morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2004-08-14
From: West Branch of Pleasant River

To: Hammocking Near East Branch of the Pleasant River
Miles today: 16.6
Weather: scattered clouds

Phew... what a day, oh what a day. Who knew a little...scratch that, a lot of rain could be such a hassle? The West Branch of the Pleasant River was so swollen, we could ford it.Slept in at the motel enjoying the beds. Once roused, Jerry, Mountain Man, Eelz, and I went for the store to re-supply. I had already planned to hike the entire wilderness continuous and had enough food. The plan was to attempt again to ford the river, and if it was still too high, camp nearby and wait till the water recedes. The problem with this plan is we don¢t know how long the wait will be if any. Once Jerry leaves with the car we are stranded. If another rain storm hits it could be days till the river is passable. No one knows how long it will take for the water to lower. So it¢s a best guess on how much extra food to buy for the layover days as we mope around in our tents. The longer we wait the more miles a day we will have to do to make the Aug. 19th finish date. No cell service to notify my parents (who have already left home) the finish date could be on the 20th. Then on top of that I'm supposed to help the Camera Crew out with their documentary at the 19th rendezvous point - Katahdin. The Camera Crew was able to cross the river before it was unmanageable. There is no way to contact them, or for them to know I was stranded on the other side. As you can see it¢s a difficult situation. You know what makes it an even more difficult situation? Hurricane Charlie is going to be kind enough to provide some rain. Three wet days are predicted to start tomorrow. Arrived at the trail around 9:40 and to my relief found the river had gone down enough for me to ford it. It was no cake walk. The water was still flowing with an amazing current just below waist deep. There were a few times where bursts of current would cause a foot to slip, and my balance to waiver. Once across it was time to makeup miles, and move some hiker booty northward.Got an amazing view of Katahdin today - only 73 miles away. The sky was a crisp blue with a few scattered puffy clouds. No scary rain clouds in sight. Decided to go ahead and cross the East Branch of the Pleasant River tonight rather than chance the risk of rain overnight. Any more rain and that river would also be impassable. It was not near as difficult or wide as the other river. It was still about the same depth, maybe a hair lower. Just heard a forecast for the area stating the rain is going to hold off till later tomorrow. Can¢t believe I¢m saying this but I hope it rains tonight. I practically ran the last four miles so I might reach this last river before sunset.   All is well. The land from here on out is absolutely flat which will allow for easy high mileage days.67 miles remain!
Date: 2004-08-15
From: Hammocking Near East Branch of the Pleasant River

To: Hammocking at Potaywadjo Spring Lean-to 
Miles today: 19.2
Weather: overcast clouds

48 miles remain - how crazy is that? It¢s been a long journey and I¢m ready for it to end. Will miss hammocking on star filled nights like these. Cool weather, but not cold. A group of guys are celebrating their 20th anniversary of thru-hiking the trail. All of them agree that they think back on their trip at least once a week if not more. It was great fun listening to them read their journals from when they slept in this very shelter twenty years ago. Met up with Dave and Miranda. Last time I saw them we were in Georgia when it was snowing. They also plan to summit on the 19th. Surprisingly it did not rain last night. Surprisingly it did not rain a drop today and will not for the next three days. How is this possible? What about tropical storm Charlie? I don¢t know how, but apparently the storm took a major turn and allowed me to hike under a bright blue sky. The clouds cleared around noon after lunch while taking a dip in the stream. The stream boasted a huge set of rapids still raging from rain three days ago. The trail was still scattered with large puddles and flowing water. A few of the ponds had crested and flooded the nearby trail. In these cases you have no option other than to walk straight through the water sometimes reaching knee depth. The shoes are soaked and will remain that way until the end of the trip I¢m sure. In four days this wet paradise will come to an end. Weather looks great for the next few days, but rain might be on its way on the 19th. It¢s the journey that counts not the destination. Good weather now is great. So what if it¢s cloudy when I get to the top of Katahdin. I¢ve seen some excellent views from the 400 some mountains climbed throughout this trip. Take what you can get and be happy with it! Can¢t stand when people bitch and moan about stuff all the time. Do something about it, or quit what your doing. This trip has taught me a wealth about myself and others. Would not trade this experience for anything.
Date: 2004-08-16
From: Hammocking at Potaywadjo Spring Lean-to 

To: Hammocking at Rainbow Stream Lean-to
Miles today: 18.2
Weather: overcast clouds

Another splendid day in the wilderness. The tension builds as the trip becomes shorter and shorter. The light at the end of the tunnel can be seen. That light is called Katahdin. It can be seen daily now, and each day it appears to grows in size. Had some great trail magic courtesy of Strider who finished up his section hike this year. He served up some killer burgers and pink hot dogs. That¢s right folks, the hot dogs up here in Maine are bright pink. Hamburger + hot dog + cold soda = nap in a comfy lawn chairAfter letting lunch settle, it was once again time to motivate myself to hike. After just an hour of hiking I saw a sign pointing towards a sandy beach. This sign could not be ignored. It¢s amazing how much more refreshed I felt after taking a quick dip. The quick dunk put some zing in my step for sure!The remainder of the day is history.
Date: 2004-08-17
From: Hammocking at Rainbow Stream Lean-to

To: Hammocking at Abol Pines Camping Area
Miles today: 15.0

Tomorrow I enter Baxter State Park and the next day climb Katahdin. Have just been enjoying the last few days with some great friends. We all look out for each other and are there for encouragement when it¢s needed. Without them my hike would be a disaster and complete failure. Some days I trudge through the sloppy mud, and rain looking forward to the company of others at the end of the day. If someone were to ask me what got me through the end of a tough day it would be a combination of four things: 1) a warm & dry sleeping bag2) people 3) my radio.4) positive attitudeJust finished dinner a little bit ago which consisted of two six inch subs, a Gatorade, OJ, large bag of chips, and a pink hot dog. (wait till you see the picture, its really hot pink)The hike today was easy with only a few bumps here and there. Spent most of the day in thought. What do I want to do for the rest of my life? Where do I take it from here? How will things be different after the trail? What did I learn? For sure, one thing I learned is how to camp :-)Had a spectacular view of big K from Abol bridge. The guide book said this was the "postcard view". I did not expect it to be as magnificent as it was. Katahdin is so powerful to me because it sums up the end of such a successful and life changing adventure. Sure Katahdin is big and all, but it means so much more. Honestly it is just another 5000 foot pile of rocks. It is the end of the trail and the beginning of a new lifestyle. This is graduation day all over again. I am just awaiting my diploma called the 2000 miler award which is awarded to all that hike the entire Appalachian Trail.
Date: 2004-08-19
From: Katahdin Stream Campground

To: Mount Katahdin
Miles today: 5.2
Weather: light rain

Just so you all know. I made it! Finished on the 19th of August, took a trip to NYC with the family and am now back home enjoying all the conveniences. Added a new roll of pictures, more to come soon. Have two more journal entries that will soon be added.Use this link to view a slideshow I made with some of my photos. High speed internet recomended.http://www.photodex.com/sharing/viewalbum.html?bm=50403
Date: 2003-11-02
To: An Introduction
Miles today: 0.0

In the beginning there was Dave and Jill.    It's a long time until we begin our hike but we thought it would be a good idea to go ahead and start our journal. We're both pretty busy with work and school. Jill's senior course load is quite intimidating and takes a lot of time. Dave's still acclimating to his new job but is more taken aback by the change in climate. Having always lived in Tallahassee for his 22 years he was astonished to see snow before October. He's in for it.    We decided on starting the trail in June because that was the earliest time possible. Interlochen, the school that Dave works at, gets out in mid May and Jill will graduate the last week of May. So, giving ourselves a week or two to move everything back to Tallahassee, throw it in storage and fully inform our parents on the finer points of mail drops and trail communication possibilities we will head out and start our hike. We have every intention of going the whole way and it's gonna take quite a hurdle to dissuade us.   Some more pertinant background information is that Dave is seasoned backpacker. His wilderness resume includes being a trained Wilderness First Responder, a Ranger at Philmont Scout Ranch, and a trip leader for Outdoor Pursuits at FSU. Jill on the other hand once went on a three mile hike with Dave. That's it - no other experience. She is however, well read and excited.So together we cover the two extremes of people who are planning a thru hike: the wily veteran and the enthusiastic newbie.    We're planning on trying out (taste testing) different foods that we might take/buy for the trail - look for some reviews!   We'd also love to hear comments, suggestions, or questions so feel free to talk to us!
Date: 2003-11-03
To: First List-o-Foods!
Miles today: 0.0

Well here's a few of the foods we've tried out already. It's funny how we can now browse the food aisles in Meijer and Walmart without actually buying anything! It's fun to just cruise up and down looking for lightweight easy-prep foods and examining the protein contents of just about everything. Here's a list of some of the things Dave's already tried:   Lipton Cup-a-Soup: Hearty Chicken Noodle            I tried this on a little solo overnight backpacking trip I did a couple weeks ago in the Manistee National Forest. These little instant soup packets were really easy to make - simply empty the packet in your mug and add hot water. Stir and wait two mins. Easy enough right? Trouble is there simply isn't enough there to fill you up. After two packets I'd had enough but wasn't close to being 'full'. Checking the calories it's understandable why: 60 cal. per packet. Might wanna supplement this meal with some berries, grubs or at least part of your shoe. FINAL: Easy prep. Uber-lite. OK flavor. ZILCH for nutrition.   Keebler Toasteds Wheat Crackers            These crackers rock. I'm already a big cracker fan but these things are something pretty special. I enjoyed them with foil-packet tuna. Kinda pricey but darn good. FINAL: DOPE-FLY-CRACKERS.   Swiss Miss Chocolate English Toffee Drink Mix            Got these in the mail from Jill Makes a great cup of hot chocolate that has a nice creamy finish to it. Kinda pricey considering you only get four packets but each packet makes a really thick drink - so I'm thinking we could get two drinks from each packet and end up with 8 servings per box instead of 4. A Much better value in my mind FINAL: Easy prep. Lite. GREAT flavor. More calories than a cup-a-soup.    Skippy Squeeze Stix: Creamy Peanut and Chocolate Snack               Jill also found these interesting little snackies. We both tried them and found them to be lacking - both in the chocolate department and the peanutbutter department. Overall it was just sorta like a wierd pudding in a tube. Maybe would be better on a cracker... Prolly won't use this one on the trail though. FINAL: No prep. Lacking flavor. Can think of lots of other stuff we'd rather have. Glad we tried though.   That's all for now - Dave
Date: 2003-11-11
To: SOBO??!!
Miles today: 0.0

Howdy,   Preperations for our hike have been moving along this week. After doing a good bit of research on the internet and on forums, Jill and I have decided to do a South Bound Hike instead of heading north. It became apparent that leaving Springer in June would be just too much of a push to try and make it to Maine by mid-October. It's been a really tough choice for us, as neither of us ever imagined we'd be doing a South Bound hike!   We hear that we'll be in for a jumpstart on the trail begining in Maine. Hiking up and down Katahdin and right into the 100 mile Wilderness. Trail mud and BUGS are also looking like they're in our future. Bring it on.   This weekend we got a "coffeespoon" thingy at EMS. It's basically a plastic spoon with a filter that you fill with coffee grounds and stir into your cup of hot water. Looks cool, less than $6 and much lighter then my Backcountry Bistro mug. More to come on that one...   This evening I made another coke can stove and will be testing that soon, along with a nice $1.88 1qt pot from Wally World.   That's all for now-
Date: 2003-11-16
To: Stove Testing and Trail Madness.
Miles today: 0.0

Howdy Howdy,   Well this past weekend I got the chance to test out the new pot and alcohol stove. Up here at Interlochen I get Fridays and Saturdays off. Friday was spent compulsively cruising through the gear stores in Traverse City. The fleece on clearance I was hoping to snatch was already gone, so I came home empty handed...but with money still in the pocket...which is nice. Saturday, I took the stove, pot, and some hotchoco / noodles out to the Sleeping Bear Dunes for a day hike. The temp. was around 40 deg. with a steady breeze / mist. Testing out the stove on a picnick table I quickly realized the importance of a windscreen - which I did not have. Lighting the coke can stove with a lighter is tricky, and so far I've only been able to do it by lighting a twig and sticking it down in there. The stove eventually boiled my 3/4 of a quart of water after going out twice and having to be refueled once. Not so impressive - by my standards. The breeze was strong though - I think my MSR PocketRocket would have taken it's time as well. Semi-indoor tests of the coke can stove were very sucessful - with easy lighting and a nice flame with quick boil times. So tonight at the desk I made a new windscreen out of tinfoil which I'll hopefully be testing in the next couple days.   As far as the trail goes - I'm pretty excited. Some days it's crazier than others - but it's hard to imagine what will be going through my head in MAY!!!   I talked with a good friend of mine from back home last week - Paul Taylor. He (Rain Locus) did a NOBO flipflop in 2002 and is planning on doing a NOBO PCT thru-hike this summer. It was GREAT to talk with him and pick his brain on a number of things. I feel like he's a great resource to have.   I posted on TrailForums a couple questions last week - both of which yielded helpful comments. One, I don't think I'll be bringing along my Chacos. Much as I love them, they're just too heavy. Two, I'm thinking we'll just use a swissarmy knife for all our cutting / tooling. No multi-tools - they're just too heavy and not that essential. Come to think of it - I never carried one at Philmont - even on Rayado. We'll be fine w/o it.   That's all for now - (David)
Date: 2003-12-02
To: Gear Testing and How I learned to burn digits.
Miles today: 0.0

Well, I'm back at Interlochen and Jill's back at school after our respective Thanksgiving holidays. It was really nice to get away from everything for awhile - we both really needed it.Over the break we got the chance to check out several gear shops. One in South Bend and two in a Chicago suburb. The shop in South Bend (Mishawaka technically) was pretty worthless. It was apparent that it catered to ND students and the like who were more interested in the outdoor "look" than anything else. Lots of Patty and TNF jackets and a tiny gear corner. The shops in Chicago were pretty awesome though - Galyans in particular was spectacular. GREAT gear selection in a huge two story building complete with climbing wall. It rivaled the REI flagship store in Denver. I picked up a MSR water bladder, some rope, a mummy liner, Dr. Bonners soap and a carabiner. Could have spent forever in that store. :0P After that we got directions to a smaller REI store which was pretty nice. Almost bought a backcountry baker thingy but decided against it. Not an AT item but would be fun to play around with on shorter trips. Oh well.Gear Testing:MSR Waterbag - Tried this thing out in my room filtering some tap water with my MiniWorks attached to the bag. Worked pretty well. The pour spout on the screw top is pretty nice and keeps the water from going everywhere when pouring. I really like the ability to attach it directly to the filter.Alcohol Stove - I made a windscreen out of aluminum foil and a stove primer out of a tuna can. I took the setup down by the lake this afternoon and tried it out on the beach. The windscreen made a huge difference! It seemed to keep the heat reflected and shielded the stove and pot pretty well - so far no problems with the stability of the aluminum foil - which I thought might be an issue. I carried a big paper clip thingy to hold the screen together, which after burning the %*&@! out of my finger, I decided not to bother with. The aluminum foil lid I'm using I'm not very pleased with. It's awkward and gets really hot (burn #2). The first pot of water I boiled I used the tuna can to prime the stove - putting a little bit of fuel in the can and then resting the stove inside before lighting the tuna can. This seemed to warm up the stove pretty quickly, but also seemed to hinder the airflow significantly to the stove impeding performance. The second pot of water I only used the the stove and the windscreen. This worked very well and the apx 12 oz of water boiled in well under five mins. Conditions: The wind was very light today, even on the beach but it was pretty chilly, apx 30 deg.Finally - HUGE thanks to everyone who's signed our guest book!!! It's such a delight to both of us to see that folks are reading these things. That's all for now - Dave
Date: 2003-12-09
To: More taste testing and Christmas
Miles today: 0.0

First off, I just wanted to thank everyone for signing our guestbook - we love it! It's great to get feedback, suggestions, even just support. Thanks so much. Now on to the "business." Recently Dave and I tried some Hunt's Snack Pack Squeeze 'N Go portable pudding. I had seen pudding in tubes in the refrigerated section but those need to be kept cold. These pudding tubes don't need to be cold and so would make for great little items for the trail. They tasted pretty great - we tried the Chocolate Brownie and the Chocolate Fudge flavors. I liked them both and Dave thought they were pretty good too. I found them at K-Mart and they sold for $2.69 for a box of eight. David's only qualm about this product is that the "Snack Pack girl" isn't on the packaging... you'll have to convince him to explain that one (it's a Philmont thing).   We have also been frequenting the health food stores in our respective areas in order to better aquaint ourselves with the foods available. We've seen plenty of TVP but are both a bit intimidated by the idea of eating it. I'm sure it's fine added to a flavorful dish but neither one of us has gotten around to eating any. We did pick up some single size soups from Fantastic. This company makes soups that you just add hot water to in many different sizes and flavors. I've tried the Broccoli and Cheese and found that I needed to add a bunch of ritz crackers to make it a texture/subsistency that I liked. The flavor was great though and I would definitely consider bringing this brand of soup on the trail. I doubt most hikers have any qualms _adding_ food to things and crackers are a staple of Dave's and my backpacking pantry.    Onto a non-edible subject: Christmas break. I'm really excited for this (one and a half weeks!) because not only will I get to have no school for a litte while but Dave and I have decided to rent a car once we're in Florida and take a trip down to the Everglades and the Keys. Neither of us have been to these places and we're really keen to go. Dave found some short hikes you can do in the Everglades National Park on boardwalks so maybe I'll be able to hike around with my pack on (haven't done it yet!). We'll be sure to update the journal with tales of our adventures. Until next time!
Date: 2003-12-11
To: Snow!
Miles today: 0.0

Today was our first real snow up here at Interlochen! After two days of nasty cold rain, last night it finally cooled off and started to snow around 10:00 pm. Twenty-four hours later, it's still snowing. Eli, Dave, Ben and I all wrapped up and went for a walk in the woods after lunch today. It was amazing! The snow was really nice powder and the wind held off, making it fairly comfortable outside. I will need a warmer jacket though...especially when the mercury starts heading below 0. Gloves...I'm not sure how people keep their fingers warm up here...even with my insulated h20 proof gloves my fingers get painfully cold.I tried a new soup last night for dinner which was pretty decent - the name eludes me at the moment. I'll post it later. I boiled water using my alcohol stove setup and have been fairly disapointed with the amount of soot created by the flames. The pot is downright messy afterwards. Could be the stove. Could be the fuel.This week I used my left over REI member points to order the old model Black Diamond LED headlamp. My brother has one and it's about as bright as a Mac Truck. My Tikka has been on it's way out recently due to it's wanky switch and strange flickering light. The new lamp should be home in Tally by the time I get there next week. I think this now makes me an official gearhead...I now own three headlamps. Sad. Soo very sad. ;-) -Dave
Date: 2004-01-21
To: Finally an UPDATE!!!
Miles today: 0.0

Sorry Ya'll - I feel bad for being soo behind on updating our journal. But here goes. Since the last update Jill and I have been pretty busy with work, school, the holidays and getting back to school and work. Christmas brought us both some cool new backpacking toys for our hike. Jill and I both flew down to Tallahassee to be with our families - which was really nice. It was amazing to come down to green grass, trees with leaves, birds, insects and good ole' Florida warmth. And then there were the cool presents! Mmmmm....new gear....   Here's the goods:   Antigravity Gear 2qt. aluminum pot w/ Cozy and Gripper   Antigravity Gear Alcohol Stove / windshield   Antigravity Gear Map Bandana   @TITANIUM SPORK OF DOOM@ muhahahha :-D   OR Gore-Tex Gaiters (I love them!!   "The Well-Fed Backpacker" BookLots of cool stuff! I also ordered and receieved the AT Guidebook Special and ATC membership. I know many people argue against carrying the maps - but as a Geography major I'm pretty fond of them and plan on hauling them with me. I went through the maps, guidebooks and databook and came up with a tenetive plan for getting us through the 100 Mile Wilderness. I'll post that later on for ya'll to see and comment on. It looks like we'll be taking about 8 days to do it. Over the Christmas break, Jill and I sent off our Baxter State Park reservations - woohoo! It really feels like we're gonna do this. That's all for now...more later. -Dave