morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2014-01-09
To: Thru-Hike Planning
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

The longest hike (in terms of time) I have ever done is 9 days. So planning a hike of 5 or 6 months is a daunting task. The difficulty is resupplying. On some of my longer hikes I have used maildrops at locations close to or on the trail (the NOC in NC and Mountain Crossings / Neels Gap in GA). That's an easy way to resupply, just show up and claim your package of goodies. Of course, you have to plan to arrive when the place holding your maildrop is open for business. The difficulty of arranging all that in advance is one reason that many people hike the AT with almost no planning. They only plan ahead to the next spot that they can resupply, where they get off trail and somehow (hitchhike or call for a ride) make their way to a grocery store (or whatever is convenient) to resupply. Then hitch back to the trail.Nothing about resupplying sounds like fun to me. Granted, I will probably welcome a trip to town after I've been out there for awhile. It may be something that is difficult to resist! But I know that it will be a time-suck. The best way to get to Georgia (SOBO!) in a timely manner is to keep moving, not spend time in town. I also seem to have foot problems that get worse when I take time off. Who knows, that may change on the trail, but right now I think it is best if I stay active every day and not lay up in a motel room somewhere letting my feet swell.So I have come up with a tentative plan by perusing the guidebooks and advice I have seen on the interwebs. I made it into a google spreadsheet that I store online. I can edit it from my phone using the google drive app. This way I can update it as my plans change (and I know they will change). Lovely Laurie, my at-home support, can check it and see when and where to send me a maildrop. I plan to use a mix of maildrops and shopping for resupply. I've also, at least for right now, planned longer hikes between resupply than is strictly necessary. It may be impossible to resist the pull of town every 3 days, but I would rather stretch things out to 5 or 7 days between resupply.Why? Because it makes for a faster hike. I say "faster", but at my pace (2 miles per hour if I'm lucky) I am not moving "fast". But time spent not moving south is extending the total time of the hike. I want to finish before December!So I think I have identified places to resupply that are either on the trail or fairly close to it. Some places will be shopping, some maildrops. Everything is open to adjustment and change, nothing will be written in stone.If you are interested, the spreadsheet is here.
Date: 2014-04-02
To: Plantar Fasciitis
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Why now, 4 months before I start SOBO, do I get the dreaded Plantar Fasciitis?I guess its just my time. In talking to my orienteering friends, it seems that everyone else has had it. I'm doing everything I can. I have a metal water bottle that I froze, and I use to roll under my foot, so I am icing and massaging at the same time. I got some KT tape, and have been taping it before walking. Yes, I am still walking on it, but not running. I finished the orienteering map of Don Carter State Park while injured, and have been volunteering at meets. I'm meet director and course setter at Chat Bend in 2 weeks, and that's a lot of walking.One thing I have found that helps is to take two Advil before bed. This seems to reduce the swelling. One problem that may be contributing to the pain is soft tissue edema. In other words, my feet swell. That's a recurring problem that is not likely to get better. Getting old is not for the young and soft.Typing this from my smartphone as a test - what a pain!
Date: 2014-04-24
To: Foothills Trail prep hike
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Headed out tomorrow for a thru of the Foothills trail in SC/NC. About 76 miles. No, that picture is not the foothills! That's from my AT hike last December. The weather will be very different tomorrow. This is also another test of using the phone to journal - and add a picture. Not exactly as fun and easy as a laptop, but doable. Will report from the trail if the phone works, when I get back if not.This will be my last shakedown hike before the big dance - leaving SOBO July 12!
Date: 2014-04-25
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

4/25/14First day on the foothills trail! Parked at Oconee State Park and got a shuttle to Flat Rock State Park. Shuttle driver was Heyward from the Foothills trail organization, and he showed up on time and full of stories - couldn't have been better.On the trail by 7:00 and began the long climb up to Sassafras Mt., the highest point in SC. Its about a 10 mile climb , although its not all uphill. The hardest park is within the state park, up to Pinnacle Mt.There are some impressive boulders and rock faces once you pass Pinnacle, and some fun looking natural water slides in the state park. If only it were 20 degrees warmer and I was 50 years younger!Sassafras Mt was not very impressive. Looks like an opportunity there for the state to do something. Summit is wooded. An observation tower like the one at Wesser Bald would be great. Did 13 miles total, and hung my hammock in an island of green surrounded by a burned area on the slopes of Chimneytop Mt. Have no idea if it was a controlled burn or an accident.Lots of tiny wildflowers along the trail. Fred Flintstones chair is the photo of the day.
Date: 2014-04-26
To: Foothills Trail day 2
Miles today: 0.0

4/26/14Saw too many people today! I guess this is what the White Mountains will be like. Weather was perfect, and it was a Saturday, and the trail went down Laurel Fork, which has road and boat acces ( from lake Jocassee), so I lost count of the people after about 25 - hikers, day hikers, ATV campers, and runners.Covered 15.6 miles, all the way over to Toxaway Creek. The falls on Laurel Fork were spectacular, especially the big one at the bottom.At the end of the day there was a very steep climb they call Heartbreak Ridge. Fortunately is was short. Todays picture is Virginia Hawkins Falls on the Laurel Fork.
Date: 2014-04-27
To: Foothills Trail Day 3
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

4/27/1416.3 miles today.Up at 4:45 and on the trail at 5:45 (in the dark). Light enough to see by 6:10. At 6:30 the turkeys started gobbling, calling in their harems. At 7 the fireball popped above the ridge to the east. Lunched at Horsepasture Creek, and soaked my feet in the cold water - that's your picture of the day.Lots of ups and downs, as the trail dropped down to creeks and rivers, then climbed back up on the slopes of the spurs, then dropped down again. Only to climb again...Hilliard Falls was a spectacular surprise! Well worth the half mile round trip off trail.I saw no one all day, a welcome change from yesterday.Camped just before the Whitewater River protected area. More waterfalls tomorrow.
Date: 2014-04-28
To: Foothills Trail day 4
Miles today: 0.0

4/28/14Got my moneys worth today, a full 18 1/2 miles in 12 hours.Whitewater Falls, both upper and lower, were spectacular. That's the picture of the day, upper Whitewater Falls. The river between the falls was just as breathtaking, but more subtle.Spent a lot of time down there, dawdling, taking photos. The lower falls adds another 1.8 miles that doesn't count for the foothills trail. Saw only one hiker today, an old guy like me doing a thru in the opposite direction. Camped all alone at Burrell's Ford, with a huge USFS campground all to myself.Washed off the sweat in the Chattooga River, which smells like fish! Tomorrow I hike out.
Date: 2014-04-29
To: Foothills Trail Day 5 - and recap
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Thunderstorms passed through in the middle of the night, lighting up the sky. Rain poured of my tarp. I had hung the hammock between the poles of one of the bear cables in the campground - nice spot, and the perfect distance apart.The first half of the trail from Burrell's Ford to Oconee State Park is along the Chattooga River - as wild and scenic a river as you will find anywhere - that's your picture for today. The hiking is much easier along this section. Occasionally the trail climbs high above the river to avoid cliffs or get past a bend, but there is a lot of riverside hiking too. The Chattooga is famous for it's sandbars, and I saw a few fisherman camped in the sand.About halfway to Oconee, the trail leaves the river and heads south through some high hills/low mountains. Very mild trail, compared to what has come before, finally entering the park. And there was my truck, parked right where I had left it - and it cranked up!So I had a great time - 5 days to do the ~76 miles. You can thing of the trail as having three areas - the part with Table Rock State Park and Sassafras Mountain is more, well, mountainous. Then you have the middle section above Lake Jocassee, with all the gorgeous waterfalls and whitewater streams and rivers, then the last section along the Chatooga River.As far as shakedown for the AT, I thing I am pretty set. I need to add an option to my hammock suspension so I can hang it to trees that are closer together, but that was about the only thing that needs changing.So I'm looking forward to July. AT SOBO!
Date: 2014-06-03
To: Tough It Out
Miles today: 0.0

The doctor says that I am over my plantar fasciitis. She certainly knows where to poke the bottom of my foot. Do they take a class in that? "Advanced Poking and Prodding?" The spots that should have plantar fasciitis pain don't anymore. That's the good news. The bad news is that I've been compensating by walking on the outside of my right foot, so now I have bruised that side pretty badly. Nothing to be done for that - in the doctor's words I need to "tough it out."I'm pretty good at that, if I do say so myself. So I've started back walking, doing two-a-days now. I'm still using the gel insoles that the doctor recommended. They seem to work well, but they are expensive, and its awkward to get my foot in and out the shoe since they are so "grabby". I am also now jobless for the first time in my adult life. I retired a year and a half ago, but have been working part time at the same job. Well, they hired someone, and I trained her to take my place, and as of last week I am really retired for the first time. I plan to concentrate of preparing physically as much as I can before I leave for Maine. Only 5 weeks to go!
Date: 2014-06-09
To: training hike
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

6/9/14I'm training as much as possible by hiking local trails with my pack. Today I did 3 hours at Sweetwater Creek State Park near Atlanta. The highlight was a very concerned doe and her twin fawns. They were very new, and hardly able to stand. The mother was freaking out. She had not picked an isolated spot (assuming she had some choice about it), but near the bridge and a busy trail junction. Maybe they will move a little further into the woods before the weekend!
Date: 2014-07-01
To: My brother Jerry
Miles today: 0.0

The photo is a real "blast from the past". Thats me on the left and my brother Jerry on the right, from about 1984, at the start of a hike we did from Dick's Creek Gap to Fontana on the AT. Jerry was my hiking buddy, and a great brother and friend.But he passed away about 6 years ago, at the age of 59, from complications after colon cancer.If he had not had those health problems, I feel sure that he would be with me on this hike, either all the way or doing a significant part of the trail.This past weekend I met with Jerry's wife and daughter, and they gave me his dog tags (he was in the Marines in Vietnam) and a crucifix of his. I will carry them on the trail with me, Maine to Georgia, in remembrance of a real hiking brother.
Date: 2014-07-12
From: Katahdin

To: Katahdin Stream Campground
Miles today: 5.2
Weather: light rain

7/12/145.2 Katahdin Stream CampgroundWalking away from Laurie this morning, heading up the trail, was one of the hardest things, emotionally, I have ever done in my life. 34 years of marriage has given us a relationship that is difficult to live without for 5 months. Sure, we've been separated for a couple of weeks, but nothing of this duration. I am an introvert, and can function well enough alone, but its the contact with Laurie that keeps me human.It didn't help that she kept saying things like, "This is our last breakfast together." No, just the last one for awhile.I had to just walk away, or I would have been crying in the parking lot. What makes it worse is that I probably won't have cell phone for a week.So the climb to the top of Katahdin, where the AT starts, was subdued. It was also tough, but not that tough. Up in 4 hours, down in 4 hours. The difficult parts are along a spur that is covered with rocks from pebble to house size. The trail goes right up through them. Once you get above tree line the views are fantastic. The weather was perfect.The top was a zoo! There were about 45 people milling around. Day hikers and a few NOBOs just finishing, including a very happy 'Emerald', who was wearing a pink tutu!I got someone to take my picture with Jerry's dogtags and cross, (the picture for today) and got choked up again and couldn't talk without my lip quivering. So I packed it all up and headed down.I have officially hiked 5.2 miles of trail today, although I had to do 10.4 to get it!
Date: 2014-07-13
From: Katahdin Stream Campground

To: North end of Rainbow Lake
Miles today: 17.7
Weather: light rain

7/13/1422.9 North end of Rainbow Lake17.7 milesDid 10x10 this morning. That's 10 miles by 10AM. I had seen in the guidebook that there was a phone at the Abol Bridge campground store, so I was determined to try and call Laurie. It cost $1 a minute! And I got her voicemail. Later in the afternoon, at Rainbow Ledges, there was a woman yakking on her cell phone. So I turned on the iphone and got half a bar- enough to call and talk to her.The trail out of Baxter State Park was easy by Maine standards. Lots of persistent mosquitoes, but that's normal. The store at Abol Bridge is off the grid - they were running a diesel generator. I got a grilled cheese - the cheapest thing on the menu - $10 with tip.Then it was into the Hundred Mile Wilderness. Love the deep dark Maine woods. Moose poo everywhere, but no moose. Made it to Hurd Brooke by 1:30, and had a decision to make - 4.4 miles to the next water. I stuck to my motto - promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep - and pushed on. Ended up with 17.7 miles. Hope I don't pay for it tomorrow, but that's the way to get home to Laurie.Meet my first southbounder today - "Hole In One". He was on his 3rd day, after a rough climb up Katahdin. He's camped behind me somewhere.
Date: 2014-07-14
From: North end of Rainbow Lake

To: Wadleigh Stream lean-to
Miles today: 15.3
Weather: overcast clouds

7/14/14Wadleigh Stream Lean-to 38.215.3 milesBeautiful camp last night on the shore of Rainbow Lake. At dusk I heard a "tuck-tuck-tuu" call down the lake. Then another in the trees behind me, then another across the lake. Some nightbird that I will have to look up. They kept it going all night, a kinder, gentler version of a whippoorwill. It was very soothing and dreamlike, with a light rain falling.The rain cleared out mid-morning and turned into a beautiful day. Great views back to Katahdin from Nesuntabunt Mountain (yes, that is spelled correctly - the place names in Maine are phonetic spellings from the native Americans).I did 7 miles by 10. Not as good as yesterday, and another 8 before 4PM, and camped at Wadleigh Stream. Along with about 2 dozen kids from summer camps. One group is wearing special "100 Mile Wilderness" t-shirts that they made up. They have one very tired adult with them, and they all talk with their outside voices! The other group is quiter, and they have 2 camp counselors with them that look hardly older than the kids. I'm in my hammock and there are tents full of kids all around me. Should be an interesting night.Meet 4 Southbounders today. One started in GA, hiked north to NY, then got off to go to a wedding. Got back on at Katahdin and is flip flopping back to NY. "Father Goose" is a guy about my age who is only doing a long section.15.3 today. A bit of a break from yesterday, but still decent miles. Feet are sore, but legs and knees seem OK. The hips are burning though...
Date: 2014-07-15
From: Wadleigh Stream lean-to

To: Antlers Campsite
Miles today: 13.6
Weather: moderate rain

7/15/14Antlers Campsite 51.813.6 milesHad a rough day with foot pain and hip pain - had to take a pain pill for the first time. Also my right thigh muscle is numb. Maybe related to the hip pain?I managed to call Laurie, and she is going to look into the numbness for me. So I only did 13.6 today. I sat down after I got here and counted food. I have enough to get me to Monson if I do 15 mile days more or less. There is no resupply before Monson, the end of the 100 mile wilderness.Camped with Father Goose and the flip-flopper again. Father Goose will not go as far as me tomorrow, and he's only doing a long section, so I probably won't see him again.Caught a great sunrise over Nahmakanta Lake this morning. That's your picture of the day.
Date: 2014-07-16
From: Antlers Campsite

To: Pleasant River Lean-to
Miles today: 16.0
Weather: few clouds

7/16/1467.8 Pleasant River Lean- to16 milesGot my first trail magic today, and gave my first trail magic today. Here's the story: Trail magic is when somebody gives you something unexpected and unasked for. Northbounders get lots of trail magic, southbounders, because we are so rare, don't get very much.I had a very buggy morning hiking past Jo-Mary Lake. I made it to Cooper Brook Rd, a gravel logging road. If I sat in just the right spot ( away from my pack!) I could get only a few skeeters hanging about. I ate my lunch and watched the huge logging trucks go by.Then an SUV pulled up and a guy got out. "If you are looking for the AT," I said, "you found it." Turns out that it was "Ole Man", the guy that runs the AT Lodge in Millinocket. He was putting out a food cache for someone. We talked, and then he offered me a cold soda - trail magic! I haven't had a caffeinated, carbonated, sugared can of soda in years. I took a coke, and stuck it in my pack for later.I carried it all the way up Little Boardman Mt and down the other side. I met a northbounder, a 20 something male who was going to finish next weekend. He said he was out of food and was hurrying to get to a food cache that ole man had left him. For once I had a good idea and whipped out my can of coke and gave it to him. He was very surprised and grateful.So there you go, I got trail magic, and I gave trail magic, all in one day.The picture for the day is some of the lush wet greenery along the trail. I am fascinated by all the different shapes, and spend way too much time saying "Wow, lookit that one!"
Date: 2014-07-17
From: Pleasant River Lean-to

To: Pleasant River Campsite
Miles today: 16.4
Weather: light rain

7/17/1484.2 Pleasant River Campsite16.4 milesStuck to my motto today and hiked a full 12 hours to get over Whitecap and into position to get to Monson on Saturday. On the climb up Whitecap I encountered the oddest thing, a Dalmatian perched atop a huge boulder. No, it wasn't real, but one of those ceramic hearth dogs. I have no idea why it is there, so I am free to make up my own story: I think its a memorial to a fallen hiking buddy. That's your picture of the day.It was only 2:15 when "we" got to Carl Newhall shelter. I say we because it was the largest group of SOBOs I have seen yet. There were 5 of us with two more on the way. But it was early, and by going on 6 more miles to the Pleasant River I could be in 2 days hiking distance from Monson. I couldn't get anyone else to come with me though. So they will probably be a day or more behind me now - at least until the 20 somethings get their trail legs.
Date: 2014-07-18
From: Pleasant River Campsite

To: Long Pond Stream Lean-to
Miles today: 15.2
Weather: clear sky

7/18/1499.4 Long Pond Stream Lean- to15.2 milesA long hard day over Chairback, Columbus, Third, Third and a half, Fourth, and Barren Mountains. All hard climbs, typical Maine boulders and steep descents.I got confused at 3 1/2, thought I had done 4 and was climbing Barren, only to see the 4th sign at the top. So I had yet another big up to Barren and a hellish downhill to the shelter.But the weather was perfect and the views outstanding. In the end it was all worth it, because now I am just 15 miles from Monson.
Date: 2014-07-19
From: Long Pond Stream Lean-to

To: Monson
Miles today: 15.1
Weather: overcast clouds

7/19/14114.5 Monson, Shaw's Hostel15.1 miles +What a long day! My get-up-and-go got-up-and-went. 3rd day in a row over 15 miles. And I had 3 fords today, all big. That's your picture of the day, my legs knee deep in one of the fords.Those last 15 into Monson had some aggravating little ups, as well as the usual difficult Maine trail. But also some beautiful moments, like North Pond.I also met "Rocky" for the second straight day. He's already done the southern half of the trail. Now he's doing the northern half southbound by walking north every day. He uses two cars, and leapfrogs. Its confusing to describe, but he uses the cars so he doesn't have to carry a pack or camp out.When I finally got to Monson I tried for 20 minutes to get a ride with no success - no cell phone coverage. Had coverage in the 100MW, but nothing on ME15! So I started walking, putting my thumb out every time a car went by. After about 2 miles I got a ride.So I'm at Shaws and will zero tomorrow and head back out on the 21st. Did FaceTime with Laurie! I just watched the fireworks display out my window - they were having a festival today - they knew I was coming!
Date: 2014-07-20
From: Monson

To: Monson
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

7/20/14Zero day in MonsonA zero day means no forward progress. But I did laundry, ate breakfast, sorted out my food box, went shopping for bread (flour tortillas), cheese, and juicy fruit. Ate lunch, packed the food, packed the pack, cut my hair and beard (my bounce box has hair clippers), charged everything, updated the trail journal, ate supper - you get the idea.Of course, my feet swelled up. I'm hoping for the best. My right thigh has numb spots (from the hip belt). Other than that there is nothing major to complain about.Monson is great, but the little costs add up. The photo is Shaws, which is much bigger than it looks, and is just crawling with hikers - nobo, sobo, and section.
Date: 2014-07-21
From: Monson

To: Bald Mt Rd
Miles today: 14.0
Weather: few clouds

7/21/14128.5 Bald Mt Rd14.0 milesMy first experience of getting out of town after resupply. I'm usually up and on the trail by 5:30, so having to wait around until breakfast at 7:15, then the post office at 8:00 to mail my bounce box forward, then the shuttle back to the trail at 8:30 was tough. I missed 3 good hours of hiking.But the breakfast at Shaw's is not to be missed. 2 blueberry pancakes to start, then you order by how many eggs you want. I had 2 scrambled, 2 bacon, potatoes, and a sausage patty thrown in for good measure.Not much to say about todays hike except there were 2 more big fords. Hopefully I am close enough to get over Moxie Bald in the morning, which will put me in position for the canoe ferry the next day.Met a new wave of SOBOs today: Purple Turtle and Hot Sauce (a couple who flip flopped), Marathon Man, and Ducky.Campsite tonight is just tucked away in the corner of the woods - right where I ran out of steam. No cell phone all day :-(