morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2006-05-26
From: Beans house

To: Happy teeth
Miles today: 0.0

Hello to everyone,   Well we are still at Beans folks. We have been keeping ourselves occupied thinking about all the shopping that we have to do. Actually we have done the majority of what we needed to do. Beanie went to the dentist and found out she needed a root canal, so our departure date to head back to the trail has been bumped back a day or two. All is well though at least her teeth will be back to figthting form so she can gnaw her way through another three months of re-hydrated food. We went kayaking on the deerfield river the other day with Karen and had a blast. It was great to be out and in the sun again. We have posted lots of new pics so feel free to check out the photo section, many of them are of our kayaking trip but they are nice pics anyway. I have a brand new haircut which is a nice change of pace from the afro I had before, the new haircut is also pictured.   We are continuing to eat large quantities of food and spending a lot of time relaxing. It has been really great to see beans folks as well as our dogs, and taking walks with no pack is awesome!    Hopefully all of you out there are doing well. We are looking forward to getting back on the trail but for now are content to watch the playoffs in cotton clothing. Thanks for stopping in and dont forget to sign our guestbook.Ork and Bean
Date: 2006-05-30
From: Home of the Beanfolk

To: somewhere in Virginia
Miles today: 0.0

Good Morning Trail Enthusiasts! Today is the day we head back down to Virginia to pick up the AT where we left off. After a weeklong stint of hot showers, good food and K-9 companionship, we are ready to get our legs a walkin' again! The next eight boxes have been packed, repacked, and repacked yet again as we try to fine tune what we deem valuable out there in the wilds. We've changed a few items in our packs to try and cut more weight. We've figured out what foods give us the greatest energy, what's a waste of space (No more Ramen!), and which clothes we don't REALLY need out there. Ork is geared up to wear Papa Bean's backpack and has opted to leave his fifteen degree bag behind in exchange for a lighter liner bag. Looking at the forecast for the next week, even the liner bag might be a bit warm. Heat and humidity have proven to be our biggest obstacles on the trail. We are accustomed to humidity-free, 65 degree Alaskan days, so this business with the moisture and temps in the 90's is extremely exhausting, and it certainly doesn't help with the B.O! Hopefully with enough water and stick-to-itness, we'll adjust and get comfortable. And finding great swimming holes like the one in this photo will certainly help. We're planning to start hiking before dawn breaks to minimize our time in the heat of the afternoon, and there's something really satisfying about having fifteen miles under your belt by noon. We've gotten several emails from friends on the trail and have kept an eye on the journals to see where people are these days. We're really looking forward to reading the shelter registers and making a run at catching people. Hopefully we won't be too far behind. We're hoping to run into The Wanderers again, as well as Sherlock and Circuit Ryder, Fiddlehead, and maybe even catch up with Mt. Doer. Lots of our friends will be far north of us, but its a long trail and we've still got many, many miles to travel. If we cut down on our zero days and hike steadily, we should see lots of familiar faces. Of course there are always new hikers coming from behind that we'll get to meet too. The beauty of the trail is that there are always interesting, fun people around to share your time with. So we'll just get back out there and do what we do. Walk. Anyway, its been a wonderful break. Congratulations again to Momma Bean for graduating! Thank you to both Bean's parents for having us, we feel rested and ready to continue hiking!! And thank you to everyone reading and supporting us, we will try to update again in about a week from Waynesboro.
Date: 2006-06-06
From: somewhere in Virginia

To: Shenandoas
Miles today: 82.0

Hello all! Sorry for the long break between entries, we havent had our most productive week mileage wise. We are now finally in Waynesboro!!! We got back on the trail, (what seems like three months ago) to find that the crowds of hikers had thinned out considerably. All of our former hiking friends were and still are long gone. But the wonder of the AT of course is that everyone is friends just by being out here. So it took us no time at all to find a new group of people who's company we enjoy. Other changes in the trail over our sabatical are the temperatures, the degree of bloom in all the flowers and most importantly our endurace levels!    We hit the trail running on day one with a 16 mile day, not much for us before the break but a too much after. We woke up the following day in more pain than after our 40 into Damascus. So we followed it with a 9 mile day, and believe me when I say it was all we had to get those 9 behind us. But that night we met Rip and Treehugger and their friend Pillbox who we liked immediately because they had hiked in a watermelon and a twelve pack of root beer. Anyway we have been hiking with them and loving it, we also met another gentleman by the name of samuri who we have stayed with a night or two. and just yesterday our old friends P-nippy and cheeto caught up so that is great. We have also gotten back together with Fiddlehead, so we are in a very fun group!   The wildlife on the trail has begun to emerge with the arrival of the warmer temps. We have seen many snakes including 4 water snakes and a 5 foot long black snake that we caught and took pictures with. Bean also saw a bear the other day which is really exciting. The other day we even saw a box turtle, which was much cooler for us than him I think.   The final important note to add here is that Rusty's hard time hollow which is a hostel that we stayed in is officially open, and if any other hikers are reading this, you really should stay with Rusty. We were there for two days and had an amazing time. His property is very much a hiker heaven, with 19 acres harboring 8 springs. He has a basketball court, ping pong, horseshoe pit, ultimate frisbee course, sauna and hot tub. Not to mention he stocks cold soda and beer. We are so thankful we ended up with him although our newly shaved mohawks are a little ridiculous.    Beyond that all is well, we are off to the laundramat and will make our phone calls from there. Hope all is well with everyone and we will update again from the other side of the Shenandoahs. We are using a new digital camera and have lots of pics which we will post as soon as we figure out how. Thanks again for stopping by.ork and beanP.s. I did say mohawks!
Date: 2006-06-15
From: Quality Inn

To: Hotel Pool/Photo Development
Miles today: 120.0

Good Morning Everyone! We're sitting in sunny Front Royal right now after completing our stint in the Shenandoahs. While earlier in the trip we thought Smokey National Park was one of our favorite places, we can now say with certainty that the Shenandoahs are our #1 section of the trail. The hiking was smooth with nicely graded climbs and we were able to put in several 20+ days in a row. And the wildlife! We saw a grand total of 12 bears in the park, six of which were adorable cubs. One sow had her paws full with triplets running up and down trees. We made our presence known and she called them all right in and barrelled off into the woods. Another bear came into camp on our first night in the park. He sauntered in about 4:00 AM and spent an hour and a half turning up rocks between Rip and Treehugger, Fiddlehead, and our tent. Finally about 5:30, we could hear him just outside our tent, so we slowly unzipped one of the windows and watched his ears bob up and down as he searched for ants and grubs behind a log maybe five feet from our tent! As he got a little closer, we decided maybe he was getting too close, so we started talking a little and then climbed out of the tent. By the time we got out, he was long gone. And without a sound! We had no idea where he ran off to, but he did it quickly and silently. Bears are such neat creatures.   In addition to all the bears we came upon, we found our first rattlesnake! I think thus far, that has got to be the coolest thing we've found in the woods. We came upon him stretched out into the trail, sunning himself. In the same instant we spotted him, he sensed us, started his rattle running and pulled himself into a tight little coil. He sat there rattling away for about ten minutes while we watched him and snapped some photos. Finally, we decided we should usher him off the trail so that we could continue hiking. So Ork grabbed a long stick and gave the snake a surprised poke. Apparently, sticks bear no heat, so the rattler didn't see it coming. Anyway, he headed back off into the woods and we carried on with our day.    As four of our fivesome are trying to recover from an ugly bug or food poisoning, we are going to take it easy today and attempt to get our photos put onto a disk and put onto the site. We are receiving a lot of flack for talking about our mohawks but not allowing anyone to see them, so that's something you can all look forward to!   Alright, that's all for now, but on a request, we are going to leave you with a little Retro-Ork and Bean and bring back one more Rule of the Road:The considerate food poisoned hiker always takes time to be certain their violent bodily expulsions never land within six inches of the actual trail. However, if this is not possible and an accident occurs, proper etiquette is to always cover your pile with leaves and weigh them down with a rock.
Date: 2006-06-18
From: Hotel Pool/Photo Development

To: Fathers day calls
Miles today: 34.0

Hola trail enthusiasts, I am going to keep this entry brief, but we are at a hostel in the interest of calling our fathers to wish them a happy fathers day. We are staying the night tonight with Queen diva, Circuit ryder, and Sherlock at the Bears Den Hostel. It is great to reconnect with Circuit Ryder and Sherlock after having not seen them for two months, and as it turns out Queen Diva who is the manager of this hostel reads our trail journal so she has also become a fast firend. Anyone who has enough taste and class to enjoy our journal has to be pretty cool! Anyway we are here for the night hiding from the heat, as it topped out at 95 today! We should be breezing past the one thousand mile mark tomorrow on our way to Harpers Ferry. Like I told my dad today, I am not sure if hiking a thousand miles is an accomplishment, or if its just stupid. Either way we will reach that milestone tomorrow.   As for the new pictures we had them put onto CD's and they are in the mail en route to Momma Bean to be loaded onto the site. So we apologize for the delay but hopefully they will be on soon.   Anyway, I am going to let other hikers use the computer, just wanted to let everyone know that we are alive. We now know for sure that an alaskan will not melt in 95 degrees, although they certainly do whine.    Hope all is well out there in the real world. Thanks for stopping by and checking in on us.Ork and BeanP.S. I challenge anyone out there to cook up a better batch of french fries than Queen Diva! (We will be in Harpers Ferry tomorrow if anyone wants to try.)
Date: 2006-06-20
From: Harper's Ferry, WV

To: ATC
Miles today: 19.0

WOOOHOOO!! We finally crossed the 1,000 mile mark! Not only that, but we made it out of Virginia! We're presently at the ATC in Harper's Ferry, picking up our mail and sorting through all our food. We ended up hiking out of Bear's Den yesterday with our friends Sherlock and Circuit Ryder. When we realized that they were just going to head back to the Den after the hike, we decided that we'd slack pack and head on back with them so we could take advantage of another one of Queen Diva's magnificent breakfasts. This morning she cooked up an "Ork and Bean Breakfast," complete with home-cooked ham, sausage, bisquits, scrambled eggs with cheese, fresh cantaloupe, grapes and homemade jam. What a feast!! We gorged ourselves like champions. Queen Diva, you are our hero! Anyway, after returning to the Bear's Den for another night, we hung around and watched as more and more hikers piled in. Doing what we do best, we convinced another 17 smelly backpackers to drop their packs and stay the night with us. After everyone had a chance to pick their bunks or pitch their tents and shower, we got out the pictionary game. We two were on a team with our friend Samurai and new pal No Falls. Opposing us was the fearsome foursome of Pillbox, Homecookin', 42, and Birdman. Anyone who's ever played a game with us knows that we don't do well to lose, so we knocked the socks of the team across from us! We had a blast! It is clear however, that we are all much better hikers than we are artists. Alright, well that's all for now as there is a bit of line here for the computer. I would like to announce that there are officially 123 new photos on our site, including ones of that fateful day we acquired mohawks. Unfortunately, we don't have time to label all the pics, but I promise that we will get there as soon as possible. Hope all is well with everyone in the real world. Thanks for tuning in!-Ork and Bean
Date: 2006-06-29
From: drying out

To: Port Clinton
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Hello everyone! Well, we are still soaking wet! The trail has been officially renamed the appalachian canal, as it has 3 to 4 inches of running water on it these days. Keeping your boots dry is a lost cause and pruned feet are a way of life. I have actually heard more than one person say they miss virginia, I wouldnt go that far unless the place was on fire!    Since we last spoke Bean and I have crossed many major milestones, including the half way point of the trail! We tackled the half gallon challenge, which for those of you who dont know is a brilliant marketing ploy that some guy who owns a country store at the half way point came up with to sell a lot of ice cream! You buy a half gallon and have to eat the whole thing by yourself. Bean didnt quite make it, but all was not lost as I completed the task in 33 minutes. For the record if anyone out there is thinking that sounds easy, it was one of the most disgusting things I have ever done in my life and mint chocolate chip ice cream is ruined forever. We are still hiking with fiddlehead, rip, and treehugger and seem to have a very nice chemistry amongst the whole gang. I am not exactly sure about mileage right now but I know we are over 1100. I am going to try and label some of the new photos for you, so that will be all for now. As usual we are grateful that you stopped by to see how we are doing, please sign the guestbook on your way out.Ork and Bean
Date: 2006-07-21
From: slackpacking!!

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Hello again everyone,   This is just a quick update to let everyone know how and what we are doing. We have been slackpacking like mad men and have just 28 miles remaining until we are officially out of Mass and into Vermont. We are taking tomorrow off to spend the day with Rips folks who are making the trip all the way across Mass to meet me. (they probably want to see Rip too.) The last few days have been spent getting up at 5 am driving to the the trail, dropping Rip and Hugger at one end of our days hike and then us driving to the other end and hiking towards each other, we hand off the car keys when we pass during the day and then they pick us up. This is a really complicated way to slackpack, but it allows us to function without disrupting Karen and Dennis too much. We have been doing big days with this new system and still finish hiking and are home by 5. Of course the best part of this setup is that we get to shower at night and then sleep in a bed. I have decided that car assisted hiking is a really good thing, but am having some trouble convincing everyone else that we should utilize this system all the way to Maine.    In other news, we forgot to mention that we have finally started to catch back up with some familiar faces from before we got off the trail. Most notably Compost! We were able to chase him down largly because he took a 3 mile day waiting for trail magic, but that is beside the point. It was good to see him although short lived as he hurt his ankle about an hour after we caught up. Anyway I am sure that once he returns to fighting form he will have no trouble catching back up.   Anyway, I hope all is well with everyone, and this is enough to satiate your Ork and Bean appetites. We will update again soon from somewhere in our 12th state. Thanks to all for stopping in and dont forget to sign the guest book.happy trailsOrk and Bean
Date: 2006-07-22
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Just a quick note to let everyone know why we add so many train pictures. I have a nephew who thinks that trains, and anything relating to trains are about as good as it gets, so all train photos are for Aiden. Hopefully if we keep ourselves in the pictures with the trains he wont forget about while we are gone. Anyway we just took these yesterday and I wanted to add them. Hope all is well with everyone.Ork
Date: 2006-07-24
From: bennington, vt

To: packs back on
Miles today: 0.0

Hello again everyone,   This is just a brief update to let you all know that the four of us are in a state of great sadness as tomorrow we plan to leave the comforts of Bean's house and head back to the trail with our packs and tents. We reluctantly left the house early this morning and headed out to the trail to slack another 20 miles. We got to the northern end of our day's hike where we let Rip and Hugger out of the car to start hiking. The two of us drove a short ways to turn around and when we passed back by the trail where we had let the day's southbounders out, we heard a faint and desperate "WAIT!" called out to us. Rip and Hugger came running down the trail out of the woods to tell us that they didn't feel like hiking today. That was cool because we didn't either.    So collectively, we decided that we would zero today and make tonight our last night at the Beanfolk Home. We opted to soak up the comforts of home and head back out as real hikers in the morning, big packs and all. (Note tears.)   Actually, while we're not really excited about toting lots of weight again, we are excited to get back out in the woods and do some camping. (And I'm excited to burn off the ten pounds I've packed on in the last week at home.)    We'll be getting back on the trail at Rt. 9 in Bennington, VT and plan to be in Killington by Sunday. We did a little math and have discovered that if we hike a mere 16 miles everyday, we can summit Katahdin on August 30th. Of course, this doesn't account for zero days, so we'll have to do bigger miles a few days to earn ourselves a day off here and there.    We are all very excited to be down to just three states remaining in this journey, although they are the three most physically demanding states of all 14. All is well however, as we are now lean mean hiking machines. (sort of) We have gained alot of ground this week with our new invention, which we call Volkswalking. And even though it will be hard to put our packs back on, we looking forward to tackling this final leg of the race.   Hopefully all is well with everyone, and as always thank you for stopping in and please sign our guest book.ork and bean
Date: 2006-07-30
From: Beans house

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Hello everyone! Well we are coming to you once again from Beans house. It seems the trail after traveling north for a while takes a turn toward Beans folks and we are now closer to them then we have ever been. So we decided to slack a couple more days. Much has happened since we last updated and virtually all of it is good. Most importantly the time off volkswalking completely rejuvinated our hiking spirits and the trail is fresh and fun again. We officially have 8 more miles to go until we hit the 500 remaining mark. Vermont, although a little muddy, has quickly become our favorite state thus far as it is reminiscent of home. We saw our first moose, which used to be mundane back home but after not seeing one for so long was really quite exciting. And finally, this section of trail has been the busiest since Georgia, as we are encountering south bounders daily now and lots of people just starting the long trail. The long trail is a 270 mile hike through Vermont. Anyway all of these people are still new to the trail and their enthusiasm for it is quite contagious. Shelters have all been packed but we tent anyway, so we get the benefit of all their excitement without the traffic jam feel. It is truly inspirational to see people now that feel the way we did when we started.   In other news we have sort of fallen into a gap in the northbound gang with a bubble in front and one behind. This could work out to be optimum through the whites as you have to pay for shelters unless you are one of the first to arrive, then you can work for stay. So hopefully we can hit the whites in the same lull we are in and not have to pay for any shelters.    I am going to sign off for now as I can smell the wonderful aroma of sausage eminating from the kitchen. We are well though, in fact better mentally than we have been in a long time. All four of our feet took a beating when they got wet the other day, but such is life. I guess to summerize I would say our legs feel strong, and our spirits are up. We are feeling bulleproof and ready to tackle the whites! (I will probably sign on from the whites in tears.)    I hope all of you out there are well, and as always thank you for your interest in us. Of course I couldnt sign off without asking you to please sign in if you like what you see here, if you dont like it, address all complaints to Bean.take care of yourselvesOrk and Bean
Date: 2006-08-04
From: Goose pond rode

To: The Whites
Miles today: 270.0

Como esta seniors and senioritas, I am updating tonight to let everyone know a couple of things. First and most importantly our team is once again whole as Fiddlehead has officially rejoined us for the final push. As for the second piece of news, that final push is now just two states!! We finally got in touch with Fiddlehead after weeks of wondering where she was, and convinced her to shoot ahead a little bit so she could finish with us. After we summit she will return to VT and wrap up the couple days she will have left. It is great to have her back in the fold, and we are all looking forward to hiking with her again.   As for the four of us, we crossed into New Hampshire yesterday. So we are down to just two states and we couldnt be more excited about it. Hopefully we are in good enough shape to handle the whites.   In other, sadder news, we will be leaving the Shockros house for good tommorow. It has been an amazing run of food, showers, movies and good company but it has to come to an end. Karen and Dennis have both been amazing in taking care of all our wants and needs. We all owe them big time!   So I think for now this is all the information that I have to share. We are happy and healthy and ready to face the challenges posed by New Hampshire and its dreaded White mountains!!!   Thanks to all of you for stopping by, hope all is well with you and yours. take care and please sign our guest book if you have time.
Date: 2006-08-05
From: The Whites

To: Maine
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Hi all, Bean's Mom here...just wanted to let everyone know that the hikers are doing really well. Had lunch with them on the summit of Mount Washington yesterday (Friday) and that the temperature on the mountain was about 36 degrees with a wind speed of 29. It was cold up there!! They are doing well and are happy with their progress and speed. Ork still claims to be the "coolest".... They want everyone to know the that the Whites are awesome and the toughest hiking so far. They are closing in on their goal!! Ork and Bean will update when they reach a computer, but in the meantime, they send their best to you all.