morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2010-01-16
To: Prep entry #7
Miles today: 0.0

Delee and I walked around the park while I wore a mostly fully loaded pack. It added half an hour to our normal 2.5 hour time. Yikes. Glad I'm doing a little conditioning now rather than in Georgia. I would like the first two weeks to suck less. Normally it takes me that long to get used to the daily hiking, but when I've had the opportunity to condition more before I go, it doesn't take as long.I used a Japanese water bag and the mouth didn't quite fit right with my Platypus tube, so it soaked everything while we drove to the car. I ended up hiking in my rain skirt to keep the wet pack from giving me a wet rear end. And I'm tossing the dang water bag. Fortunately all the contents of the pack but a thin sheet of foam was already in a dry sack.We ran into two other guys hiking with backpacks at the park. It was our second weekend seeing them so I asked them if they were training for a hike, and they were. They're doing an AT section in VA. It was fun meeting them.I seamsealed the Contrail and Rainbow yesterday. It's supposed to rain all day tomorrow so I'll go in and see how good of a job I did. STILL can't decide which one to take.
Date: 2010-01-17
To: Prep Entry #8
Miles today: 0.0

Friday I seamsealed the Contrail and the Rainbow. I left them up in the yard to dry. Today it's raining heavily. Perfect! I went out to see how the tents fared.The Contrail had collapsed in back. With the ground softening up one of the stakes had pulled out. I restaked it and tightened the whole thing. In regular use I'd also use the pullouts on the side, but I'm not right now. Despite the collapse it did pretty well rain-wise. I didn't see any leaking seams.The Rainbow had one pulled out stake but was otherwise intact. It, however, was leaking in several spots. I went back and reread the instructions, and it said to let the sealant dry and repeat twice. Woops! I missed that the first time around. Now I have to let the rain stop and the tent dry, and get more silicone and brushes, before I have another go at it. Mostly it's pretty good - there were some drips from where the clips are attached at the peak and along the tent pole. I sat in both tents and despite the rainworthiness and lower weight of the Contrail, I don't think I'd want to spend a rainy day (or a bunch of them) in it. It just feels a lot smaller. I'd definitely take it on weekend trips, but when it's going to be my sanctuary for months I think I want a wee bit more room to move. That means either the Rainbow or my old Squall. The Squall is easier to put up and basically the same weight as the Rainbow, but is SO big and airy that it's colder than the Rainbow in cool weather. So providing I can actually get the Rainbow sealed properly I think it's going with me on the thruhike.I also seamsealed my new Anti-Gravity Gear rain jacket on Friday. It did just fine but I miss having pockets. I actually didn't notice or think about the jacket after I put it on, which is a good sign. I should have worn my rain skirt because the jacket doesn't cover my butt, but I was too lazy to go get it. Hence I had to change into dry pants after spending time outside. (Must consider if pockets are important enough to go with a heavier jacket, or if a fanny pack will suffice. I may need real pockets so I have somewhere to put my hands. There might be a new Precip in my future. The old one refuses to repel more than a light dew anymore.)I also wore my crocs with the holes closed around the edges, and despite the rain my feet stayed dry. Definitely going to take those with until later in the year when I'll switch to more ventilated ones.
Date: 2010-01-19
To: Prep Entry #10
Miles today: 0.0

Stopped by Target to pick up some shampoo and conditioner to throw in my drop boxes. At least five times on this trip I'll get to use Pantene to wash my hair. Also moved the tent up to the porch to finish drying. I'll have to pack it up tomorrow and wait for the next warm spell. Or maybe seamseal it when it's not so warm out and bring it in the house after it's outgassed some to finish. Either way it's still too wet for seamsealing at the moment.
Date: 2010-01-24
To: Prep Entry #11
Miles today: 0.0

I seamsealed the Rainbow again yesterday. I'm about to go out again and add some more silicone to the problem areas. Late this afternoon or tomorrow I should be able to take advantage of the rain to test my work. If this doesn't do it I don't know what I'll do..Reading other peoples' journals has given me some thoughts.1) Work for stay in the AMC huts isn't worth it. Better to stay at a pay campsite. Totally stop in for snacks though.2) I don't care to be a purist. Walking from Georgia to Maine is good enough for me. Plus, I hate it when people tell me what to do. You're not the boss of me! (Except my actual boss of course.) If I see a blueblaze that looks like fun I'm taking it.
Date: 2010-01-25
To: Prep Entry #12
Miles today: 0.0

This is mostly a note to myself, to come back and check later. Sometimes when I'm really tired and out of sorts I can't think of what I'd like to eat. These are all foods that should be pretty packable and at least one of the options should appeal. Some will be more available than others in small towns, some I might ask JD to mail to me.MEAL IDEASkorma sauce or ready to eat navratan kormainstant ricepouch chickenonion flakesother dehydrated veggiestuna salad in a pouchcrackers, hamburger bun, wrappickle slicesdehydrated spaghetti saucedehydrated turkey or beefdehydrated ricotta cheeseangel hair spaghettiinstant mashed potatoesbaconcheeseonion flakespeanut butterhot saucepouch chickeninstant ricepickles on the sidegravy mixany meatinstant potatoesnoodleschicken bouillondehydrated spinachegg powdermac and cheesesummer sausagecraisinsdehydrated or pouch turkey instant stuffinglemon powderonion flakesparkaypouch chickeninstant ricedehydrated refried beanshot saucetortillasinstant gritscheese baconINDIVIDUAL ITEMSmiso soupsour cream and chive crackersnutellawasabi flavored almondscheck organic section for good granolascheck asian and hispanic sections for retort packaged meals, spicy things, dried mangoschick-fil-a has packets of honey, other good condiments100 cal packs of pringles, pretzels, fruit snacks, oreossmall packs of prunesdried applessmall packs of fresh baby carrotshot dogsindividually packaged cinnamon rollsdehydrated hummus - beware included flavors (note* dehydrate some!)snickersskorpoptartsoatmealgritshot chocolatefolgers individual packetssplenda packetsnidobagelscream cheese in cool weathercheddarswisssqueeze peanut butterteriyaki jerkytomato soupcrystal light strawspowerbar gelspower barsgorpmint tea bags
Date: 2010-01-28
To: Prep Entry #13
Miles today: 0.0

I think I have sorted out all my gear issues. Well, I need new poles.. the ones I'm using right now are "junior" poles and not really long enough to set up the tent. But other than that it's sorted.The pack is stuffed, though I'll unstuff it soon so the down doesn't get all crushed and stay that way. The pack is *huge*. It's full of a lot of down and fleece, to help me through the predictably unpredictable weather between Springer Mtn and Pearisburg. This weekend I'll go to the PA Ruck, see lots of old friends, and maybe even sit in on the thruhiker bull session. I've been lots of times but I've never been planning to thruhike so I never saw the point. THIS time, however, I do!
Date: 2010-02-01
To: Prep Entry # Whatever
Miles today: 0.0

I got tired of numbering.I'm still waffling on the approach trail. I have nearly 40 days to make up my mind. I need to let Frank know enough in advance for him to firm up his plans too.The poles I've been hiking with are too short for setting up my tent freestanding, which I'd like to be able to do. Might go by REI to get some new ones, might pick some up along the way and mail my junior poles home.I'm going to ship my pack back to the manufacturer to have a sturdier frame put in it. Might ask them to redo a little stitching at the shoulders at the same time.I'm starting to get a feeling for how hard it's going to be to be separated from my husband, friends, dog, cats, and horse for that long. It's not a pleasant thought.
Date: 2010-02-03
To: Winter is not conducive to my exercise
Miles today: 0.0

I thought I'd be getting all kinds of hiking done, including daily walks at work and longer hikes on the weekends. But there has been a ton of snow. And my job has been super busy so I'm not getting in walks like usual. I did get out for a few today. Walking in the wet snow was strenuous. I'm not worrying too much about it. I've had varying levels of fitness on previous section hikes. The only real difference is in how hard the first two weeks feel. After that it's all the same.
Date: 2010-02-06
To: Maybe snowshoes?
Miles today: 0.0

If this year doesn't get less snowy I'm going to need to rethink my gear. Maybe some mukluks? Sled dogs? A toboggan? A snow knife for building igloos?I've been in my house for over ten years now. This is the first time I've felt the need to shovel off the roof. The several feet of snow on the less steep portions of it was making me nervous about things collapsing. I was so tired after that that my arms felt like overcooked noodles. My chest hurt from trying to push snow off the roof with a broom (didn't work, FYI). I think it all would have been easier without the 20 foot drop a couple slippery feet away.I thought about what it would be like if that kind of snow happened when I was hiking. Obviously my tent wouldn't stand up to it. I'd have to hole up somewhere - either under a seriously beefy evergreen of some sort, or a shelter or cave. Just walking when the snow comes up to your thighs is quite difficult. I estimate I could do maybe 3 or 4 miles a day in it without snowshoes or skis. And I don't have snowshoes or skis so there you go. Not far enough to get to another shelter, usually, but maybe far enough to get from a tentsite to a shelter.And of course it wouldn't be my arms feeling noodly, it'd be my legs.Oh and BTW my PowerStretch tights make totally awesome snow pants.
Date: 2010-02-08
To: Mental prep
Miles today: 0.0

I've unsubscribed from a couple of mailing lists. I'll get off the other two when I get closer to my leaving date. The final two are hiking and work related so I figure I'll hang in there with them until I'm ready to go. I'm trying to clear mental space for my hike. We're dealing with the repercussions of the massive snow we got here recently. The day before yesterday we went out to shovel snow off several of our flatter roof sections. This morning I went to check for ice dams, and sure enough! They're on a very high, steep portion of the roof so for now I'm taking a wait and see attitude. There's no way I can shovel up there. If we start to see water infiltration I'll definitely have to do something (like slip and slide my way up there with hot water to make a channel in the ice.)I'll be so glad when this winter is over. Even if I weren't hiking.
Date: 2010-02-09
To: Rain
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

So rumor has it (via somebody else's trail journal) that it's an el nino year. Which translates to rain and lots of it. I had thought we might get off easy since last year was a really wet one. Zang.On the upside, I should never run out of water.On the downside, I can count on more foot problems, mud, wet rocks, extra stinky clothes that are never dry, and being cold more. I'll have to ponder what's worth it to me as far as extra gear to compensate. I have a tarp that I keep thinking about throwing in. It makes a nice shelter for cooking and breaks. It's a lot easier and faster to put up than my tent, but it weighs a pound. And a pound is a lot to me. Hrm. Plus I'd want to carry some extra stakes so I can have the tent and tarp up at the same time. (If you haven't camped in the rain, you may not be able to imagine the comparative bliss of having a dry place to sit while you pack your tent. The tarp itself doesn't take much packing and I don't care if I pack it wet.)I'll definitely want to get a couple more dry sacks, too.And I'm going to stow my phone when it's rainy, so very few pictures on wet days. Ah well. I'm not a great photographer anyway.Even without the extra gear my pack will be a little heavier just from absorbed water.I have 32 days left to ponder these details.I need to go over my maildrop list and fix the addresses. Right now most of them say they're going to post offices, but I actually intend to send most to businesses.
Date: 2010-02-13
To: Time is getting short
Miles today: 0.0

JD will drive me down to the trail in one month. Thanks to the snow we've had recently, my shoveling muscles are in good shape but my hiking muscles aren't. My snowshoes should arrive Tuesday, so I hope to go out and get some exercise that way next week.I was thinking yesterday about mornings and early hikers. Most of the folks who get up early seem to stop early, too. They leave two hours before me in the morning but we end up at the same place at night. I don't see what the point is. Me, I like hiking in the early morning, if I'm up. But I also like hiking in the evening. Love that red evening light. I haven't decided if I'm carrying a watch for an alarm or not. I guess there might be times I'll need to get up early, if I'm meeting somebody somewhere.My backpack is out west somewhere right now, waiting to get its new aluminum frame. I miss it! I want my pack back.
Date: 2010-02-13
To: Whittling down the pack
Miles today: 0.0

Every single time I get ready for a hike, I add more gear in to the pile and end up taking it back out. Every time. You'd think I'd learn, wouldn't you? I don't know what makes me think my gear got lighter or I got stronger in the interim.Today I went through the first aid kit. I note that I need to resupply some of the pills, such as ibuprofen and benadryl. I also noticed that the various tubes of things were about half the total weight. I am grudgingly taking most of them out, telling myself I can get them at the next town if I need to, or have JD mail them to me. Still dithering on antibiotic ointment (1/2 oz, but when is it ever so necessary that I can't wait a couple days for it?) Not dithering on the sunscreen, but need to find a smaller container so I don't take as much. Not dithering on the anti-chafing cream, either. When you need that, you need it bad. The bizarre gait of a badly chafed hiker is distinctive and slow. And probably accompanied by annoying whining and groaning.I had my clothes laid out, but then I went and wore most of them because of the snow. It's problematic to get packed when you actually use a lot of the items on a day to day basis.
Date: 2010-02-14
To: Slight change in gear
Miles today: 0.0

Looks like I won't be taking my add-on lid for the backpack. The cat has absconded with one of the straps. Ah well, it wasn't essential.I'm thinking of dropping a few duplicate items. I have one "towel" that makes a pretty good bandanna/nosewipe, and one that actually makes a decent towel. I can probably just live with the former. I also have a real bandana and a "hiker to trail/town" bandana.. not sure how well the latter will work or if I want it to get dirty. Might be hard to read covered in dirt.
Date: 2010-02-19
To: Ack
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

I'm sitting in the Baltimore airport waiting to fly out to see a friend on the west coast. Once I get back from this weekend, it's going to be a brutal countdown to my departure. I already have serious butterflies. I feel like there are champagne bubbles in my chest. I don't want to leave family and friends but at the same time I want to be gone already. I'm hoping the snow melts a lot this weekend or I'm going to be staring this hike more out of shape than I've ever been for my section hikes. Yikes! I have snowshoes now but the intensity level of the exercise means I can't do it for long enough to accomplish any conditioning. I've been trying to find reasons to go up and down stairs, fir all the good it'll do me. Ah well. The trail will condition me if it doesn't kill me first.
Date: 2010-02-23
To: Yikes, early starters!
Miles today: 0.0

The early starters this year are having a really hard time. This, this is why most people start later. You can't rely on the weather earlier in the year. Sometimes you get away with going out in winter, sometimes you don't. I've hiked Shenandoah in February in other years, but this year they have 10' drifts of snow. Same deal.I wanted to go out in early April to try to avoid some of the winter weather issues. I'm instead going in mid March to accommodate some work issues. I hope I don't end up sitting in a hotel room in Franklin or Fontana waiting for snow to clear. I don't want to have to push myself later on to make up time.I hope the southernmost trail is pretty passable by March 10 or so. Otherwise I may delay my start date. That would be maddening after all the preparations leading up to my current starting date. On the one hand I'm sleeping in a soft warm bed with my husband and my dog every night, finding it hard to believe that in less than a month I'll be hundreds of miles away sleeping out in the cold. (And half wondering why it is I'm going to do this.) But on the other hand I get so excited every time I think about the trip, that I have a hard time breathing. You could say I'm torn.
Date: 2010-02-27
To: Horse prep
Miles today: 0.0

I just wrote checks to cover the next seven months of my horse's board. Man I'm gonna miss that guy. It makes me sad to think about him hanging out in his field all summer without me. When I thought I was going in 2011, I had lots of time to try to find a different situation for him where he'd have something to do while I was gone. But deciding to go in 2010 pushed the schedule up too much to do that. He'll still get treats (I'm going to leave a big bag with Bonnie) and hoof trims and the occasional visit from JD. But it's a long time for him to just hang out and do nothing. I have pretty serious trust issues when it comes to putting my horse in somebody else's hands. It stems from when I left Playboy for six months and came home to a very unhappy, severely ring sour horse.It's unfortunate that my two loves, hiking and horses, conflict. I just can't do both at the same time with any intensity. For now I tell myself that I can ride in the fall after I get back, and I can devote 2011 to the horse. For that matter, he may not notice a difference this summer. I've gone on several month long hikes since I've had him. (And he was happy to see me when I got home!) And I've had Lyme disease twice since I got him, which wiped out most of two riding seasons. Then there was the year he dumped me and I injured my pelvis.. Yeah, he probably won't notice the difference. He's going to be a teenager before he realizes he's a riding horse, at this rate. He's going to be super out of shape when I can start riding again, but so will I be when it comes to riding muscles. So that'll work out fine.You may wonder why I'm not riding now, and the answer is: our weather has been super crappy this winter. So bad that the horses aren't even walking around their field. They have a path between their shelter, the feed tubs, and the water. And that's it. The rest of the field is untouched. Just getting the horse out of the field and to somewhere to groom and tack up has been an adventure I have not entered into recently. This weekend is the first time in a long time that it's been possible to ride around the farm at all. Something about my young, excitable, and hyper-alert horse and the 25 mph wind gusts predicted for today make me not want to chance it now. I'd rather not break myself immediately before leaving on a long trek.
Date: 2010-02-27
To: I may have a small problem. Also, options.
Miles today: 0.0

My backpack is still at Gossamer Gear having some work done on it so I can't pack it. It's giving me the heebie jeebies waiting, so I decided to pack one of my older backpacks. That way I'll be ready should my regular one not show up. It's a backup backpack plan.I have it crammed full of gear. With no food or water and minus a couple of socks, it weighs in at just under 19 lb. Not too shabby for a winter pack I guess. The problem is, it's *full*. Seriously. To the top. And I still need to put my food bag in. My food bags, for those who have never hiked with me, are always enormous. I don't eat compact food. I have this giant bag that still needs to go into this completely stuffed backpack. I may have to trim down my gear just so my food will fit! It's a dilemma. I guess I could strap it on the top.Tomorrow I may get out my other option, a heavier and older backpack. It may have a little more volume. (The current one is I think a ULA P2, the older one is a ULA P3. I may have gotten that reversed..) The current one lets you put padding in the back, and the other one doesn't, so I'm not sure it'll help. Yikes.I can also go the route of getting a pack liner and dispensing with stuff sacks. Things should go in a bit more compactly that way, but it makes me really nervous to imagine, as I've had rain get in my pack before when I was pulling a raincoat (or whatever) out.I'm hoping that my regular backpack, a Gossamer Gear Mariposa, comes back in time. The voluminous mesh pockets on the outside of it let me stow quite a lot, and it's how I'm used to packing. I'm pretty sure everything will fit in it.I will have to have a full pack explosion, probably on the living room floor, to make sure I have everything. And make sure I don't have duplicates. Things sneak in where you least expect them. One year I ended up with three spoons. And five hats! I'm aiming for no more than three hats, not counting hoods.At the moment, with this pack and full on winter gear (instep crampons but no snowshoes, so far) I'm projecting it'll weigh about 32 lb max. If it gets beyond about 35 lb I'm going to be a suffering unit.I'll be keeping an eye on the weather, hoping it warms up a bit so I can take some of my warm items out. For instance, right now there's both a down jacket and a down vest in there. A 30 degree sleeping bag and a 30 degree quilt. A reactor liner. If I were pretty sure I wouldn't see single digit temps, I'd take out the vest for now, to swap for the jacket later on. And either the liner or the quilt. But as it is, I just can't risk hypothermia. I've been there before and I don't want to visit again. So I have a lot of very puffy gear.Other items likely to get swapped, but not until spring has truly hit: rain skirt for rain pants, mini poncho for silnylon jacket.(It's a small problem but it's a really long journal entry.)
Date: 2010-02-28
To: The training I would have had if it hadn't snowed
Miles today: 0.0

I walked around Greenbelt Park today. It was clear down to dry ground in parts. There were 8 inches of snow in others. Plenty of blowdowns but nothing that stopped me for long, except for one entangled in thorns near the end. My foot was aching abominably today, so when I got home I googled "how to tape a fallen arch". I found something I think might work. You cut foam in a shallow U and stick it around the painful joint to support it. I approximated with a trimmed bunion cushion this evening and my foot already feels better. Yay! It could be a workable solution. If it is, it will make my hike as close to pain free as I could ask for.I didn't time my hike but I don't think the snow slowed me down noticeably. Of course, I wasn't carrying a backpack, either. Just a lightly loaded daypack. Eh, whatever, I got out and I'm happy.