morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2007-04-15
From: Clyde Smith Shelter

To: Overmountain Shelter
Miles today: 13.0
Weather: light rain

It rained hard most of the night and was drizzling int the mornign when I got up. Thank God for ziplock bags, which seem to be the only thing that keeps things really dry.By dribs and drabs we all moved on from Clyde Smith to hike over Roan Mountain and down to Overmountain, "The Barn."The mountain is gorgeous, full of fir and hard woods like the ones yesterday, but I'm walking in a cloud obscuring all the views. Although the green of rhodedendron framed against the pure white of the inside of a cloud is still quite a beautiful thing to behold.The climb was steep and the rain and wind started to really pick up as the temperature just kept falling.By around one most of us had made it to Roan Knob Shelter and huddled inside soaked and shivering to eat lunch at almost 6300 ft. On the way up the rain had turned to sleet, hail, and then snow. The trail is mostly several inches of running water, like walking through a creek. Over the course of lunch the snow began to pile up and come down harder.We have three balds and a ridge left all exposed and above 5000 feet so this afternoon is going to be exciting, especially with wet gear.The next seven miles were some of the hardest hikign I've done. The wind in exposed sections was a steady fifty gusting up to seventy. It almost blew me over. The snow rapidly accumulated from inches to over a foot with larged drifts across the trail up to my knees at times. I lost the trail twice and skated down the icy balds.My face, clothing and pack hung with iscicles when I finally made it to the barn after playing hide and seek with the trail blazes (whoever decided on white blazes never spent time hiking in blizzards). I passed the frost encrusted tent of a fellow hiker who'd given up for the day.As it turns out "the barn" isn't as warm and cozy as we'd all expected. It's riddled with holes, wind whipped, and full of frost and snow. So with my remaining energy I pitched my tent, crawled in my damp sleeping bag and proceeded to eat just about anythign not requiring cooking.After an hour my body heat has dried out my bag and the inner tent which has caused a minor snow storm inside the vestibule of the tent covering my boots, pack, jacket, and pants. I'm warm and dry so long as the tent holds up to this wind and this ramshackle old barn doesn't fall over on me, which from the creaking and moaning it makes in the gusts is a distinct possibility. I'm going to have a great nights sleep.
Date: 2007-04-16
From: Overmountain Shelter

To: snow day
Miles today: 0.0

Between gusts of wind that made me feel like I'd be blown away I slept warm and well. Everythign in the vestibule is encrusted in ice so I'll have to take care of drying it off.Chicken and Yardsale are wet and cold so they've pushed on wit ha group of other hikers to make the remaining nine to a hostel where they can warm up and dry off inside.The rest of us hear are going to zero, wait for the snow to melt a little, the wind to calm down, and some more gear to dry out. For most of us this is a luxury bought by carrying zero degree sleeping bags and good tents.I spent the morning napping and the afternoon thawing out gear. All in all it's been a very relaxing day. The wind and the cold are both letting up a bit so tomorrow morning I hike on. Only days from Virginia.
Date: 2007-06-08
From: Harper's Ferry, WV

To: Ed Garvey Shelter
Miles today: 7.0
Weather: scattered clouds

I'm back on trailjournals after having finished Virginia and its lack of convenient internet access. I'm in the midst of finishing up transcribing my written journal so that I can post the backlog of days leading up to this one. The hiking has been wonderful, and I'm thrilled to be over the 1000 mile point and just about to cross the physical half way point. I'll be in PA in another day and then flying through new york, new jersey, and connecticut.I'm feeling well rested after having taken a week off the trail to go to my friend's Sarah and Stu's wedding in the White Mountains (beautiful, and so much fun) and a couple days to visit my brother in Pittsburgh. But now I'm back on the trail with Terrapin and we're going to cruise and try to catch Mystery Chicken and Yardsale who are a few days up ahead.I've put a couple updates on the mail drop list and if anyone is interested I now have an mp3 player that takes sd cards (those cards that fit in most digital cameras and cost next to nothing) so if you are so inclined I would love it if some people would fill some sd cards with music and send them to me. You could fill the card that came with your camera and is too small to put many pictures on, but would fit an album or two of mp3s. Thanks.
Date: 2007-06-14
From: stealth camp

To: Duncannon, Pa
Miles today: 15.3
Weather: light rain

Got up in the morning after cutting yesterday short because I split open a toe on a rock (damn pennsylvania rocks!) and hiked in to Duncannon. The town is very friendly to hikers and the Doyle Hotel here is great. It's a turn of the century hotel built by Annheisuer Busch and run by some great folks, Pat and Vickey now. It's cheap, has good food, and 22oz of beer for $2.25 so it's pretty much perfect.To add to that Terrapin and I have finally caught up with Mystery Chicken, as well as The Dude, Mike, Focus, and Stubble. It's a great crowd to hang out with so I imagine we're going to be up late.We'll zero tomorrow because I want to rest my foot and we both have so much stuff that needs to get done in town.
Date: 2007-06-16
From: Duncannon, PA

To: Peter's Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 11.4
Weather: few clouds

Wonderful, restful stay in Duncannon. Terrapin and I are headed out with Mike, Pooch and Tom Dooley to catch Mystery Chicken at Peter's Mountain. It's a short day but my healing toe is thankful for it. Then we start ramping up the miles again to finish PA by the end of the week. Then another week and or two to get through NJ, NY, CT and into MA. Finally New England is on the horizon, Cabot Cheese is in the grocery store and warm summer weather is upon us. I'm going to go grab some pizza and hike.
Date: 2007-08-06
From: Hanover, NH

To: Hanover, NH
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Finally, into the home stretch. Yesterday, Terrapin and I walked into Hanover, my home of the last five years. We crossed the VT/NH line as thru hikers, which I've been wanting to do for a long time. Today we spent the day running around town doing errands and finalizing plans for finishing. After many interruptions and zero days, and sick days we're both in good spirits and feeling ready to move. We've got a plan laid out to put us on the peak of Katahdin on the 1st of September. Then we head back to "real life" as some would call it. Well off to finish some things off and then up at five tomorrow to hike.
Date: 2007-08-20
From: Hanover, NH

To: Sabbath Day Pond Shelter
Miles today: 16.5

Sore tired bodies headed out this morning, but high spirits and full bellies after a stay at "The Cabin" in Andover, ME. Terrapin and I are pushing out the last 240 miles of the journey with The Dude, another hiker we've know since North Carolina. We're all on a deadline to finish Labor Day weekend and we're pretty much on target. We've been moving with an aggressive pace since Hanover, averaging 18 miles a day over some of the hardest terrain on the trail. We made it through the White Mountains in just over six days, checking off the hardest continuous stretch of elevation gain and loss.Out of the Whites we've had some strong rain and wet weather but recently the cold front from Canada seems to have blown in some sunny dry weather, but brought with it temps in the 30's. We're excited about this final push. One week to The 100 Mile Wilderness and then five more days to Katahdin.
Date: 2007-08-30
From: Northern Outdoors, The Forks, ME

To: Moxie Bald Shelter
Miles today: 18.0

Terrapin, The Dude and I continue to make this last push together, hurting knees, feet, bodies and all. We cut some of our mileage and took a little rest time, which has put us off of our labor day weekend finish to a September 7th finish, but means that we will be able to take our time and enjoy some of the beauty of the Maine woods. The previous pace had become a bit of a death march.Yesterday afternoon we crossed the Kennubec River and cruised into Caratunk. We stayed overnight at Northern Outdoors Rafting company and made good use of their hot tub.This morning after a tasty breakfast we're off at 9:00 to make day one of the hike to Monson. Saturday we'll pick up our last food drop and head into the 100 mile wilderness for a six day hike to Katahdin. The end is near!
Date: 2007-09-07
From: The Birches

To: Katahdin
Miles today: 12.0
Weather: few clouds

This is it. The end Terrapin, The Dude and I made it up Katahdin on the 7th of September. The Dude's sister and Terrapin's friend John made it to hike up with us and give us rides to Millinocket. We has a great day. A little hazy, but so warm that we were able to spend over two hours basking in the sun up at the top. It was wonderful. Terrapin and I are now living in Northampton, MA and would love to hear from anyone so please let us know how your doing. We still get guest book entries. Also if you're in the area and thinking about hiking the trail let us know. We'd love to help out.As for post trail life Terrapin is back to nursing. I'm doing school, carpentry work, and EMT work. And we're both planning for PCT 2012!
Date: 2006-12-31
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Most people beginning a thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail are in transition ¢ finishing school, between jobs, between marriages or retiring. I¢m in the retiring category. After 35 12 years working in government in North Carolina, I¢m retiring at the end of February 2007. I have previously section hiked almost 500 miles of the AT between Erwin, TN and the Tye River in VA. Most of this has been done with a Scout troop where we would take some of our older Scouts and hike the trail for a week to 10 days each summer. There have also been a number of weekend hikes filling in gaps from the summer trips. I always enjoyed these trips but they never kindled any great desire to thru-hike the entire trail.My initial thought was that upon retiring I would hike the Trail from Springer Mountain, GA to Erwin, TN. This would give me a badly needed break and some time in the woods, which is always restorative to me. Then I got inspired at a banquet for foster kids graduating from high school ¢ my current job is as a Director of Social Services. What if I used my hiking to raise money for foster kids by setting a fund raising goal of so much per mile? As I thought about this, I thought, ¢Why not go ahead and try a thru-hike, you¢ve got the time?¢ The more I thought about it, the idea grew on me and I approached Foster Friends of North Carolina about raising money to support their efforts with foster kids. They were getting ready to start a mentoring program for foster children and needed matching funds for grants. We decided to set a goal of raising $10 for each mile of the Appalachian Trail - $21,750 ¢ with the money not being dependent on me actually hiking the entire trail. Having to hike the entire thing scared the hell out of me and would definitely take my original purpose out of the equation.So that¢s how I got to this point. We are going to start raising money over the next couple of months and have a retirement celebration on February 22rd that will focus on raising funds for the foster child mentoring program.In my next post, I will try to answer some questions about the trip which friends and family have raised.
Date: 2007-01-01
To: New Year Day's Hike
Miles today: 0.0

Our local hiking club - Piedmont Hiking and Outing Club - has a tradition of doing a New Year's Day hike at Hanging Rock State Park. This will be my first hike of the year. The weather is very balmy - 65 - and wrapping up some rain.The hike proved what I already knew - I'm not in trail shape yet. Going to the gym and hiking in the Piedmont doesn't get you ready for mountain hiking. I'm going to have to make sure I get up in the mountians more before March 19.
Date: 2007-01-21
To: Shakedown Hike
Miles today: 0.0

I went on a shakedown hike this weekend on the AT in the McAfee Knob area near Roanoke, VA. I went with my good hiking friend Tom Bibby and 3 Scouts and an Assistant Scoutmaster from Troop 175 in Greensboro. We left Greensboro about 6;30, had dinner on the way and got to the trailhead at 9:00 p.m. We hiked in a mile to a shelter. The wind was blowing 20-30 mph and the temps were in the low 30's and headed down into the mid-twenties. We slept in the shelter and I was cold. I'm not sure my new sleeping pad is as good for cold weather as a full lenght Thermorest. On Saturday we hiked over McAfee Knob to another shelter where we were planning on spending the night. The wind was blowing so hard and it was on 31 degrees so we decided to hike back over McAfee Knob to another shelter which was on the lee side of the mountain. While the temps on Saturday night got down into the lower twenties, we were more comfortable since we were in our tents. Sunday morning I got up to snow which turned to sleet while I was preparing breakfast. Getting the Scouts up was a challenge and by the time they got up, the sleet had turned to freezing rain. We hiked out in the freezing rain which by the end made the trail very slick. I fell at one spot, had to take my pack off to get up and it was so slick that I had difficulty standing up and putting my pack on! I went very slowly the rest of the way down the mountain.I took all the gear I had planned on starting out with on Springer Mountain on March 19. I had concerns about my new alcohol stove since I had heard they did not work as well in cold weather. After the weather this weekend I am comfortable with my stove. I think I will start out with my Thermorest as a sleeping pad.Being on the trail and the challenge of the weather this weekend has me psyched for my hike!
Date: 2007-02-04
To: Working to Get Ready
Miles today: 0.0

Today I did an 8 mile hike around Lake Brant. I have been either going to the gym or walk every day. I'm continue getting into better shape but know that nothing other than hiking really gets you in shape for hiking. I have all my gear now. When I am at work and look at my calendar it really hits me how short a time it is until I retire - just 24 more days! The March 19 start date on the Trail is fast approaching. I find myself in a kind of zone where I'm eager to start but it is close enough and real enough now that the eagerness is tempered by the reality of what I will be attempting.
Date: 2007-02-14
To: I'm Going to Die!
Miles today: 0.0

I went to the doctor yesterday for my annual physical. He said that I¢m going to die. That¢s not the first time I¢ve heard him say that ¢ he says it about every year. It isn¢t a comment on my current health, which is good, but his way of trying to get me to focus on how I¢m living my life. He uses the expected life expectancy for males and says, ¢You¢ve got 16 years to live (based on the charts).¢ He then urges me to live my life like I have a limited amount of time rather than frittering it away without purpose. Good advice and very timely with my attempting to hike the Trail.He had a lot of questions about my hike and wanted to know what I wanted to do when I finished. I told him I was planning on doing some consulting. He suggested I look at that saying that I should spend my time when I¢m in good health doing what I really want to do, not just what I¢m used to doing. That¢s a good area for contemplation while I¢m hiking.He also asked was I ready to be changed by the experience of being in the woods for a length of time? He asked me if I was ready to deal with changed expectations and values as a result of my experience. That is actually something I have given some thought to as the result of reading about other hikers experiences with re-entry into this world we all consider normal.Smart doctor knowing this is more than a physical adventure. The unknown I¢m facing is less the trail but the mental and emotional landscape I will be exploring.
Date: 2007-02-17
To: Training Outside
Miles today: 0.0

One of my former foster children gave a speech where she talked about the difference between training inside vs outside. She said that training in the gym would get you in shape but training outside fully prepared you since you had to deal with potholes, weather and other irregularities. She made the point that foster children trained for life outside by living in the foster care system which had its share of potholes and problems.I've been training in the gym but also trying to get outside as much as possible. Any of you who have backpacked know that the only way to really get in shape for it is to do it. Today I went on a hike with the Piedmont Hiking and Outing Club to McAfee Knob. Snow showers were forecast and we experienced some snow. The real challenge was as we climbed in elevation we got into snow and ice on the trail. About 1/2 mile from the top the trail was solid ice. It is difficult and exciting going! We finally made it to the top and had lunch. We didn't tarry too long and started sliding back down. We all made it safely. I think this qualifies as training outside!
Date: 2007-03-17
To: Heading to GA Tomorrow!
Miles today: 0.0

In 24 hours I'm heading to Georgia to begin my hike! Henry and Melissa Fourrier are taking me down. Melissa is the Executive Director for Foster Friends of North Carolina which I'm trying to raise money for their mentoring program. If you would like to donate you can find the information at www.ffnc.org - look under News and Events on their web site. We plan on driving down to the parking area on a Forest Service road about a mile from the summit of Springer Mountain and hike up to the top. That will get my first 0.9 mile of the AT done tomorrow - only 2,169.1 left to go. They will then take me to the Hiker Hostel outside Dahlonega, GA where I will spend tomorrow night. The folks from the hostel will provide a shuttle back to the parking area Monday morning for me to resume my hike.Getting ready to be gone for, hopefully, six months has been interesting. Trying to plan out so you have the right number of vitamins left in the bottle (the rest are packed), deleting settings for recording TV shows you normally watch, etc, feels strange. Then you look at the stuff you have packed to last for six months and contrast that with all the junk you normally have which gets you thinking about what you really need - definitely not as much as you normally have.I had a setback in my plans for updating this journal. My Pocketmail Composer had a software problem which prevented it from uploading multiple emails. I had to mail it to California for fixing and they are mailing it to me at Fontana Dam, NC. That means for the first couple of weeks I'll be keeping a manual journal and updating this journal whenever I can get to a computer with internet access.I'm eager to get started. Hopefully you will get my first trail entry in the journal tomorrow.
Date: 2007-03-18
From: Springer Mountain, GA

To: FS 42
Miles today: 0.9

Got started today! Henry, Melissa and Caroline Fourrier picked me up at 8:30 this morning and we drove down. We went to the parking area below Springer and all of us hiked to the top. After that we drove into Dahlongna where we had a delicious dinner. Then they dropped me off at the Hiker Hostel and headed on to Asheville where they are going to spend the night.One of the traditions of thru-hikers is to pick a rock up on the top of Springer and then deposit it on the top of Mt. Kataddin. I picked a rock up, and since I am trying to raise money for a foster child mentoring program, wrote the name of one of our foster children on the rock. The child's name I wrote on the rock is a kid who spent his first year of life in the hospital on a vent and receiving dialysis daily. He now is placed in a foster home - still on the vent and dialysis - but has been back in and out of the hospital. If you wish to help me carry this child and other children in foster care you can donate by signing on to the Foster Friends of North Carolina web site at www.ffnc.org. Look under news and events where you can find out about my hike and how to donate to the mentoring program.A great big thanks to the Fourrier's for their help and support in my hike.
Date: 2007-03-19
From: FS 42

To: Hawk Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 6.7
Weather: broken clouds

Jason from Hiker Hostel brought six of us up to Springer Mt. parking lot. Since I had hiked up to the top yesterday with Melissa, Henry and Caroline I started from the parking lot at 9:00. The beginning was a good long gentle downhill. I hiked about 5 miles and took a side trail to Long Creek Falls. I took a break there then hiked until 12:30 when I took a lunch break. After lunch I hiked about 100 yards and came to the side trail to Hawk Mountain Shelter. I hiked some with Ed from West Virginia and Tom. They decided to hike on a few miles more. Even though it was early, I decided not to push it and stop here. Barbara Corley, who I had emailed with was at the shelter. The shelter and camping sites filled up with more than 30 people present. Two of them were teachers from a private school in Nashville. The entire school had an assigment to read Bill Bryson's book "A Walk in the Woods." These two had gotten a grant to make a documentary of the trail and thru-hikers opinion of the book. Most of us were video interviewed. Most of the comments were very negative about the book and how "it did not represent the real trail experience." Most hikers have a lot invested in the trail and this is a major experience in their life. They don't appear to have the distance or perspective to appreciate Bryson's lite treatment of the trail.
Date: 2007-03-20
From: Hawk Mountain Shelter

To: Gooch Gap Shelter
Miles today: 7.3
Weather: broken clouds

Slept until 8:30 and away from the shelter at 9:30. Thought with 7.3 miles it would be another easy day. A number of steep climbs kicked my butt! No water on this section and I didn't drink enough water. Thought I would go to Gooch Gap (beyond shelter) but was too tired. Barbara Corley complained about my snoring (tenting near her) and her hiking friend, Aussie, thought it was a bear - guess I earned my trail name of Griz again!. Staying in shelter tonight due to no tent sites open. Hope my snoring doesn't keep everyone awake.
Date: 2007-03-21
From: Gooch Gap Shelter

To: Campsite
Miles today: 8.2
Weather: overcast clouds

Left out of Gooch Gap Shelter at 8:30. At Gooch Gap the Army Rangers were set up for a field exercise. The mountain part of Ranger training is located at the base of Springer Mt. The Rangers were running from Woody Gap and at Gooch Gap where they had truck, rifles and machine guns set out. Impressive group of guys running past as we made our way to Woody Gap. I decided not to push on to Wood Hole Shelter (12 mi.) but to stop at a campsite 8 miles short of Neels Gap. Tina, Ticker, Cayahoga, Keith and Brian joined me at the campsite. Today was warm but had a good breeze all day. Proud of myself for not pushing too hard. It is tempting to try and keep up with someone and driving yourself into the ground. I feel the pressure to hike on but need to listen to my body.