for the trail, spoke to some Harvard students about fieldwork, and bumped into a lot of old-good friends. Singing off,Mimi "eating delicious jerky" Asnes
Date: 2003-02-19
To: My Pack Is Too Heavy
Miles today: 0.0

I would like to start this entry by pointing out that the reader who suggested the trailname "dogshit" in the Guestbook is actually my aunt. Love you too, Minna :)As pointed out pointedly by a frequent journal reader, my Dana Designs pack, while wonderful, versatile, durable, and a good old friend who has been through a lot with me, is two pounds too heavy and quite probably too large.Dilemma: Pack too large. Budget too small to replace pack.Initially, part of the joy of doing the AT was that I felt that not only have I spent the past 6 years readying myself technically and emotionally for the journey, but I have also been amassing the hiking tools needed to survive and be somewhat comfortable in the woods. The past few months have enlightened me: the gear that seems great on a college-sponsored trip (Coleman stove, 4 pounds of bearbagging rope, heavy nylon tarps, 3.5 pound sleeping bag, even Nalgenes) are TOO HEAVY for the trail. It seems that my nail clipper is too heavy for the trail. I respect the lightweight backpacking ethos and have taken some good tips from those guys, but I draw the line at drilling holes in my toothbrush and shelling out 2-300 bucks for a new bag. If a lighter pack should ring my doorbell tomorrow morning, I would probably use it. Since this isn't Wonderland, I guess you can call me Dana. Wait, not really. No guys, come on, that's a stupid trailname!But the Crazy Creek chair-converter is getting returned to EMS tomorrow.In further reducing weight news, I am looking to buy a pair of lightweight kid's water shoes for river-crossing and camp. In further weight-increasing news, I have a newfound weakness for rootbeer floats with homemade coffee ice cream. And I finished a jar of Nutella. Signing off,Mimi, who is still confused by Bladerunner (what's with the unicorns?) and has revised her too-political poem to be a more watered-down still-not-gonna-win-a-Pulitzer-poem.
Date: 2003-02-20
To: "The Long Green Tunnel"
Miles today: 0.0

From the guestbook:"Mimi, The best subjects are positive ones and getting away from our very noisey daily lives we normaly live. At the end of the hiking day eating,resting, walking that extra quarter mile for water,sleeping and finding the privy wil be the most important things we will be thinking about. Slow down, enjoy the long green tunnel!!! Tybeepete"Something I am struggling with now as lifetime dream becomes reality is the validity of taking half a year to absent myself from society and from many of the pursuits that have up until now constituted my life. I have two feelings: the first is that it is an escape from the banality and the drama of life, a six-month hiatus from "what I should be doing." With so many important political issues and lives at stake, is it irresponsible to disappear into the mountains for what is essentially an entirely selfish period of personal growth and experience? The second feeling is that being out-of-doors and alone for an extended period of time feeds a core part of me that exists in a deeper place than worries about jobs and fortune and even relationships. And that the community surrounding the AT and the kind of society thru-hikers create is something that I can learn a lot from. (The "what have you learned from this experience" way of thinking I have just exemplified, high pressure experience, is hopefully something I will un-learn.) This more positive outlook prevails, but I wanted to put it out there that from time to time I wonder if I am going to Georgia or running away from something.Today it is 50 and beautiful in Boston. I changed my ticket, so I am now officially arriving in Atlanta on the 2nd and starting from Amicalola on the 3rd. Incidentally, if anyone is looking for a less expensive shuttle to the trail, Tom Raymond is on the official list, picks up at the airport, and costs $35, $25 a person if more than one. Pretty damn reasonable.SAD NEWS ABOUT MY BOOTS: On the third day of breaking in, the same problem I had with the size fivers is manifesting. While ASOLO 520's are cut with a big toe-box vertically, the toe narrows on the outside and makes my last two little toes hurt. I am afraid I might have to return them to REI and go with North Face's Gore Tex trailrunner. I am a boot woman, but if the shoe doesn't fit...get a refund. I will miss the superior traction and support, but I haven't been able to find a boot that is both the right size and fit. Oh, the trials of the small-footed.Signing off,Mimi (with a shoutout to Trekking Fox, whom I hope to see section hiking after school is out).
Date: 2003-02-21
To: Gear Ethics 
Miles today: 0.0

I had a bizarre experience yesterday at Store X. I have been toying with the idea of getting an inexpensive digital camera for the trail, so I asked one of the salespeople what cameras he recommended. He showed me a $99 model, and then asked me, "But why would you buy this one for $99 when you could have THIS one" and he pointed to the tiny Cannon camera marked $299 "for forty-nine dollars?" "Excuse me?" I said. "There's no way that camera is on sale for fifty bucks.""No, but if you buy the Store X warranty with the camera, you can call the 800 number in 30, 90 days and they will refund the money to your card.""But then I wouldn't have a camera.""No, they don't want the camera back."Essentially, the salesman was advocating petty fraud! He said that he recommends this "rebate" to all of his customers, and that he gets his friends to buy computers, claim they are misfunctioning, and then resells them at his used computer store in Town X. I felt dirty just talking to him.The boots are still iffy: I have the option of special-ordering North Face's gore tex trailrunner early next week, but with reports of ice on the trail in Georgia I am not sure sneakers will cut it. I would love to hear opinions on this: while I am a boot girl I am not sure I will have any choice other than sneaks with gaiters. Thanks for the boot-lacing suggestion: I will try that and walk up and down the hills tonight.Signing off (I feel like Mr. Rogers),Mimi "ouchy-pinky-toe" Asnes
Date: 2003-02-24
To: Maildrop headache
Miles today: 0.0

So, today is the day that I take all of my nifty jerky, dried fruit, emergen-C, and Trader Joes indian food and pack it all to ship. What a disaster! I have been avoiding the whole maildrop issue, figuring that if I procrastinated long enough my food would buy, package, and ship itself. As I write, I am also writing out a spreadsheet of all the places that I could possibly resupply and then planning to send drops to the places that have the fewest other options. I am also trying to stick within walking distance of the trail so I don't feel obliged to hitch. It's working out well, thanks in large part to the Thru-Hiker's Companion which I will be sad to let go for the databook shortly. Oh yes, the second batch of jerky came out great, a little drier because I was out dancing with an old friend and forgot to turn the oven off. Speaking of which, Cape Verdean Sundays at Europa in Boston are pretty interesting. Other than the maildrops, I have two pairs of boots coming in the mail from this great site, Sierra Trading Post. They have STEEP discounts on many small sizes of great brands like ASOLO and Merrell and Salomon. I talked to the Marathon Sports staff about using trailrunners and they nixed it (which I believed, seeing as they were losing $120!) One woman suggested a Merrel children's shoe, but I am going with light or mid-weight hikers depending on what fits.Still to buy: windscreen/pot support for the stove, random food items, waterproof watch with alarm.Still to find: that thing they gave me after the marathon for a groundcloth.Money purchase of the week: rubber slip-on crampons at REI garage saleThinking about: what to do for bug season (suggestions? has anyone used one of those things that looks like a bivvy made out of mosquitoe netting?)Signing off,Mimi, who has a lot to think about regarding friendship, love and religion. Thanks, JT.
Date: 2003-02-25
To: Final days
Miles today: 0.0

First, let me take a moment of journal silence for Ted, "Soleman," who passed away less than a week before he was to begin the AT. If you are interested, take a look at his journal in the index, it is very well-written. Godspeed.Sobered, I have been thinking how fortunate I am to be undertaking the AT and how many thousands of people in the world have no such opportunity. My parents want to "sponsor" my hike by donating money per mile to a charity of my choice, and may get their friends in on it. I think it is a sweet way to keep in touch with me, and it creates good in the world without me having to carry around an agenda on this hike (my pack is heavy enough as it is). More on this as it develops.Tomorrow is maildrop day: sending two and leaving my parents the Companion and a pile of "may-need" items. Big resupply news: I am deciding against a bounce-box, simply because with maildrops it is a bit redundant and nixing it cuts down on postage fees. I am including little things I may need (i.e. a few feet of duct tape, AA batteries, Emergen-C, lotion) in the maildrops. Also, my maildrops are only through MD: at Harper's Ferry I will hopefully hook up with my Aunt Minna and figure out what will work best for the remainder of the trail. By tomorrow eve my maildrop locations should be posted on the website at left.FOR ALL ALCOHOL STOVE USERS: Buy a 4" aluminum duct connector for $1 at Home Depot, and use a hand-held hole puncher to create ventilation holes at top and bottom. It is a super lightweight windscreen and pot support in one, and I have an extra in case mine dies halfway. Thanks for the suggestion, Jeannie!Discovery of the day: you can eat both Instant Rice and Ramen dry, if need be.Question of the day: how small can you go with your pack towel? I happen to have a large size and am planning to cut off a piece to use for the trail, but wasn't sure what size folks found most useful.Other question of the day: should I buy a Hennessey Hammock? I am returning some boots to REI and have the option of exchanging them for this neat device. It might be a great way to get up off the wet and snowy ground and out of the shelter, but I would like it better if it would keep out the bugs.Signing off, Mimi, who realizes that saying goodbye is as hard as it is important
Date: 2003-03-23
To: Standing Bear Farms (Davenport Gap)
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

I am typing on a dialup connection in the wonderful semi-outdoors hostel of Curtis and Maria in Cosby County, so my entry will be brief. I have gotten through the Smokies! We even had two days when it didn't rain. It was gorgeous. I am traveling with a great group which is spread out over two days (20 miles) but we all plan to meet up on Tuesday in Hot Springs. I saw no bears, but deer and grouse aplenty. I have been line dancing (Franklin) and clogging (Newport NC) but more on all of this when I get to a library in a couple of days. Thanks to the Wandering Minstrels, Yoni and Etan, for their flute/guitar/drum/voice prowess, and to Ox for oranges, and to the Hot Dog Boys (John and Pat of Missouri) for food and that heavenly mocha. Signing off,Poptart
Date: 2003-03-25
From: Hot Springs

To: I Am A Breakfast Pastry
Miles today: 0.0

Ah, the trailname. What a venarable AT thru-hiker institution. Mine is still a work in progress, but here are the various things I have been called:Smee-mee. The Yellow Submarine (Pathfinder, Rider and Lion Cub) thought that it would be funny to call me this, but it only works if you say it in a pirate voice, and add a saying like "Batten the hatches" or "Avast, ye varlet!" Watergirl. The meaningful explanation is that my namesake, Miriam, led the people to water. The real reason is that in a tired haze I poured out some extra rice water directly onto the fire at Blue Mt. Shelter.Poptart. Given in the Franklin Motel by Red, this name is not because I like eating them but because I am up and at 'em in the morning. And because I am always doing something, to the point at which people ask if I have ADD. The Tart part...well, if anyone saw me spank Kanaka onstage in Psycho Beach Party this summer, they will understand. This is the name that is sticking the most, and I actually respond to it. Bonus: it sounds good in both a southern and Boston accent.Hiku. I write poems, usually haikus, in the shelter registers. The Mainers (Moxie, Cakes and Johnny Walker) pointed out that not only is this form of poetry short (like me) and spare (like a hiker), it has the word "hike" in it. This name seemed like a sure thing until the Mainers hiked ahead and everyone else kept calling me Poptart :).Speaking of people...I am currently hiking in a big group that includes Java, Grunt, Flick, Subman, Red Streak, Squirts, and Pileup. Red and Krumbsnatcher have caught up, Dimples, Hot Poles, Spacemonkey, A-Train, Sugar Daddy and Journeyman are right behind, and I just met Donkey and Cannoli. All this probably sounds funny to people who aren't used to trailnames!
Date: 2003-03-25
From: Hot Springs

To: In the Company of Men
Miles today: 0.0

I have heard that last year 26% of thru-hikers were women, and the number grows every year. All I have to say is, where are they all? I love the women I have met on the trail (Red, Dimples, Tennesee, Mama Lipton) but they are few and far between. It is pretty fun to be around so many guys, and hard at times as well. Mostly, it is interesting. Women on the trail are a kind of third gender, not quite men yet distinct from non-thru-hiking women. By hiking the same miles as everyone else, I feel that I earn a little bit of "masculinity" that makes me different from a girl in town. But my fellow hikers still watch out for me a bit more or worry if I say I want to hike ahead and camp alone. Part of being the only girl most of the time is being able to "take" the occasional ribald comment, but also being able to know what is disrespectful and confront it.During a hike from Charlie's Bunion to Tricorner Knob, Squirts (yes, that really is his trailname and yes, that's why he has it) and I talked about the gender dynamics on the trail. He compared the hiking community to a hunter-gatherer society. Because we don't compete for resources (unless the shelter is full), each person is of equal worth, with elders (non-20-somethings) having the ability to weigh in more on certain issues. But because the ratio of men to women is so imbalanced, there seems to be a certain tacit agreement not to approach hiking women romantically. I hypothesized this was because we take on certain "masculine" traits (being dirty, physical accomplishment) but Squirts said he thought it was to preserve the social balance of the group.I expect that we are still in the "norming" stage of our community development; also, the trail is a constant stream of people and a lot can change as groups grow close or apart. As someone who studied anthropology, I am excited to see and be a part of the trail culture that exists and that we are also building.
Date: 2003-03-25
To: Trail Poems
Miles today: 0.0

The Eighteenth Mile (Rock Gap Shelter 3/10)There is a certain clarity that comesAfter the eighteenth mile-The achings of your jointsThe ploddings of your feetThe stark inevitability of breathBring every leaf into unnatural focus.In a dream, you realizeThat while the sun may set before youAnd rise again above the hill behind youYou will always, always be walkingTowards the near horizon.Untitled (3/12)You've got to be some kind of angel, boycause there is no way that a man like youcould have come out in the usual way.Dancing, your feet have a silver liningI know didn't come from this old dark earth.I want to hold you, for someday those wide shouldersare gonna sprout wingsand fly you away.Untitled (Deep Park Shelter 3/24)The sun rose five times And set twice On a day's journey from Deep Gap.I will count these daysBy dawns and dusks-They are eventual.
Date: 2003-03-25
From: Trail Poems

To: Thank you's! And A Note To My Mother
Miles today: 0.0

Thanks to ladies in Franklin who know how to groove,to John and Pat of Missouri for all the good food,Thanks to Anne and to Kathy for the ride in your truckAnd to Yoni and Etan, with whom we had the luckto jam for a while. Thanks to Bill for the flaskAnd to Ox for the treats. We didn't even have to askfor them, or for the beer that we found in the creek.All in all, it has been a great 3 first weeks:)Note to my mother (and wonderful family and friends):What you write in the guestbook can be seen by anyone. So comments about how you like to "stroke my sweet head" might be better off sent to asnes@post.harvard.edu. I appreciate the sentiment, but every reader may not :)
Date: 2003-03-31
To: Snowing! in Erwin, TN
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

On the 29th of March, I pulled an early 10 mile day from Hogback Ridge Shelter to Big Bald Shelter. Big Bald was unfortunately completely foggy; as I was hiking up to it I saw the mist rolling in so fast I worried it might be biological warfare (plus that musty smell it has). I got to the shelter in the rain at 11:30 and decided to cozy up in my sleeping bag and cook for lunch and dinner rather than push on 10 more miles. The next morning, we awoke to find a foot of snow! This crazy mountain weather. Flick and I, along with Eggman, Shifty, Chaos and Crumbsnatcher, hiked down to Spivey Gap through 2' drifts and then Flick and I continued up and over the 11 miles to Erwin. It was a definite physical undertaking to hike in the snow, but as Flick said, "It's like hiking in a Christmas Card." It was beautiful, and bizzare to see everything covered in white. It was a pain to knock snow off all the rhodedendruns that covered the trail, and I fell a bunch of times, but the experience made it my favorite day so far on the trail. We wanted to stay at Miss Janet's in Erwin, but instead found that the Mainers (Cakes, Johnny Walker and Moxie) were at Uncle Johnny's and Moxie is a hot commodity now that he has his pack guitar. Rousing versions of Tangled Up In Blue and She Talks To Angels ensued. Everyone else and there mother was also in Erwin because of the weather, so it was neat to catch up with people and see how far everyone has gotten. May or may not take a zero here; it is sunny and Beauty Spot will probably be gorgeous whether I get there today or tomorrow.It has been interesting to be hiking as a first time hiker and meet people who have done the trail before, maybe more than once. It is an interesting challenge to both respect them and their knowledge of the trail and hike my own hike, using skills I have gained by other means. I'm very grateful to FOP at Harvard for teaching me to take risks carefully.Something for Mimi-as-Poptart to remember: the trail is long but the community is tight-knit and small.And I put one foot in front of the otherAs if to ask the Earth, "Are you really my motherOr will this rock I'm walking on crumble awayIn time?"Mimi aka Poptart aka Hiku ps. more maildrops listed for letters and candy :)
Date: 2003-04-18
From: Jenny Knob Shelter

To: Surprise! Visiting Boston!
Miles today: 0.0

Surprise! I have known for some time that I was going to fly home for three days on Passover to surprise my parents, but I could write about it here because they are probably my most avid readers. Many thanks to Pog, Rockhound (Sam Wells), Jack Agee, Rachel, Pete, Nancy, Jerry, and Tania for making the whole thing possible. Yesterday morning, after pushing 13 miles past Bland, I hiked out from Jenny's Knob to 608, had Rockhound drive me 70-odd miles to Roanoke airport, and flew to Atlanta, where I met wonderful friend/cousin Rachel Gans, who switched to be on my flight and sit next to me! We arrived at the usual Passover spot, the Gans household, where Nancy had wisely prepped the shower with many nice-smelling soaps and a razor. She even bought me clothes to wear to the seder, which are very flattering, though I was dismayed to find that I have lost a cup-size or two. As Rachel put it, "you forgot your breasts in the woods!" I like the idea of them hanging off the mice-hangers at some shelter...Anyhow, this was the best-yet Passover seder, with Nancy's traditional wonderful matzo-ball soup and mereingues. My parents were both almost frighteningly shocked when I showed up; as they arrived the Ganses told them that I was on the phone, and as they were exclaiming about how lucky it was I had called just then I walked into the room talking on the phone! My dad said it was "the biggest surprise of his life." While it was strange to fly over all the turf I will soon be hiking, it was also one of the best decisions I have made to take a break. Being away really puts the trail in perspective; and the trail really puts my life in perspective. The seder was much more meaningful to me, as I am on my own journey and like the People of Israel, I have to leave much of the familiar behind in my own quest. Having been in the woods eating ramen, I also very keenly felt the opulence of my normal life and felt so overwhelmingly fortunate to be born to such a wonderful family and community with so many economic and social and emotional resources. The Haggadah (the book of Passover that we follow) also spoke to the current conflict in Iraq, as we imagined and reimagined what oppression and freedom really mean.I will be back on the AT Sunday morning, inshallah, and plan to meet Jack Agee at the Saw Mill on 606 around noon, if anyone who is reading this needs somewhere to go for Easter. Signing off,a well-fed and VERY content Poptart