morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2003-07-05
From: Route 17

To: 7 Lakes Drive - Harriman State Park
Miles today: 7.7

After a bagel breakfast we all headed to Route 17. Wench and I got dropped off and the others placed the cars at the end and their starting point. We hiked to a hiker lot on Arden Road, where the rest of the group was to start hiking. A nice sunny day was in store for us. Nice shady hollows, grassy ridges, as tree that fell as we were watching it¢¦then the Lemon Squeezer. Everyone will remember climbing through this. First, under a section of rock, like a cave. Then through a narrow rock channel, then up a rocky face and over the top!! Very cool. Everyone was proud of this accomplishments. Shari, Cathy, Willie, Ashley, Nick, Wench and I all get Lemon Squeezer Merit badges. Nick gets his ¢be prepared¢ badge. He saved the day with a rope and gloves to help some of us through the tougher sections. We all had a very enjoyable day of hiking and socializing. Followed by Wench and I doing another couple of miles alone and a Bar-B-Q at the campground my brother was staying at. Of course Beer was involved! There was also a campfire and marshmallows! Very cool. It was a nice to see everyone over the last five days, it¢s been awhile since I had seen Mike and Carol at their wedding. And it had been 3+ months since I had seen my wife, so that was a nice reunion too!! I know I¢m leaving things out, but I am writing this days later, so what can I say. My wife will be writing up entries of her own to tell her hiker story¢¦stay tuned. NOTE: When we walked by the dead tree (still standing), Shari said ¢ that tree is going to fall, soon!¢ Well 1 minute later we heard a big cracking noise, and as we watched, the big tree with tree trunks fell. Now that was cool!
Date: 2003-07-07
From: Graymoor Friary

To: Bear Mountain Inn
Miles today: 6.7
Weather: scattered clouds

What a good nights sleep. I used my stim unit on my back last night, took a hot shower, relaxed. A nice meal of veal, a baked potato, vegetable medley, and 2 draft beers, must have helped me sleep. We got up at about 9AM, because the AT, thru the trailside zoo was closed until 10AM. We ate our backpacker breakfast (bars), then left for the trail. We walked through the zoo right after it opened and saw wolves, a fox, an otter and a bear (took pictures). On the way out we saw a baby bird fall out of a tree (couldn¢t fly), and land in the zoo driveway. It looked hurt and we tried to move it without touching it. Lots of birds were landing to encourage it (Chickadees?), but no luck. Finally a zoo truck came by and the guy just picked it up and moved it. The we started over the Bear Mountain Bridge (very cool, a big flag hung from it), and up Anthony¢s nose (huff¢¦puff¢¦). Saw a real neat deer, young, tall, intense color, slim¢¦ it almost glowed. Down the trail a bit, we saw a Citgo sign through the trees and dreamed of sodas!! But we came out of the woods, the store was closed! Sigh¢¦but the soda machine was plugged in (but the bill changer didn¢t work..no soda). So on we went, until we got to Graymoor for water and a break¢¦ok¢¦ we never left..the lure of a free meal kept us there and we had a long break, snacked and went to the friary to eat! Salad, pasta and broccoli w/ garlic, ice tea, and water and pudding. Father Fred led us to the meal (he also came to the pavilion and talked to us first). Later the rain and thunder started and it poured. The Pavilion started getting wet, but it didn¢t last long. So now, here we sit, bait for the mosquitoes¢¦. It is going to be a long night.
Date: 2003-07-08
From: Graymoor Friary

To: Shenandoah Tent Site
Miles today: 17.6

It was a long night, but not as bad as expected. I loaded up on DEET and got in my bag (Hot!), covered with my silk liner and slept. Bugs were only bothersome when I first went to bed, and again at 6 AM. Boy, was I hot last night. We started out about 7:45 AM, Man was it humid!! I was dying right away, hot head, sweaty body and legs like rubber. I felt like crap¢¦ I drank water every chance I got, stopped for of ¢off my feet¢ breaks, ate lots of snacks, and eventually I felt a little better (sort of). I still felt like crap, but my legs weren¢t rubbery, so I kept moving. Today was a combo of Hot/Humid/Still air, sweat, fatigue and groaning. But it felt good to finally do a full day of hiking after a week of easier days. Gotta get back into hiking mode.. It ain¢t easy¢¦ The terrain today was lots of PUDs (pointless ups and downs), but with some pretty & historic sites mixed in (revolutionary war sites where they inoculated soldiers for diseases, old rock walls all over, an old mine train bed which is now the AT).. Too bad it was so hot and humid, it would be a nice section to do when it¢s cooler. We hop scotched back and forth all day with Cobra & Splash, each of us taking many rest breaks, finally arriving at the Shenandoah tent site. What a nice place! A mowed lawn, cold water, picnic tables with a roof, a nice breeze. It doesn¢t get any better than this. We are all tenting, so no bugs, what a nice change of pace. NOTE: a little trail magic today, compliments of Puff-Puff & Snappy. A pile of sodas, after a road crossing¢¦ Thanks! Tonight, we sat around journaling, drinking extra water, and cooking (imagine that, I haven¢t cooked dinner since PA). Somewhere along the way I lost my spoon, so I made chop sticks out of branches. It worked OK. Now off to bed after hanging our food bags. I¢m sleeping late tomorrow, I can¢t get to NY 52 (Stormville), until 11AM when the pizza place opens. I¢ll keep you posted! Good night. PS. Did I mention how nice it was to see & hike with everyone? Thanks Wench, Willie, Cathy, Ashley, Nick, Mike, Carol, & especially Shari! She made it all happen. Glad you could all come, even more glad you could all hike with me! It¢s pretty cool, isn¢t it? Hard work too. Thanks again for everything.
Date: 2003-07-09
From: Shenandoah Tent Campsite

To: Telephone Pioneer Shelter
Miles today: 17.9
Weather: moderate rain

It was great to sleep bug free last night! I got up at 3AM to pee, and saw lots of beautiful stars, it was a great night. But morning came early, so much for sleeping late, we were up by 7AM and on the trail shortly after 8AM. It was overcast & humid, we were sweaty when hiking, and sweaty sitting still¢¦ But relief soon came in the form of a steady drizzle. Not great weather, but good to hike in (except for the wet rocks). Not to worry, the drizzle didn¢t last long, soon it was a downpour! We arrived at NY 52 after the rain stoped, and we hiked 4 tenths of a mile east, to a pizza joint & deli. Wench & I split a large pizza with Pepperoni, Sausage & Meatballs on it (OK, we were only able to eat 3 slices each, with some soda & juice). Might have been a bit too much meat on an empty stomach¢¦ In a bit I had some stomach gurgles that insisted that I visit the mens room¢¦ Not a pleasant visit, but OK, so I wolfed down another slice, and my body told me to go back to the bathroom! NOW!! Boy did I listen¢¦ Phew, emergency evacuation time¢¦ Everything in my system left at once, as I sat down¢¦ I was sweating, had chills, generally felt like crap¢¦ Needless to say, I didn¢t feel so great the rest of the day (but I felt better than I expected to.). 2 Amodiums, and I was back on the trail, traveling slow¢¦ We were with Big Paw, Cobra & Splash last night, and they were also at the Pizza/Deli. Cobra & Splash were renting a car to do chores for the day (Laundry, shopping, outfitter, hotel), Big Paw continued on. At the next shelter, we ran into ¢Not the Kennedys¢ (John & Jackie), Pig Paw, also Chicken feet & Flanders (we met them on the trail before the shelter, they were excited to meet us, they have been behind us for ages. Since we are going to Gretchen & Brians tomorrow (friends of Submans), we decided to continue on to the Pioneer shelter, so we only have 11 miles to hike tomorrow to get picked up. Today was a long day, we were both tired (two 17+ miles days in a row, after slower days is tough). We ate cold dinners & jumped into our sleeping bags to relax and journal¢¦ Note to self: Don¢t forget to take Advil during the day, my knees REALLY hurt when we stopped today. Bending my knees ached! Lots of short ups and downs & rocks today¢¦ Feels better now, gotta love that Advil! It¢s a cooler night, so we are in the shelter in our bags, not just our silk liners. Much better sleeping when it¢s cool out, less mosquitos too (So I only used a little Deet tonight). NY is almost done, life is good! 1428.7 miles down, 742.9 to go!! PS. Dirty Harry arrived here after dark, he hiked 35 miles from Graymoor (he left at 5AM). Yikes! Why? Because he can I guess¢¦.
Date: 2003-07-12
From: Parking Lot by CT 55

To: Stewart Hallow Brook Lean-to
Miles today: 18.2

Another beautiful day in New England (I love being able to say that). Woke up to birds chirping (went back to sleep). I finally got up, showered and went downstairs to waffles, Maple syrup and coffee. Gretchen, Brian, Wench & I sat down and ate breakfast and talked for quite a while. We were in no hurry to leave, but finally we had to. Sniff¢¦ Sniff¢¦ I whined again about hopw heavy my food bag was, then took everything anyway (I would regret this). We all got in the car and headed to the AT parking lot we got picked up from. Rest stops are nice, but it always feels good to get back on the trail (especially when you are doing a long distance hike. You feel the urge to get going, make progress).It was a nice sunny day, with a cool breeze blowing (just how I always expected New England to be. OK¢¦ Forget about the below zero temps they are having as I type this in¢¦). We are starting today in CT, but the trail still loops back into NY before it goes into CT for good. Then we will have finished 9 states and will soon be done with the tenth (the AT in CT is not very long). Did I mention that we are now 2/3 done with the AT? Yahoo!@ We will soon have less than 700 miles to go. We¢re very excited, we are in new England and dreaming about NH, and going above tree line. Submans email is getting us psyched for Maine! Having said all that, today was a ball buster of a day. We finished it with sore feet, knees and backs. Hopefully this is getting us in shape for things to come, then the pain will be worth it. Note: Something my wife said to me when she was hiking the NY section of the AT with Wench and I is sticking in my head. I guess most people don¢t understand what backpacking really is. It¢s not like walking around the block. She said, she didn¢t realize she would have to look at the ground all the time, to be sure of every foot placement¢¦ She thought she would be able to look around more. She realized how easy it would be to get hurt, just by looking around while we walk (now she tells me to be careful more than ever¢¦ But I¢m not). She is also hooked on my Leki poles, and loves the Lemon Squeezer. But back to today. Three or four good climbs, lots of bumps up & down, good views of north of 10 mile hill, Calebs Peak, and St Johns Ledges. Then down that shitty pile of rocks they call a trail (an injury waiting to happen), and along the river to the shelter. We did 18.2 miles, and started at 11AM. Not bad, we finished at about 8:15 and we have the shelter to ourselves (well, us and a billin mosquitos). Tomorrow, we¢ll sleep in a bit, maybe do a shorter day (there are more hills tomorrow). Enough for now, time for a little sleep. We¢re glad to be in New England, life is good!
Date: 2003-07-14
From: Belter's Campsite

To: Laurel Ridge Campsite
Miles today: 19.9
Weather: overcast clouds

Another nice hiking day, we were up and out on the trail by 8:30 (Bird & Fido left earlier, they are resupplying in Salisbury). We hiked past ¢Belters Bump¢, a small overlook (it was 30 feet from where I set up my tent (the AT looped around behind us), along the Housatonic River, then over an iron bridge by a park (very useful description¢¦ I still don¢t remember this¢¦ sorry.). After a short break, we went up to the Prospect Mountain overlook and took another break (seems like we got here too soon, are the miles in the data book right for this section?). then we paused again at Rands view & Billy¢s view (I almost remember these, along a big field). This next part I remember, it was lunch in a cemetery near Salisbury, under a big oak tree (with a water spigot¢¦ boy was I thirsty¢¦). Next was Lions head, a great rock overlook with cool views (and blueberries). We like breezy overlooks, and this was a really nice one. The views came with a price tag (the climb), but it was worth it. For the next section, we just set the hiker cruise control and enjoyed the day. Next stop, Bear Mountain (again¢¦ This time in CT). The climb up Bear mountain was awesome, steep, but it had great views most of the way up. We could hardly wait to get to the top! We weren¢t disappointed, there was a giant pile of rocks (man made), to climb & sit on to enjoy the view. We looked North to the mountains, and at Sages Ravine, flat lands and twin lakes to the east & southeast. We met a CT AMC Ridgerunner here and talked a while as we rested and soaked in the views. This has been one of those great days to remember (it figures I forgot part of it, but I remember the mountains & the views clearly). But now onward into Sages ravine & maybe beyond. The north side of Bear mountain really sucks, steep down, with lots of rocks and such, my knees remember this part of the day very well. We got water at Sages Ravine campsite from a stream (the ridgerunner is based here). Then hiked into the ravine (very cool). A nice trail down along the river. Water falls, rocks, Chasms, and DARK (not much light gets in here in the afternoon). Before we knew it we were across & out the other side of the ravine. I¢d like to hike through here again earlier, on a nice hot day (I saw a few nice swimming holes). We soon arrived at Laurel Ridge campsite, set up, ate & planned our assault on the Cheshire Post Office (another race to a Saturday mail drop we weren¢t going to make), then got in our tents. Note: we had 3 days of heavy Deet built up on us, but only a new coating keeps the Skeeters at bay (or a bug netted tent). So here I lay, journaling, my back started aching after we stopped for the day, but didn¢t hurt otherwise (for the last 3 days). I feel pretty good, I hope I can do another 19+ mile day tomorrow, we¢ll see. Hey, we are in Massachusetts!!! Holy shit, 1492.5 miles done, 680.1 to go! Time to listen to the radio a bit before sleep comes. Life is good.
Date: 2003-07-15
From: Laurel Ridge Campsite

To: Tom Leonard Lean-to
Miles today: 19.1

I didn¢t sleep well last night. I started out with muscle spasms in my lower back, and added in a rocky slanted tent pad¢¦ Oh well, I slept some. I used my STIM unit on my back, and listened to some sweet tunes to relax it a bit before I slept. I listened to some Jazz, some piano... Sigh, I really love music. Today dawned with fog everywhere, a change from last night where the moon was shining bright. We saw Kyle, the AMC ridge runner again, and said hello as we hit the trail. The views from race mountain were breathtaking, we were above the clouds on an escarpment for a while, and some mountains were sticking out of the clouds¢¦ Awesome! We had cool breezes and Sun for a while, then it got hot (as long as the trail went through the trees, we stayed cool, but the exposed sections wore me down). Today was a tough, rocky, long day, and we had long distances between water sources that made it worse. The heat wore me down more and more as the day wore on (we hiked for 11 hours). We had lunch at a nice spring, then later we found a nice garden shop near the trail with ice cream bars, water and Snapple!! Yahoo!! I bought 2 bottles of Snapple, and a Klondike bar. The bottled water for my bottle was free, compliments of the ¢Corn Crib¢ (Nice people). With a full load of water, we started the last 6 miles. Boy, were we beat. Lots of breaks and a slow pace, but the shelter still seemed to take forever to get to. The water source at the shelter, was way down a gulch, so we didn¢t get any, we conserved. It was only 2 miles in the morning, then a hitch to town to resupply. Note: We met our first Southbounder today, ¢Bluegrasshopper¢.
Date: 2003-07-17
From: Shaker Campsite

To: October Mountain Lean-to
Miles today: 18.7
Weather: overcast clouds

A buggy start to our day, the skeeters were out for blood. I slept well on my tent platform, I wish all the campsites had them (instead of crooked dirt tent sites). It¢s nice, tenting out of the mosquitoes¢¦ No DEET all over me, no need to cover up to escape them, more relaxing. We hiked north over the first mountain, and stopped at a nice spring to refill our water. It¢s a nice day to hike, with low humidity, shady trail corridors, a few good climbs (so much nicer when it¢s cool out). We had lunch by Upper Goose Pond, such a pretty spot to relax. We were going to stop in at the cabin & see Hiker Grampie, but it was too early in the day, so on we go to the October Mountain lean-to. In a bit, we passed a nice swampy pond, with a beaver damn & a beaver house (bilevel, half under & half above water). It was a sweet scene, with the mountain reflecting off the water, with the beaver community.. Dam nice.. ;-) But now we hiked north on autopilot for a while, my eyes on the ground in front of me (Wench is in front of me a lot, and I can only look at her butt so many hours a day..). The monotony was broken, when a Southbounder came by, with the trail name ¢Squeaky¢. He left Katahdin in June and was hiking strong, but looking tired. We finally arrived at the October Mountain lean-to, and found it empty. We have been mostly alone for days, it feels so weird after seeing people all the time. There are lots of people in front of us, and behind us, but we never see them. It¢s like we are the only Northbound thruhikers on the AT sometimes (I like that feeling). As we were cooking, journaling & settling in at the shelter, we were joined by 2 southbounders who started May 24th (Smokey & Cephas). So now there are 4 of us in a 12-16 person shelter¢¦ Still very quiet¢¦ Tomorrow will be different, we will be hiking thru downtown Dalton, MA at lunchtime. Hmm¢¦ A pub, restaurants, a convenience store, what else could you ask for? Well, we found out¢¦. A hotel. We never made it out of town, We smelled too bad, and a shower was calling our names¢¦. Well, 2 showers actually¢¦. She may be a wench, but she don¢t share her hot water.. ;-) Life is good. Note: All morning, I had sciatic pain in my right side (back & cheek). At lunch, I repacked my gear, moving a few items away from my lower back. No more pain the rest of the day!! Yee Ha!!
Date: 2003-07-21
From: Seth Warner Shelter

To: Melville Neuheim Shelter
Miles today: 13.1
Weather: haze

Wow, what a great nights sleep. Did I mention that 2 birds flew into my tent line last night? Ba-zing! That was the noise they made as they bounced off the tent line. Probably the same noise I made when I tripped over Jan¢s tent line way back at Gooch gap¢¦ Anyway, today was a good and a bad day. It was a great day to hike, cool & breezy, with great terrain, but I was mentally and physically drained, and didn¢t enjoy it much. I was dragging, but not sure why¢¦ I just was. The day had it¢s good points (level & downhill trail), but no real high points (except maybe the end). It was one of those days I wanted to be anywhere but here, but I knew I would get over it. After a late start this morning, we cruised north on autopilot until lunch time. We are now on the AT and LT, so we see more hikers on the trail. We met 2 nice LT hikers today (Raven & Skittles), and enjoyed talking with them at the Congdon shelter as we ate lunch. Before the shelter, as we passed a pond, I saw Moose tracks in the mud, and before that, bear tracks. But no live animals yet. Sigh¢¦ After lunch, we cruised on to Harmon hill, right before the drop down to Bennington route 9. here we found Bree, Chicken foot, Flanders, Snappy & Puff Puff taking a break in the grass. It was Puff Puffs20th birthday today, and they were celebrating. All of them but Bree, were camping there to enjoy the vista (fog) & relax. Little did they know, that 20+ kids were heading their way to camp too (we passed them up the trail). Pretty funny¢¦The rest of us hiked down the rock steps to Bennington VT 9, relaxed by the river, then headed up the mountain on the other side to the shelter. As I was climbing up a piece of steep sidehill trail, part of the trail gave way under my left foot and I fell¢¦ One leg hanging over the edge, with my other leg, ass and arm still on the trail. It was pretty comical, flailing around on the ground for a second so I didn¢t fall off the edge. It was a steep slope, but not one that I would have gotten hurt on (But I would have had to climb that damned hill again¢¦). We had heard how bad the descent to, and climb up from VT 9 was, but we¢ve done worse. And we were lucky enough to get to the shelter, before the rain started. As the rain started, 2 south bounders hiked in, they were brothers from Asheville, NC (trail names Sweat, and Suerte). Just as they pulled in, the sky opened up & it poured! There were also 2 LT hikers camped nearby¢¦ What a pair of Stoners, they were like an old Cheech & Chong bit. They came over to the shelter to cook, but looked to stoned to even eat, and they were soaked. The rest of the evening was just spent talking & relaxing. Now I journal, as the thunder echoes down the mountains¢¦ And the thunder rolls¢¦. A good song to sing myself to sleep with..
Date: 2003-07-22
From: Melville Newheim Shelter

To: Story Spring Shelter
Miles today: 17.4
Weather: moderate rain

What a thunderstorm last night! Big thunder, lightning, big wind, and rain. What a show. This morning, we kind of layed around until the rain let up a bit, then hit the trail at around 9. Another nice cool day, with some rain & fog, but a few views. We saw Bennington tower from a power line clearing, and some nice mountains from other vista points. I felt crappy again today, my breakfast just isn¢t cutting it, I get tired and worn out when the calories give out (which is pretty soon after I eat). But the rest of the day turned out OK. Well, up until I saw someone washing pots in a spring (a drinking water source). Grrrr¢¦. Then I saw a big truck, and lots of people standing around a parking lot. On the trail! Gheesh, what a noise! Then I walked out of the woods into the parking lot, and realized it was a clearing, and the truck was the shelter with a bg group of kids still there from the night before. Did I mention that a big owl flew over my head today? It was very big, and very cool. After the shelter, we all went up into a fire tower on the mountain. I took pictures, some looking straight down into the tops of the pine trees. It looked very cool at the time, but the picture ended up looking like something entirely different (more of a green algae look). After this break, the rest of the day felt pretty good, we had more nice weather and saw a ton of moose poop. We also saw a house cat & a jack rabbit. The jack rabbit stopped on the trail, looked at us, then ran right at us. It almost ran over our feet on the way by!! It made us wonder¢¦ What was the rabbit running from, that scared it more than we did? Hmmm¢¦.. Maybe we don¢t want to know¢¦. And on to the shelter we went (Bree, Wench, and Dog), and saw a section hiker, and some south bounders, got some information on the trail ahead, and had some good conversation. And now I lie in bed, waiting for sleep to come, so I will be ready for the 19 mile day we have planned for tomorrow (over Stratton Mountain). Life is good.