morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2015-07-14
From: Katahdin Stream Campground

To: Rainbow Stream Lean To
Miles today: 24.9
Weather: overcast clouds

7/14/2015Treadway: 8/10Weather: sunny, hot and muggy 5/10Stats:23.99 mi9:50:232331 c91 bpm2.4 mph2371 ft up2358 ft down40733 stepsNarrative:I woke up at 4:00 am and was on the trail at 4:40 am. At Daicey Pond, I heard a remarkable bird call ¢ I think it was a loon. Five miles into the hike, I had my first stream crossing which required getting my feet wet. It was easy going to Abol Bridge, which was something of a disappointment, because when I got there huge trucks making tremendous noise and whipping up sand storm magnitude dust were going over it. I was anxious to get out of there, but stopped and met a nice man named John Amoroso, who gave me his card, describing himself as a Shamanic Energy Healer. John was very kind and wished me well on my thru-hike. A little bit after the bridge, I got to the ¢you are entering the 100 mile wilderness, you better know what you are doing¢ sign. Next to that was a trail register on which a note of encouragement for Scott Jurek was tacked. The trail was unremarkable until I reached Hurd Brook, my first AT shelter. I ate and drank, then moved on. A bit after that I reached Rainbow Ledges, stopped for the view of Katahdin, and had my photo taken at the sign by a nice young man who was leading a group of teenagers northbound from Stratton. After descending, I reached Rainbow Lake and took a short swim. After I got out, I met Georgia and he stopped for his swim as I moved on. By now, the roots were starting to do a number on my feet, and as the trail continued to hug the north shore of Rainbow Lake, it seemed to get rootier and boggier. About two miles before Rainbow Stream lean to, I ran into Tom and Joe. Tom has section hiked almost all of the AT. Joe is Nixon Peabody¢s GC and he has hiked many beautiful trails around the world, including the JMT, Milford and Routeburn Tracks in New Zealand, and trails in Glacier and Scotland. We also ran into Gazelle. We met a young couple going SoBo. Georgia told me about himself. He is from a town in northeast Georgia not far from Springer. He hiked all of the AT south of Damascus. He says the trail is way easier down there. Georgia is a much stronger and faster hiker than I, but throughout the 100 mile wilderness we stayed on the same schedule because of my early starts. I camped in my tent that night.
Date: 2015-07-15
From: Rainbow Stream Lean To

To: Potaywadgo Spring Lean To
Miles today: 18.2
Weather: clear sky

7/15/2015Treadway: 9/10Weather: rain in the morning, cool and overcast in the afternoon 6/10Stats:19.73 mi9:24:012.1 mph2402 c93 bpm2201 ft up2585 ft down35144 stepsNarrative:This was the day I hit the wall. Another early start, up at 4:00 am and on the trail at 4:40 am. Around 5:30 am it started to sprinkle, then it rained harder and went from warm and muggy to cool and wet very quickly. About .6 miles past Crescent Pond, I noticed my pack cover fell off, and I had to backtrack that distance in the rain to get it. That sucked, but it was not too much of a price to pay to learn how to put on my pack cover more securely going forward. I continued in the rain to the high point on Nesabuntt Mtn, then made the steep descent to Wadleigh Stream lean to. At this point, I recognized that there were three categories of photos I was taking: 1. Scenic. 2. Signs documenting milestones reached on the trail. 3. Can you #%=!ing believe they call this a trail? The more I hiked, the more this last category became more prevalent. At Wadleigh Stream Shelter, I ate and drank and met an interesting woman from Atlanta who comes from Poland and who ran NY the same year as Donna, 2011. The way from Wadleigh to Potaywadgo progressively became more and more difficult, in part because the roots and bogs got worse, and in part because physically I ran out of gas. The last mile to the shelter was a bit of an ordeal. Very boggy, and I willed myself forward by looking for the next blaze, slogging on to reach it, then repeating and repeating until finally I saw the shelter. When I got there, I was too exhausted for the first 10 minutes or so to have an intelligible conversation with any of the three other occupants, who were Blake (doing the 100 miles and going south, he left and made it to Antlers that day) and two young men doing the 100 miles and heading north. After putting up my tent, I got water and then dunked my feet in the icy cold stream below the spring. Both my legs below my knees were swollen and grossly deformed from the beating they took on the difficult tread way. I also had blisters. Georgia made it to the shelter a little before I retired to my tent, well before sundown. Actually, I think I passed out that night.
Date: 2015-07-16
From: Potaywadgo Spring Lean To

To: East Brook Lean To
Miles today: 19.5
Weather: overcast clouds

7/16/2015Tread way:7/10Weather: Sunny and hot 4/10Stats:26.73 mi10:56:192.4 mph2784 c104 bpm2890 ft up2816 ft down51699 stepsNarrative:This was my Chicken John day in which I racked up 6.55 Chicken John miles after getting confused and turned around at Antlers. There were many long, easy stretches this day. After a nice breakfast at Antlers, I reached Jo-Mary Road and detoured to pick up my food drop. After sorting my new food, I took a nice break at the bridge and enjoyed my new supply of Cytomax. Georgia got there toward the end of my break, and he took a break and then passed me by. I skipped Crawford Falls lean to and stopped for a maintenance break at Crawford Pond outlet, the primary purpose of which was to manage my blisters. Georgia caught up with me again (he stopped for lunch at the lean to I skipped), then went ahead of me on our way up Little Boardman Mtn. Georgia¢s food drop was at Kodak-Jo Road, but his food was not there. Thankfully, he was making better time than he planned and had enough food to make it to Monson. I also ran into Blake again and he and I hiked the last half mile or so to East Brook. There were several colorful NoBo¢s at the shelter that night. It was a long, hard day. On a positive note, physically I felt much stronger than the previous day. On a not so positive note, all my blisters were getting progressively worse.
Date: 2015-07-17
From: East Brook Lean To

To: Chairback Lean To
Miles today: 20.7
Weather: broken clouds

7/17/2015Treadway: 9/10Weather: Sunny and hot 6/10Stats:21.15 mi11:29:511.9 mph3166 c91 bpm5403 ft up4305 ft down33951 stepsNarrative:This was a hard day on which I pushed myself too hard. I woke up at 4:00 am and was on the trail by 5:00 am after blister maintenance and drinking 1.5 L with breakfast mix. About a half hour into the hike I thought I was having another Chicken John moment, but I got out my map and compass and verified I was going the right way. Around 7:00 am I stopped for about 10 minutes at Logan Brook and said hello to a young couple who started from Franconia Notch and were heading south. The trail after that steepened and an hour later I was on top of Whitecap Mtn with nice views east. Hay Mountain, West Peak and Gulf Hagas Mtn followed, and then I descended to Carl Newhall Shelter and stopped for lunch. I descended further until I reached a road about 1.8 miles before the West Branch of the Pleasant River. This was a fairly miserable stretch for me as there were lots of roots and bogs and a mosquito flew into my right eye. Then a few minutes after that another mosquito flew into my left eye. Both eyes were hurting, but not as bad as my feet. Then for about a quarter mile the trail became easy with a normal tread way. I thought the MATC was playing a cruel joke on me and this could not possibly be the AT, but sure enough it was and sure enough it went back to roots, rocks and bogs real soon. The highlight of the day was the ford of the West Branch. I used the loaner water shoes left at the shore and it was easy wading and soothing to my beat up feet. Georgia caught up me at the ford and he helped me flush out my eyes at the stream as the mosquitoes still were in there. We then began the long, steep way up to Chairback Mtn, Georgia now ahead of me. As I hit the ledges north of the summit, I could see the summit in the distance but mistook it for Columbus Mtn, which we planned to go up the next morning. There was a strenuous climb up a very steep rock slide going up the summit of Chairback. This would have been hard on any occasion, but here we were going up it at the end of a long and very hard day. I was completely spent when finally I got to the shelter. Luckily, I ran into section hiker Ten Year near the water source and he showed me where it was before I had the last climb up to the shelter. Ten Year is finishing his last section of the AT after ten years. He told Georgia and me he thought Wildcat Mtn in New Hampshire was the hardest part of the AT. I asked if it was harder northbound or southbound. Ten Year said southbound. I said of course, and we all laughed. I described the JMT to Ten Year, and he said he was interested in doing it next year. Georgia expressed interest in doing the JMT too.
Date: 2015-07-18
From: Chairback Lean To

To: Wilson Valley Lean To
Miles today: 15.6
Weather: overcast clouds

7/18/2015Treadway:10/10Weather: Rain all day and night 8/10 Stats:16.52 mi10:03:381.6 mph2176 c88 bpm3658 ft up 4520 ft down 27897 stepsNarrative:I was up at 4:00 am and on the trail after 5:00 am after blister maintenance and breakfast. It was raining lightly when I started then more heavily as the day wore on. The morning hike from Chairback to Cloud Pond was hard, and I went over Columbus and Third and Fourth Mountain with steep, tricky climbs and descents up and down steep rock slides. It was a .8 mile detour to Cloud Pond, but I needed the water. After Cloud Pond I reached Barren Mtn, followed by the Barren Ledges, followed by the Barren Slide. This was a mostly downhill stretch, and some sections were quite steep and involved descending very, very slippery rock. Going down Barren Slide was particularly treacherous and wretched.At Long Pond Georgia caught up with me as I was taking a break and we shared with each other how many times we fell going down the rocks. A few miles after that we had a stream crossing, at which I lost one of my liner socks. I skipped some Trail Magic after that, as I still had lots of food and opted to eat more crappy trail food instead of burgers, hot dogs and beer so I could further reduce my pack load. Georgia opted for the Trail Magic and was loving it. At Long Pond, Georgia predicted that Wilson Valley would be full, and he was right. I pitched my tent, then had nice conversations with a group of ladies from Chattanooga including Sarah and Barbara who were finishing up the 100 miles and two other hikers heading north.
Date: 2015-07-19
From: Wilson Valley Lean To

To: Hwy 15
Miles today: 10.4
Weather: overcast clouds

7/19/2015Treadway: 10/10Weather: Rain most of the day 8/10Stats: 12.14 mi6:09:452.0 mph1214 c90 bpm2690 ft up2467 ft down21983 stepsNarrative:Got up at 4:25 am after a miserable, sleepless night in the rain, putzed around inefficiently and did not get going until about 6:00 am. I crossed railroad tracks and remembered the train I heard the night before. Very soon thereafter was a stream crossing that wasn¢t so bad, except it meant taking my shoes on and off and getting my socks even more wet, which did not help the blister cause. Then I took the wrong turn and had an unpleasant detour before getting back on the AT. A bit after that I reached some ledges with nice views, and I feel fairly certain that Bryson talked about them in A Walk In The Woods. Here, I slipped and took a hard fall on a slick rock. I had 3 other bad falls this day. As I stopped at North Pond for a break, one of the ladies from Chattanooga, Sarah, passed me by. Then it started raining again, hard. At Leeman Brook, Georgia caught up with me, then went ahead after we let a big group heading north get through a hard mininotch just below the shelter. A bit after that I caught up with Sarah and we hiked out together to 15 highway and the end of the 100 mile wilderness. Sarah is a strong hiker and it was great hiking with her and following her lead on the trail. Georgia was already at Highway 15 when we arrived. I called Rebekah, the owner of Lakeshore House, and she picked us up and took me to her place and Georgia to Shaw¢s. I stayed in a private room in the attic and Chelsea gave me the tour. After a glorious shower and laundry, I had dinner at the pub and lots of Guinness. Trail Mom and SherPa joined me at the table and I enjoyed all of their stories about the 100 miles, Katahdin and the AT. SherPa thru- hiked SoBo in 2000 and NoBo in 2003. Trail Mom was his trail angel on both thru-hikes.
Date: 2015-07-20
From: Hwy 15

To: Hwy 15
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

Zero in Monson. I woke up at 6:30 am and made it to Shaw¢s at 7:00 am and sat next to Georgia for breakfast. After breakfast, I went to the post office and mailed my old maps. Then I soaked my feet in ice water. Then I went to Shaw¢s and met Poet, the owner, for a pack shakedown. Poet weighed my pack, and it came to 21 lbs, including a 2+ day food supply. Poet said I was dialed in and did not think I needed anything stripped from the pack. He told me about his experience thru-hiking the JMT in 2011 and he showed me his pictures from that trip. I bought some gear items. Afterward I had lunch at Pete¢s Place, then I had a second ice bath for my feet, then I had dinner and had a third ice bath. I met Bud, who just graduated from law school and is SoBo.
Date: 2015-07-21
From: Hwy 15

To: Hwy 15
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Double zero in Monson. Got up at 6:30 am and was at Shaw¢s at 7:00 am for breakfast. Georgia is heading out today and plans to go 9 miles to Horseshoe for the day. I met Drifter, a schoolteacher from El Paso who is heading north and will be finishing at Katahdin. He's getting a little bit of trail fatigue and is looking forward to finishing. He told me about his experiences hiking Mt Whitney from the Portal and from Horseshoe Meadow going over both Cottonwood Pass and New Army Pass.I also met Big Ben, who started from Harpers Ferry. He also has a Fenix 3 and we talked about using the device to record our trip data. After breakfast, I walked back to Lakeshore House and talked with Bud and Grits. Bud hiked 1600 miles of the AT northbound in 2013. We talked about Plato¢s Allegory of the Cave and the Matrix and how both apply to existing back home versus living on the trail. We also talked about the concept of becoming a trail apostle. Like me, Grits is having blister issues and we talked about managing them.I have been reflecting on sustainability and better practices I should adopt going forward to achieve that objective. Here are some ideas, based upon my recent talks with other thru-hikers and sharing their experiences with me:1.        Documenting on a daily basis on the trail. At the end of the 100 miles, I fell into the trap of not having enough time to write in my notepad. I have to stop this. If I am diligent in making time to update my journal entries while I am on the trail, I will force myself to hike less so that I have the time to document. One practice I may try is to type Word entries on my iPhone in airplane mode.2.        Take more breaks. This definitely will help maintain my body, but it will require tremendous discipline to maintain this practice. By nature, I am a nonstop kind of guy. It also is not always easy to find suitable places for breaks.3.        Elevate my feet. The challenge in enforcing this practice is that it basically limits me to zero functionality while I am doing it. It's hard to eat, drink, treat water, attend to blisters, dry out soggy gear or perform other tasks while your feet are above your head. I may try to do this at the end of breaks and by pitching my tent on a slight incline and placing my feet on my pack inside the tent.4.        Better footwork. This will come with experience.5.        Stop pushing myself too hard. This will require more discipline than anything else.It's not about speed or distance. It's about sustainability. I want to finish. I do not want to kill myself like Scott Jurek did.The highlight of the day was kayaking in Lake Hebron with Rebekah and Chelsea, that was so much fun!I met two more thru-hikers today. Keytar fna Snowshoes is a 26-year old NoBo from Atlanta who plays a melodica and we had great fun listening to him perform tonight. Henry T/N Tuscaloosa is a premed student at the University of Alabama. He and I had interesting discussions about Jared Diamond and Guns, Germs and Steel. Henry is SoBo too.
Date: 2015-07-22
From: Hwy 15

To: Moxie Bald Shelter
Miles today: 17.9
Weather: overcast clouds

7/22/2015Treadway: 9/10Weather: partly sunny and warm 3/10Stats:17.80 mi7:04:082.5 mph2025 c76 bpm2086 ft up2326 ft down38514 stepsNarrative:Woke up at 5:00 am, took a shower and did light stretching. At 7:00 I was at Shaw¢s for breakfast. Shaw¢s wifi is better than Lakeshore House¢s and I was able to check the forecast. Good weather today and tomorrow but rain and thunderstorms starting Friday and for the foreseeable near future after that. I had a big breakfast, maybe six pancakes in addition to the eggs, bacon and potatoes. I said goodbye to Poet, then headed back to Lakeshore. Rebekah gave me a ride to the trailhead and was very kind, as always. I was on the trail at 9:30 am. About 2.58 miles into my hike, I had my one and only slip and fall of the day, and it was no big deal because I landed on my pack. At 6.6 miles, I got my shoes wet crossing the East Branch of the Pisquat River. At 9 miles, I reached Horseshoe Lean To, no register. At 12 miles, I got my shoes wet again crossing the West Branch. There was a rope across the stream, and I used it. A little after that, I got my shoes wet again at a small stream. From mile 14.1 to mile 14.7, the trail became a nonstop bog, slow going. At mile 15.6, I got my feet wet at another stream crossing. Very unfair to be hiking all day in wet shoes in good weather! At the Moxie Bald Shelter, I gave some of my food to a young woman NoBo, Leap Frog, in exchange for use of her Sawyer since my Steripen died back at the West Branch crossing. I ran into Outlaw again. Outlaw was at Lake Shore, and she works at a law school in Tennessee. I also ran into Bud&Grits and Solar Body. I also met Coach, who is finishing his last AT section hike after starting in 2002 and doing a section every year since then. His favorite section was from Waynesboro to Port Clinton, which he did with a 68-year-old Navy SEAL and two other hikers in their sixties. Outlaw and I talked about our favorite classic movies and movie stars. Outlaw¢s favorites include Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant, and her favorite movie- which she makes a practice of watching before a job interview- is The Philadelphia Story. Coach told Outlaw and me that the Caratunk PO was closed because he saw a for sale on the building, but this did not sound right to me, particularly since I received both text and email messages confirming my resupply package was accepted there.
Date: 2015-07-24
From: Caratunk

To: Little Bigelow Shelter
Miles today: 21.7
Weather: light rain

7/24/2015Treadway: 9/10Weather: overcast in the morning, off and on rain in the afternoon 6/10Stats:21.29 mi9:07:532.3 mph2850 cAvg hr 104 bpm3316 ft up2234 ft down40150 stepsNarrative:Another long day on the trail. Up at 6:00 am and breakfast at 7:00 am, had 3 hard boiled egg sandwiches with English muffins. Eric drove Dosu, Butter and me to the trailhead. Dosu is NoBo, and he is named Dosu because that is the name of his favorite ninja. Dosu firmly believes that everyone should have his or her favorite ninja. Butter and I made it to the Kennebec just after 9 am and the ferry man was on the other side. It took no more than 5-10 minutes to sign the paperwork and get across. Butter took my picture before we got in the boat. On the west shore, I said goodbye to Butter and went ahead of him on the trail. The treadway was fairly good, nice and spongy, most of the way, except for the approach to West Carryback Pond and its southern shoreline, where the trail was rooty, rocky and muddy. At mile 9.8, I met 3 NoBo¢s, Side Show, Sunny and Lone Star. I was less than half a mile from the shelter when it started to rain more heavily. Thankfully, there was room for me at the shelter. I ran into Tundra, another SoBo from Alaska, with whom I had breakfast at Shaw¢s in Monson. Tundra was the first person to guess what Yoseki stands for. I also met NoBos Red and TJ and SoBo Glacier. Glacier is a young man who got his name because of how slowly he has been moving. Good for him. Smart guy. I hanged my wet shirt, pants and socks and it was nice getting into my dry long johns.
Date: 2015-07-26
From: Hwy 27

To: Hwy 27
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Zero in Stratton. Rain in the morning. Up at 6:00 am, big breakfast at 7:00 am. Georgia and Tundra had breakfast at White Wolf too. Did laundry in my room, then wore damp clothes to dry them with my body heat. Got my new camera set up. Used my tweezers to extract pine needles and other debris from my socks. Dropped off my old map and guide book pages in the mail box at the post office. Rested and relaxed. Hung out with Georgia, Tundra and Glacier at the Stratton Motel while ¢North Woods Law¢ was on TV. The plan for tomorrow is to share a shuttle and leave for the trailhead around 8 to 9 am. I went back to my motel room and watched The Thief of Bagdad, a real gem of a movie I had never seen before.
Date: 2015-07-29
From: Reddington Campsite

To: Hiker Hut
Miles today: 8.0
Weather: overcast clouds

7/29/2015Tread way: 9/10Weather: Sunny, hot and muggy 6/10Stats:8.48 mi4:49:541.7 mph1254 cAverage heart rate 103 beats per minute 1863 feet up3277 feet down 21056 stepsNarrative:My first nero day. Up at 4:20 am, on the trail a little after 5:20 am. The way up the Horn was easy. At 5:59 am, I was at the top. The descent was not too bad and by 6:20 am I was nearing the bottom of the saddle with partial views (the tops of the Horn and Saddleback both were obscured by clouds). At 7:02 am I was on top of Saddleback Mtn. The way down was hard at first, and slow going. As usual, I clutched the trees along the trail and held on for dear life as I was making my way down. After about half a mile of that, I ran into a NoBo who wisely observed, ¢Trees are your friend.¢ The way down then became a little easier. At 4.64 miles, I stopped at a stream and had a nice hydration break. After that, I met Red Titan, a NoBo woman from Dearborn wearing a University of Detroit basketball jersey. I told her my Grandpa Daws was a proud alumnus of U of D high school, university and law school. A little further down the trail I ran into a large group of day hikers, one of whom was wearing a Georgetown tee shirt. I hailed him with ¢Hoya Saxa¢ and he look puzzled and explained that he is not an alumnus but instead is a parent with a child currently in SFS. At 9:36 am, I was at Piazza Rock. The way down from there was pleasant and easy. After reaching the highway, I turned left and walked .4 miles to the Hiker Hut, getting there at 10:30 am. I had a nice talk with Steve, who is an interesting person. He was an elite duathlete, then spent 18 years in India doing soul searching and helping poor children get medical care they need. I showed him my stretches, and he showed me a stretch that looked fairly aggressive but I will try to do it lightly. I also met his sister Pantry, who thru-hiked the AT in 2013. I also met Diane, who gave me a ride into town. Once in town, I ate the lunch special (yellow curry) at the Thai restaurant. Then I went to the post office and mailed back Lazurus and got my AT passport stamped. I was still hungry, so then I went to the Red Onion and had a large German pizza with bacon, sauerkraut and onions and a coke. Then I ran into Georgia, who was hanging out with Little Spoon and another young woman. He's planning to be on the trail tomorrow morning too. Then I went to the library to use the WiFi and catch up on my journal.