morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2017-07-03
From: Galehead Hut

To: Franconia Notch
Miles today: 13.6
Weather: scattered clouds

So often one day out here feels like a week. This morning I woke on my sleeping pad on the floor of Galehead Hut. Work for Stay puts you on the floor. Would you understand if I told you I¢d pay dearly for that privilege? The simplicity. The coolness ¢ it says, ¢I am a thru-hiker.¢  My sleeping bag is on the left: http://www.trailjournals.com/j...Alarm sounds at 5:30Hiking at 6:30.It¢s July 3rd and over 100 hikers passed me from the opposite direction. Over 100! Big climb up Mt. Lafayette. The morning was a long pull. I had a secluded lunch on Lafayette, the wind whipping like a gale ¢ with at least 50 other people! All these people out in our country¢s great outdoors. Including an interesting guest. A bright yellow sailplane buzzed us once, twice, three times. I think I shouted for joy each time. The third time I got a great short video. I¢ll post it on Facebook later and give you the link. Here it is: https://www.facebook.com/barney.s.mann/posts/10155456078296119?comment_id=10155456089796119 Afternoon brought spectacular views and moderate ups and downs over LaFayette¢s little brother peaks. I hiked with a group of 7, a lucky number, thirty-ish weekenders: Brendan Nick Ryan B Ryan J Matt Jen Kelly. Great company. The seven were so much fun that I followed them a quarter-mile off trail to climb Mt. Liberty. I guess it was fated, since it¢s the July 4th ¢weekend.¢ Here they all are at the top of Mt. Liberty: http://www.trailjournals.com/j...Between me and Franconia Notch is a 3-mile, 4000-foot descent. It¢s a long haul down. Down. Down.I¢m picked up by Bookie, an AT 2015 thru-hiker affiliated with The Notch, a hiker hostel just outside of North Woodstock. She is more than willing to stop in town to pick up milkshakes. I had her at ¢milkshakes¢ even before I said, ¢my treat.¢I am slackpacking tomorrow, which I look forward to. I¢ll explain it to you then.I have pizza in my tummy, chores ¢ food resupply (organized by my wonderful Frodo) and laundry, etc. ¢ all done and I really, really want to lay my hands on the guitar they have in the common room.As I said, hearing my alarm this morning at 5:30 feels like a week ago.
Date: 2017-07-05
From: Kinsman Notch

To: Highway 25, then Lincoln
Miles today: 9.8
Weather: light rain

I wake in the same top bunk here at The Notch Hostel. I can feel it in my bones, in the worn soles of my feet: today I tackle the last of the White Mountain giants, Mt. Moosilauke. After that, I have been promised by so many, ¢Scout, you¢ll see a kinder, gentler Appalachian Trail.¢ Personally, I¢ll take even slightly less cruel.  Here's the sign at the trailhead this morning: http://www.trailjournals.com/j...I am almost joyous during the initial steep climb. For a nearly 2000-foot rise the trail hugs a thundering cascade, kissing waterfall after waterfall. I don¢t put my earbuds in at any point; my power mix on the iPod shuffle is silent. No late 60s or early 70s oldies but goodies, no songs from the Les Miserable sound track, no songs from our Temple High Holy Day choir, no Dylan, no Joni Mitchell, no Simon and Garfunkel. I want to feel this climb, to set up and keep a strong rhythm. Even to glory in it.And, my gosh, in the steep sheer granite slabs, they¢ve dynamited toeholds or they¢ve bolted 6 x 6-inch wood blocks onto the slippery surface. It takes me three hours. At the top I break into the open, more than a mile of trail above treeline. Beautiful scenery day. I can see back to the Kinsmans, Lafayette, even Mt. Washington. These massifs that humbled me, made me feel grateful, feel on top of the world. (Frodo: I imagine it felt really good having those BEHIND you. Just think how it would feel to the poor northbounder, looking ahead to all the peaks that must be climbed.)I am gleeful; I am sad.Mike, my host for tonight ¢ Frodo, Sean, and I stayed in his condo during my zero day in Lincoln, just before I summited Mt. Washington ¢ meets me a half mile on the other side of the peak. He¢s parked at highway 25, the next trailhead. We walk, chatterbox our way down the south face of Moosilauke. I am having a shortish day, just shy of ten miles. I need it after 6 straight days of pushing hard. Around two miles from his SUV the trail changes. I hike on real trail tread. Where are the roots, rocks, stones, and granite slabs? We hike through a fallow farm field, waist-high flowering grasses and butterflies. I feel like I walked into Disney¢s Song of the South and I¢m singing with Uncle remus, ¢Zippety-Doo-Dah, Zippety-Day. My, oh my, what a wonderful day!¢  http://www.trailjournals.com/j...I don¢t know what the rest of the trail holds. But the signs are way positive.Dot, Frankenfoot, and Buck (whom I haven¢t seen for three weeks) are invited to stay at Mike¢s and Dorian¢s condo, too.We luxuriate in the Jacuzzi. Wow.¢What kind of ice cream do you want?¢ Mike asks each of us and then goes out to pick it up. So here we are: http://www.trailjournals.com/j...
Date: 2017-07-07
From: Eastman Ledges

To: Stealth Camp near Etna Road
Miles today: 22.2
Weather: broken clouds

I am climbing the stairway to heaven. Literally. If I look down I¢d be frightened. I look at each weathered wooden stair step, one flight, two, three, four, five, seventy steps. The Moody Blues did say climbing the stairway was work. They didn¢t say there¢s a trap door at the base of heaven, that you have to push exactly the right way and push hard, putting your shoulder into it. Have you guessed what I¢m doing? Hint: I¢m at the peak of the tallest mountain around and I¢m quite sober.I¢m up in the abandoned Smarts Mountain Fire Lookout Tower. Heaven has quite the view, let me tell you.Here's looking up:  http://www.trailjournals.com/j...And here's looking down:  http://www.trailjournals.com/j...This morning, before the tower, I ran into brother/sister pair Snooze and Sauce.  They were delighted with the AT Tattoos I gave them. ¢These are the best ever!¢  http://www.trailjournals.com/j...The fire tower was at my 5 mile mark and I am clicking along, my trekking poles twin metronomes, marking off trail mileage, 6, 7, 8¢¦ I¢ve tried to bring you right there when the trail hurts like a canker sore, so you deserve to stride with me now and walk this near-cushy, day-spa stretch. Eleven miles, and it¢s not late afternoon trying to push on for 15 or 16, but it¢s lunch. Lunch. I¢m on Holt Ledges, sitting on my own personal ledge. It was supposed to rain today. I have such sun on my ledge that I¢m wearing my sun hat. I started the day 27 miles from Hanover. I let myself daydream ¢ a luxury ¢ as the afternoon plows along. ¢Could I power through to Hanover? I¢ll go the Hanover Inn, price be damned! Twenty-seven miles be damned!¢ (Oops. Princess alert. Princess alert. If I say it twice, does that make up for it being after the fact?) (Reuben Scout alert, too.)I know it¢s a daydream, but I indulge it. ¢I¢ll order room service. So what if it¢s 11:00 pm?¢http://www.trailjournals.com/j...There are modest ups and downs. In an open field it starts raining at 7:30. At 8:00 under a heavy forest canopy, it¢s getting dark. It¢s two weeks past the solstice. I can feel the days are not quite as long.Five miles before Hanover, 8:30 and with the foot odometer just showing three of a kind, 22.2, I find a stealth camping spot.I set up the tent and crawl inside. I blow up my neo air mattress, write in my journal, I just can¢t face my cook pot. My eyelids suddenly feel as heavy as a 50-pound pack. ¢I¢ll just close them for a moment.¢ I force down a 3-oz pack of salted almonds. I pull out a pack of crackers. The crackers are still unopened when I wake again at 12:30.Hanover. It¢s like Dorothy¢s Emerald City on the horizon. I don¢t need a wicked witch chanting, ¢Poppies will put you to sleep.¢ I nod off again.I am going to have a BIIIG breakfast at Lou¢s on Hanover¢s main street, right on the AT.ZZZzzzzz¢¦..
Date: 2017-07-09
From: Hanover

To: Hanover
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

What a wonderful zero day. But before going there, how about a little culture? Is poetry culture-y enough for you? You see the photo and some of you have already recited the famous line. As I approached Hanover the last two days every few miles, running along in a dark forest, in great disrepair, a great stone wall heads out of sight in both directions. Who built these?Robert Frost memorialized them in his poem ¢Mending Wall¢. ¢Good fences make good neighbors,¢ Frost wrote that his neighbor said. Out here, the walls stood out. We are in a place where the walls have come down, almost disappeared between each of us. All these blocks we erect to measure, put each one of us in our place ¢ are we city or country folk, rich or poor, did we go to college or not, all of these fade in the face of our meeting in the outdoors.Frost wrote, ¢Something there is that does not like a wall.¢ Out here we¢ve found we can live fine without them. That¢s why it was so unusual to see this rock wall come out and try to clutch the trail.Annabelle and Andy could not have been more gracious hosts. They drove me all over Hanover and nearby Lebanon to find the only store in a 20-mile radius that had a gas canister for my stove. And when Dot, Franky, and Buck texted, ¢We are making it to town around six,¢ Andy and Anne picked up the three, made a special trip to buy fresh corn, etc., for a barbeque, and welcomed them into their home like long-lost cousins. We cavorted on the lake 200 feet from their house on paddle boards and kayaks. Anne and Andy actually thanked us all for coming into their lives, while we at the same moment were trying to thank them.The intrepid paddlers: http://www.trailjournals.com/j... and Dot and Franky, sort of paddleboarding:  http://www.trailjournals.com/j...Dot and I finally got to play guitar together, passing the instrument to the other as each of us finished a song. We four are sleeping spread out all over the house in soft places.I head out into Vermont early. The three of them will take a zero day.>>>A few bits and pieces. ¢ By now the term thru-hiker must be very familiar to you. But what, pray tell, is a thru truck? See this sign on a Hanover street. http://www.trailjournals.com/j...¢ I have totally thrashed another pair of socks. (Thanks, Frodo, for sending me a new pair and my food resupply. IMF.)  Photo of my socks: http://www.trailjournals.com/j...T ¢ Finally, let¢s end with a word or two from the three Princesses. The three wrote to me, along with their dad. The eldest wrote, ¢In your trail entry about boogers my dad read it each time you wrote it. At least that¢s what he said.¢ Dad reported that the three asked, ¢Why did they make Scout sleep in a dungeon?¢ Lastly, that they all three think Reuben Scout is adorable.¢Night.
Date: 2017-07-12
From: Stony Brook Shelter

To: Hwy 4, Yellow Deli Hostel in Rutland
Miles today: 9.8

Another great day. Should I just make an abbreviation for it? AGD. Just like IMF means I miss Frodo. And, boy, do I. But I can¢t go there. If I did I¢d buy a plane ticket.We have ten miles to town, to the Yellow Deli Hostel in Rutland. The one Moose has been awaiting for over a month, the one run by a sect called The Twelve Tribes. (I can only remember 4 of the 12. Shame on me.)Moose and I meet such delightful people on the ten miles in, and if there is such a thing as tame 1000-foot and 500-foot climbs, we had them.We would have taken only five minutes to filter water, but then NOBO Pockets showed up, chipper, bright-eyed, and as eager to talk to us as we were to her. And those legs of hers! Yes, they were shapely, well-muscled, young legs, but that¢s not what we noticed ¢ NO BUG BITES! After 20 minutes, Moose nudged me; we had to move on. Pockets got one of my last two AT tattoos.Moose and I had just finished chatting about how we¢d like to see more individuals of color out here (we¢d run into our first African-American NOBO), when we met four young adult hikers from Queens out on their first dayhike. Three miles that would end at Thundering Falls. They were Gozi, Habib, Salim, and Ariz, all Bangladeshi.  http://www.trailjournals.com/j...We sat down with them and went over their maps, made suggestions for their next day¢s hike. I had the luxury of Boy Scouts. These four are pulling themselves up by their own bootstraps to enter the outdoors. I hope they come back for more.The "pep talk" on my cough drop wrapper:  http://www.trailjournals.com/j...When Moose and I hit the highway, route 4, we knew we¢d have to hitch the six miles to town, or there¢s a once-an-hour bus you can flag down.  Had we blown it by all that chatting? Not even two minutes went by and here came the bus.We got settled in the Yellow Deli Hostel ¢ yes, there is a deli here, too. And they are so low-key about their religion. I eat, eat, eat. I send photos to Frodo of full plates and empty plates. I have a cherry turnover right next to me now, it¢s 10 pm, that I will eat before my eyes close. And I know I will cry soon.First, I am a monster. Only a monster rips up books. Since Day 1 I have carried a sheared-off 70 to 100 pages of Cider House Rules. After 500 miles, I have just a few pages left. Homer and Candy will soon finish their self-inflicted tragedy. Homer will answer that question posed by Charles Dickens in the opening lines of David Copperfield: ¢Will I be the hero of my own life or will someone else be?¢I¢ll eat my dessert. Then I¢ll cry. Good-night,
Date: 2017-07-17
From: hwy 11/30 and Manchester Center

To: Stony Spring Shelter
Miles today: 21.1
Weather: clear sky

I hiked 21.1 miles today and there were two views. That¢s not a typo. That¢s not exaggeration. There was the lookout tower on Stratton Mountain and a ledge, off trail, at Prospect Rocks.At Prospect the trail came on to a faint 4-wheel-drive road and you had to know to step off the trail/road and to walk through the woods off the road on faith and then you bust out on a rock with a penthouse view. So many people miss it that up the road there¢s a sign that basically says, ¢Stupidhead, Prospect Rock is 500 yards behind you. Go back.¢ Check out the sign and see if I am far off: (Frodo: the sign is much less obnoxious than that!) http://www.trailjournals.com/j...A ¢green tunnel¢ has character all its own. But it means that the trail is largely devoid of landmarks. On the PCT and CDT I was constantly aware of landscape features a mile or two and 5 or 10 miles away. Here I see 20 to 50 feet around me. If I am going up, then in all likelihood I am climbing a mountain. I¢m not complaining, just reporting one way this trail is so different. Jeff of Green Mountain House drove me the short distance from town to the trailhead. I got a 7:20 start on the trail. I¢d re-stocked a limited supply of the AT trail tattoos from my bounce box and one went to NOBO Ghosthiker, whose journal I¢ve seen on the trailjournalas.com site. She¢s a retired police officer and as you can see, she has still retained her ¢pumping iron¢ form. (Frodo: And she's all match-y! I love it!)  http://www.trailjournals.com/j...I¢m pushing to be in Bennington tomorrow night, 19 more trail miles, where I¢m set to meet a fellow hiker from PCT 2007. Voyageur is thru-hiking the AT northbound and we¢re set to rendezvous at the Catamount Motel for dinner.It¢s not often that I hear a new trail term, but over the weekend at Green Mountain House I heard a northbounder us one I hadn¢t heard before: ¢Tramily.¢ He was using it as shorthand for his trail family, the three or four he¢d been hiking with for a month.As Dot, Franky, Buck and I made plans to meet up Wednesday at Vermont highway 9 and start hiking around each other instead of seeing each other once a week, I wondered¢¦. Tramily?And speaking of my tramily from other trails, rumor has it that Guy On A Buffalo may jump on with me in the next few days. (Princesses, a word of advice. Do not ask your parents to show you the YouTube Guy on a Buffalo videos again.)Stratton Pond Shelter, at mile 10.7 today:  http://www.trailjournals.com/j...One more Eagle Scout story, from a reader: My son's college orientation included a two-week outward-bound style trip, including a 40-hour solo thing, allowing time for reflection and meditation. During his 40 hours, it rained non-stop and the trip leaders had to go out and bring in the other students after a day or so. When they finally went out to tell my son that time was up, they found him dry and warm, his gear was dry, his food was hot. "I am an Eagle Scout," he told them.It¢s thundering and raining cats and dogs. I am lying dry in the shelter. Grateful.
Date: 2017-07-21
From: Mark Noepel Shelter

To: Dalton, MA
Miles today: 13.9
Weather: few clouds

AGD. But before the details, I have to backtrack first, oh my gosh, to last night and ¢The Scotsman¢ song. These things don¢t happen in real life, but they happen out here.¢Buck, Franky, how about a lullabye?¢ That¢s what I said to introduce ¢The Scotsman.¢ I told them they needed to give a rhythmic clap background and join in the chorus. Dot and Sheriff and the other two had already tucked themselves in, snug in their sleeping bags. You readers have seen the lyrics. As I started singing the song, suddenly from 30 feet away, from a backpacking hammock, in a strong tenor voice, a northbounder had joined in! He knew all the words! His voice was so strong, I¢d go intentionally silent for a line and he¢d boom it out. Dot and all busted up, clapping in time, and this guy ¢Trek¢ is singing from out of the dark. Too, too much fun.Crack, shatter. Greylock had its SOBO hiker casualty. At it¢s terminal, Franky¢s (Frodo: actually Scout wrote ¢Frandy¢s¢ ¢ ha!) iPhone had met granite and if the game was rock, paper, scissors, and iPhone, the iPhone lost.  Backtracking again: Yesterday morning at a shelter we met Sean and Joey. They need to be mentioned. They are hiking one leg of a Green Beret Relay of the AT. Sean, if I recall correctly, served 25 years in the green berets. ¢Thank you both for your service.¢ They carry two flags that they will pass on. Sean said no one had ever asked to see their flags and take their photo with them: http://www.trailjournals.com/j...Today¢s hiking was great Franky and Buck zoomed out while it was still dark. They had off-trail errands to do that required renting a car. Dot, Sheriff, and I got off a bit after 7:00 am and hiked the 5 miles to Cheshire, where the Shell station housed a Dunkin Donuts. Two more breakfasts for me, but sorry, Princesses, no ice cream was involved.Sheriff had to peel off, spurting ahead the 9 miles into Dalton to make it there before the post office closed. I must say, the morning with those two was extremely pleasant. They¢d each had horses when they were quite young, each competed at a pretty high level. I so enjoyed listening to the two of them and adding the occasional story.Dot and I walked directly into the heart of Dalton. Dot was our angel, arranging for the four of us to stay at the lovely, welcoming and soon pizza-filled home of Dave, Margaretmary, Hannah, Holly, and a sleeping daughter I never saw. Here¢s a photo of angels: http://www.trailjournals.com/j...
Date: 2017-07-23
From: Upper Goose Pond Shelter

To: South Wilcox Shelter
Miles today: 16.0
Weather: light rain

¢5!¢ That was how I greeted my fellow hikers this morning. (Frodo: Back atcha!) ¢Nuff said. (If you have questions about what I mean, read yesterday¢s journal entry.)9:00 am. We had decided on a lazy morning. Blueberry pancakes will do that to you. Buck was so intoxicated by them that he¢s staying the whole day. We hiked out at 9:00am; Buck will hike out tomorrow and push to join up with us in a few days. Franky went for one more swim, sans clothes, which was fine because it was only him and Dot until the kayak launchers trooped down and put in their boats on either side of him. Close by his side.I told it like it was when the going was tough in Maine and New Hampshire. So I guess I have to post this photo of Buck in a rocking chair on the porch of the Upper Goose Pond Shelter:  http://www.trailjournals.com/j...And also post this of one of the half dozen platters of blueberry pancakes that issued from the kitchen.  http://www.trailjournals.com/j...Now don¢t get me wrong; we hiked 16 miles today. That¢s nearly 13,000 steps. But I do have to tell you about the watermelon in the trailside cooler at 5 miles: http://www.trailjournals.com/j...I have to tell you about the adorable Trail Snack Shack. Sodas for a dollar. All on the honor system. A pouch with the money sat out in the open for us to pay. It was at mile 8. I had two root beers to go with my lunch.  http://www.trailjournals.com/j...And before I go on about more trail magic, I have to tell you about the hardback book one woman was carrying in her pack. The title is The World is Your Litter Box. The opening line is, ¢God¢s only mistakes are dogs and not giving cats opposable thumbs.¢Sheriff and I hiked much of the day together. We know our schedules pull us apart tomorrow. Dot had declared today as ¢Hike with Dot Day,¢ and who she meant was Franky.We had rolling low hills and climbs more inclined to switchbacks than straight-up ascents. The otherwise warm day was at least 15 degrees cooler under the green canopy.We got to the South Wilcox Shelter before 6:00 pm. It was the four of us until we were joined by Scrunchie, another Southbounder. I hadn¢t seen her since before Hanover.As we were all catching up, a woman with a pack steps around the side of the shelter. It must be another northbounder. We¢d seen at least 20 today.¢Are any of you Scout?¢ Again? Wonderful! What do you say to someone who has hiked in 20 cheeseburgers? It was Pepper; she knew of what Frodo and I do in San Diego and she¢d filled her pack with cheeseburgers and snickers. She¢d  hiked from her car to a different shelter 2 miles away and then hiked it over here.  I¢d almost finished my dinner, a Knorr rice dish with broccoli. Two cheeseburgers quickly followed. Here¢s Pepper and Franky with four cheeseburgers and a Mcdonald¢s bag:  http://www.trailjournals.com/j...Thanks, Pepper. And thanks to Bookie at the Notch Hostel in Lincoln for pointing Pepper toward us.Tomorrow we have 12 miles to Route 7 where we will hitch into Sheffield, MA, to resupply and spend the night.¢Nite, all.