morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2018-06-19
From: Belter's campsite

To: Laurel Ridge campsite
Miles today: 18.1

Thunderstormed a lot last night, so i carried around a sopping wet tent all day. Wasn't nearly as hot today though, thankfully. Since we didn't make it to the falls yesterday, we passed by them early this morning on trail. It was a pretty sweet sight! I got my picture taken in front of it. And just moments after the picture, i slipped on a rock covered in a thick coat of algae and mud. My but and back were so gross for the rest of the morning lol. I was upset that i hadn't made it there the previous day. I know Skywalker really wanted to catch up with the guys, and i held us back. Knowing that the day had some nasty climbs, i tried to stay ahead of Skywalker as much as possible. I ate my lunch at the foot of this mountain that i had been preparing myself mentally for all day. It did not look pretty on the elevation map. I called it "the three-story mountain" because on the map it showed 3 separate inclines working their way up to the center peak lol. While i was eating, Skywalker walked up. He caught wind that the gang had just dropped off trail to a cafe about a mile down some road, so he decided to hitch a ride into town and go meet up with them. All of us were planning to stay at the Laurel Ridge campsite tonight, so i hiked on and figured i'd see them all later. Seems like they didn't make it though! Just me here tonight. Nice to be camping alone. Feel like i haven't done this in awhile. Sometimes at the end of a long, hard day, i don't wanna have to socialize with people. Today is one of those days. The mosquitoes are killing me! It's not even cold out but i'm covered in clothes neck down just to try and keep the bugs off me while i make my dinner. I'm so hungry. When I resupplied in Kent, CT the other day, i packed out 6 days worth of food because there's not another easy resupply location until Dalton, MA. Carrying 6 days worth of food is A LOT and it's heavy. So you essentially only end up buying enough food to sustain you, not necessarily appease your appetite. I usually regret all the food i bought when walking out of town, but this time I really should have packed out more.
Date: 2018-06-20
From: Laurel Ridge campsite

To: stealth camping
Miles today: 16.4

With no one else camping near me last night, i slept in a bit and didn't get hiking until nearly 9:30. I had three nasty climbs today and the first two were right out of camp. When i got to the top of the second climb, Mt Everett, my dad called me and said he wanted to bring me lunch again on the trail since this was the last day he was gonna be in the area. This was the best news ever. We made plans to meet at a road crossing later in the day. I was crushing all the miles in between me and our meet up spot. Good, real food is a great motivator. On the way there, i saw my first porcupine on trail! So that was cool. My dad didn't just bring lunch, but a hiker feast. I got a spinach and fruit salad, 4 veggie burger patties, bananas, coconut water, vegan chocolate cookies, watermelon, and a bunch of trail snacks to pack out. It was amazing. That was my 2nd salad since coming out here (thanks Jackie!). A guy named Smores, who i only met briefly on trail the other day, happened to walk by the picnic. My dad asked if we should offer any of the food to him. Knowing that i could eat it all myself, i said no lol. I was feeling very selfish and didn't wanna share. Nonetheless Smores got some juice and a banana. Later that day i ran into Smores again feasting next to this box in the middle of the woods. Someone left a trail magic snack box right on trail! It was full of cookies, candy, chips, poptarts - essentially a hiker goldmine. So we both hung out and ate a lot of chips!I had advantageous plans to make it to this shelter after the next mountain, but considering how the day panned out i was running out of time and just feeling super tired. So i stealth camped half way up the mountain near a spring. Later i started to hear a lot of hollering coming up the mountain. I popped out of the trees only to see Skywalker and the whole gang! They were on their way to the shelter, but once they saw my set up they decided set up camp here too. The space i was tenting in wasn't super big, so we all were really close neighbors. Caveman, Baby Face, and Zoltan all have hammocks and me, Rodo, and Skywalker have tents. Laying in my tent, i can hear Rodo talking to his girlfriend on the phone. Actually, everyone can hear the phone conversation and we're all dying laughing. Its the sappiest shit i've ever heard! lolTomorrow is Summer Solstice, the first day of summer. Out here it's known as "hike naked day" lol. The guys are real pumped for tomorrow and right now i don't really know what to expect. Should be interesting!
Date: 2018-06-23
From: October Mountain shelter

To: Dalton, MA motel
Miles today: 12.0

We started hiking at 6:30am today- Earliest start yet! And since the 12 miles ahead of us was pretty flat, we got to town by 11:30am! Skywalker kept screaming "12 before 12, 12 before 12!!". lol i was impressed with ourselves. Skywalker and I both got insulted on our appearance today lol. A lady told Sky that he "looked really tired" and a man told me that i "looked like i'd just walked out of a beauty parlor".... Ha. Ha. Asshole. We're officially hiker trash. After dropping our packs off at the room, we headed over to a sub shop down the street where we ran into Shortcuts! A hiker i hadn't seen since Pennsylvania! We all ate lunch together there. I got a foot long, TRIPLE veggie patty sub and it was AMAZING. Afterwards we walked over to Juice & Java (the place we'd been dreaming about) and i got a mango pineapple smoothie! FRIST trail smoothie!!Took a shower, which was great. I almost forgot what it was like to bath with a washcloth. Like the dirt just came right off - crazy!! lol. The motel were staying at is called The Shamrock Inn and its sketchy AF. There's about 10 cats running around "the lobby" on some giant cat jungle gym. No one is at the front desk. Just a sign that says to knock on room 2 if you need help. All the mismatched furniture looks straight out of the 70s. There's literally a tan corridor recliner in the corner of our room lol. We pretty much spent the rest of the day eating a ton of food and being super lazy. We got tons of candy and snacks at the food mart across the street and got tofu tacos for dinner at this burrito shop. The whole day has honestly felt super weird to me. I kept feeling bad. And lazy!! Like the sun is still out, WE SHOULD BE HIKING! I literally couldn't enjoy the moment. We didn't even take a zero day. We hiked freaking 12 miles!! That's a fair day! Never again though. I hate this feeling. I don't know what i'm gonna be like after the trail. I'm gonna always feel like i have to be moving constantly! Its gonna be terrible, i can't think about it. lol
Date: 2018-06-26
From: stealth camping

To: stealth camping
Miles today: 17.6

We started hiking late today, AGAIN. I'm realizing that the more time we spend together, the more unproductive we get, and thus the more annoyed i get lol. Might need to start doing a little HYOH soon, which out here means "Hike Your Own Hike!". So another interesting thing about Vermont is that nudity is completely legal. So today Sky and I walked up on two nudist hiking the Long Trail. It was two guys in their 60s wearing nothing but backpacks! And they were just happy and as chatty as one could be. But they made sure to remind us that they weren't doing anything wrong lol. Met a Hiker Legend today - Pappy! Pappy is 87 years old, the oldest registered hiker on the AT. He was wearing long black tights, a slack-pack with just water and snacks, and a Korean War Veteran hat. He actually already completed the AT about 10 years ago, and then the PCT, and the CDT. So he's got his triple crown! But he's doing the AT AGAIN, just breaking it up in different sections over the course of the year. He's actually got a whole team that kind of sponsors him, giving him rides to and from the trail and moving his gear from one location to the next. Legen - wait for it - dary.The latter part of the day contained this steep climb coming off of a road that led into Bennington, VT. We didn't need to go to Bennington, so we crossed the road and climbed back into the mountains. I wanted a head start though, so i left Sky at the bottom. I don't know what happened to me going up that mountain, but i was in the fucking zone. It was a long, steady climb and i was killing it. Sky and i were gonna camp at the top at a shelter, but once i reached the shelter i just didn't wanna stop. I felt like i was riding some kind of endorphin high and needed to keep hiking! So i powered out another 3 miles, and then realized that Sky was still behind me probably wondering where i went lol. So i stoped and filtered water while i waited for him. Eventually he showed up, and Foghorn and Twigs were with him! They were all talking about going up a little further to camp along "Porcupine Ridge". I told them to go ahead and that i might catch up, but i honestly didn't wanna catch up lol. I've been feeling really socially spent lately and the thought of camping by myself in the middle of the woods sounded bliss, so i did just that lol.
Date: 2018-06-27
From: stealth camping

To: Stratton Pond Shelter
Miles today: 25.6
Weather: overcast clouds

I crushed today! I hiked from 7am to 7:30pm. First day doing over 20 miles, and i even did it in the rain!This morning i made sure to get moving pretty early because i had 19 miles planned. Since i let Skywalker and Foghorn get ahead yesterday, i spent the whole day hiking by myself and it was great! So great, that i reached camp by 3:30pm!Foghorn told me yesterday (Tuesday) that a big thunderstorm was coming on Thursday, so he was gonna try and get up and over Stratton Mt before the storm blew in. At first i didn't know what he was talking about, but then today i pulled out the map and looked up the weather and was thinking DAMN - i have two options. 1) set up my tent at this campsite at the base of the mountain before it starts raining. And then climb the mountain in the morning in the middle of a thunderstorm, or 2) climb the mountain now in the rain, sleep in shelter on other side of mountain, and be able to reach Manchester, VT a day early to resupply. I'm really running low on food, so i chose the latter. It took me 3.5 hours to get up and over the mountain. 7 miles from base to base. When i first started at the base, it was only drizzling. But by the time i got to the top it was raining sideways with wind howling in my ears. Deciding to hike this mountain was super last minute. I had already done 19 miles for the day - typically my cut off point. My knees hurt. My ankles hurt. Everything was hurting. But it had to be done. The whole way up the mountain i kept telling myself that my legs were like an oiled machine. A machine that was just carrying my body up the mountain. And my mind was just along for the ride! I literally told myself that like a hundred time. That's the kind of mental zone i have to tap into in order to hike. Focused as fuck! lol. I didn't see a single hiker going up or down that mountain the whole time i was out there. Which either means i'm a badass or plain stupid lol. I reached the shelter around 7:30pm. Because of the weather, i half expected it to be full, but there was one spot left! This shelter is pretty big and it has bunks! This is also the FIRST shelter i have ever slept in. Up until today, i've slept in my tent every night, so lots of walls are being broken today! lolI really tested my limits and i'm glad i did. Everyday i keep impressing myself with what i'm capable of doing. Never in a million years did i think i'd be hiking 26 miles in a day from dawn to dusk with mountains, rain, and finishing it by popping 800mg of ibuprofen and bunking next to strangers. I might not be able to move tomorrow, but today I feel like a god damn superhuman!
Date: 2018-06-29
From: Jen's Hostel 

To: stealth camping
Miles today: 16.2

So Jen told Riddler and I that she was gonna give us a ride to the trail head at 8am, but some how i didn't wake up until 7:55am. I guess that's what a real bed does to you after 6 weeks of sleeping in the woods lol. There were two big climbs today and fortunately i was up and over them before noon. Bromley Mt was pretty sweet. There was a ski lift on top of it from which you could get a 360 view for miles. That's super rare on the AT. When you spend the majority of the day hiking through a dense, green tunnel, it's easy to forget that you're surrounded by MOUNTAINS. Spent the latter half of the day hiking with Skywalker. He packed out this big jar of Sunbutter to eat on the trail, like peanut butter but made from sunflower seeds. I'd never had sunbutter before and have always been kind of weary of it. But everyone out here eats it. And since we're in the middle of the woods in liberal Vermont, i figured what the hell and i tried it. Never again lol. We ate it mid day and still had like 7 miles to hike! I felt like i was walking through quicksand the whole way. All i wanted to do was nap. And eat! I just kept snacking and yawning and snacking. I wasn't even hungry, but i couldn't be stopped! And all of Skywalker's stupid jokes now seemed completely hilarious. It all made no sense. We ended up sitting down on a log for a really long time. Some day hikers walked by with their dog and we just pet that dog for what felt like forever. Our destination was still 3 miles away, but we decided that the ground right in front of us looked just fine for camp. So we were done for the day lol. How do people eat sunbutter and still function productively, let alone hike? I have no idea. But now i know, sunbutter just isn't for me.
Date: 2018-06-30
From: stealth camping

To: Claredon shelter
Miles today: 17.1

Today was pretty chill. Gotta super late start again, as per usual when camping with Sky. Ended up hiking most of the day by myself though. I'm so proud that i can hike all day now without listening to any music or podcasts. I just leave my phone off for days. HUGE breakthrough. It's getting really freaking hot. Like brutally hot. It's supposed to be like this ALL week. I've found myself playing water roulette a lot lately. I hate carrying water up these mountains because water weight 2 lbs per liter, which is heavy. So i've just been carrying enough water to get from one stream to the next. On hot days like this it's probably not smart. I'm dehydrated all the time lol. One terrible thing about hiking in the upper east coast during the summer is these mother fucking BLACK FLIES! Flies are annoying as is, but these flies are big and they BITE YOU!! Their bites literally leave welts all over your body and they don't give a shit about bug spray. They're ten times worse than misquotes. I've never dealt with anything like them.  A mile before the campsite was a super nice river with swimming holes and a big suspension bridge. Lot of weekender people here though because we're really close to a road. Went swimming for like an hour! Feel so clean now lol. Camping with Sky and a guy named Too Lazy from Sydney, Australia. Too Lazy got some trail magic today and ended up packing out some avocados and he shared them with us! First trail avocado!Really excited for tomorrow. Tomorrow night Skywalker and i and a bunch of other hikers are staying in Rutland, VT at a place called The Yellow Deli Hostel. Handy, a hiker i met a couple days ago, told me a lot about this place and convinced me that it's a must-stop on trail. I definitely don't need another night's stay in town, but i can't pass this up. The Yellow Deli is a restaurant and a hostel run by this "religious group" called the Twelve Tribes. Some people refer to it as a commune or religious community, but its basically a cult. They take hikers in, feed them, let them shower and do laundry - all donation based! But what they really try and do is keep you there! Handy was telling me all about his experience there last year. He went for a night and ended up spending a week there! There are literally AT hikers at this community that went to visit and have NEVER LEFT. They got GOT by the cult! lol. I think it's gonna be super interesting. And apparently they have some really good vegan food! I already feel hooked. Stay tuned to hear if i make it back to the trail!
Date: 2018-07-03
From: Yellow Deli Hostel

To: Stony Brook shelter
Miles today: 10.5
Weather: overcast clouds

I overslept this morning, so i didn't help make the hiker breakfast today, which made me feel like a freeloading piece of shit. There's a bus station right behind the hostel that has stops to the AT trailhead. Skywalker and I missed the 7:15 bus because we were asleep. We missed the 8:15 bus because we helped do dishes for awhile in the kitchen after breakfast. We missed the 9:15 bus because, well i don't remember, Sky was just dicking around all morning. So we caught the 10:15 bus and were on the trail again by 10:30. Terrible. lol3 miles on trail and we hit another town, Killington, VT. We both had some quick business to do here. Sky had to buy new shoes at an outfitter because his toes were starting to poke out his current shoes. And i was picking up a care-package from my awesome Aunt Pat and Uncle Larry! Talk about the most bomb-ass vegan care-package ever made!! It was full of my favorite vegan cookies, super fancy vegan bars, and my aunts famous peanut butter fudge that she makes vegan just for me! I was stoked. I never would have splurged and bought any of this stuff for myself, so it was a real treat. Skywalker and I opened the fudge and ate it all right in the post office parking lot. Great lunch! Quimby Mt. was a bitch. Especially with the super heavy pack. It's still so freaking hot. This heat wave is supposed to last several more days. Literally boiling alive out here. With the late start this morning, and the stop through Killington, VT, we didn't make it very far. Only about 10 miles. I was willing to push on, but Sky got really high and became utterly useless. So we called it a day lol. He has to average at least 15 miles a day in order to finish the trail before he goes back to college mid August. He took a semester off to do this. So since today was a short day, he wants to try and make up for it tomorrow and do 22 miles. I'm kinda annoyed, but i know i can do it. Just gotta get an early start.
Date: 2018-07-04
From: Stony Brook shelter

To: Thistle Hill shelter
Miles today: 22.2
Weather: clear sky

Started hiking at 7am, super focused on knocking out the 22 miles planned. Skywalker was moving slow this morning, so i left him behind and told him i'd meet him at the shelter. It's Forth of July today, which also means it's my "Vegaversary"! 11 years of no meat!! I'm celebrating by eating a ton of vegan cookies from my Aunt Pat. I also hit mile 700 today! So much to be excited about. Walked 0.2 miles down a road to a farm market and had a real lunch! Juice, salad, and an apple. Met two other hikers, Crafty and Hulk Hogan. The heat is destroying all of us today, so the food was a nice break. The high today was 95. And the entire day was chalk full of PUDs. The elevation chart looked like someone with a goddamn heart murmur. It was brutal. About 14 miles in, my right Achilles' tendon really started acting up. Like it hurt bad. I popped 800 mg of Ibuprofen and hiked with a limp for the last 8 miles. Came across a cooler full of sodas next to a river! Thank you! I needed the sugar rush. Another nice surprise was the endless bushes of wild raspberries on top of a mountain. I picked berries for nearly half an hour lol. Finally made it the full 22 miles to the shelter/campsite. Crafty, a white bearded retired guy, is the only other person here. No sign of Skywalker. I thought he'd wander in not too long after me, but looks like he didn't make it. I'm kinda pissed because he was the one making a big deal about making up the mileage and sticking to his average, but he couldn't even do it! So i killed myself today for nothing basically lol. At least tomorrow i won't have to hike super far into Hanover, NH. New Hampshire starts tomorrow!! Crazy.
Date: 2018-07-21
From: Stealth camping 

To: Little Swift River Pond campsite 
Miles today: 17.2

Today was a pretty sweet day. The terrain was comparatively ¢easy¢ considering what most of Maine entails. And the weather was perfect. I tried to enjoy it because apparently it¢s supposed to rain for like the next 5 days. So I¢ll be living in eternal wetness soon. Today was also MAGICAL. Got some nature magic on top of a mountain peak - wild blueberries galore! And had TWO run-ins with trail magic! Which was super surprising because it¢d been weeks since I saw any. No one was climbing Mt Washington to hand out free sodas unfortunately lol. But today, I came across a cooler in the woods full of Ginger Ale, candy, and mandarin orange fruit cups! Whata snag. And then, a couple miles further, the AT intersected with a highway and there were little signs posted up telling hikers to walk down the road to this scenic overlook. Low and behold, I walk up to a big van with a tailgate tent up and a table full of free food. God bless. The people were so great. It was a couple who hiked half the AT last summer. Their trail names were Green and Tea lol. They were cooking hotdogs and burgers, but when I told them I was vegan they pulled out a whole bag of produce for me! Apples, bananas, oranges, yay! They also had a ¢hiker box¢ that was full of miscellaneous hiker stuff. I know I¢ve mentioned a lot how the ¢trail provides¢, but I swear to god there is some crazy force of nature out here that takes care of hikers. The two specialty items I needed to buy on my next resupply were fuel for my stove and some drink flavor packets (because I¢ve really been craving juice on trail). And what do I find in these people¢s magic box? A full canister of fuel and Crush soda drink packets. That¢s some crazy shit... I see it happen out here to hikers all the time. Walk up to a water source that¢s completely dried out? Someone left a case of water bottles. Sprang your ankle on top of a mountain? There¢s a gondola in operation that can take you down. Childhood dream to visit Hershey park in PA? A day hiker offers you a ride there and back! The list goes on. Blows my mind. One great thing about hiking in Maine is the many swimming opportunities to be had on trail. The AT crosses by lots of lakes and ponds and the water is always super clear. Besides being a bitch to hike, Maine is really pretty. Maine is a state I¢ve always wanted to visit. I always assumed I¢d be flying here though, not walking lol. I only have around 200ish miles in Maine left, so I¢m trying to learn to slow down and enjoy it more. I think there¢s more to be had on this trail than hiking, and so far I¢ve really just been doing a lot of hiking. I¢m in a fortunate position to not have to have a deadline or cut-off date. Most NoBos out here have to finish by early August to get back to work or school. But as for me, I have no where to be, but the trail. So why rush any of it really?