morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2007-03-15
From: Cold Spring Shelter

To: NOC
Miles today: 11.5
Weather: scattered clouds

A little rain this morning when we got up. Mostly because of the allitiude of the mountain. It was brief and nice to hear. Today we are heading into NOC to resupply and eat a resturant meal and spend the night. Many folks stop short and stay at Rufus Morgan Shelter but we are going to hit the Nantahala Inn tonight.
Date: 2007-03-16
From: NOC

To: Fontana Village - Zero
Miles today: 0.0

I have hiked this part before, some years ago with youth from a church group. So, I will switch to being a section hiker for the moment and see how many sections we can get in.Fontana post office was first stop to pick up food drop. Good we are zeroing because the weather is turning real bad. Snow in the mountains, high winds and dropping temps. Met up with several hikers who were at the Lodge. Had a great supper and enjoyed the time off. Got to watch a lot of basketball which is great.Tomorrow we will head into Ashville, NC to the airport and drop the Enterprise car. They do not allow out of state drops so we will switch to Hertz and head back to Maryland for a few days or R & R and regrouping.Dovetail is sad but we got to protect the back.
Date: 2007-03-17
From: Fontana Village - Zero

To: Home
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Nat needs to get off the trail so we are giving him a ride into Ashville to get a car at the airport. Just got to get the book out and try to remember where I stopped. I was at least 12 years younger.Still, good to drive home and talk and just reflect on how much we have enjoyed the trail so far.
Date: 2007-01-02
To: Happy Post Holidays
Miles today: 0.0

Well the Holidays are done (Unless you're Russian Orthodox) and I figure I should get to starting my journal. I'm a self-employed funeral director and have thought of hiking the trial for many years now. I was going to hike some years back after college but started working for my father (also a funeral director). That year I was able to hike a few days in my home state PA. Now I have the ability or craziness to attempt to hike the whole trail! The week before Christmas I went on a shopping spree at Campmor. I purchased all my clothing including rain gear sock shorts longies and trail shoes. Also Jetboil stove, Steri pen, and some stuff sacks. For x-mas gifts I got a Spork, Alti/Baro/Compass/Thermo Watch, pillow, and fake crocs (from Payless, they¢re lighter and cost less) from my Girlfriend Kelly. I in turn got her a map so she can follow me along the way. (Although I will lie so she can¢t find me.) I previously ordered my Vapor Tail backpack, Micro puff Jacket and Tarp tent. All of my gear will be listed and reviewed in the gear section to the left.I¢m pretty ambitious in my plans. I have only allowed myself four months to complete the trail. Reasons being: 1. I own my own business and need to get back ASAP. 2. I have two girls (Izzy 4 & Emma 3) and need to get back to them ASAP and 3. I¢m taking them and Kelly on a cruise in Aug. I have read many journals here and am prepared for many long days of hiking and few zeros. I¢ve trained and ran several long distance races and have been going to the gym fro a couple of years now. I¢m mostly concerned with my mental ability to be away from everyone for so long. I¢m planning visits with the kids and family at least once a month but hopefully more when hiking close to home. Kelly is in Med School at MSU so who cares, I don¢t see her anyway¢¦she¢ll get to post my journals so its like seeing me, except more work. Well that¢s all for now I¢m going to update the gear and mail drops as can.
Date: 2007-01-03
To: Letter for local paper
Miles today: 0.0

This is a letter I will be sending to the local paper and to several business that have helped in previous fund raisers that I have held. Run for Food was a 5K Run/Walk that I held Sept. 2006 and from that we were able to donate $1500 to the local food pantry. Here's the letter:From the maker of RUN FOR FOOD comes the next installment of fundraisers the HIKE FOR HUNGER. Brought to you by Corey Strauch, Strauch Funeral HomeFirst off let me thank all those who supported the Run for Food back in September. We raised $1700 and after expenses were able to donate $1500 to the North Pocono Food Pantry and North Pocono Dry Goods. With these funds the groups were able to help local families during the Thanksgiving and Christmas Holiday. I am writing this today to ask for your help again for the same groups. I will be hiking the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine some 2175 miles and am asking your support to sponsor me with a donation. Any form of monetary donation will be accepted be it a per mile donation (a donation of $.02 per mile is $43.50) or a onetime donation. All monies collected will be split between the two groups. None of the money will be used for the hike; I will be taking care of all of my expenses. This is merely to raise money for some deserving charities that help quite a few area residents.And now little bit about my journey. I will start March 16, 2007 from Georgia and will be traveling by foot the whole way to Maine, carrying everything I need on my back. The total journey will be 2175 miles not including trips to town for food and some site seeing. I will sleep most nights on the trail in shelters or in a tent. I will be gone for four months, which will require me to hike an average of 18.5 miles per day to complete the trail in my allotted time. You will be able to track my progress with my daily journal located in the Hike for Hunger link on the funeral home website www.strauchfuneralhome.com. Also on this site will be a list of the towns I will check mail and how to send me items hiking.While I am gone family and friends will support me on the trail by mailing packages to certain towns and visiting at arranged locations. My family and current staff will also tend to the Funeral Home. I would like to thank Tim Kramer and Colleen Mcguire for offering to work extra hard during my hike to ¢hold down the fort.¢ I hold them in the highest regard and know they will work hard and faithfully to run the funeral home in my short absence. I hope to meet a lot of new and interesting friends along the way and hope that this trip will help to raise money for these deserving charities and in turn the families that they serve.Now for the formalities. Donations can be made in person at he funeral home or by mail. (Checks should be made to RUN FOR FOOD as I already have this account set up from pervious fund raisers. The mailing address is RUN FOR FOOD C/O Corey Strauch, PO BOX 212, Moscow PA 18444. Any questions can be directed to cbs125@yahoo.com.
Date: 2007-01-08
To: the small stuff that's pretty big
Miles today: 0.0

hey folks,i was on whiteblaze.net the other day a noticed a post regarding last minute items that have to be done before you leave on your through hike. so since then i have been creating lists for my home team. i have three crews, well more like three areas of support. 1. my on trail needs i.e. mailing gear, updating journals and basic moral support while on the trail. These will be looked after by my family and mostly by Kelly. (oh by the way she just left yesterday to go back to Med. School) 2. Business needs. These will be looked after by Tim and Colleen. they will have the task of running three funeral homes and my rental property while i'm gone. i have been trying to write everything possible down to help them, but they have been with me for some years now and pretty much know whats going on. I hold them in the highest regard and am sure they will run the business with the same care and compation that our family has been for over 100 years. 3. My girls. I was talking with them this weekend and we watched a video about the trail by Flagger. Izzy asked how long i was going to be gone and I preceded to tell her. She thought a little and answered back " so you'll be hiking for a day and night and day and night and day and night...." well needless to say i think she gets it. we discuss her meeting me on the etrail and doing a few short hikes with me and her sister. I would be neat if she could see the ponies in the highlands, She loves horses and rides every Wed. and Weekends. I've also been going over the endless list of little odds and ends that i have to put together i.e. a tooth brush I'm not sure how or why i forgot this but i just thought of it tonight. so on tothe to do list it goes cut handle off a tooth butsh and place in pack. I've also been wresteling with the purchase of a Western Mt. 20degree down bag ultra lite. its $345 (i need the long) It seems a bit high for a bag but then again it is really light. Oh well get the best and ride it hard. Its only a few dollars a day over the length of my hike.
Date: 2007-01-15
To: T Minus 2 Months
Miles today: 0.0

Well in two months I¢ll be setting foot on the approach trail and eventually the AT to start my thru hike. I¢ve been busy taking care of things before I go; especially for the business. I purchased my last big gear items (ie bag poles & shoes). I set up a spread sheet, just a few minutes ago, to figure out my pack weight. I pleasantly surprised my full pack weight is 28.10 lbs with a quart of water and 5 days of food. There is room for improvement but I will start with this and send stuff home as I see fit. I also put together a plan for the first portion of my hike. This plan will take me through to my father¢s house near Waynesboro at mile 848.8. As I mentioned earlier I am planning on daily mileage in the low 20¢s; so I planned on starting slow in the first weeks and adding mileage as I get stronger. This plan looks to get me to Waynesboro on April 24-25, Starting on the 15th of March. I¢m sure this schedule will be out the window in a couple of days on the trail, but what the heck I needed to satisfy my craving for the trail.Oh yeah, on the starting date I have decided on March 15th, ¢The Ides of March¢. Basically because it¢s a Thursday and I hope to avoid some of the weekend crowd at Springer. As far as getting there I looked at several options and the most economical looks to be Greyhound ($71). The problem is that its a 1 day and 3 hour ride to get from Philadelphia to Gainesville. I have to look into a shuttle from there to Amicola State Park. I¢m going to check with the list on Trail Place., Unless someone volunteers¢¦¢¦ any takers??? I¢m going to the AMC meeting Wednesday, with a friend of mine Ray ¢The Gray Panter¢. He completed his section hike of 15 years, 2 years ago. He invited me to this meeting because there are going to be two thru hiker giving presentations of their hikes. I should be able to pick their brains for useful info. Until then, See ya
Date: 2007-01-18
To: I'm leaving on a jet plane
Miles today: 0.0

Well its official now. I just bought my airline ticket to Atlanta. Thanks to Traildust, I checked out Airtran and got a great rate $89 total from Philadelphia on March 14th. I was going to take a bus but it¢s a long ride. I also reserved a spot at the Hiker Hostel run by Josh and Leigh they will pick me up, put me up for the night, feed me breakfast and shuttle me to the trail the next day. I will have to mail so of my gear down ahead of me due to airline restrictions but that seems a small inconvenience compared to 28 hours on a bus. (The bus will let you take extremely dangerous items such as tent stakes with you where the airline won¢t) In other news I went with Ray ¢The Gray Panter¢ to his AMC meeting last night. Boy it was great to here from a live person who thru hiked. Basically I have gotten all of my info from the web but have never personally talked to a thruhiker one to one. Betty ¢Energizer Bunny¢ Thru hiked in ¢06 and had tons of pictures and stories to tell. But the first hand knowledge was priceless. I really wanted to know how long a jet boil canister would last so I asked expecting a general answer, she replied 17 boils. Thats perfect, now I know. These are the kinds of questions I got answered. She was a wonderful lady with a great spirit; at one point during the hike she took 6 hikers and their 3 dogs in at her house for the weekend. She talked a lot about the trail angels and trail magic she received., one gentleman even gave her a ride from southern VA to her home in PA about 7 12 hours. Now that¢s trail magic. On the gear I just received my tent from Tarptent it very light and just over 2 pounds. I haven¢t set it up yet because I need my trekking poles to get here from Campmor once they come in I¢ll have all my gear and will start to focus on planning a few mail drops. I will mostly re-supply in sores along the way but there are a few places I will send some food the first is Fontana Dam, I hear they don¢t have a very good selection and I¢ll need a good amount there to get through the Smokies.
Date: 2007-01-20
To: Snow!!!
Miles today: 0.0

Well after most of the winter season gong by with the temps in the 50's, we recived our first 1.5" of snow. We usually have a couple feet by now. i figures that this is the year I bought a 4-wheeler with a plow. Yer damn right I was out there last night a 7pm with the kids plowing a measly inch of snow. So if we figure a cost per plowing it would be $4900.00 (quad w/plow) divided by 1. Seems it would be cheaper to pay someone. oh well.I recieved my treking poles and vasque trailrunners from campmor. After much debate, mostly with myself, I sent the shoes back. I guess i'm really an 11. (I ordered a 10.5) You see up until this year every pair of shoes i bought was a 10.5, now the last pair of merrel's was an 11 so i guess my foot is flattening out from running. I really like the design of the vasque's so i'm reordering them in an 11. I also got my new palm treo 680. I'll use this for updating this journal,my cell phone and as my camera. I'll upload the entries when i have service. (mostly in towns). That pretty much takes care of all my gear.Now all thats left to do is wait. Oh yeah and seam seal my tarp tent. to cold to now though.
Date: 2007-01-23
To: Take a Hike
Miles today: 0.0

I went on a training hike today. It was on the Frank Gantz Trail from the Gouldsboro State Park to the Tobyhanna State Park. (3.2mi) I finished my 1st thru hike & then decided to yo-yo it. Today was a great day about 28 degrees and partly cloudy. I brought my pack along for the walk and loaded it with 25 lbs of gear. I made out very well. Out in 1hr 3min & back in 57 mins. On the way back I had to stop for the train there are pics in the album. When I got back I headed over to the gym & walked another 1.8mi. I'm looking to do an over night trip on the Pinchot Trail some time soon. It's a 23 mile trail 20 minutes from my house. (I need to seam seal my tent still!) I noticed my Merrell's are a bit soft in the sole, although the Vasque's I tried had a very firm and supportive sole. I'll just have to wait to get them back from Campmor. All in all it was a great hike on a great day. I saw not one living creature.
Date: 2007-01-30
To: Welcome locals
Miles today: 0.0

If your reading this odds are you read the article in the Villager. For those of you not from the area the Villager is a local paper in which an article ran 1-31-07 about my hike. Thanks for showing an intrest in my journey. I stared this journal to give family and freinds a way to track my progress and keep in touch. I invite you to take a look through the pages of my journal, Photos, Gear section and sign my guest book. I will be up dating the journal from the towns that the trail passes through. So check back and see how I'm doing. Also if you'd like to donate the the North Pocono Food Pantry mail you donation to Hike for Hunger, PO Box 212, Moscow, PA 18444. Thanks again for your intrest and support of the Food Pantry.   An up date on my hike preparation. With the purchase of some smaller items (i.e. Lithum ion batts., Purell hand sanitizer, Index cards and floss) I have all the gear I need. Next step is to purchase food for my few mail drops and pre-package them. We've been busy here at the funeral home so my hiking has been few and far between. That said I still walk four miles a day aand work out at the gym. Hopfully that will translate into good "Trail fitness". That' it for now.
Date: 2007-02-10
To: Conversation
Miles today: 0.0

I had an interesting conversation with the father of a thru hiker. Bob if you¢re reading this you really help calm some nerves and at the same time made me more anxious to get to Springer. Any way Bob¢s son hiked a couple years ago his trail name was ¢Naked Son¢. His tails really helped get a sense of trail life. In other news the Contrail Tarp Tent got seam sealed the other day. I did it inside and the fumes probably killed some brain cells hopefully on the ones I don¢t use. We¢ve been busy at the funeral home so any other efforts to deal with trail issues have gone by the wayside. I have an apartment to get painted and rented before I leave, so that will take some time. Painting isn¢t the hard part, its the preparing to paint and the clean up that stinks. Well just a little note to let everyone know what¢s going on. Come on March 15th P.S. To a certain someone (clearing throat) Kelly (clearing throat) my birthday is coming up this month and a Swiss Army knife Classic SD would be great. And light.
Date: 2007-02-14
To: One More Month
Miles today: 0.0

I¢ll be leaving for the Hiker Hostel in one month. I got a great deal on a flight from PHL to ATL with Air Tran. Since I¢ll be flying I don¢t wan to check my bag in case it would get lost. So what I will do is mail certain gear items ahead to the hostel. Items that you can¢t take as carry on, ie. Tent stakes, stove, and liquids also some bulky items to make my pack easier to fit into the overheads. I¢m only going to pre package one mail drop for now that will be Fontana Dam. The rest I will just call ahead to home and have one prepared. My gears is all purchased and packed in my pack. I¢ve gone over the important details regarding bills, insurance and personal information with Colleen and Tim. I talked to the bank about getting an ATM card. (yeah I made it this far with out one) All that¢s left to do is wait. One question I have is about phone cards. I¢m not sure if I should get a pre-paid phone card or something from my home phone company. I¢ll be taking my cell phone but I understand that there my not be cell services in every town. So let me know what you think.It still doesn¢t seem real. When I talk to people I can tell them all about the trail and how I¢m going to do certain things but until I get out there and hike I feel a bit like a fake. Well here¢s to not being a fake a proving that it¢s not all talk.
Date: 2007-02-19
To: Mail Drops
Miles today: 0.0

Ok I finaly added some mail drops. You can see the list of them by clicking the link on the left "Mail Drops". My plan is to resupply in stores in town so I won't be getting packages of food at all these places. I listed them more so that family and freinds can send me stuff. (Cookies, Candy, Cards) I only have food coming to Fontana Dam, S. Mountain, Arden, and Possibly Hanover (this is where i plan to get my winter gear back). I've been reading the journals of some other hikers that have started already Good Luck to all of you. Reading their journals makes me want to be out there now. Well soon enough.
Date: 2007-02-22
To: Birthday
Miles today: 0.0

Well one more year of the twenty somethings. Thats right today I turned 29. We had a small get together at Colleen's house. The girls got me a sportsmen bible and a whistle for my hike. Izzy said that I should take the whistle incase I ever get lost to use it for help. I also got a phone, card so I can check that off the list, also some trail food. The cake was pretty neat, the girls got a kick out of eating me. I've got a package packed up with my first few days of food and other items I can't take on the plane as carry on. I'll mail it to the Hiker Hostel in the next few days. Happy Birthday to me. See Ya. P.S. I added some more photos. check them out.
Date: 2007-02-23
To: Palm Treo Journaling
Miles today: 0.0

This is just to see how easy or hard it would be to add an entry directly from my phone. It seems to work well so far. Today is my first full day at 29. It really is no different than my last day at 28. As I write this I'm at a work trying to look busy so Tim        dosen't ask me to do anything. Not much longer until I leave now.
Date: 2007-03-01
To: Two Weeks 
Miles today: 0.0

that says it all. I mailed most of my gear and four days of food to the hiker hostel a couple of days ago. I'll tell ya it still dosen't seem real. It warmed up a little today so I was able to get off the treadmill and walk outside. I put my superfeet insoles in and the one in my left shoe is bugging the heck out of me. It hasn't caused a blister but it feels odd under my heal. I'm going to give it a day or so then make a dicison. Also I am looking into some lighter shoes. Kelly and I will be leaving Sunday for a cruise from Miami and then be back for March 10 for the St. Pat's parade and my going away party. Good luck to everyone on the trail and those who will be starting. I'll try to update from the ship. See ya.
Date: 2007-03-13
To: Heading to Georgia
Miles today: 0.0

I head out early Wed. morning (4:30am) to the Philadelphia Airport. I¢ll hopefully catch my flight and be in Georgia by noon. After that it to the Hiker Hostel to repack and get ready for the approach trail. First, though let me bring you up to speed. The cruise was great we had perfect weather for the whole week mid to high 70¢s and no rain. When Kelly and I got o Miami we headed to South Beach to meet her friends from school. We went out with them to a club called Niki beach. Well I was not ready for that. It was packed and expensive. People were driving really Ferraris and Lamborghini¢s and there I was with my shirt I bought at Target. The next day we got on the ship the cruise went great. It was spring break week for Florida State, so a lot of them were on the cruise. Imagine, I only got slapped once. We got back to Pennsylvania, late on Friday and then were up early Saturday morning for the St. Patrick¢s Day Parade. Well I didn¢t see the parade so we¢ll just say the St. Patrick¢s Day Festivities. After a short nap it was off to my going away party. We had a great turn out and raised a lot of money. Tim, whose running the funeral homes while I¢m gone, sang a rendition of ¢Takin¢ Care of Business¢ using his own words, pretty funny. I¢ve got to thank Colleen and Tim for planning the party and making up those tee shirts.It great to see so many people are interested in my journey even if I have to pay for a big party. From Sunday until today I was running around trying to get the last minute stuff done and buy hiking shoes. Yeah a little late but I wasn¢t happy with pair 1-3 that I tried so now on to New Balance 810 trail runners. I took the girls out to dinner and had a special time with them before I leave. Izzy had some words of wisdom ¢just blow your whistle if you get lost and everything will be ok.¢ Kelly went back to MSU this morning, to get back to her normal medical school life. Plans are to see every one once I get closer to PA. Tonight is my last supper and then I will be going out with my best friend Anthony and Mark. The next update will be from the Hiker Hostel.
Date: 2007-03-14
To: Access trail to Springer Mountain
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

I arived at the hostel today after a plane, train, and automobile trip. The place is great. I participated in a health study. A professor from Alma College in Michigan is conducting research on AT thu hiker proir to, during, and after their journey. Well I'm off to socialize with the crew. I belive there are 16 hikers heading out tommorrow. See ya.Corey Strauch "Trocar" GA->ME '07