morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2016-06-16
From: Mimi & Big Guy's House

To: Home
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

I continue to rest at home. I apologize to anyone concerned by my not posting on a daily basis. Some blood test results were obtained earlier this week including the one that confirmed that I have Lyme Disease. I began feeling better one week after starting the Lyme Disease medication. I've walked several miles each day without carrying a backpack. It has been a while now that I hiked meaningful AT miles. I'm clearly weaker than I was and don't know whether Lyme Disease is the culprit or whether the toll of hiking almost 1,500 miles finally caught up with me. I suspect I'm feeling the impact of both. Beth continues to fill the house with good food and I've taken full advantage of it to the extent that I've gained 9 pounds since minimizing my hiking. My spirits have been lifted by communicating with Subman & Suds, Spirit of 76, and Fresh Ground. Trail families really do exist and further supplement the love and concern extended to me by my family, close friends, and all of you. I almost returned to the trail for an overnight a couple days ago but felt I wasn't ready mentally to venture out that morning. This is my way to let you know that I am struggling with this. But, let me clearly state that with all the recent tragedies in the news, I realize how fortunate I am to have such an insignificant "problem". I will see my doctor to complete my physical tomorrow. At that time I'll get the remainder of my blood test results and hope to understand Lyme Disease and my physical condition a bit better. So that's where things stand right now. As Kenny Loggins sings "I'm alright." Hope you and all your loved ones are alright too.
Date: 2016-06-17
From: Home

To: Home
Miles today: 0.0

My doctor's appointment for my physical was today's priority. Lyme Disease was confirmed and potentially thought to be responsible for a few "out of range" blood test results. My doctor also confirmed that I am getting older. Fortunately, my vitals and ekg were good. A follow-up is scheduled in 3 months. Beth and I have been walking each day. I've been faithfully covering up to avoid sunburn that I'm more susceptible to due to my Lyme Disease medication. I thought I'd be able to increase my mileage every few days and have been disappointed this week as I tired each day doing nothing more than the same number of miles. I felt good enough though to help Beth with obtaining and spreading wood chips in our back yard so that gave me some hope that I'm coming around. It's also been good to be able to talk with Anne regularly in order to discuss and finalize wedding plans. I think I've been very lucky to have Anne's wedding give me a few tasks to keep me doing something and feeling like I'm doing more than continually resting.
Date: 2016-06-19
From: Home

To: Home
Miles today: 0.0

Happy Father's Day! My Dad was a Presbyterian minister so I heard him talk a lot in all kinds of settings. I heard him when I was a child and I heard him as I grew up and matured, and then kept on getting older. So as I think about him today, I find it somewhat surprising to realize how his actions spoke louder than his words. He worked and worked and worked. The schedule he kept was exhausting. I don't recall him complaining about it. His work included anything and everything that needed to be done. He valued the work of everyone. I watched him speak with so many people for lengthy periods of time as he engaged them. He led and taught by example. I was very young, but vividly remember him leading some church volunteers to repaint the home of a church member's home to eliminate the racial hate and swastikas that shockingly smeared their home in the early '60's. He loved silly and corny jokes. My family routinely follows someone's corny joke with the comment that "Grandpa would've liked that one." He loved and was so proud of his children, grandchildren, and his congregations. Hope you all enjoy this day.
Date: 2016-06-20
From: Home

To: Home
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Realize this is hard to imagine. Despite being home for this extended period of time, I was overwhelmed with everything that needed to be done yesterday in order to return to the AT today. I don't really know if I am ready to resume my hike or not. What I do know is that I won't find out if I'm ready or not while remaining in my home, so I'm heading out tomorrow.
Date: 2016-06-21
From: Home

To: Hemlocks Shelter
Miles today: 14.1
Weather: overcast clouds

Back on the AT today. It's been a long time. Connecticut almost took as much time as Virginia. Beth walked with me for a bit and then turned around when there started to be a few to many turns and road crossings. I didn't see anyone after she left for an hour so I had time to absorb my surroundings. I was happy that hiking seemed fresh. Mountain Laurel has bloomed and is plentiful. The CT trail continued to be dirt-based with a wide path. I met a few people today. Shotgun was the first and seems to be about my age. He got his name from his being carsick so he always sits in the front seat. Shotgun started in Harper's Ferry on May 1st and crossed the 500 mile marker today. Kettering Strider was the next hiker I spoke with. She got her name because she is from Kettering, Ohio. Interesting that she is back on the trail now after hiking 1,500 miles in 2014. I told her that this was my first day back after contending with Lyme Disease and that I'd be crossing my 1,500 mile marker today. As we separated, I wondered if our paths intentionally crossed today. There were a few families and a few groups out hiking today. I marveled at how a girl who seemed about 5 years old handled a climb with ease while I prepared to carefully and slowly select each step. I complimented a counselor who encouraged a young man who was skeptical about climbing a large boulder. The counselor said there were many options available and to select one and then have confidence as he steps forward. I asked the counselor if he'd like to escort me to Katahdin. The views today were a surprise. The .6 mile ridge line walk along Mt. Race was pretty spectacular. I liked it more than Virginia's Tinker Cliffs that is highly regarded. Shotgun and I are sharing The Hemlocks Shelter tonight and he mentioned that he thinks there were more views today than in the previous 150 miles. Spirit of 76, Teach, and Steady are supposed to be within 20 miles of me today. I think Two Peas may be in my vicinity too. But our paths did not cross today.Hiking 14 miles today with a 30-something backpack took some effort today. I tired after 6 miles but kept going since it was only around noon. As the temperature dropped mid-afternoon, I could feel a bit of renewed energy. The challenge today was clearly more mental than physical. I expected it would be after not being on the trail for such a long time. Thanks to everyone who sent me messages or signed my trailjournal page today. Your support arrived throughout the day and lifted my spirits. 1,500 miles and another state down. My mind seemed to drift and recall some great experiences today. While eating dinner tonight, Shotgun remarked how his 500 miles is a great distance but that needing to hike almost another 1,700 seemed daunting. I found myself thinking similarly about my remaining miles. I know I didn't think this way before being sidelined. As I write this, I'm remembering that I did feel that my hike was threatened when my knee problem surfaced. Now I don't even think about my knees. I think there's a lesson to be learned.
Date: 2016-06-23
From: MA 23 - Mile 1,529

To: Home
Miles today: 0.0

Lyme Disease shattered my original AT timeline. It was always aggressive but it was a real possibility through Memorial Day. My goal was to complete the AT before our annual family vacation. My updated timeline gets me to the border of Maine, leaving approximately 300 miles to hike after vacation. I know - be grateful you go on a vacation - to a place you love, with family you love, to enjoy time together catching up and doing things you love. Always look on the bright side. So looking on the bright side, as mentioned in yesterday's journal, there appear to be real possibilities to hike with many who I've enjoyed hiking with before. Except that I know I'm coming off the trail for some time in a few weeks. It was simple when it was simple. Wake up - Hike - Sleep. Eat some food throughout the day. Get plenty of water too. Now, it seems I'm spending an increasing amount of time estimating where I might be when and how that may coincide with hiking through the White Mountains and Maine. Keep it simple Stupid. It's easier said than done. Trail magic came knocking on my door today. Can you believe it? Karen went out of her way, while she was briefly home, to give me a gift card for Dairy Queen. And she repeatedly made it known that Beth and I were to walk there. Simple and so appreciated. Thanks to all who have sent me such encouraging and sincere messages. Am heading out again tomorrow.
Date: 2016-06-24
From: Home

To: Main Road - Tyringham, MA - Mile 1,541.2
Miles today: 12.1
Weather: light rain

Beth surprised me late last night with news that she was hiking with me today and tomorrow. It's always fun to be out with her. Early on today we learned that Beth won't be mocking me whenever I speak of a scary cow encounter. I went a few feet off trail to get a closer picture of a group of goats who were grazing. One goat noticed me taking a picture and started coming my way. Soon a number of its friends were coming too. Beth started to become concerned but really lost it when the lead goat found its way through the fence. I think I heard "Run!!" Having survived another episode with animals, we met a nice couple (Jeff & Jennifer) from Seattle, Washington. This is their 6th year hiking the AT and they intend to hike to Crawford Notch in New Hampshire this year and then finish the AT by hiking Maine next year. The dedication of section hikers is so impressive. Next up today was Mother Nature. What a sweet woman. She's been maintaining this section of the trail for 23 years because she said it's more fun than doing yard work. Mother Nature asked if we were thru-hikers. Jennifer, Jeff, and the two of us gave our hiking histories and then she surprised us. While doing trail maintenance, she carries with her an insulated cooler. Long distance hikers get their choice of chocolate or oatmeal ice cream cookies. Oh was it good! Yes, I shared mine with Beth. Twenty yards down the trail we met Sour Wood, Mother Nature's husband, who had clippers out and was trimming brush back to provide a wide trail. Sour Wood cut down a couple of sour wood trees many years ago and made walking sticks out of them. He got his trail name when he was hiking down in Georgia with one of his homemade poles. We thanked them for their dedicated work. As I turned around to yell back about how delicious my cookie was, I could see they were already working the trail. Note to self - join a trail maintenance crew - these people are great up and down the trail. The trail itself was pretty easy today. Lots of hiking on pine needles. It was fun to hear Beth question why the trail was going up again. There were a few climbs and one nice descent with gentle switchbacks. There were several ponds today too. The variety on the trail today was great. If Beth is the reason that provides this trail, then she's hiking to Katahdin with me (but don't tell her because right now she's thinking she's only committed to hiking tomorrow.)
Date: 2016-06-25
From: Main Road - Tyringham, MA - Mile 1,541.2

To: US 20 - Near Lee, MA - Mile 1,549.7
Miles today: 8.5

Beth and I had a short day today. We are hiking from one parking location to the next and then getting a taxi to return us to our starting location where we parked our car. The ride today took little more than an hour from our home. Beth is proving to be a great hiking partner. She also seems destined to be a trail maintainer or trail designer. I realized just how skilled she would be in these roles as she commented on where white blazes or the trail should be located. Beth really likes beginning what she perceives to be pointless ups and downs. Hiking with Beth and having her encounter these components of the trail makes me smile. And then I share with her stories of how my past hiking partners and I laughed as we experienced the same challenges several months ago. It's fun to remember and tell her about Blues Brother's jokingly told of his plan to write a letter commenting about his willingness to provide additional cans of white paint for blazes and how Fresh Ground repeatedly told us that this next climb was "the last climb of the day" and how he'd start saying it from morning until late afternoon. Make no mistake, Beth and I along with everyone I've hiked with really appreciates how the trail is maintained and how it weaves us up and over, here and there, and everywhere in between. We know how lucky we are to be hiking this trail and I know how lucky I am to have these hiking days with her.We came upon Jeff and Jennifer today while they were taking a moment to enjoy the water and a view of the Upper Goose Pond. They are easy to talk with and we hope to have more moments like this with them. Speaking with them let Beth understand just how enjoyable my daily chats with Swamp Angel and Captain Kirk were. Beth and I hiked the .5 mile blue blaze trail to Upper Goose Pond Cabin where we had a quick lunch and spent time speaking with the cabin's caretakers and a few other hikers. This pond and cabin were identified by one of my favorite prior year thru-hikers, Chin Music, as being "one of the jewels of the AT" and I enthusiastically agree. This place was nice. We enjoyed going over the MA Turnpike 90 overpass and wondered how many times we'll pass it in the future years with a memory of today. This time together is bringing the fun back into this hike, which is why it began.
Date: 2016-06-26
From: US 20 - Near Lee, MA - Mile 1,549.7

To: Blotz Road - Mile 1,562.3
Miles today: 12.6

Beth's younger sister, Maggie, hiked with us today. The hike itself didn't have many scenic points of interest but trail life and experiences presented themselves. First, Maggie came ready to hike. Hiking with Beth's sisters had to be rescheduled due to my Lyme Disease. Maggie must've kept on training for the hike because she was never winded during the hike and seemingly could've hiked at a faster pace. An 800 foot climb started the hike and didn't phase her. She kept on talking during the climb whereas I selectively chose when to get a word in between the two sisters. Beth and I have previously done day hikes with Beth's other sister, Lynn, and the conversation between these sisters never ends (which is a good thing, it's fun and lively.) The trail was easy after the climb. Nice dirt or pine needles for most of the day with an occasional extended rock sequence mixed in. Finerty Pond was pretty as was the mountain laurel. Water sources were few except for pond areas and those didn't look appealing. I was in the lead as Beth asked if we were still on the trail. Sure enough, the thru-hiker had kept on going and ignored a set of white blazes on two trees that essentially formed a chute or a goal post. I don't recall blaze markings like this before but we saw them a couple more times during the day. Near the end of the day, I jokingly mentioned that we'd let Maggie hike by herself ahead of us and she quickly nixed that idea. The trail in this section may have been rerouted over the years as there were multiple places where two trails seemed to be getting prevalent use only to then arrive at a unified trail a little farther ahead. Our lunch spot was the October Mountain Shelter. Maybe it was the heat of the day, but the hikers there eating lunch were anything but welcoming. I've increasingly been disappointed and seen similar behavior where it seems that there's a distinct lack of comraderie between thru-hikers and other hikers out for one or more days. Beth ignored the lack of friendliness and sat down between them, quickly winning them over with friendly chitchat (I loved it and knew to expect nothing less.) The experience was a good one for Maggie to see and fortunately they were much friendlier when we saw many of them again at the Cookie Lady's house. The Cookie Lady's husband recently had a fall and is in the hospital. She was visiting when we arrived so no cookies for us. Then the taxi failed to show resulting in a second taxi being called. The second taxi driver was not familiar with AT trailheads and went way out of his way to get us back to today's starting point. All in all, another good opportunity for Maggie to see that hiking the trail requires flexibility. Spirit of 76 arrived just as the second taxi showed up so Beth and Maggie got a few moments of enthusiastic and genuine conversation about them hiking with me. The weather got warmer as the day went on. The taxi's air conditioning worked well. As Maggie said, it all is part of today's memory.
Date: 2016-06-27
From: Blotz Road - Mile 1,562.3

To: Main St & School St, Cheshire, MA - Mile 1,577.5
Miles today: 15.2
Weather: light rain

It seems that each day now is a bit different than the one before. Yesterday, I hiked a few miles by myself at the end of the day and then met Beth & Maggie. Today, I hiked the first 7.4 miles by myself and then Beth joined me for the remaining miles. I was flying this morning. It reminded me of Georgia when I was with Subman and Suds. The trail had a climb and had some rocks but it didn't matter. I moved through them with relative ease. I was much faster than 2 miles per hour. I didn't wear my knee brace for the second consecutive day. This was Day 1 without the Lyme Disease medication. Beth was there with me in my head. She's done everything imaginable and then some to restore my health and spirits. There's no way I'm feeling like this without her. I felt great. There was a railroad crossing just as I was about to get into Dalton, MA. About 5 rail cars passed as I approached. The train would go on for about 15 minutes and actually stopped in front of me for a minute. Yes, I thought about hoisting myself up and walking between the two cars in front of me. No, I didn't do that, and in fact, was relieved when the train moved forward to eliminate that temptation. The train finally passed and I began what turned out to be more than a mile of sidewalk walking through Dalton. A couple hikers were coming my way. I offered them an Oreo, just like Fresh Ground routinely offered candy. They introduced themselves as Flash 52 and Mr. Fix-It. Flash 52 has his own trailjournal blog and I knew that because Beth consistently reads his blog. Our conversation was lively. Flash 52 remembered seeing Fresh Ground and me in Virginia at Four Pines Hostel. Mr. Fix-It insists that he is hiking as "Katz" from "Walk In The Woods" for Flash 52. They made me laugh a lot. Beth was a bit bummed when she heard of this meeting as she had seen them go by and would've loved meeting them. Beth and I had fun again as we hiked. Just as I was thinking that I was slowing down a bit after hiking more than 10 miles, she asked how I was feeling. I told her how great I felt earlier in the day and that's when she said she noticed how well I was moving. The taxi scenario took an excessive amount of time again today. Neither of us complained. We just kept busy as we waited. Plans were underway for me to stay in Cheshire tonight. It all made sense that I'd go up and down Mt. Greylock by myself tomorrow. And then I added on to the plan that I might as well stay out the next couple days too. Well, the more I thought about it, the more I didn't like it. I decided to stay in the car. It was a tough decision that bothers me a good bit. Tonight on the way home there was a beautiful, complete rainbow visible for miles as we left Massachusetts and entered Connecticut. It was a great ending to the day.
Date: 2016-07-03
From: VT 9 - Bennington - Mile 1,610.6

To: VT 9 - Bennington - Mile 1,610.6
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

Our two car strategy failed after completing our hike into Bennington. The time needed to retrieve our southern car left us driving in the dark as we looked for the Stratton-Arlington Road trailhead. I was frustrated when we couldn't find the trailhead. So I returned to the Bennington hotel to say I wouldn't be spending the night there. The travel time took 3.5 hours on this failed car scenario. We drove both cars home to figure out what to do. I'll admit that stopping this thru-hike was winning out while I drove home. It is routinely said to "Don't quit on a bad day." Two hours before finishing the hike into Bennington, I had told Beth that this was a great day, a day I felt really good about. I was really happy with the day and how I was feeling. As Mark (Beano, Ugly, etc.) wrote after yesterday's entry, I was "back". Sleep helps make sense of things and I started to review my AWOL Guide and maps to see where I'd gone wrong. It comes down to the reality that it takes a lot of time to drive around mountains. It appears this car shuffle time is the most we'll encounter in Vermont. So we decided to catch up on chores at home and visit Beth's parents before taking a second run at hiking together with the two car strategy. The visit with Beth's parents was great. Blues Brother and I have talked and gotten caught up. Blues got Lyme Disease and Sooner Or Later did too. Blues just successfully hiked through the White Mountains and has headed home for an 18 day break before returning to finish. Word came on Friday that Rambo successfully finished his thru-hike. Rambo said he expected to be sore as he heads back home. Can't tell you how happy I am for these two. Rambo sent me a couple of his summit pictures and I see that Rambo summited with a number of hikers who quickly went by me - The Kid, Padiwan, Rhino, John Goodman, and Bookworm. I recently changed my backpack and went back to REI to exchange it. REI was great about the return and Matt, who had helped me many months ago, helped me again. Not Yet, a successful 2015 thru-hiker who I spoke with before my hike was there too. It was good to talk with him about my hike and its challenges. Talking with Not Yet was helpful. My hike resumes on July 4th. On paper, I have an outline to hike to the White Mountains before our family vacation at the end of July. We found the trailhead that evaded us a few days ago. It was less than a mile beyond where we turned around a few nights ago. Lessons never stop - keep on plugging.