morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2006-01-25
To: A Disappointing and Disturbing Day
Miles today: 0.0

My last annual physical had confirmed that I had a small hernia. Both my doctor and I felt it would be okay to hike with it, but he wanted me to consult with a vascular surgeon to be certain.The surgeon was certain, all right. Certain that I needed surgery. He most strongly recommended that I have the hernia fixed before I went into the woods. He said it would be a six-week recovery, which really bummed me out. I had less than six weeks to the planned start of my hike.He shuffled some schedules, and had his nurse pressure the hospital, and suddenly I was on the docket for a 3:15 operation on Friday. The day after tomorrow.I spent the rest of the afternoon at the hospital: getting blood work done, an EKG, chest x-rays, and getting all the pre-registering work done.Then I went home and looked at my schedule. Bummer.I have two brothers and both had had hernia surgery. I don't know the details of the first operation, my youngest brother, but my "middle" brother had his recently and he was back lifting weights within a week. And he had a double hernia. Of course, he tends to overdue, but still....I should be fine to hike in March.
Date: 2006-01-27
To: T Minus 90 Minutes and Counting
Miles today: 0.0

I spent yesterday doing everything I could think of that involved lifting and carrying, moving stuff into and out of the attic, basement, and house. I put tools away, got my hiking gear into bins and stored them away.Because I was a late addition squeezed into the schedule, I had the last slot of the day, 3:15. This late time to be operated on did not affect the requirement that I not eat anything except clear liquids after midnight. It is now noon and I am hungry and irritable. And nervous.I just grabbed another soda (sugar-free, allowed as a clear liquid) and my wife said, "What are you doing?" She showed me on the instructions that I could drink clear liquids UP TO FOUR HOURS BEFORE THE OPERATION ONLY. Nothing after that.Well, that made me even more irritable, so I took it out on her for not telling me earlier, as she had been telling me what to do all day, so why stop? But common sense prevailed and I acknowledged that I am responsible for what I do. Sensing that I was clearing a path to misbehave after the operation, she apologized and said she should have read the instructions more carefully and would be more careful with the recovery instructions.Drat. That means I will have to follow them to the letter. It's 1:30 and we have to leave now. The hospital wants me to be there an hour and a half early. That way, even if I am not nervous now (which I am), waiting in the pre-op room is sure to allow my anxiety to build. They think of everything.
Date: 2006-01-28
To: DISASTER
Miles today: 0.0

I'm doomed. My hike is doomed.I went into this operation with my brother's as a guide. He had a laparoscopic operation. That is, they made a tiny incision, inserted a fiber optic camera, and repaired the hernia with plastic mesh.Mine was repaired with mesh, also, but it looked like the doctor used a machete on my gut. I have a long scar, running from near my hip diagonally down to very close to a spot where men do not like sharp instruments to be.Evidently my hernia was more than anticipated.Hernias. I had two, and one was a bit nasty. It had a tear associated with it. Not sure why if it was so bad it wasn't more visible, but the bad news is that recovery is longer - much longer - with this type of operation.For one thing, I cannot lift anything heavier than ten pounds until cleared by the doctor, and I have to wait until Monday to make an appointment. No pushing or pulling. No nothing.And the worst thing is that because I behaved like a dink yesterday, I gave my wife the opportunity to take charge of my recovery. No, I didn't give her the opportunity. I all but forced her into it.There is no way I'm going to be allowed to work out, hike, or exercise in any way until fully cleared by the doctor. I'm going to have to beg to be allowed to drive next week.Crap.
Date: 2006-01-29
To: It Gets Worse
Miles today: 0.0

I had a rough night. Because I had a drink of soda after I was supposed to stop drinking, the anesthesiologist shoved a tube down my throat after I went under.This served two purposes: one intended, one not.The intended purpose was to save my life should I decide to puke while under anesthesia. Without the tube, should I puke, the liquid could easily slide down my esophagus and into my lungs. I could get pneumonia or even drown. (I didn't puke and all is well on the liquid-in-lungs department.)The unexpected result was to give me a raw throat. It was scratchy and I found that I could not stop coughing. Coughing right after a hernia operation is not a good thing. Worst that could happen is that the mesh could be ripped out. Best case scenario is that I merely feel intense pain with every cough.Because I was coughing, I was afraid to take my pain medication. It hurt so much when I coughed I worked hard at not coughing and not coughing hard. This reduced pain and protected the mesh from ripping out. Had I taken the pain killers, the coughing would not hurt, but without the restraining need to lessen pain, I might cough hard enough to undo the operation.It was not a fun night, and it is not a fun day. This should help me on the trail. After this, I cannot imagine myself being slowed by rain, sleet, snow, shin splints, tendonitis, giardia, stress fractures, bear attacks, or militant blue and yellow blazers. So this could be a good thing.So I keep telling myself. Maybe if I say it often enough I'll even believe it.
Date: 2006-01-31
To: It's Going To Be a Long Two Weeks
Miles today: 0.0

I'm feeling better, not coughing, and this morning I was able to bend my waist enough to put on my own socks. And my doctor appointment is for February 14, the first date I could get.There isn't much I can do around the house, so I am reading a bit. Tomorrow I will start back writing. Perhaps I can plot out some of the stories I hope to write on the trail.
Date: 2006-02-03
To: Da Plan, Boss! Da Plan!
Miles today: 0.0

So now I have a plan.Tinker has about a ten day window for actual, on-trail hiking. Since he is busy working two jobs and being active in his community, and I am stuck at home recuperating from the hernia operation (going very well, thank you. I took a short walk outside yesterday, and I'm going to start walking as exercise), I decided to obsess on a schedule.Looking over maps, elevation guides, etc., and not losing track of the fact that I was blown off the trail last year by doing too many big days right out of the gate, I worked out the ideal schedule.Tinker will be coming back to RI from Syracuse NY on Sunday, March 5. My wife will drive me to Worcester MA and he will pick me up on his way home, about 6:00 p.m. He will grab his gear and we can take off. Should be at Springer by Monday night.So we start hiking Tuesday a.m., and nine days later, at a mere twelve miles a day average, we end up in Franklin NC. We will re-supply in Hiawassee from Unicoi or Dicks Creek Gap, depending on food supply when we hit Unicoi. The only question is should we leave his car at Amicalola State Park or in Franklin. I found two people who will shuttle us from Franklin to ASP. I also called the Rangers at ASP, who told me it costs three dollars to leave a car for up to six months near the Visitor Center, and that they have never had a break-in. Since the car belongs to Tinker, it will be his decision as to where to park the car.Being home with too much time has resulted in my doing less around the house, not more. Funny how that works. But I need to get my writing in gear, and tomorrow it starts. This time I mean it. Honestly.Good thing I'm starting to feel better!
Date: 2006-02-06
To: Return of the Muse
Miles today: 0.0

Finally.Finally, an urge to write.I picked up the story I had critiqued by my writing group, and red pen in hand, went over the others' comments, taking the best of them, mulling over the great majority of them, and rejecting a bunch as not right for me.But it is writing.So charged up was I that I picked up my old half-written novel and perused the first few scenes.Ugh.But I took a break then came back and red-lined it so much it looked like I bled all over it. Psychologically, maybe I did.Maybe the "bleeding" was good for me, speaking in a creative sense.In the middle ages, doctors (who were really barbers first and surgeons second) believed that many illnesses were caused by bad humors or vapors in the blood. A sick person would visit a barber, who would attach a leech to suck out the bad blood.Later, it was "found" more effective to bypass the leeches and simply open a vein and let the bad blood out. This probably didn't help anyone, and likely hastened the death of many, but it gave rise to two items still in use today. One is the term blood-letting, often used to metaphorically describe the wholesale removal of something (like a government party) by bloody means. It also left us with the traditional barber pole. When the population couldn't read or write, businesses used pictures and symbols to advertise. The Bull and Claw Pub would have a picture of a bull and a claw outside its door. The Red Lion Inn and Boar's Head Tavern similarly offered their pictorial signboard to would-be customers. So, too, did the white pole with the red stripe spiraling down it indicate that a barber (and therefore surgeon) was inside. The white pole represented a human arm and the red was blood running down it from a blood letting.Okay, so my arm isn't bleeding, but nevertheless it was a cathartic (we'll save this one for another entry) process.I think now I am ready to write for sure. Too bad I leave for the trail in four weeks. Erk. Four weeks yesterday. I have less than four weeks to go.But no problem. There's a barber right down the street. If my writing gets blocked, I'll just mosey on down to the barbershop and have him open a vein.
Date: 2006-02-07
To: Hi! My name is Frosty, and I'm a Gearhead.
Miles today: 0.0

I have all my gear now, so today I bought a new tent.What? Why?I don't know. The new tent is better, but the old one is fine.What happened was trying to change clothes in the old tarptent in Pennsylvania on the way to SoRuck. Couldn't really do it. The new tent is much taller, has a bar across the top to maximize the usable space at that height, and will allow me to sit up and change clothing.Is that a big deal? Is it worth an extra eight ounces to be able to do that?I'm thinking it is. I'm thinking of the fourth rainy day in a row, and I'm in my tent cooped up, hunched over trying to update my journal and thinking, "Boy, am I glad I bought this tent."I¢ll let you know by Pearisburg.Oh, and I can also rationalize this purchase by noting that there is room for me and my wife to use it. So should she come backpacking with me, we won't need to buy a new tent, and she can't use the the-tent-is-too-small excuse. She'll need a different excuse (the next time she comes backpacking will be the first time).Also today, I worked some more on my novel. I dragged out all my folders and files, and tomorrow I am ready to go.Now for the bad news. I weighed myself.263 pounds.Yikes!I can't exercise. I can't lift more than ten pounds. Walking is difficult over anything but smooth pavement. (I keep hearing about guys that had hernias repaired and were healed in a week, and I have to remember that my repair was not done laparoscopically, but with a major incision.)I need to get in shape, but I need to heal more. I think. I can walk - a bit - but not lift anything heavier than ten pounds. Do you know how little ten pounds is? Think gallon of milk.I'm stuck until February 14, when I go back to the doctor.
Date: 2006-02-09
To: If I Only Had a Brain
Miles today: 0.0

I check my guest book regularly. Thanks to all who take the time to sign it.Today it was a nice surprise to see that LilMountainGirl signed in. She mentioned that she wants to see some "new song lyrics."This goes back to a hike on the VT AT last July in which we broke into a mountain-top clearing. The sun was shining, the grass green, flowers yellow, and views of mountains all around. What could we do but twirl and spin and sing "The Hills Are Alive."After that we made up songs while hiking.My favorite came at the end. We were heading south from Kent Pond, up the hill and almost to the cutoff to the Inn at Long Trail.LMG had forged ahead, and I was hiking with MsKatieBear. It would help to picture me with straw stuffed down my hiking shirt, doing a Ray Bolger soft shoe along the yellow brick trail, and MsKatieBear in a blue and white checked dress with ruby-red hiking boots, all her gear (and her little dog, too) stuffed into a wicker basket hung on her arm, and we are singing:(Scarecrow/Frosty) I could hike the trail for hours Show off my hiking prowess,And slog all through the rain. I could squint like Myron Avery,And cook meals oh so savoryIf I only had a brain.I'd eat up any vittle, Even Pop-tarts on the griddle -Frosted or just plain.(Dorothy/MsKatiebear) You'd do days of thirty mi-ilesAnd you'd do them all with smiles,If you only had a brain.(Scarecrow/Frosty) Oh, I ... would not be shyTo share my AT hiker's lore. I could hike to all those places that I've never hiked before,And then I¢d think I'd go and I would like to hike some more. I would not be just a nuffin' Eatin' Stovetop stuffin' My belly full of pain.I would dance and I'd be merry, I would row the Kennebec ferry,If I only had a brain***************Guess you had to be there.Okay, tonight I'll make one up about getting my picture on the cover of the official magazine of the Appalachian Trail Conference: Appalachian Trail Journeys.Apologies in advance to Shel Silverstein and Dr. Hook.
Date: 2006-02-11
To: On the Cover of the JOURNEYS Mag
Miles today: 0.0

I get to see the doctor in three more days. I'm hoping for a clean bill of health, so I can start doing things again. I have about zero conditioning left.The scar hurts, but it is a surface pain, so I think it is scar tissue, not a sign that something went wrong. Still, I'll wait until the doctor clears me.Nothing AT related. Planning is done, gear is bought, food list made up. I'll wait a bit before buying food and packing mail drops.On the writing front, things are going well. The short story (SNOW BIRD), I sent to the guy who was co-authoring it. He liked it, made three minor changes, and sent it off to Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine.Plus, I've revised just about all the work I'd done previous on my novel, and am ready to start writing the ending. Wish I knew what the ending was. So far this guy sent emails to four people and they all were killed within a day of receiving the email. Wish I knew how this all happened! I gave him a girlfriend from hell, but to round things out, made his ex-wife much nicer to him than he is to her.Well, guess I'd better put the journal away and get writing.Oh, yeah. The new song lyrics (hum ON THE COVER OF THE ROLLING STONE while reading):Well we¢re AT Thrus, and we're better than youse'Cause we hike the trail in a single year We eschew material goods, to live simply in the woods With our Gor-Tex Titanium gear We climb all kinda hills That give us all kinda thrills But the thrill we¢ve never known Is the thrill that'll gitcha When you get your picture On the cover of the Trail Journeys Mag Chorus: Journeys mag I¢m gonna see my picture on the cover Maaaag Gonna buy five copies for my mother Maaaag Gonna see my bearded face On the cover of the Trail Journeys MagI got a freaky old partner who is quite a farter He clears shelters for us easily I got my poor old gray-haired daddy Mailin' my food to me. Now it¢ll be best, to end our quest, But our quest won¢t really have an end Like the end that you¢ll go to When you get your photo On the cover of the Trail Journey Mag. repeat ChorusWe gotta lot of Trail Angels Food- and ride-giving angels Who always seems to do us right. We have a genuine log drum circle That we drum out every single night We got all the gear, as light as can be, Some made by Anti-Gravity And we go to new places, But we can¢t get our faces On the cover of the Trail Journeys Mag
Date: 2006-02-14
To: Good To Go
Miles today: 0.0

Finally, some good news. The doctor checked out the hernia operation and said it looked real good. News to me. The scar is puffy, it's been hurting a lot, I can't bend over from waist, and walking more than a couple hundred yards is painful.Well, all that is superficial, relating to the scar. Underneath, evidently things are healing just fine. I canceled my Feb 27 AMTRAK reservations, and checked with Tinker again. He still is good to go, and we are working out a plan.On the writing front, I have been working on the novel several hours a day. If I can get it done before I leave, I can hand it out to my writing group in March and come off the trail in May for the critique. If I finish.I am also talking with Michael Bracken about co-authoring another story.Last, but certainly not least, I received a present from my wife, son, and dog. A set of three Italian charms, one from each of them. I will sew this (and when I say "I" I mean someone else) onto my pack and carry it from Georgia to Maine.
Date: 2006-02-17
To: No Matter Where I Go, There I Am
Miles today: 0.0

I did my bounce box today. Sound familiar?It should. It must be the third or fourth time I've "done" it.I'm working away like crazy, and doing the same things over and over.Maildrops, gear, food lists, projected schedule for the first couple weeks. I do 'em, and then a few days later, I do 'em again.Except the novel. I'm getting very excited about that. It is coming together well. I have about 45,000 words. Bummer is that I'm slowing down. Not likely to finish, alas, before I hike.Michael Bracken and I are going to do a story together, though. One story type I've always wanted to do is to have a scene where something happens, and the character is judged by the reader for what he does. And then the story goes back and gives the events leading up to that scene, and the reader has a totally different reaction. I tried it once with LAST KISS, but in that story, things progressed from the opening scene forward. (Interested, check out:http://search.barnesandnoble.com/BookSearch/isbnInquiry.asp?userid=AG6Kyq6DtU&isbn=0451204360&itm=1Every story is set on a famous street, from Lombard Street to Broadway. Mine is set on Bourbon Street, as shown on the cover.)So Michael and I fiddled with this idea, but as it grew, it again is morphing into something else. So it will be a story of a guy who appears to be bad, but redeems himself.None of this is AT related. Sorry.I do plan to write a series of mysteries taking place on the AT. I'll go into those later.Meantime, I think I'll do my bounce box again.
Date: 2006-02-20
To: Not Just Another Day
Miles today: 0.0

Today is a holiday, and my wife is off work.She is so lucky. I'm retired, and I have no holidays, no weekends. Every day is the same. I used to so look forward to the weekends, to live for them. And now? The only way I know it is a weekend is when my wife doesn't go to work. Unless she is home because it is a holiday. Makes no difference to me.Sigh.Just another day.Except that today is NOT just another day.Today I hiked. About five miles.Didn't feel too badly afterwards, either. Given that my twin 1.6 mile hikes on Jan 14 and 15 in North Carolina have been the only hiking I've done since way before Christmas, I thought I'd be sore or beat or something.Except for some stiffness around my arthritic left hip, my legs were fine. My scar hurt a lot, but I expected that from what the doctor told me. Not to worry, the hernia repair is fine. It is only the scar hurting now.
Date: 2006-02-21
To: Back-to-Back Hiking Days
Miles today: 0.0

Took another hike today. About six or seven miles this time. Hard to tell exactly because the trail map of Pawtuckaway is all screwed up. They have a scale listed, but using my GPS it is quite obviously NOT to scale, and the trails are very inaccurately marked, also.The GPS had elevation contours so I could see where I was at all times, and it had no relation to the park map. But one of the benefits of a GPS is that you can explore and not worry where a given trail is going because you can always find your way out. Many times pre-GPS I had to backtrack on a trail because I had no idea exactly where I was.Yes, I am proficient with a compass, but in the woods a compass will tell you what direction you are traveling in, and that's it. IF you find landmarks, you can sometimes fix a position. But a GPS. Here I am, right here. Here is my track. So if I just take a left at the next trail junction I will be fine. Some people feel it takes away from hiking. I feel it adds to it, helps you explore more, not less.So when I came upon a bog after about three hours of hiking, I knew it was the back end of a bog created by a beaver dam I had seen earlier in the day slightly off-trail. I had a choice of two trails at the back end of the bog, and I chose the one that followed the shore. It went under a cliff, under some big rocks a la Mahoosic Notch/King Ravine, and then I was out on Round Pond Road.Tired and sore. I think I will take a couple days off, then hike again. Not so much for leg strength or endurance, but to strengthen tendons. That's what killed me last year. Tendons weren't up to the task of daily hiking.This year will be different.
Date: 2006-02-24
To: A Cold Walk
Miles today: 0.0

For a week I have had a package to mail to Anatole. He is hiking the LT this summer and I have an extra End-to-Enders Guide I am giving to him. Or I will if I ever mail it.So this afternoon after my wife left for work, I bundled up and walked to the Post Office. I took a slightly roundabout route there, but came straight home, a total of maybe six or seven miles.I wore the shoe/sock combination I had settled on for the AT. Columbia low hikers with sock liners instead of socks because I could only get them in size 16. This would be the longest test with this combo.It was super-windy, especially coming home, because I was walking into the wind. Almost lost my hat more than once. But the disappointment was that even with thin sock liners apparently the boots are still too small. My left big toe wore a hole in the liner. Admittedly I have toe nails that would do T-Rex proud, but this has to indicate rubbing of the toe against the top of the toe box.At five bucks a pop I'm not about to buy a lot of liners to wear holes in.Backup scenario is to use the pair I had last year, size 17. I can wear regular hiking socks with them. The only hitch is that they are a much heavier model.The other bad news of the day is that my tarp tent will not be arriving today after all. Henry sent me a tracking number, and I see that it shipped and was sent to Oakland for air transport. Inexplicably, it sat in Oakland for over a day before leaving. All UPS said was that the package had been "rescheduled en route." Well, yeah. It was scheduled as 2nd day air, hard to accomplish this when it sits in an airport for a day and a half.So, of course, tomorrow is Saturday and UPS doesn't deliver on Saturday, so I have to wait till Monday and it is supposed to snow on Sunday so I won't be able to set it up in the yard and wah wah wah. Poor me.The good news is that one week from today I'll be on the road, heading for Amicalola State Park. Just typing these words makes my stomach flutter. The butterflies have officially arrived.