morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2018-07-26
From: Dalton MA

To: Rockwell Road
Miles today: 16.2
Weather: few clouds

Mark dropped us off where the trail emerged from the woods on the outskirts of Dalton and we hiked through town. Where the trail follows a sidewalk we often see citcular metal emblems recessed into the concrete. White blazes will be painted on light standards. I remember seeing a post once on an Appalachian Trail Facebook page. The poster lived in a trail town and a white blaze was painted on a light standard in front of her home. She talked about how so many people drive or walk by without having a clue what the small white rectangle means, while to her it was a daily reminder of a dream that she had yet to fulfill. As we walked by the houses I wondered what the people inside thought about the bubbles of backpackers who seasonally emerged from the woods and crossed by the front of their yards. Did they peer out their windows to watch them pass by, admiring the strength and determination that had brought them this far? Or did they glare at the smelly dirty figures that strode past, hoping they would just keep going? Mostly I suspect they are indifferent.It was raining again and like yesterday, the trail was quiet. In the afternoon the sun emerged and we arrived at another trail town, Cheshire. The trail went right by the front door of an ice cream shop, and who do you think we found congregating there? Backpackers, of course! We only recognized two of them. A bit further up the trail we found some trail magic, and then we began to climb Mount Greylock. The trail was muddy, wet and steep, but the sun was shining. An entourage of nobos passed by us one by one. Even though we had no packs on they were moving faster than we were. Why does that matter to me? I¢m still moving forward. I¢m not giving in to the pain or giving up. I am going to keep moving forward. Why should I let irrelevant things like that matter? I don¢t know.... but I do.I was so happy to reach the parking lot and get off my foot half a mile from the top of the mountain.  Mark was there waiting.When we got back to the campground, I showered and then Mark and I spent the evening sitting with Susan and her family outside chatting. There were two other hikers there as well, Kraft and Black bird. I should have been packing.
Date: 2018-07-28
To: Porcupine Ridge Mile 1616.1
Miles today: 15.9

I decided something today.....I¢m not a fan of Vermont!My arms stung all night from the friction rash. My kind neighbour gave me more diaper cream this morning to put on it.Most of the trail all day long was covered in water and mud. With his new boots on Cole feels invincible and just plows down the middle of the trail through the watery mess. I am hoping to get a few more miles out of my boots, but the rocks in Pennsylvania really did a number on them and they are no longer waterproof. Mark bought me some shoe goo so I can seal a few spots up again, but the boots need to be dry to do that. From the looks of the trail today, I would say that dry boots are not in my near future. So, I hop from rock to rock to rock.The trail was so busy today. When we stopped for lunch at Congdon Shelter, the shelter and surrounding area were full of other hikers having their lunch too. There were NOBOs, SOBOs and people doing The Long Trail which follows the same path as the AT for 100 Miles.For lunch we cooked up three of the meals that the section hikers had given us yesterday, one chili and two oatmeal. There was another hiker at the shelter who had also been given a big bag of food from the same section hiker. We laughed at how much food those hikers must have started with (though I am often guilty of the same thing....having too much food!) In the afternoon a storm moved in and unloaded more rain on us. It was short lived though and we hoped that would be the end of it. We had a steep rocky decent to VT9 and then a steep climb back up the other side. The sky rumbled for almost two hours, but in the end it was nothing more than empty threats. What did it matter anyway? My feet were wet, my clothes were wet. Cole had packed up a wet tent this morning so it was already wet too. What more was there to get wet? This was day four of wet. Lucky us had the first two days slackingpacking and we had dry clothes waiting for us. Clearly some of the long faces I saw today had been out in it for four days straight. We found ourselves a nice place to set up the tent up on Porcupine Ridge with a bit of an overlook. I hung a few things outside but really had little hope that they would dry.
Date: 2018-07-29
From: Porcupine Ridge Mile 1616.1

To: Stream at mile 1633.3
Miles today: 17.2
Weather: broken clouds

Misty mountain mornings. I didn¢t know that I was missing them until I woke up to one this morning. Well, it isn¢t the waking up to them that I like. That part actually sucks because everything is wet. But hiking in it, that is another story. Cool air. Picturesque forest. Wonderful. Sloshy muddy wet trail. Not so wonderful. I am getting faster at navigating my way through the mud though. But....beware of the faux rocks! If something looks like a rock but it isn¢t actually above the surface of the water, test it with your pole first. I learned this the hard way!I was mostly successful at keeping my feet dry though. We stopped for a rest at Goddard Shelter and the sun was shining brightly down onto part of the deck, so we took off our boots for a while and laid out our sox. While there we met a Long Trail Hiker named Paul. He was quite interested in our through hike and had a lot of questions for us, which we didn¢t mind answering. We dried out our sox some more when we stopped at Kid Gore Shelter a little while later for lunch. Then one more time at Story Spring Shelter. It would be nice if the shelters were spaced liked that every day. Cole stayed with me for most of the day and we had some good conversations. I really like this way best. Cole seemed to enjoy it today too. Possibly because he was tired and not feeling like going very fast.We ended our day a few miles past Story Spring Shelter at a camping spot by a stream. A large group was already camped there when we arrived and among them was a face we have not seen in a long time. Matt or Show Pony as he goes by now. Cole enjoyed hanging around him, but we lost him in Waynesboro Virginia. Once the tent was up I went to bed, but Cole stayed up a bit longer visiting.
Date: 2018-07-30
From: Stream at mile 1633.3

To: VT 11 and 30
Miles today: 18.5
Weather: moderate rain

I had a really good day today. The weather was perfect and the terrain was mostly gentle. Climbs, yes, but they were neither too steep nor too plentiful to tire me out. Although still muddy, the trail and I engaged in a kind of waltz, leaping, jumping, sidestepping, tip toeing and hopping along. Though still sore, my feet stayed dry.We climbed a fire tower for an incredible 360 degree view above the tree line.On Friday my monthly cell phone service ended and I have been unable to get a good enough connection to have the service reactivated. I have been concerned that my family would be worried about us. This morning I finally was successful in reactivating the service. It was a relief to be able to contact Mark and let him know we were OK. I also contacted Susan to see how she was. Her boys are back on the trail unassisted and are headed to the same camping spot tonight as we are.Cole stayed with me for most of the day. By choice! We had a few interesting discussions and the day passed quickly. We stopped at Stratton Pond Shelter for lunch. To stay at this shelter overnight you need to pay five dollars. It is a nice shelter but unless it was raining I don¢t think I would pay to stay there.A few hours later we stopped at Spruce Peak shelter for dinner then finished off our day 3 miles down the trail at a nice camping spot beside a stream. A road is also in close proximity and the traffic is a bit noisy, but you can¢t always have it all. Tom and Gene arrived at the same camping spot not much later, Nick was behind.Tomorrow it might rain. I might trudge through the mud with wet sore feet and a downcast visage, grumbling and thinking of home. But today, today I¢m happy and excited. Only 539 miles left to go.
Date: 2018-07-31
From: VT 11 and 30

To: Big Branch 
Miles today: 16.4
Weather: fog

This morning we hiked 10 miles with few breaks before stopping for lunch. It was too much for my foot and the pain cut through the Advil. We hiked up Bromley Mountain and were rewarded with a fantastic view.I spotted a bear on the trail a short distance ahead of me, but it was very skiddish and quickly ran off without even looking towards me once I hollered ¢Hey Bear!¢By the time we stopped to eat I was very discouraged and down. We rested for at least an hour, chatting with sobos, nobos and LT hikers. Paul was there ( the TL hiker we have encountered a few times) and another LT hiker named Stef. Tom, Gene and Nick arrived too. There are always people about on this section of the trail. I was in better spirits as I headed out after our break. We only had six miles left and it felt doable. Cole hung back and hiked with Nick for a while. There was a steep rock climb up Baker Peak. Two majestic views in one day! Aside from that, there were a lot of long flat stretches and even considerable lengths of boardwalk. Snakes slithered out from under many of the boards as I crossed them and I took pictures to send to Evan.The miles passed and my boot tightened more and more as my foot swelled inside. Originally we were going to stop at Big Branch Shelter. However, Guthooks said that there were few tenting spaces there so we stopped short just across the stream at a campsite. The guys were there too. The first thing I did was take off my boots and soak my feet in the icy water. In the evening we all sat around in a circle chatting, eating and swapping drink mixes. Eventually I crawled into the tent and Cole stayed up fooling around with the guys. I¢m not positive what silliness they were up to but I¢m pretty certain that at some point Cole was tied to a tree.
Date: 2018-08-04
From: US 4

To: The Lookout
Miles today: 17.4
Weather: clear sky

We headed down to the kitchen early again today to help out with breakfast. For our efforts we received a delicious piece of homemade chocolate cake. For breakfast we had granola with fruit and boiled eggs. I ate at least four eggs. Maybe five. Oh, and I drank at least two mugs of mot©. In this place there is always mot©.The bus back to the trailhead departed every hour at quarter after. I had asked Cole to be ready early because we needed to go to the bank first. It was almost 8 o¢clock and he still wasn¢t ready. He probably liked being in a ¢guys only room¢ where I couldn¢t go in, but I had a pretty big group of male hikers hanging around that I could send in one at a time to pester him.¢Cole, your mom is waiting on you.¢¢Cole, your mom says hurry up!¢¢Cole, your mom says you have to leave now!¢We had to rush to the bank across the street on the way to the bus stop. The bank machine spit out 50¢s. Shoot! I had no time to go in and get smaller bills.We made it to the bus. Tom and Gene were already on board. Nick came running at the last minute and we were all on our way. Our bags were heavy with food and there was a lot of climbing . More climbing than I think we have done in a long time.  I thought that Tom and the boys were ahead of us, but they had had to stop to pick up a food package. Sometime in the afternoon Tom came hiking up behind us and for the remainder of the day he hiked behind me. Sometimes it is nice to have someone to chat to. The only thing is......I had four boiled eggs for breakfast. Or five!! Oh I was so gassy. I tried to let them out nice and slowly so they wouldn¢t make a sound, but silent is usually deadly and I am afraid that some of them were. Poor Tom. But he stuck with me. If it had been Cole, I would have just let them all rip and he would have backed way off for the rest of the day.The skies rumbled and it rained for a while. With our late start and my slow pace it was near dark when we reached The Lookout. There were already a lot of people sleeping on the floor. Cole had found room for us. Tom and the boys found spots on the second level. We cooked and ate our dinner. The other hikers had their food bags hanging inside, but by the time we were done it was pitch dark inside the cabin and everyone was sleeping. We weren¢t going to be able to find a place to hang our bags to keep them from the mice. (The cabin had a door with a latch. No fear of bears.) ¢Just sleep with it beside you.¢ I told Cole. ¢That won¢t keep the mice away.¢I think that he spent the night with one eye on his food bag. We could hear the mice scurrying about on the roof, but our food remained untouched through the night.
Date: 2018-08-06
From: Thistle Hill Shelter

To: Hanover NH
Miles today: 14.7
Weather: clear sky

First thing in the morning I made my daily trek to the privy. Privies come in all different shapes and sizes on the AT. At this shelter the privy is six sided and screened in above waist level like a porch. It lets you poo with a view, but allows passers by to watch you too! ¢Privy¢ is derived from a French word meaning ¢private¢. Why they choose to use that term on the AT I have no idea. Digging a cat hole was often a more private affair than using the privy.On the trail we went through three towns today. The first was West Hartford. As we hiked along the road, a woman passed by in a car and shouted out the window that there was soda on her porch for us. There was watermelon and baked goods too. It was a hot day and although I don¢t mind road walking from time to time, without the trees to shelter us from the sun, the heat was intense. When we turned and walked below an underpass, Holiday, who was hiking near us, put her hand on the concrete wall. ¢It¢s so nice and cold !¢ She exclaimed. Soon all three of us were pressed up against the concrete wall trying to absorb the coolness.Once we started walking again, we were quickly back under the trees, but a few miles later we were road walking again. White blazes led us through Norwich and then we crossed over the Connecticut River leaving Vermont and all of its mud behind. Our destination was The Green in Hanover. We found it easily and plopped our packs and our butts down on a bench and took off our boots. An alluring aroma filled my nostrils. Hotdogs! There must be a hotdog stand somewhere! I jumped up with as much enthusiasm as a tired hungry hiker can muster. Where was it? I looked up and down the street. To the embarrassment of my son, I also asked passers by if they had seen a dog stand. Nobody had. Finally I put on my crocs and went hunting for it. I returned empty handed. I sat back down on the bench beside Cole, pulled off my crocs and began a foot inspection....also to the embarrassment of my son. I found three toe nails just barely attached to my toes. One by one with a quick pull and a small wince I removed the nails. Cole was fairly grossed out.Sleepy and hungry I closed my eyes and leaned sideways up against my pack. ¢Are you sure that they will see us?¢ Cole asked.¢Hon, we stick out like sore thumbs.¢Then I think that I dozed off because my cheek felt a bit moist from drool when I heard a voice that I had not heard in thirty years say ¢Should I bring the car around?¢
Date: 2018-08-13
From: Zealand Falls Hut

To: Mizpah Spring Hut
Miles today: 14.2
Weather: light rain

The kitchen staff members were busy banging things around at 5am and I could hear them clearly despite the ear plugs. Guests were already coming in and out of the dining room. I got up and began packing up my bag. It felt really awkward. Nobody said a word to me. A bit before 6am I got Cole moving and we relocated to a bench outside of the hut to eat our breakfast. We were happy to get back on the trail and away from the hut. The next seven miles was fairly easy. Someone had called it the easiest stretch in the whites. Once we got down to Crawford Notch and then began climbing again, it was back to steep, rocky and slow. It began to rain. We had numerous climbs up vertical slabs of rock. The poor trees growing along the sides had obviously been repeatedly used for leverage. Some of the smaller ones were nearly uprooted and you couldn¢t always trust that the trees would hold you. It was tiring, a bit scary and a little exciting all at the same time. There were no views except for clouds to reward us for our efforts.We met a hiker named Late Start. Apparently she is slow to get going in the mornings, hence the name. She had begun her hike in Virginia intending to do a ¢flip flop¢, but had since decided that she would be quitting after her ¢flip¢. Coming down to Mizpah Spring Hut, Cole and I had already decided that we did not want to do another work for stay. Last night had been very awkward and we wanted to stay in our tent. We had intended to just stop in for snacks and then get a site at the campground next door. When we arrived at the hut, Late Start was already there talking to a staff member named Ian. They did not have anybody to do work for stay yet. Late Start said that she would prefer to stay in her hammock. Ian suggest a work for food arrangement as an alternative. He offered it to us as well. It sounded like a much better arrangement. The three of us headed over to the campsite to set up our tent / hammock. There was a $5 fee to stay there. Then we returned to the hut for our meal. Unlike last night, the food was plentiful. Ian had even popped the leftovers into the oven to warm them up a bit for us. There was enough for seconds and even thirds. Afterwards Cole and I washed dishes. Then, tired, happy and full we retired to our tent for the night.
Date: 2018-08-18
From: Osgood Tent Site

To: Pinkham Notch
Miles today: 4.7
Weather: light rain

With only five miles left to hike in order to meet up with Mark and Evan at 5:30, we took our sweet time to get moving on Thursday morning. Eventually it was our stomachs that inspired us to action. Tom and Gene had already headed out and were going to wait for Nick at Pinkham Notch. There is a deli there and that was our motivation to move. Still, we walked slowly and paused a lot to rest my foot. When we got to Pinkham Notch we ordered subs and soup and sat with Tom and Gene for a long time. Nick eventually showed up. Not long after that, Mark and Evan pulled up in the van. Tom and family headed to a hostel. Mark took us to a hotel to get cleaned up, and then we went to the Chinese buffet across the street.On Friday we checked out of the hotel and relocated to White Birches Campground. Aside from a trip to Walmart, I spent the rest of the day, and the next, either sitting with my feet up or napping. The only place I walked to was the restroom. Mark cooked. Mark did the laundry. Mark rubbed my feet. How much more spoiled could I be?Cole and Evan swam in the pool and played pool in the recreation room. They also stared at their electronic devices for a lengthy amount of time.
Date: 2018-08-19
From: Pinkham Notch

To: Imp Shelter
Miles today: 13.1

There are two places in Gorham where the AT meets the road. The first is at Pinkham Notch and the second is at Highway 2. The trail distance between the two is about 21 miles. This part of The Whites is a popular distance to slackpack. However it is an extremely difficult distance as well. It includes a lot of steep rock scrambling up and over The Wildcat Mountains and the Carter Mountain Ranges. Even at my best , I don¢t think I could cover that distance in one day. Two days was definitely doable though. Cole and I decided to empty our bags of everything except for the very bare minimum we would need for one night on the trail. Then Mark dropped us off back at Pinkham Notch. Cole said that his bag felt as light as when we slackpack. Great! That was the goal. I was so grateful for the light pack as we began the rock scrambling. A couple of places were very tricky and it was hard to find the right groove or notch to stick a foot in or grab onto. We did it though! Cole said two things to me today that I need to put in writing so that I will remember them. The first occurred while I was photographing some interesting mushrooms along side the trail. It went something like this:C: Are you taking pictures of the mushrooms?S: Yep! I don¢t think we have these at home. I might never see mushrooms like this again.C: Well I might. I don¢t plan on sitting around at home for the rest of my life.S: I¢m glad! But I want you to promise me two things.C: What? (Apprehensively)S: No matter what adventurous activities you get up to in life, please promise me that you will take the time to LEARN how to do those activities safely and second, promise me that you will take the time to DO them safely.C: I promise mom.His reply came quickly and was heartfelt. Now I just wonder how many times in my lifetime I will have to remind him of that promise.The second thing he said was at the end of the day. I don¢t remember what prompted it, but it was surprising to me when he said it. He told me that I climb rocks better than he does. He did an awesome job today and all through the Whites. He¢s stronger, faster and has more endurance than I do. At the end of a long day of hiking, he goes for a walk because he still has energy to burn. But, the next time he makes a comment about how slow ¢we¢ are going (meaning me), or the next time he is huffing because I need to take a rest, or sighing reluctantly because I want to stop for the day....I¢ll just remind him that I climb rocks better than he does. lol He¢ll probably never compliment me again.Despite my supposed skills at rock climbing, it took us until sunset to reach Imp Shelter. There were no tent sites left, but we were ok staying in the shelter because we were anxious to get out early in the morning. There was only space on the second level. There was no ladder to access the second level, just a couple of notches in the middle supporting beam to use as footholds. I guess they figured that if we had come this far, we should be able climb to the second level of the shelter...and I am supposedly good at climbing. Humph! I would have preferred a ladder.