morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2012-06-27
From: The Starbuck Inn 1461.2

To: Stewart Hollow Brook Shelter 1468.2
Miles today: 7.0
Weather: clear sky

Since the Starbuck Inn stay included breakfast, we enjoyed omelets, juice, and coffee/tea there. After breakfast, Gary planned the next four days' hike while I worked on the blog. Once Gary was finished planning, we checked out of the inn and walked to the library (Karen), and the IGA grocery store (Gary.) I typed and thought I was caught up, but, unbeknownst to me, the server went down, so I would have to continue my computer work the next time we were in town. While Gary was at the store resupplying, he saw the Myakka Mules doing the same, but with friends. Gary came back to the library, where we repackaged our food, then walked to a restaurant for lunch: double cheeseburgers, fries, and coleslaw, washed down with the usual iced tea. As we walked back to the trail, we saw a young couple walking INTO town. Later we met them: Tipsy and Fetch. By 1:30 we were back on the trail, hiking across a field, then into the woods and UP to the top of the ridge. It was slow going, but at least it wasn't endless ups and downs like yesterday's hike. Nitrous Oxide passed us, and said that someone had found Gary's platypus and was bringing it forward! We would see if it showed up. In the meantime, he had a Gatorade bottle to use for water. We finally reached the top of Calebs Peak. We descended, gradually at first, then steeply down the Ledges. It was hand over hand at times...good prep for the Whites, we thought. At four miles into our hike, we walked along River Road, which eventually became a single track. It was here that we met Tipsy and Fetch again. They had gotten a ride in, and were about to swim in the river before hiking the rest of the way in to their campsite. All in all it had been the easiest day in awhile. When we got to the shelter, Nitrous Oxide was there for a break before he continued on. Tipsy and Fetch also stopped by, and continued as well. We set out our sleeping pads and bags, then I got water, and treated it. After dinner, Daddy-O came in, and set up his tent. He said he'd passed us two days ago in the rain. We must have passed him yesterday, though we didn't know when. He started February 24, but had to get off the trail for a month. Now he was back, and hiking fast.Life is great on the AT on a cool evening in a shelter.
Date: 2012-06-28
From: Stewart Hollow Brook Shelter 1468.2

To: Steve and Laura's house, Falls Village, CT 1486.3
Miles today: 18.1

Wow! What a day! We started hiking along the river at 7:30. Soon Daddy-O caught up and we hiked together for two miles to an intersection...but missed the trail to the left. When we stopped seeing blazes, we all started looking around. Half an hour later, Daddy-O found the route...back a quarter of a mile to the turn that we had somehow missed and had walked by. Oh well. We hiked on, passing and being passed by Daddy-O when he stopped to eat or fix his feet. (Random note: Daddy-O had purchased new boots in Kent.) When we got to the first shelter we had a great surprise: Gary's Platypus was there, along with a note. Wonder had left it, and written a note to us in the log. We left a note in the log as well. Hopefully, someone will come through and let him know we got it. We continued on. The plan was to take the Mohawk Trail near Falls Village. This was not in the cards. As we stood by the side of the road looking at the Companion, a gentleman in a truck stopped, and started talking with us. He offered to let us camp in his yard. So...we hopped on the back of his truck and rode the 1.3 miles to his house. When we got to his house, he invited us to shower while he set up a tent for us. That done, we put our sleeping pads and bags in the tent, then played a ring toss game Steve had set up on a tree. When I finally hooked the ring on the hook, the three of us   walked to the Falls Village Inn for a great dinner of half pound burgers, filled with cheese, fries, and beverages. After we walked home, Steve drove us to see the falls along the river, where we would be hiking in the morning. Some people at the falls needed their car battery jumped, so Steve kindly jumped it for them. Once back at the house, Steve's wife Laura was home from her meeting. We met her, then zzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Life is great when you're lost and meet an incredible trail angel to save the day!
Date: 2012-06-30
From: Brassie Brook Shelter 1499.2

To: Lamplighter Motel, Great Barrington, Mass. 1516.0
Miles today: 16.8
Weather: overcast clouds

It was a tough morning today: We were hiking by 6:30, hiked up Bear Mountain (elevation 2316) and down again, crossed into Massachusetts, then ascended Race Mountain, with a steep drop off to the east, hiked back down 500 feet, then climbed up Mt. Everett, and back down to Glen Brook shelter for lunch. There was lots of rock walking and climbing. We passed Johannes on the way up Race Mountain, then BearManPig passed us. It was quite hot today, in the low 90s. That decreased our energy, and increased the difficulty of any day's hike tremendously. I couldn't even imagine what it would be like for hikers coming through in a month. We filled up our Platys once before lunch, and then again at lunch, as there was no water on the trail after lunch. (Random note: There was beautiful mountain laurel at the tops of all three mountains.) After lunch we thought the hiking would be easier. Ha! There were no big climbs, but there were lots of pesky little rocky ups and downs. Finally we reached the last four miles, which were pretty flat, through fields and forests, with beautiful wildflowers. There were forget-me-nots and lots more that I couldn't identify. We went past a Shay's Rebellion monument fifteen miles into the day's hike. (Random note: This monument marked the location of the last fight of this 1787 rebellion protesting government taxes.) When we reached Route 7 we started calling motels in Great Barrington, the nearest town, and finally found one with vacancies, the Lamplighter. "Tanglewood" has started. (Random note: this is the Boston Symphony's summer location.) So...motels in this area filled up and were pricy, especially on the weekends, in this area. Oh well. We stuck out our thumbs to hitch and the very first car stopped and gave us a ride, right to the motel. The driver was a true trail angel. We hoped would be half as lucky the next morning. Once we checked in, we put on the air conditioner, and went out to find dinner. There were lots of choices, but we ended up at a cafe with Greek decor. We had the usual: 8 oz burgers with our preferred toppings, fries, and coleslaw. Then, it was back to the motel for zzzzzz. Life is great on the AT when you can do a good day's hike, then sleep in a motel that's cool and non buggy, after a tough, hot day.
Date: 2012-07-01
From: Lamplighter Motel, Great Barrington, Mass. 1516.0

To: Mt. Wilcox North Shelter 1529.5
Miles today: 13.5
Weather: broken clouds

We were up at sixish to pack up and be ready to eat cereal at the motel, then back to the Eno restaurant for second breakfast. After breakfast we stood on the corner with our thumbs out to hitch, thinking it would take quite awhile, but After only five minutes we saw a new car with a couple about our age, who were dressed to the nines. We stuck out our thumbs and smiled at them...and they pulled over. Right behind them was the man who had picked us up yesterday. He started to pull over, then he waved when he realized the other folks were giving us a ride. We couldn't believe it! They said they were turning off in a mile, but once we all started chatting said they'd give us a ride all the way to the trail. The best thing about this ride was that as we were getting out of their car, the lady said she wished we had more time to chat! They had hiked some of the trail themselves, and the lady had once dreamed of thru hiking. Nice people. We would have enjoyed sharing a meal with them, and getting to know them better. But, instead, we got ourselves, our packs, and our poles out of the car, and started hiking north...flat at first, then ascending the 1100 feet to the top of East Mountain, and back down a little to the Tom Leonard shelter, where we ate lunch and got water...WAY down in a ravine. As we were leaving, a family from Montreal, Canada, came in. They had started here, and were hiking north for two weeks into Vermont. After lunch, the trail descended four hundred feet, then ascended nine hundred feet to the Mount Wilcox North shelter. This climb included "The Ledges"...exciting because a thunderstorm had just started. The thunderstorm was not only loud, but deposited quarter inch diameter hailstones on us and the ground...ouch. After ten minutes the rain abated, but we were soaked. However, the storm cooled things down considerably. The last two and a half miles were fun because we saw lots of orange efts: sixty-nine to be exact. (Random note: Efts are the middle stage of amphibians called newts. In the first and last stages, they are aquatic, but in the middle stage they live on land. We noticed that we only saw them during or after rain, and guessed that they hide under rocks when it is dryer.) Most of these efts needed to be moved off the trail so they wouldn't be stepped on, so it took some time, but the trail was smooth, and it had stopped raining so we didn't care. Once to the shelter, we got water and made dinner. We thought we might be the only ones in the shelter, but then Johannes came in, then "Just James." Johannes found eft number seventy in front of the fire pit, so he moved it to safety. (Random note: We camped with Johannes many times throughout our thru hike. He was planning to fly home to Germany September 6, and wanted to finish his hike September 1.) Life is great on the AT, especially when the day starts out with town food and an easy hitch with nice people to the trailhead, and you see so many cute little efts.
Date: 2012-07-02
From: Mt. Wilcox North Shelter 1529.5

To: Goose Pond AMC Cabin 1543.5
Miles today: 14.0

We woke up today to woodpeckers pecking a duet. We were out out at the crack of 8:30. We enjoyed the nice terrain this morning: easy downs and flats, and lunch was at seven miles. After lunch, we climbed steeply for two miles, then started descending. We were out of water, so when we got to a stream we refilled our Platys, and continued the rest of the hike into the Goose Pond AMC cabin. We scored some of the last lower bunks. Yeah! After unpacking our packs, I located my located my bike gloves which I couldn't find this morning. It turned out that they were in my snack pocket. It's good to have them back, since my hands were sore from holding the poles without them. Once settled in, we met Brian and Mary Ann, who are doing a week in Massachusetts. Also at our table were Sunroof and Yellowtail, who was recovering from lymes disease, Nitrous Oxide, and Nomad. At the next table were Laces and Bandaid, who was just diagnosed with lymes today. The caretakers were Wendy and Longstep who thru hiked in 2008, and their dog, Fitzpatrick. The cabin was two stories high, with bunks on the top floor, and the living area underneath. Donations went into the pink pig on the dining room table. Down the hill was Goose Pond, where people could swim, canoe, or fish, and a porch with table and chairs and rocking chairs. Life is great on the AT when you end up at a great cabin, after another wonderful day of hiking.
Date: 2012-07-03
From: Goose Pond AMC Cabin 1543.5

To: Shamrock Inn, Dalton, Mass 1564.1
Miles today: 20.6
Weather: few clouds

We were up at 6 am, ate breakfast at the picnic table, and were on the trail by 7:30. The trail was relatively flat all day, undulating through woods and meadows, and past ponds on occasion. The flowers were beautiful, though I couldn't identify most of them. There were daisies and black-eyed Susans. We stopped at the first shelter for lunch. Johannes was there already, and Yellowtail and Sunroof showed up shortly. They were being picked up by family members in Dalton for a zero day...nice. We had planned to go to the next shelter this evening, then into Dalton tomorrow, to save money, but the nine miles after lunch went quickly with easy terrain and not many rocks. We got to the planned shelter by 4:30. Some other thru hikers were at the turnoff to the shelter, and went on to Dalton. As we stood at the turnoff debating whether or not to go on, we got out the Companion, looked at it, and decided to do the same. We immediately ascended a ridge, but it wasn't too high, then descended into town. Once in town, we crossed railroad tracks, then followed the blazes through town, passing the home of Tom, who let hikers stay in his house and yard. Lots of our trail friends were there, but we decided to continue on to the Shamrock Inn. We were glad we did. The Shamrock Inn was the most hiker friendly motel yet! The washer and computer were both in the lobby, we got a discount, and the owner, Laura, was super friendly. She even put our clothes into the dryer while we ate dinner. We ate a great dinner next door: bacon wrapped pork, salad, and potatoes. After dinner, I worked on typing a few days of more of my journal on the blog. While I was on the computer, Gary went to the Cumberland Farm store to check out resupplying. Wonder was there, and asked if we'd gotten the Platy back. Gary was happy to finally meet his benefactor, and to be able to thank him personally! Life is great on the AT when along but easy day ends with great town food and a hiker friendly motel.
Date: 2012-07-04
From: Shamrock Inn, Dalton, Mass 1564.1

To: Mark Knoebel Shelter 1578.0
Miles today: 13.9

We started the day by walking to the Dalton Restaurant, for an omelet, ham, and home fries. On the way back to the motel after breakfast, I called Barb to start setting up our meeting for later this month. (Random note: My brother and his wife, as well as our mom, live in Vermont. We have sent numerous packages to their house. We have been planning to take a double zero with them before hiking the White Mountains of New Hampshire, and Maine, for a visit and also to retrieve warm clothes and river crossing shoes.) Once back at the motel, we figured out our resupply, then walked to the Cumberland Farms store to supply before heading to the trail. Dancing Dove and her husband Almost Eagle, and Skog were at the trailhead. Skog was hiking from Front Royal, Virginia, to Mount Katahdin. We started ascending towards Cheshire, Massachusetts, where we hoped to have lunch, including ice cream, at Diane's Twist. When we arrived, Skog was already there. I noticed some Katahdin finisher photos, so I picked up a Diane's Twist business card and offered to send them our picture once we completed our thru hike. Once nourished, we set off through town, following the blazes, towards Mount Greylock, Massachusetts' highest peak at 3490 feet. We hiked five miles up the south side of the mountain to the Mark Knoebel shelter. Nitrous Oxide and Skog were already there, along with Zil and Thunderstorm. Zil was hiking from Beckett, Mass, to Williamstown, Mass. Thunderstorm started at the NY/CT border for a two month hike, hopefully ending in Maine. They continued hiking towards the summit with hopes to stay at the Bascom lodge there. Soon Tipsy and Fetch came in, and, about 8:30, Snake Girl (stepped on a rattle snake), and her dog Diesel, and Broadsword came in. Life is great on the AT when you get town food for breakfast and lunch, then have a nice hike up a mountain.
Date: 2012-07-06
From: Seth Warner Shelter 1594.5

To: Paradise Motor Inn, Bennington, VT 1606.0
Miles today: 11.5
Weather: clear sky

We slept in since it looked to be a short, easy day. When I woke up I could see that Buzzkill's dog, Gretel, was still curled up sleeping, tethered to a tree a few feet from the shelter. She hadn't made a sound all night, even when people got up to use the privy. Once people started getting up and moving around, Gretel stood up and waited to be petted, still silent. Every time someone walked by her, they patted her, and she wagged her tail, but there was zero whining or barking...amazing for a six month old puppy. (Random note: all of the dogs that are thru hiking the trail had been really well behaved, without exception. We enjoyed them, but were still happy with our decision to leave Roxy and Izzy at home. We missed them, but bringing them would have added another layer of complexity to our hike.) We were hiking by 8:30 on a nicely maintained trail, undulating up and down, but easy to hike. There were quite a few bog boards (Random note: Bog boards are two inch by eight to twelve inch boards nailed on logs to protect the boggy ground.)By 11:30 we had covered the seven plus miles to the first shelter, where we had first lunch. P Squared and Chucky the Fish were there, along with Jester, a section hiker. Snake Girl, Broadsword and Diesel, their very well behaved large, brown dog, left to continue hiking soon after we arrived, but soon BearManPig and DudeManBro arrived. We checked out the hikers' log as we ate, checked our water, and continued our hike. The last four miles to Route 9 were quick. On our way we passed some day hikers and some backpackers going south. Once we arrived at Rt 9, we looked for the blazes on the other side of the road. We finally found them, then started to hitch. We noticed that the day hikers were back at their car, so we asked if we could get a ride to Bennington with them. They were happy to oblige, and gave us ice cold fruit beverages. They even moved a bike to the bike rack so we could fit in the back seat. They were in Bennington from Boston vacationing for the weekend. We rode with them to their motel, then booked ourselves a room for two nights as well, since it was centrally located, and reasonably priced. Thanks, guys. Once in our room, we put down our packs, and left to go to the post office to get our mail drop, then out for second lunch at Carmondy's, a pub with great food. While sitting at our outside table, we saw ManBearPig, DudeManBro, Nomad, and Tipsy and Fetch as they were walking by the other side of Main Street. We guessed we weren't the only ones who came into Bennington. After lunch, it was time to do wash...fortunately right near our room in the motel. By then it was time for dinner...Mexican food at the Rattlesnake Cafe. (Random note: Mexican food in Bennington just didn't measure up to what we were used to, living in Nevada. Oh well.) Life is great on the AT, especially when nice trail angels give you a ride clear to a nice, inexpensive motel, and especially at the beginning of a much needed zero day.
Date: 2012-07-07
From: Paradise Motor Inn, Bennington, VT 1606.0

To: Paradise Motor Inn, Bennington, VT 1606.0
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Today I was finally able to catch up on the blog, while Gary resupplied for the next three days. That accomplished, we made another run to the post office to mail some things out to my brother's house. My poor brother is going to have his house FULL of our AT stuff. We went to another brew pub for lunch...sandwiches, fries, and iced tea, then we finished resupplying at the Rite Aid and Family Dollar stores for a few more supplies. (Random note: Even though Bennington is fairly big by Vermont standards, there was no regular grocery store where we could resupply.) We walked back to the room for packing, then relaxing before walking back to Carmondy's for another burger and fries, and a Klondike ice cream bar on the way back to the room for dessert. Life is great on a zero day in town on the AT.
Date: 2012-07-08
From: Paradise Motor Inn, Bennington, Vermont 1606.0

To: Kid Gore Shelter 1620.4
Miles today: 14.4
Weather: scattered clouds

We walked to Full Bellies for breakfast, then started to hitch back to the trail. We didn't wait five minutes before a young man in a minivan with a child's car seat and baby jogger picked us up. When he dropped us off, he headed back to town, so he had clearly driven ten miles out of his way for us. Thanks! We hiked up the ridge for a thousand feet to the first shelter, but didn't stop. By ;then we were almost to the ridge. We climbed up another seven hundred feet to a lookout point. We had lunch at the second shelter, then climbed another seven hundred feet to a lookout point. We had lunch at the second shelter, then climbed another two hundred feet to a fire tower, which we climbed, along with two Long Trail hikers who we had met at lunch, Batman and Alfred. After the fire tower, the trail descended about a thousand feet to the Kid Gore Shelter. As we were hiking towards the last shelter, a young man, Mercury, passed us... quickly. He was traveling very light, and had started May 3. He needed to be finished by the end of July for school, so was hiking twice the miles per day that we were! Also today we met our first south bounder: JR, from Dallas. He was sixty-six years young, and started may 15. (Random note: Since this was before Mount Katahdin was open for the year, he will hike it sometime before it closes October 15 to complete his thru hike.) We passed a tiny stream on the way to our day's destination, the Kid Gore Shelter. This turned out to be our water source...small but good. Batman and Alfred came in a few minutes after we did. (Random note: Batman was a HS senior and Alfred had just graduated so were the youngest backpackers we had yet seen hiking on their own. They seemed like nice kid: mature, well prepared, and smart. Their families were meeting them every few days to supply them with food.) The Kid Gore Shelter seemed well designed. It had two platforms on the bottom, which could have easily held three people each, and two more platforms on top, with a table between. Another person could have slept underneath the table, and more people could have slept under the platforms as well, in a pinch. (Random note: It was also oriented so its occupants would have a nice view of the mountains to the east and of the sun as it was rising.) After dinner, two more hikers came in from the trail and set up their tent. Life is great back on the Appalachian Trail, especially when there is a roomy shelter at the end of the day's hike, and congenial fellow hikers.
Date: 2012-07-09
From: Kid Gore

To: Stratton Pond shelter 1635.4
Miles today: 15.0
Weather: few clouds

We started the day with a beautiful sunrise, since the shelter faced east. The bees and butterflies ...tiny black and yellow ones, were active by 7:00 a.m. We left by 7:30, a few minutes after Batman and Alfred, then climbed up and down several times to the first shelter, Story Spring Shelter, where we saw Achey Breaky, and had first lunch. After we checked out, and wrote in the hiker log. We continued on, ascending, then descending, then ascending for three more miles up Stratton Mountain. At the top of the mountain was a caretaker's cabin. We sat on a rock and ate lunch. Jean, the caretaker, came out. (Random note: We chatted a few minutes, and she advised us that thru hikers should be at Stratton Mountain by mid August in order to arrive at Mount Katahdin by its close on October 15. We were glad to be a solid five weeks ahead of that time, in case we needed to use some of it later in the hike. She also said it was an easy hitch into Manchester Center...good news to us, since we really did not enjoy hitch hiking, and dreaded having to do it.) We continued to the fire tower a few feet away, We climbed up, took a few pictures before descending the other side of the mountain to the Stratton Pond shelter. I went to the spring by Stratton Pond to get water while Jester swam, then came back to treat it. Lots of people were at the shelter, including southbounders, Chanticleer and his dad Possible; Batman and Alfred; Jester; Pickle, who was hiking the Long Trail before starting dental school in the fall; Ghost Pirate, who thru hiked in 2010, and Indiana. As we were talking with Indiana, it turned out that he attends Columbia University, in New York City. We even discovered that he had one of our friends from our ultrarunning days as one of his professors! What a small world! Life is great on the Appalachian Trail, especially when a climb over a mountain turns out to be way easier than we'd anticipated.