morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2008-05-01
From: Hemlock Spring Campsite

To: RPH Shelter
Miles today: 23.5
Weather: few clouds

Today we ran into Roni from Israel, who is a perpetual hiker in the US and someone I met briefly on the PCT in 2005. He is section hiking with a friend.We have eight in the shelter (Roni, his hiking friend Sarah -- and her dog Toby, Sulu, Vagus, two section hikers and me).We ordered pizza $70 for 3 large pies and 4 sodas, but worth it to eat a big meal at a shelter after a fairly long day.My knee felt better, but still hurts some, the descents were more normal today and I used one of Vagus's trekking poles.I didn't eat much during the day and felt a little lightheaded at end of day. so the pizza was especially good for dinner.Roni called Jym Beam and Rain Queen on his cell, when I talked to Jym Beam he said it was the most random phone call he's ever gotten (from two PCT friends in an AT shelter while pizza arrived).* * *Skit's bits:Roni is a natural comedian and had all of us, especially Stride, rolling with laughter. I'll try to recapture a bit of it, but it's not as funny in writing.Roni called us hiker Nazis since we are doing big miles. Vagus was struggling to think of a particular word and Roni came up with the word, adding, "See that's what you can do when you hike slow .... think."We were also quizzing each other on state names and mottos. Roni guessed The Brothel State for Nevada and Stride questioned his thought process, prompting Roni to say he was too cheap to go to a brothel, "I'd ask what a quarter would get me -- a handshake?"Roni also referred to another hiker as "sanely challenged."Splash often told the story of how on the PCT Roni had declared "Some people drink alcohol, some do drugs, I hike, it's an addiction." Roni didn't like my high-pitched rendition of it, saying it in a much more manly voice.* * *This day in bad trail poetry:Sometimes I wonder where I am going,where will all this hiking take me,would I be better working a real job,not wandering untethered from sea to sea,maybe some day I will want strings,but not yet, for now I still want to float free.
Date: 2008-05-02
From: RPH Shelter

To: Mac and Cheese
Miles today: 19.7

We're staying with the Mac and Cheese tonight. Rob, Kate and Charlotte McConaghy are hosting Stride, Vagus and myself.I got an e-mail from Rob a couple days ago, apparently they follow trailjournals and invite a number of hikers over. They've hosted about 70 in the past three years.We hiked about 20 miles by 4 p.m. -- the last 3 miles a road walk detour around a boardwalk that is being repaired. Rob pulled in just as we got to the road crossing and he gave us a ride to Kent, where Vagus got his mail drop, I got hiking poles (all they had was nordic walking sticks, but I had to get something to help my knee) and all three of us resupplied.We then got a ride to their house where Kate prepared an awesome dinner of chicken, cooked vegetables, salad, and sweet potatoes. We talked and joked during dinner, sharing a number of especially bad jokes.The night before at RPH I barely slept with all the people tossing in their sleeping bags and getting up to go to the bathroom (especially Leadfoot's three hard-stomping trips out of the cabin). We got up at 6:15 a.m. and walked through a mist -- it had rained pretty good overnight.Sulu caught us at a Deli stop five miles into the day. He left the deli before us and we didn't see him the rest of the day.We saw lots of little red-spotted newts on the trail (they live on land only during this neon-orange stage of their lives I think). We passed Nuclear Lake (were radioactive waste was once stored). The lake is much more beautiful than its name might imply.* * *Skit's bits:* Number out of around 70 hikers who have stayed with Mac and Cheese who haven't finished the trail: 2.* No. I will be: 3* Hiker I was randomly telling a story about who the Mac and Cheese knew from a kayaking club: Millepede.* Examples of Rob's religious jokes (he's the son of a minister):When was Jesus first mentioned in the old testament? When Moses backed into the burning bush.When was aspirin first mentioned in the bible? When Mosess came down the mountain with two tablets.Noah brought all the animals onto the ark in pairs (pears), except the worms who came in apples.* Stride to Rob in a sweet voice which had me laughing as hard as I have since foot shadow puppet night: "Your humor is just like mine, it only entertains you."* Our word for the day, since we had been wasting time during a break at a deli: "dilly-deli-ing"* Money I got from the government this week: $600 - yippee.* * *This day in really bad trail poetry:We've been hiking on the cusp on spring,staying just ahead has been our thing,but it has caught us now, with leaves unfurled,we're hiking in a whole new world.
Date: 2008-05-03
From: Mac and Cheese

To: Kent
Miles today: 18.5

Last night Mac and Cheese asked if we wanted to slackpack today and stay at their house another night. It was a gut-wrenching decision with much long-winding debate, but we finally decided we could probably be convinced to stay one more night in a warm house with showers, good food, internet, fun conversation and great people.We started hiking around 8:30 and after our first break Vagus flew ahead, which was odd since he was the only one of the three of us carrying close to his full pack.We were done hiking by 5 p.m. and Rob picked us up, picked up some pizzas and delivered us and the pizzas back to the friendly confines of the Mac and Cheese abode.* * *Skit's bits:* Person holding a republican fundraiser in Kent: Henry Kissinger* Person who attended: George Bush* Movie being filmed nearby at Bulls Bridge on the Housatanic: Some sort of Nightmare on Elm Street sequel.* Games Played with Cheese and Stride: Spit, Rummy 500, and speed scrabble.* Amount of time the hikers spent trying to upload photos to trailjournals: Hours and hours.* No. of covered bridges over the Housatonic river: at least 3 (bulls bridge, cornwall bridge, sheffield bridge).* * *This day in really bad trail poetry:cell phones, internet, text messaging, tv, e-mail.birds chirping, frogs croaking, the breeze blowing through the trees.hikers soak up technology like addicts,then nature makes an intervention.
Date: 2008-05-04
From: Kent

To: Brooks Hollow Lean-to
Miles today: 7.5

I was sicker today than I think I ever have been while hiking. I threw up twice, had chills, a slight fever, severe stomach cramps and a bit of dizziness (plus my knee still hurts a little). I'm not sure where I got this bug from, but I hope it leaves my system quickly. I couldn't hike many miles a day feeling like this.After climbing up Fuller Mountain (I took three breaks during the 2-mile climb) I opted to cut back down to the river road to have a completely flat walk to the lean-to. I still had to take a break every mile or so, but it was much nicer than going up and down hills. Problem was Vagus and Stride didn't know what I was up to. I left my Skittles mark where the A.T. hit the river road and again where it turned into a path, but they had decided to wait for me up on the ridge and almost went back to look for me (thankfully they didn't). They arrived at camp a couple hours after me and we were happy to see each other.We didn't leave the home of Mac and Cheese until after 2 p.m., I hope we didn't overstay our welcome, but we couldn't seem to get motivated to pack up and leave. They make you feel immediately comfortable in their house and we feel like we've known them for more than just two days. The trail is certainly more about the people you meet than about the ground at your feet.* * *Skit's bits:* Hours Stride and Vagus waited for me at Skiff Mtn. road before they figured I must not be coming: almost 3* Women I passed who were walking backward thrusting their arms into the air: 1 (she said it was good for the back and suggested I do it.)* Times I have puked while hiking: 2 (both today).* Weight of our packs before we left Mac and Cheese: Stride 32 pounds, Skittles 31, Vagus ? (I had about 2.5 liters of water and 3 days of food).* * *This day in really bad trail poetrywrenching pain seizes me,i feel dizzy and weak,climbing slowly unsteadily uphill,I concentrate on moving my feet,I give up, I can't climb anymore,I am completely and utterly beat.
Date: 2008-05-05
From: Brooks Hollow Lean-to

To: Mt. Prospect
Miles today: 21.6

I felt a little better this morning, but my stomach was still experiencing occasional spasms of cramping. My stomach/intestine area is sore, too, it feels like I've been doing a ton of crunches.We hiked for 3 miles along the river and although I was feeling OK I decided to do a flat roadwalk along the section and meet up with Vagus and Stride at the end of the day. I think I made a good choice as my stomach continued to cramp up off and on during the day and I think it would've been worse going up hills. I hope whatever I've got goes away, it makes it tough to hike.I also found a tick today that had managed to bury its head pretty far into my skin. I got it out intact, but it left a red mark that is sore. I think it is a deer tick, so now I can worry about that, too.But my knee felt better today, so I've got that going for me, which is nice.Well I'm camped on top of Prospect Mountain, but Stride and Vagus never showed up. Wonder what happened to them. Guess I'll give them a call from Salisbury if I don't see them before then.* * *Skit's bits:* I imagine it can't be good for tourism to have a disease named after your town, like Lyme, NH, or Gonorhea, New York.* Last time I camped without Vagus or Stride: Paul C. Wilson shelter before Waynesboro.* Last time I camped by myself: Stealth camp before Montebello.* Days of hiking without trekking poles before my knee hurt: 4.* Days of hiking with trekking poles before the pain went away: 3 (there were other factors involved such as length of days, rocks and steepness of trail, but I think the poles made the biggest difference.)* Number of highway workers seen cleaning trash out of ditches: 3.* Number of state troopers who offered to give me a ride: 1.* Number of people who asked me if there was anything I needed: 3 (the state trooper, a highway worker and a woman hiking the trail with her daughter near Falls Village -- maybe I looked needy today.)
Date: 2008-05-06
From: Mt. Prospect

To: The Hemlocks Lean-to
Miles today: 18.2

Turns out the reason Vagus and Stride didn't reach Prospect Mountain yesterday was that they were exhausted by terrain with lots of steep ups and downs and Vagus was fighting some of the same fatigue and nausea of the stomach bug I had been dealing with.I'm guessing Vagus and I got a water-born illness from a source in northern New York. At least it doesn't seem to be anything too drastic. I was still having some stomach pains today, but most of my strength has returned.I got up fairly early in the morning and left a note and an orange for Stride and Vagus and then I hiked into Salisbury where I gave them a call. They had found my note and were about 90 minutes behind me so I hiked back to the trailhead and waited for them.A hiker who had parked his car at the trailhead said we could leave our trash with him so we left a big bag under his front tire.It was a fairly good day of climbing going over Lions Head, Bear Mountain, Race Mountain and Mt. Everett.I'm struggling a bit with the trail right now. I'm lacking enthusiasm for the hike. I would like to skip ahead and just do the Long Trail, but I also want to hike with Stride and Vagus to where we would normally be splitting up in Killington.This stomach bug is still bothering me and I've also felt a bit off my equilibrium when hiking at times -- it's strange, I just feel a bit off balance for no reason. This has been happening for a while and sometimes it seems worse and sometimes it goes away. My head at times, usually after exertion, feels odd and tingly. Stride thinks Vagus and I are becoming hypochondriacs.* * *Skit's bits:* Sounds heard from camp in the morning: a wide variety of songbirds, turkeys gobbling, a thunderbird (grouse) beating its wings, geese flying overhead, a woodpecker, a train, church bells.* Number of days it took me to hike Connecticut in 2004: 1 (Roadster and I did a slightly shortened version of the Connecticut challenge -- there are 52 miles of trail in the state, we did a road walk that made our challenge about 45 miles, still the longest day I've ever hiked).* Number of days it took us to hike Connecticut this year: 4.
Date: 2008-05-07
From: The Hemlocks Lean-to

To: Great Barrington
Miles today: 8.0
Weather: overcast clouds

We got into town around noon, ate lunch and I checked my Pocketmail. I had gotten an e-mail from Kitchen Sink, who lives in Great Barrington and she had left a number to call. She was working, but gave directions to her house, which we managed to follow, but still were not 100 percent positive we had gone into the right apartment until we saw a notepad with the name Brenda on it and photos of her on the wall.I met Kitchen Sink during my thru-hike in 2004. She was section hiking from Delaware Water Gap to Great Barrington and had started with a 75-pound pack, which is where she got her trail name from. With the help of another hiker -- Dapper Dan -- and Desperado she went to an outfitter and got down to a more manageable 40 pounds. She was only 16 years old then (she's only 20 now) and she was supposed to call her mom every night. When a couple days went by without her mom hearing from her, her mom called the park rangers in Bear Mountain State Park and, after talking to a few hikers to find out where she was, they drove a truck up to a shelter to contact her and tell her to call her mom.Last year K-Sink picked up an AT hitchiker named Nucking (his brother was named Futz). Now they are a couple and are planning a 2 to 3 year tour of the world. (benandbrendastravels.com).We crashed at their apartment, went to a Greendrinks outing (K-Sink is the director of Greenagers in the area and involved in a lot of green stuff) where we played some frisbee outside. We ate Mexican for dinner, then stayed up late, listening to music, talking and looking at photos.* * *Skit's bits:* Trail name we gave to the guy who gave us a ride to town: Worth it. (He asked us if we wanted to go to the co-op. He said it was more expensive to get food there, but that he did all his shopping there because he was worth it. Not until he dropped us off did he tell us that we should say hi to the cashiers inside because he also worked there.)* Movie we almost went to: Dark Matter (there was a 3 p.m. matinee, but we decided to walk to Kitchen Sink's apartment and crash there instead after we got ahold of her at 2 p.m.)* Number of movies I've seen while hiking the trail this year: 0.* Shoes bought in Great Barrington: New Balance 890s.* Miles my Keens lasted: About 650 (my previous Keens usually lasted closer to 1,000 miles, they had better soles that were all vibram instead of a hodgepodge like these have. I may have been able to coax a few more miles out of these, but I had been slipping a lot lately.)* Shoe Nucking wore to hike in during his thru hike last year: Crocs
Date: 2008-05-08
From: Great Barrington

To: South Wilcox Shelter
Miles today: 11.7

As usual per late, it took us a long time to get out of town. Our enthusiasm is still waning. We didn't get to the trail until close to 3 p.m. so we hiked until dark.In the morning we sat around and had a discussion on the future of Strittlagus. The group dynamic has been a bit out of sorts for a while now. Stride and Vagus, who were extremely close when I first met them, have drifted a bit. Everyone still gets along and we have fun, but we seem to be a bit more distant of a group. Stride thinks she is going to take two weeks off and try to get her enthusiasm back to finish the trail. She is probably leaving on the 16th or 17th and going to staff training for the summer camp she works at before returning to hike the last 500 miles of the trail. In a few days I'll probably skip ahead to the part of the Long Trail I haven't hiked so that I can take my time and enjoy it. It will be nice to hike something new. Vagus is still a little off his full hiker mode, too, but will likely be pushing on without a significant break. He kind of wanted to do some hiking on his own, but I think he was caught off guard by the suddenness of the group dissolving.We ate lunch at the co-op and played some speed Scrabble there before finally going to the trailhead.* * *Skit's bits:* Items in K-sink and Nucking's apartment: Giant wall poster with all the Yoga moves shown, bed consisting of a mat on the floor with sleeping bags on it, a tree limb Nucking is carving, a large keyboard for K-sink who is a music major and a talented operatic type singer, chess board with wood carved pieces, three dirty hikers.* Drink drank at co-op that helped my head and stomach: gingerade.* No. times Vagus' gingerade exploded: 3 times.* Why lady at table next to us nearly got whiplash: Turning her head when she heard Stride say she was going to shave her armpits on Katahdin.* What the guy at the table next to us wore all during lunch: A bike helmet with a tiny mirror on it.* Hiker we met staying in a van at a trailhead: Hound Dog Man (he hiked in '95 with his hound dog). He survived some tornado near GB he said killed everyone else in town and he got on the front page of the town paper apparently written by people from out of town.* Food Hound Dog Man and the woman he was traveling with offered us: Oodles of Noodles. (We said no thanks as we had to keep hiking and he gave us crap in a round about way about being in a hurry. She was supposedly writing a book on him.)* No. of cows Stride got to look when she said Hey Cow: 12 (all 12 in a field looked at her, the best score ever).* * *This day in really bad trail poetry:Brought together by hiking pace,we crossed Maryland with painted face,drinking a 24-pack before Harper's Ferry,at Bear's Den, eating, drinking and making merry,playing foot shadow puppets by candlelight,eating stromboli and singing about it at night,good times we've had, great memories to replay,but now it's time to each go our own way,brought together by hiking pace,we each head home to our own place.
Date: 2008-05-12
From: Dalton

To: Dalton/Williamstown
Miles today: 0.0

We took a zero in Williamstown as a last hurrah for Strittlagus.In the morning we connected footsteps between Rob and Tom's house in Dalton then Rob gave us a ride up to Williamstown where we met up with Vagus, who had been hanging out at a cafe.We spent 2 hours at the library, ate lunch at the Williams Inn, soaked in the hut tub at the inn, went back to the cafe, went to a German subtitled movie, set up camp in the backyard of the outfitter in town (we all fit under Vagus' tarp with the Green River rushing in the background), went to the bar for a couple of beers and dinner and then retired for the night.It was a sweet ending for our group which had been together since April 1 (Vagus and Stride had hiked together since Feb. 14). Stride is going back to Dalton tomorrow.I kind of hit a wall hiking the A.T. for a second time and if it had not been for Stride and Vagus don't think I would have enjoyed the repeat hike nearly as much as I did. we shared a lot of laughs and sweet memories.* * *Skit's bits:* What Vagus got in trouble for at the library: Talking on his cell phone (a library worker told him to leave the computer room because he was disturbing the other patrons. Stride and I were the only other people there.)* Cost of a room for the night at The Williams Inn: $190* Cost of camping on the outfitters lawn: $0* Cost of using the Inn's pool, hot tub and sauna: $6* Number of movies seen on this hike: 1 (we finally got to see one! - The Counterfeiters).
Date: 2008-05-13
From: North Adams

To: Harmon Hill
Miles today: 17.5

It was a strange last morning for Strittlagus as we hung around the grocery store near the trail for awhile, then reluctantly traded hugs by the potted plants in front of the store, and Vagus and I turned and walked through the store parking lot while Stride stood and watched. At the road we turned around and gave one last wave. Then we did what we do, we hiked.I hope Stride enjoys her break and is able to come back and enjoy the remaining section of trail. She is an awesome person with a great smile and I really enjoyed hiking with her and listening to her southern accent.Vagus and I hiked up to the Vermont border where we saw that six people had signed in as long trail hikers yesterday and this morning.We passed a hiker named Southside who had hiked from Georgia to Harpers then jumped up to here. He was heading back 7 miles to N. Adams because he had forgot something important in his sons car (he never said what he forgot). Southside said there was a hiker down south named Strides, who might make it to the area about the time Stride gets back on trail.We passed two kids from Penn State who are hiking the Long Trail and we also passed Marten. At the Congdon shelter we took a break and they all caught up to us tired after a long day of hiking. Vagus and I were moving on and were surprised when Marten asked to join us (he had already hiked 17 miles).We camped on a grassy spot on Harmon Hill overlooking Bennington and offering a spectacular sunset view. It was a beautiful final camping spot for my last night on the A.T. portion of my hike.* * *Skit's Bits:* Famous sayings by Stride: "Hike Strong and Have Fun", "Taking it all in - Stride", "That's right", "Fo Sho", "Let's be honest".* Weight of Marten's pack: About 60 pounds.* Weight of his tent: 8 or 9 pounds* Food item Marten shared with us: Peppermint Leaves (soft, sugary candy he thought was gross and we agreed - he had a 20 ounce bag.)* Food I shared with Marten: My bag of Skittles (his reaction, "mmmm .... MMmmm .... MMMMM" getting louder with a big smile, prompted Vagus to crack up laughing. Marten had never had Skittles before so I gave him the rest of the bag.)* * *This date in really bad trail poetry:I said bye, bye to a hiker named Stride,From the Bird Cage is where she decided to fly,that good young girl really can glide,But the A.T. is not over for young Stride,no the A.T. is not over for young Stride.(The Pi version from the CDT)I said bye, bye to a hiker named Pi,took a break at strawberry creek and that is when he went by,that good old boy has got such a long stride,so that's the last I'll see of old Pi,yes, that's the last I'll see of old Pi