morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2010-05-27
From: Wiley SHelter

To: Kent, Connecticut
Miles today: 12.7

Last night I used my tent so I could get some relief from themosquitoes. The only problem with that decision; it was even hotter inthe tent. The air was completely still until around midnight when aserious rush of wind hit the mountain. I could tell something was upbecause of the heat lightening and thunder off in the distance. Thewind stirred the pot some and it immediately got more comfortable.I was the only hiker who spent the night at Wiley, so I had a veryquiet evening. However, sometime after I went to sleep I was joltedupright by the sound of a large metal pot hitting and then rollingacross the ground. This was before the wind kicked in and everythingwas still and quiet. I immediately recalled noticing that there werea number of pots and pans hanging from the outside wall of theshelter. But I was alone. What caused the pan to fall and crash tothe ground? First thought was a bear, or maybe a porcupine. I spentthe next hour listening to the woods for an answer but didn't get one.This morning I found the pot laying on the ground. Maybe it justfell all by itself. Or maybe I had a visitor. I don't know.By morning, it had cooled considerably. I got another early starthoping to beat the heat to Kent. Only a couple of miles in I left NewYork and entered Connecticut. I have now completed the trail in 9states (GA, NC, TN, VA, WV, MD, PA, NJ, and NY). Only 5 more to go(CT, MA, VT, NH, and ME). According to my book I am two-thirds of theway done.It started out kind of cloudy but cleared up and got very sunny. Thetrail dropped down and then followed the Housatonic River, which is abig time river with lots of white water. After a while it settleddown as I approached Kent. I also passed through the SchaghticoteIndian Reservation. Generally this whole area is kind of familiarsince I have been here before backpacking with my brothers. I got toKent around noon and have been relaxing ever since. Tomorrow? A longroad walk along the Housatonic before settling back into themountains. Should be cooler too since a storm is suppose to pass bythis evening.
Date: 2010-05-28
From: Kent, Connecticut

To: Pine Swamp Shelter
Miles today: 17.0
Weather: broken clouds

The cool weather this morning was a welcome change from the past fewdays. After a very relaxing afternoon and evening in Kent, I headedout of town early but not before I loaded up on caffeine at the KentCoffee and Chocolate House. They really know how to make a vanillalatte (Oh, yes please, a double shot would be nice). I took thatright to the trail.With the cool temperatures, it was very pleasant walking this morning. Much of the trail followed the western shore of the Housatonic River. It was so much more interesting than the normal hiking through the forest. That came later and was a series of ups and downs.I saw a Baltimore Oriole this morning. Bright orange with blackmarkings. Then later in the day on top of Pine Knob I was taking arest break when two Turkey Vultures swooped down just above the tree Iwas sitting under. They were playfully chasing each other around andwere completely unaware I was there. I heard them before I saw them.They would come right at me and then suddenly turn to their left. Asthey turned, you could hear their wings cutting through the air. Kindof like a "whoosh" sound. Pretty cool. Not long after, I saw one justhanging out on a branch above the trail. They stand about a foot anda half tall with a wingspan approaching 5 to 6 feet. Yes, that is abig bird.Tonight I am staying in the shelter because I am too lazy to set up mytent. It is also a bit overcast so we could get some rain here beforemorning. Salisbury is only 15 miles away.
Date: 2010-08-04
From: Salisbury CT

To: Brassie Brook
Miles today: 5.5
Weather: light rain

Left the house this morning at 9 a.m. for the drive up to Salisbury.Special thanks goes out to Alex for driving us up today to the trail.Once we got to Salisbury, we grabbed lunch at the grocery store deli.By 12:30 we were on the A.T. heading north. It was pretty hot todayand we immediately worked up a good sweat and knocked out the miles toour campsite.There are certainly a lot more folks out here on the trail now thanthere were this past May. Summer vacation season is on. Also met abunch of thru-hikers that are hitting the wall right now. They arecomplaining that their energy levels are way down and they are unableto do as many miles. Sounds like how I felt two years ago as Iapproached Harpers Ferry. But that was not us today. Marie and I hadno trouble with the hike even though much of it was uphill. Tomorrowwe finish Connecticut and enter Massachusetts. Always nice tocomplete another state
Date: 2010-08-05
From: Brassie Brook

To: Glen Brook
Miles today: 9.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Carnivorous chipmunks? I always thought chipmunks were classicvegetarians. You know, a diet of plants and seeds. But apparentlythey like a dish of meat once in a while. We saw Alvin with his mouthfull of a small mammal, like a shrew or a mole. At first I thought hemight be carrying around one of the kids, but it was not a chipmunkand he tore into it like he hadn't eaten in a month. Learn somethingnew every day. We also saw a weasel run across the trail in front ofus and then dive into a hole under a rock. And a burgandy/brown andbeige snake was laying across the trail. I saw it right away andMarie said that is why I will always lead and she will be right behindme as we hike. Good for a laugh.We met some nice folks yesterday. A father and daughter team outovernight. He is a science teacher and daughter Tori was going intothird grade. She was very inquisitive about every thing we weredoing. Sweet kid who made camp last night fun.The hike today was pretty tough. We summited Bear Mountain rightafter breakfast. At 2316 feet it is the highest mountain inConnecticut. We then carefully came down the mountain via very steepand treacherous trail and crossed into Massachusetts (yeah, anotherstate done). We then immediately started a climb of Race Mountain(2365 ft.). On the way down from Race the weather got stormy. Whenwe got to the bottom we decided to climb another swince it was rainingpretty hard but no thunder and lightening. We were soaked but wereable to summit Mt. Everett (2602 ft.), not to be confused with Everestbut still our third tough climb of the day under very wet conditions.In short we were soaked. But the weather cleared when we got to campand the evening is really nice (70s, dry and no bugs).
Date: 2010-08-06
From: Glen Brook

To: Tom Leonard Lean-to
Miles today: 14.6

The humidity broke and temperatures cooled off. What a difference!We took advantage of the fine weather and made some miles today. Wewere both very tired at the end of the day but the reward was worthit. Our tent is set up on a wooden tent platform perched on a rockout crop with an unobstructed view of the valley below and the ridgesof mountains beyond. Since we are facing east, we should have a greatview in the morning of the sunrise. Tonight we hope that the skystays clear for some star gazing.
Date: 2010-08-07
From: Tom Leonard Lean-to

To: Shaker Campsite
Miles today: 11.2
Weather: few clouds

Waking up to the sunrise this morning was really nice. The few cloudswhich added to the view cleared off quickly and the day turned out tobe perfect. We both were a bit sore from yesterday so we stretchedout real good before we got on the trail. We arrived mid-morning at agood sized lake called Benedict Pond and couldn't resist the urge togo for a swim. After being on the trail for a few days, we were readyto wash off the sweat. Of course we did not use any soap in the pondbecause we did not want to pollute the water, but we did wash our hairand faces afterward on land.   Feeling refreshed we took our timetoday to help our bodies recover from the long hike yesterday. Wewill go easy for the next couple of days until we get to Dalton, MA.,keeping our mileage down and helping our bodies get use to the rigorsof hiking. This will be helpful next week when we head north out ofDalton into much bigger mountains. Tonight we are staying at acampsite that I have stayed at before during a hike with my brothers.What I recalled immediately upon seeing the site was that we got eatenalive by mosquitoes. Not surprisingly we had to break out the bugrepellent for the first time. The drought they have experienced uphere for the past month has kept the bugs down, which is great for us,but has also wiped out some of the water sources. However, so farthere has still been plenty of water.
Date: 2010-08-08
From: Shaker Campsite

To: Upper Goose Pond
Miles today: 9.9
Weather: clear sky

Tonight we are staying on a large mountain lake near a Cabinmaintained by the Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC). Though we arestaying in our tent, the cabin has a bunk room where you can stay forfree. Anyone can easily walk in here and spend the night. In fact,we are only a mile or two from the Mass. Turnpike. Several fishingboats, canoes, and kayaks were on the lake enjoying their Sundayafternoon. Kim is the volunteer Caretaker this week, who is alanguage arts teacher and brings her two children up here each yearfor a working vacation. In fact, she met her husband up here becausehe was also a Caretaker at the Cabin.Kim apparently will be cooking us a pancake breakfast tomorrowmorning. Oh yeah! The word has spread up and down the trail suchthat southbound hikers pick blueberries from a farm (where we willstay tomorrow) and bring them in for the pancakes. But best of all isthat after a day of hiking we were able to jump into the lake for aswim. It felt great to get rinsed off again. This is one aspect ofthis section of trail which is so nice. Up until this point, thetrail has passed by very few lakes and ponds suitable for swimming.But now as we head into northern New England, this should become morecommon.We bumped into two retired couples spending the day togethervolunteering as trail maintainers. They day hike a certain section oftrail, clear debris and brush, repair a shelter, apply a fresh coat ofpaint to the trail signs, or whatever else needs to be done. I havenever seen such happy people. They gave us some bottled water afterwe chatted for a while. Marie and I think we would enjoy doing somevolunteering work of this kind, or maybe being a caretaker like Kim.Last, but not least, Marie has taken on a trail name. She will fromthis point on be called "Fast Forward.". Why Fast Forward? Becauseshe fast forwarded all the way up to Connecticut before beginning herthru-hike to Maine. And, yes, of course, there is some symmetry sinceit goes well with Rewind.
Date: 2010-08-09
From: Upper Goose Pond

To: Washington Mountain Road
Miles today: 11.0

We slept in our tent last night, but we made sure we stopped in at theCabin for breakfast. You have never seen so many famished hikers inone place gorging themselves on blueberry pancakes. Kim, theCaretaker, cooked pancakes for an hour and a half straight before shecould sit down for a rest. God bless her, she made our day.Tonight we are staying on a blueberry farm owned by Roy and MarilynWiley. Marilyn is affectionately known as the "Cookie Lady". Thedeal is you stop by anytime and they give you free cookies. You canalso pick blueberries, buy cokes and hard boiled eggs. They have apicnic table and lawn chairs laid out for the hikers to relax in. Hownice is that? The place is beautiful. We are going to camp in theiryard tonight and head out early tomorrow for a re-supply overnight inDalton.
Date: 2010-08-10
From: Washington Mountain Road

To: Dalton
Miles today: 9.6
Weather: broken clouds

Camping last night at the blueberry farm was a lot of fun. Hadblueberries that we picked the night before with our breakfast andagain as a snack on the trail. Rained a little last night so woodswere kind of wet today. The walk into Dalton was relatively easy sowe got into town around lunch time.This stretch of seven days in the woods is now completed and it feelsgood. The remaining three sections are for shorter periods of time,which of course means we will be carrying less weight for food. Wealso sent some gear home that we don't absolutely need. And we arestarting to feel stronger on the trail. No injuries yet and the feetfeel pretty good, just a couple of small blisters.After this leisurely day in Dalton, we will hike out tomorrow morningand try to get some miles in.   We want to get to a shelter which isabout halfway up Mt. Greylock. That way on Thursday we can get overGreylock early and get that monster behind us. Greylock isMassachusetts highest peak at 3491 feet.
Date: 2010-08-11
From: Dalton

To: Mark Noepel Lean-to
Miles today: 13.7

Feeling totally refreshed, we left Dalton this morning and hiked the 8miles to the next town.   Cheshire is another one of these charmingNew England towns that look like a great place to live. Aftergrabbing some lunch at Diane's ice cream shop, we took our daily napon the picnic benches and then began the long 8 mile approach to Mt.Greylock. Most of the way was uphill, while the rest of the way wasreally uphill. But we both felt really good. Fast Forward feels likeshe is starting to get her hiking legs. She was surprised that shemade it to this camp so easily. The discipline we showed during thepast week is starting to pay off. By not doing too many miles, toosoon, we have allowed our bodies to adjust to the rigors of hiking.Now we are only 3 miles from the top at an elevation of 2750 feet (again of 1800 feet from Cheshire). I hope this clear weather holds forwe want to summit tomorrow morning.One of the pleasures, and sometimes amusing aspects of hiking the A.T.is the people you meet. They are mostly college aged or recentlygraduated but unemployed. The bad economy may have had the unexpectedoutcome of increasing the number of people who are the trail thisyear. Of course, some are older like us. Most of them are retired orbetween jobs. We met one young fella named One Life, or One-zee tohis friends. He is from Houston and is raising money through his hikefor disadvantaged children. Great guy, who is very tired right nowafter hiking all the way up here from Georgia. He keeps a trailjournal on this site if you want to check it out. You also meet somestrange ones, like Foot. We met him today in Cheshire. He is a southbounder who started in Maine. He has tied to the bottom of his bootsa thick padded cloth which he claims prevents skidding and slippingwhile either hiking uphill or downhill. He points out that he is thefirst one ever to do this and has two patents to protect hisinvention. Well, it looks ridiculous and the Indians and the settlersdid basically the same thing for hundreds and maybe thousands ofyears. They were basically the first shoes. We just bit our tonguesand said, "Yeah, wow, ah that is pretty cool", and immediately decidedthat our lunch break was over and it was time to move on.
Date: 2010-08-12
From: Mark Noepel Lean-to

To: Sherman Brook Campsite
Miles today: 11.4
Weather: clear sky

We climbed the last 3 miles up to the top of Mt. Greylock this morningunder cloudy skies. On top there was a stone tower/war memorial tohonor the state's war dead. We climbed the winding stairway insidethe tower to the observation deck. Though it was a bit cloudy, wecould still see far to the north into Vermont. On clear days, you cansee the Catskill and Taconic ranges in New York. After grabbing asnack inside the Bascom Lodge (which would be a really cool place tospend the night), we began the long descent down to North Adams. Wedropped down about 2200 feet over a distance of 6 miles. It wasreally steep and tough on the quad muscles. Fast Forward's knees wereburning. The descent wiped us out because it took so much longer toget down than we planned. So we got lunch really late in North Adams. After eating and taking a long rest we were much better. I'm justglad I was coming down that cliff, err slope, because going up itwould have been brutal.Tomorrow is an exciting day for us because we will have completed theA.T. in Massachusetts and will be crossing into Vermont. The biggerpicture is that I have less than 600 miles left to reach the end ofthe A.T. and my hike to Mt. Katahdin in Maine.
Date: 2010-08-13
From: Sherman Brook Campsite

To: Congdon Shelter
Miles today: 12.3
Weather: overcast clouds

We arrived at the border of Vermont this morning and said our goodbyesto Massachusetts. It was right at the top of a mountain. What wassurprising was the number of hikers we saw there. In addition to 4guys from Cleveland, two southbounders from Colorado arrived shortlyafter we did. We are meeting a lot of southbound hikers now whostarted their thru-hike in Maine and are headed south to Georgia.Most started in early June and are just getting here now. Obviouslythey cannot start very early in the year because of the snow in Maine. Northbounders usually start in March or April, and outnumbersouthbounders probably at least 10 to 1.Yesterday, on the way down from Greylock, we had stopped at a trailintersection near a parking lot. While we sat there, several dayhikers came up from their cars with their children. Then a thru-hikernamed Cameron came down the trail and I announced, "Here comes theentertainment". The day hikers immediately noticed he had a ukulelesticking out from the back of his backpack. We met Cameron at ourcampsite the night before and we could hear him playing the ukulele inthe shelter. He is really pretty good. Of course, the kids got allexcited when they saw the ukulele and wanted to hear him play. SoCameron, like a good sport, stopped and took off his pack and put onan impromptu performance right there on the trail. He played someHawaiian song while the kids all sat there wide-eyed with their handsfolded. He got a nice round of applause before packing up again andcontinuing north.During the hike today we came across several ponds that were not onthe map because they were recently created by beavers. It is amazinghow they can alter the landscape. The dams they built were like 50yards long, creating huge ponds behind them. Each of the pondscontain a den for the beavers to live in. They pretty much look likea big round pile of sticks jutting about 5 feet out of the water. Onespot we stopped at for lunch is called Roaring Branch River. Well,Roaring Branch doesn't roar anymore because the beavers arecontrolling the flow of water into the river with their dam. Theriver right now is a quiet stream.Tomorrow we are going into Bennington, VT for the day to get cleanedup and re-supply.
Date: 2010-08-14
From: Congdon Shelter

To: Melville Nauheim Shelter
Miles today: 5.9
Weather: clear sky

We woke up very early this morning just when it started to get light.Last night was the first night it got cold and we needed to get wrapup in our sleeping bags to stay warm. My breath was clearly visiblefrom the cold. The skies were clear again so the stars were amazing.We hiked about 4 miles to Route 9 and then hitched a ride intoBennington. We visited the local laundromat, got a free shower at theBennington Recreation Center, and then grabbed some lunch at YourBelly's Deli. The sandwiches were so good we bought two more to gofor our dinner tonight. We then bought some food, etc. for the next 3days to Manchester Center and returned to the trail.We would have stayed in Bennington tonight but it is "Battlefield Day"to celebrate/remember the Battle of Bennington. I believe that was afamous battle from the Revolutionary War. The place was hopping withtourists and the hotels were booked solid.One of the known qualities of the trail in Vermont is the amount ofmud you will encounter. Hence, Vermont is often referred to asVer-mud. We went through several stretches this morning where thetrail was very muddy. I slipped into one pile of mud and my foot gotstuck. I had to slowly retrieve it because the mud didn't want togive it back. "Having said that", to quote Larry David from the TVshow Curb Your Enthusiasm, there really isn't very much mud because ofthe lack of rain. It is usually a lot worse. I think the bugs aredown a bit too because of the drought. Nevertheless, the watersources are still plentiful. We in the hiker world call thiswonderful combination "The Perfect Storm" and I hope it continues.
Date: 2010-08-15
From: Melville Nauheim Shelter

To: Caughnawaga Tentsites
Miles today: 12.8

Like most days out here, it was a bit cloudy this morning to start.But today it stayed overcast all day and looked like it might rain atany moment. So far it has not rained. However, it has cooled downconsiderably. It was chilly again last night and chilly all day long. The mountains in Vermont are getting bigger so we are cruising alongat a higher altitude. We had lunch at Goddard Shelter (3560 feet) andhad to put on all of our warm clothing. Then we went up to the top ofGlastenbury Mountain (3748 feet) and froze up there as well. On topthey had a fire tower with an observation deck. We climb up thestairs for the awesome 360 degree views. The wind was whipping upthere so bad we had to come down after just a few minutes.This morning we walked through an area called the GlastenburyWilderness. What struck us as being so strange was that there seemedto be very few birds or animals. Once in a while you would hear abird, but no wildlife of any kind. Not even chipmunks or squirrels.First time since Georgia I have walked through a completely quietforest. Weird!   And kind of spooky too. We have renamed it as theDead Zone Wilderness Area.
Date: 2010-08-16
From: Caughnawaga Tentsites

To: Stratton Pond
Miles today: 15.2
Weather: overcast clouds

Shortly after we set up our tent last night it began to rain andcontinued through most of the night. The tent I am using is a SierraDesigns Lightening for two persons. Apparently it is water proof. Bymorning it stopped so we pack up for our hike to Stratton Pond. Allwas going well until we ran into a wasp nest. Well, I unknowinglywalked right by it but Fast Forward got attacked by a swarm. It wasawful. She got stung nine different times. Three on one leg, one onthe other leg, two on her back, one on each wrist, and one on herhead. She was in terrible pain, but we got some drugs in her and shestarted to feel a little better. She was able to walk to the nextshelter and take a serious break. I wanted to just get her off thetrail, but as we hiked on ahead to the road she started to improve andwanted to go on. So we did. We took a short cut around StrattonMountain and got to Stratton Pond early so Fast Forward could rest.Tomorrow we will spend the night in Manchester Center and resupply.Oh yeah, I almost forgot. When we stopped at the shelter for a break,a huge rainstorm came up over the mountain. It was raining bucketsand we were dry and protected in the shelter. Well, Fast Forward was. I happened to be using the privy at the time. Needless to say, Ispent some extra time in there waiting out the storm.