morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2013-10-02
From: Zeacliff Pond...stealth camp

To: Garfield Ridge Shelter
Miles today: 7.9
Weather: overcast clouds

We were packing up just after 8 and on the trail. It started off with a steep up that we could see from our campsite. This did not last too long and then gradual climb for a while with some wooden log ladders into some of the steeper rock faces. Took a video from above looking down on Nat as he came to his first one of these on the trail. About three hours later we reached the top of South Twin Mountain and the rock bald with the wooded summit sign was in deep fog and I found Nat hunkered down just over the crest waiting on me to catch up. From there it was a 900' steep descent sown to Galehead hut. When we got to this hut it was just after 2pm and we went in and had some pumpkin soup and bread at $2 a bowl, well worth it. We both charged our phones for a while using there power source...solar panels. We were able to make calls to Nancy and chatted for a while after lunch before heading on to Garfield Ridge shelter which was our destination for the night. The last half mile to the shelter was a steep climb, so steep that you had to pull up using your hands most of the climb, almost like climbing up a dry cascade creek bed of about 10 to 12 foot wide. When we got to the side trail that went to the shelter it crossed a creek and went up a gentle .2 miles to a very nice newer two level shelter that was clean as a pin. There was only one other hiker at the shelter and she took the downstairs and Nat and I took the up stairs. The shelter holds 12 so we had plenty of room. Nearby there was a rock outcropping with a view and steps up to it that had cell reception so we made calls again before bed.
Date: 2013-10-03
From: Garfield Ridge Shelter

To: Liberty Spring Campsite
Miles today: 7.6
Weather: clear sky

We were up and out of the shelter after breakfast a little past 8 this morning. About a hundred yards from the shelter was a rock overlook with a bench on it for viewing....here in the middle of the wilderness, and let me tell you this is rugged b...busting terrain. Made a call home to Nancy to give her our agenda for the day. It is to be a short mileage day as all of the Whites, especially the presidential portion have been. We continued the up that we finished yesterday with adding another 400' steep ascent to the top of Mt. Garfield. Wee took a short break here and scoped out what was coming up. We could see down the valley to the mountains we would be ascending and the ridges we would be walking on in the far distance. This is one of those WOW moments. Then down the other side for a while till we started up Mt. Lafayette, onward to Mt. Lincoln and finally Franconia Ridge. These views were all above tree line for a couple of miles and this ridge lived up to its reputation. There were many other side trails that came onto the AT thru this section and the ridge itself was crawling with day hikers. Mt. Lafayette had a group of maybe 15 to 20 French hikers. A mile further along the ridge after going up and down through a couple of saddles it thinned out, but there were still a few along the trail. You could see for what appeared to be between half to full mile ahead as the thin line of the trail ran the crest. I got some great pictures passing along the ridge. It was an amazing clear and calm day as most of our days together have been. My son Nat has been very fortunate with the hiking weather we've had.The last two miles of the day were mostly down hill to the campsite with a very steep last quarter mile. When I got there Nat had arrived fifteen before me and found the tent platforms built on the hillside so that there would be somewhere level to put up your tent otherwise the slope was too steep to use for tenting. The water source was a tiny trickle out of a rock that required great patience but man was that water good. We cooked, ate and went to sleep, no one else in the camping area.
Date: 2013-10-04
From: Liberty Spring Campsite

To: North Woodstock NH
Miles today: 2.7
Weather: light rain

We got up this morning knowing that we had a 2500' descent down to US 3 where we would call a shuttle in to North Woodstock. Early on in the descent through the beautiful fall day I passed my 1800 mile mark of the hike. Less than 400 to go and I will have completed my thru hike. My knees and shoulder are really feeling it from my fall a couple of weeks back. Especially on these very long and slow down the mountain times. I scratched 1800 on a rock and took a picture for posterity sake. When we got to the bottom and at US highway I fortunately had cell service and we called for a pickup to take us into town. We got to our digs, the Carriage Motel at the River. After checking in we showered and went for real town food...ah heaven.
Date: 2013-10-05
From: North Woodstock NH

To: Same
Miles today: 0.0

Our plan for today was have breakfast and head back out to the trail after having 2/3 of a day off yesterday and a good nights refreshment and sleep. Didn't turn out that way, when I woke up I found Nat had been sick during the night and throwing up. We decided to spend the day and night in town. Problem was the hotel we were in was booked solid for tonight and all we called were also, things were starting to look bleak and he was still sick. Finally found a hotel a few miles out of town that had one room left, we booked it and called the shuttle to take us out there. We had to wait around a couple of hours for the room to be ready then checked in and sat around the small room watching the television. It was a Saturday so football was the theme of the day. The game was against Georgia State and we won by 45-3. After the game I walked about a mile up the highway to the pizza/spaghetti place and had spaghetti and beer. Off to sleep.
Date: 2013-10-07
From: Carriage Motel

To: same
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Went to a pub last night in North Woodstock and ate at the bar, very good food. Truant's Tavern is it's name and let me tell you they make a mean Long Island iced tea. Two are more than enough but the third one was more than I should have had. The walk back to the motel was an experience like I have not had since my Navy days. Luckily man sober son was there with me when I leaned a little to far leeward. I was sound asleep within 15 minutes of getting back to the room. Good thing today was another zero, of course I knew it was going to be before I had the first one...still. My hiking shoes arrived from home today via FedEx. It is a good thing because my boots are worn out, maybe the newer, lighter shoes will help. Well, back on the trail tomorrow even if a hurricane moves in. BTW it has rained the last couple of days while we were in town. Off to sleep looking forward to getting back on the trail in the morning and finishing off the Whites and getting into the easier stuff.
Date: 2013-10-08
From: Franconia Notch

To: Eliza Brook Shelter
Miles today: 8.8
Weather: few clouds

Another gorgeous day to hike. The fall foliage is incredible and it is the height of the season up here. Todays climb from the notch to the second peak was from 1487' to 4358' or just under 3000'. It was gradual for the almost 4 miles then steep for about a mile and a half. Normal New Hampshire in the Whites in other words. When we got to Lonesome Lake Hut we stopped in just long enough to check it out. To have these huts out here in the middle of nowhere is really something. Actually found a spot on the steps that we had cell service and called home for a chat with Nancy. After leaving the Hut we climbed North Kinsman Mountain then down a few hundred feet dip and then up South Kinsman. It was during this down dip that the beginning of the end happened. Nat was probably a quarter to half mile ahead. I was walking across the side of a ridge and started sliding down to the right off the trail so I instantly went to my butt, but when my feet hit the rock wall in front of me it was like a car wreck but I had no airbags (ha ha) and when I through my hands up they and my forehead and nose hit the wall. I saw stars for a few seconds. This was another one of those slips that gave you no warning. I sat there till I was not so groggy and could focus and then called for Nat. He was too far ahead to here me. Since I could not see the damage I took a picture of myself to see it. Did not appear so bad just bloody scalp which I cleaned off and the bridge of my nose where the glasses were. When I stood up though I could tell my knees had once again been smacked, they complained more than the face when I started walking. I caught up with Nat an hour later where he had waited for me at the top of South Kinsman Mountain. He took one look at me and said he was not walking with me any more and that I needed to come off the trail. I totally disagreed (at the time). Going down the 1.7 miles to the shelter was pure hell on my knees, especially in the spots where you actually have to drop or jump down a few feet to the next boulder. It was very slow going and Nat made me go first and stayed very close. When we got to the shelter and had it to ourselves as we have many times this late in the season, he called his Mom and she came on asking that I come home and see a doctor then I could come back. As much as I hated to think of ending the hike I agreed because my body was hurting. Went to bed thinking that in the morning I would change my mind and continue on.
Date: 2013-10-09
From: Eliza Brook Shelter

To: Kinsman Notch ...shuttle to North Woodstock
Miles today: 7.5

When I got up this morning I knew very early on that this would be my last day on the trail for a while. I wasn't into the hike more that an hour when my shoulder was killing me and I had to constantly lift the strap up with my hand to relieve the pressure. I finally just gave up and gritted my teeth and continued on. Again another beautiful fall day and I have had mostly those since being in NH. Nat and I reached the Notch and called for a shuttle back to North Woodstock. When I next talked with Nancy later that day she had already booked my flight from NY to Boise so that I would not try and back out of my decision to come home and have a doctor check it out. If all is good then I will go back right away if not then in the spring or summer of next year and finish. Well we will see.
Date: 2013-11-14
From: N.H. via NYC then Boise

To: Home in Boise
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Well Nat and I took a bus to Boston, then Amtrak to Penn Station in NYC then spent a few days with my youngest son who lives there and hopes to have a career on stage in musical theatre. It was a great visit to get to see him and while there I had my 67th birthday. When I got home and saw the orthopedic doctor, yes there was damage to both knees, one more than the other but am having physical therapy on both. Also x-rayed the shoulder. After the physical therapy was not helping much with the shoulder the doctor ordered an MRI. When he reviewed it his first words were, yep you have the real deal. Found out I have a torn rotator cup and the tear in the top ligaments of shoulder. For those medically inclined it read:1. Capacious joint capsule with patulous axillary recess and laxity of the glenohumeral ligaments predisposing to multidirectional instability.2. High-grade partial tear of suprasinatus with near full-thickness tearing centrally where a few bursal sided fibers remain intact. No atrophy or retraction.3. Linear signal abnormality of the superior labrum consistent with chronic superior labral tear.That is the summary conclusion the pre-summary was two pages long. All this after the x-ray showed minor stuff mostly of the bones. I fear what an MRI of my knees would reveal and unless I lose mobility I am not having an MRI done on the knees.Now back to the completion plans for the AT. I am going back to NY and restarting where I flipped from (Stormville) and going back up to Kinsman Notch to finish the complete 2185.9 miles of the AT around 350 more. I will be going back at the end of May or the very first of June. I will be having shoulder surgery sometime in the next few weeks and that will give me plenty of time to recover. Also, I am registering back in school at Boise State University to continue working on my second degree. This one is just for fun and in Anthropology.Anyone that has hiked with me that wants to join for a few months let me know. Who knows I may get out there and want to do the whole thing all over again....maybe. Till then happy hiking.P.S. I will be adding many of the nearly 2000 pictures that I took along the way, most in the general photo journal but those that are appropriate to the journal itself actually on the day that the picture was actually taken.
Date: 2014-06-07
From: NY 52-Stormville, NY

To: Morgan Stewart Shelter
Miles today: 3.6
Weather: scattered clouds

After much shuttling from Newark, NJ to Grand Central/Penn Station...caught the MTA train to Pawling, NY where trail angel Donna and her husband picked me up. Found a fuel cannister at a lawn & garden store, ate lunch at a roadside deli, and then was after 1 pm when I stepped onto the AT in the exact spot I had left last year when I jumped ahead to Katahdin. Took my trail angels' picture, hugged and started on my way.Only walked a little less than 4 miles walking down the trail when I pulled into the shelter. At the shelter, I met a section hiker name 'Short Haul'. We are of similar age. Set up my tent and went to bed -- ready to start the adventure all over tomorrow morning.
Date: 2014-06-08
From: Morgan Stewart Shelter

To: Garden Center @ A.T. Rail Station
Miles today: 10.9
Weather: scattered clouds

Started out with Short Haul this morning headed for as far as I could get comfortably. He told me that the people at the Garden Center allowed hikers to tent on their property for five dollars. So that was my target. Passed by some interesting sites today, foremost was the Dover Oak. The oldest and largest tree on the entire A.T. Something over 300 years old and very wide. Took a couple of good pictures to be added later. FYI this entry is being made almost 200 miles up trail at the library in Bennington Vt. I walked across the tracks where the trail actually stopped for hikers to take them into the city (NYC). It was a gentle terrain which was a godsend being as I am more out of shape than I thought I was. The only drawback to staying at the garden center is that it was literally a stones throw to the train tracks. The train woke me on several occasions during the night. I am back on trail and eager to get to Mt. Moosilauke...my finish point.
Date: 2014-06-09
From: Garden Center @ A.T. Rail Station

To: Ten Mile River Shelter
Miles today: 9.7
Weather: broken clouds

Woke in the rain and had to pack up a wet tent and be off. Only rained for the first third of the day. Passed through a lot of fields today and over the stiles through the barbed wire. Stopped for lunch at the Wiley Shelter where I met a section hiker named Big Sky, you guessed it, he is from Montana. Shortly after that I passed into Connecticut. This means I have completed 10 of the fourteen stated and only have 4 to go. Conn, Ma., Vt., N.H. and I will be done, actually most of N.H. was done last year. When I got to the Ten Mile River Shelter 2 young thru hikers showed up. Cousins from Michigan named Whiffle and Tuesday (trail names). I started last year with a man also named Tuesday, these two were early twenties hikers. Nice view from the shelter to a grassy field, off to bed (air pad).
Date: 2014-06-10
From: Ten Mile River Shelter

To: Mt. Algo Shelter
Miles today: 8.4
Weather: light rain

Got an early start this morning for me,just after 6 but Big Sky was out ahead of me. Whiffle and Tuesday were still asleep. I knew they would blow by me like a road runner. Sure enough a couple hours later they did. Great views into some of these small New England towns. Again it was a mild day hiking? When I got to the shelter I met a young hiker named Oak, the Mosquitos were eating us alive. I now use 100 percent deet. Also a young man thru hiker named Happy came with the most colorful dreadlocks I have ever seen. Stayed in the shelter tonight.
Date: 2014-06-11
From: Mt. Algo Shelter

To: Silver Hill Camp Site
Miles today: 10.6
Weather: light rain

Left the shelter this morning and passed over CT 341 which leads into Kent less than a mile to the east. I did not need or want to pull off trail. The down hill was very rocky till I crossed the road and then thru a grassy field, waist high. Then a climb up to a summit that looked down into town with it old NE churches with tall white steeples, picturesque. Trail had many frogs on it big and small to tiny. The real challenge of the day was St. Johns Ledges, a very sheer vertical drop that I had to negotiate basically from rock to rock as I descended. The reward was at the bottom in the form of a long level walk along the Housatonic River. At one point along the trail was 'trail magic', a cooler with Budweiser and Coke, I took one of each. I was the first one to arrive at the campsite and set up my tent. There was a old cast iron hand pump for the water that I finally got to work...water not so good. Great views from the campsite and it even had a porch type swing set up at the overlook. About twenty minutes after I got to into my tent and was already in my sleeping bag another hiker came into camp, and spoke through his tent. His name was Moxie, we introduced ourselves without seeing each other. He asked if I minded if he played his guitar since he carried one with him. I said sure, he played well and sang better. This was a nice treat. Went to sleep to good music, very uncommon on the trail.
Date: 2014-06-12
From: Silver Hill Camp Site

To: Bearded Woods Hostel
Miles today: 5.6

Got up this morning and headed out. Moxie had already gone so I didn't get to meet him face to face. Today was basically up hill and down hill all day long. I had heard of this really neat hostile that I shouldn't miss, so I didn't and ended my day in the early afternoon by calling them for a pick up. I is an exceptionally nice place with great host and hostess with all the amenities. There were two other hikers there, one a thru hiker in his sixties and the other a documentarian doing video of thru hikers as he met them on the trail, his name was Squatch. Later that night we were joined by two other young through hikers, Green Ghost and ?? sorry. The hostel owner Hudson started his through hike in February and made it all the way to Kinsman Notch in NH before pulling off to be at the hostel for the bulk of his business. He will go back in September and finish. His trai name is Hudson and he is also on Trailjournals.com 2014 under that trail name. He is a very fast hiker. Green Ghost challenged him to a game of darts on Hudson's pro-quality set up. GG took and early lead but the champ pulled it out and won. His wife Big Lu (she is 5' tall), is an excellent cook and they serve to the hiker hunger with lots of food expecting it to all be eaten. We watched a video and hit the sack.
Date: 2014-06-13
From: Bearded Woods Hostel

To: Bearded Woods Hostel
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Woke to heavy rain currently and in the forecast for all day long. Myself and the documentarian and the other older hiker decided to zero and not hike today. It is such a great place to rest, eat and relax why go out in the cold and wet when there is another option, right? The younger two did go out but not until close to noon, they still planned on doing about twenty miles that day. It is amazing what a young thru hiker can do in a day. Many do what is called the 'four state challenge', which is 43 miles within 24 hours from when you start. You start on the Va. line and step out of Va. into West Va. walk across West Va., then into Maryland and walk across Maryland and into Pa. Once you have stepped into Pennsyvania you have completed the challenge. I think it took me three or four days last year. Both of these guys had completed the four state challenge. Just relaxed that afternoon and watched some of the documentaries that Squatch had made, then we watched the movie with Anthony Hopkins, Alec Baldwin and the bear, can't recall the title then off to bed.
Date: 2014-06-14
From: Bearded Woods Hostel

To: Limestone Spring Shelter
Miles today: 13.4
Weather: clear sky

Big Lu made me a sack lunch for my pack and took me to the trailhead early morning. A little after 8 I passed through a crack in a boulder about ten to fifteen yards in length that was similar to the 'lemon squeeze' in the south, took some cool pictures. It was choppy up and down during the morning then down to a little road walking passing thru Falls Village Connecticut. I stopped at the falls the town is named after and took some pictures, one of a carving in a rock Geo.W.Belch 8/16 1886. Then watched the people overlooking the falls. Later one of the hikers behind me caught up and asked me if I saw the girl fall over the falls. I said no but I wondered what all the sirens were about. Turns out she broke her wrist but not other serious injuries. When I reached the shelter that night there were two guys there already in their sixties. I pitched my tent and hit the bag.
Date: 2014-06-15
From: Limestone Spring Shelter

To: Sages Ravine
Miles today: 10.9
Weather: scattered clouds

Just after starting this morning came to another landmark of the trail. It is a rock formation called 'Giants Thumb', a few feet taller than me and looks just like a thumb. It had some stumps to sit on so I set here and had my breakfast, most days I hike a little before eating. I passed through Salisbury Connecticut and took a picture of a house I would love. It had a rock wall behind it (natural), rhododendrun in the front and side yards and a steep back yard. After leaving town I summited the highest mountain in Connecticut, Bear Mountain, on the top is a stacked stone observation tower that was built by a single individual in the 1880's with a carved commemorative stone to him. Then descended the other side of Bear Mountain which was so steep and solid granite and I started a slide and this time said 'not again' so I launched myself off the trail into the woods to grab a tree to stop my slide. Just a little knee jab from this incident, nothing serious. Just after reaching the bottom I walked into Massachusetts and camped at Sages Ravine. The caretaker here was a young lady that had thru hiked last year. She invited myself and the other two hikers in the camp down to her caretaker tent and we had a beer and chatted. One of the other two guys was Happy with the dreadlocks I had met days earlier. Off to bed to start another day and a little closer to my goal.
Date: 2014-06-16
From: Sages Ravine

To: The Hemlocks Shelter
Miles today: 6.6
Weather: overcast clouds

Sages Ravine was a beautiful walk through a ravine with a crystal clear stream flowing over deep drop offs with many small water falls and moss covered rocks. The trail was also very rocky with no level places to put your foot down. The other color of the day is purple for the color of my ankles. Two long climbs today, the first over Mr. Race, not too difficult, the second over Mt. Everett, only about seven hundred feet, but very steep. The caretaker at Sages told me that I should stay at Hemlocks Shelter. It was a very nice shelter and as with just about every other day I was the only hiker there for the night. Got to bed relatively early and actually stayed in the shelter rather than pitch the tent.