morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2004-04-15
From: Standing Bear Hostel 

To: Max Patch
Miles today: 13.0

A morning with pancakes just makes my day. And then to add bananas to the pancakes brightens it even more, and if your so lucky as to have the sun shining so brilliantly as well...well, you'd have that smile plastered to your face just as I did for all the daylight hours. I spent my hike singing to myself, show tunes, radio tunes, 70's, 90's you name it...i had the time and I belted it when I remembered the lyrics well enough. Up at Max Patch, I met a kid named zipcode. He was really pleasant, and we shared laughs over our sticky finger problems with peanut butter and honey. I took off my shoes at the bald and lay in the sun for over an hour. With completely panoramic views on all sides, the mountains unfolding before me, and the sun still shining bright, it couldn't get much better. During my lazy time on the bald, I also spotted some cut wood and a 1/2 gallon of water that someone had left. It got me to thinking about alternate sleeping options for the night, and when Wayne approached, I proposed my idea to him. He's started to learn that if I get to a place, and feel so good as to take my shoes off, it's a done deal that I'll be sleeping there that night. As usual, I've again slowed down his daily miles for a good place. He agreed that the bald would be excellent, adn we began to run down the hill to gather more wood water for the night. I started thinking that he should really get the name NRchi for his amazing Energy, and his positive life outlook or 'chi'...again, another proposal to him was made about the idea, and hey, it looks like I may have named my first nobo!When we had dragged the wood (oh beleive me, there was a lot...nearly a trees worth!) and had collected some more water, we returned to the bald to find 6 more hikers had decided that camping up there was definately the thing to do. --oh, forgot to mention that I met this gal who worked for Thompson Island and another guy, Nick, who told me a lot about this school that he works for and it was just amazing to me that I had these conversations with these people, both on the same day, about wilderness therapy schools. Pretty cool. anyway--Dinner was a filling batch of cous cous and mac and cheese by the fire while we all pointed out constellations in the sky. Casiopia, we're still a little fuzzy on, but the others we think we got dead on. The sunset was amazing and I think Nick got the best picture of us all before it dimmed, so I hope he emails me a copy. Alright, it's 10:50 pm, and I've got a 20 tomorrow if I want to make it to Hot Springs. I'm hoping for an early wake up to the sunrise...and I'll have to get the name of this tent, it rocks! Thanks Wayne (NRchi) for sharing.
Date: 2004-04-16
From: Max Patch

To: Elmers Hostel
Miles today: 20.0

Today I woke NRchi up at about 6:30 Am, followed by Hitch & Mojo in their tent. It was the most amazing sunrise I've ever seen. From the top of the bald, you could see for miles, and we watched the colors of the sky change while munching on pop tarts. Then we actually saw 2 rainbows alongside the sunrise-they weren't full arcs, but instead short rectangles standing upright and multicolored. I've never seen anything like it before...so cool. We packed up afterwards and headed down the bald toward Hot Springs. Today I hiked alone until lunch with NRchi, at which point, he used my alcohol stove and burned his fingers on his pot. Youch! We stuck together after lunch, chatting and hiking at a comfortable pace that made the miles go by quickly. We met a trail crew that had just put in a new privy and I was happy to be the first to use it. Once in Hot Springs, I put my stuff in Elmers house and was walking toward the campground with NRchi to set up his tent & find his folks who had driven to Hot Springs to meet him. We actually found them as we were walking and I joined them as they got settled in at the campground...again, I was graciously treated to amazing banana bread (compliments to Jeanie) and really good macaroni salad (compliments to Wayne's dad). I returned to Elmers to find that instead of the planned dinner, the gang was headed out to the spaghetti dinner (of which we were actually too late, and so we ate at the nearby diner instead). After that, I hung out at the pub with lots of new people that I had just met: Yippee, ARms, Lifefoot, Jeanie & Kevin, NRchi, bobo, Crash Test, Miss Janet, Baltimore Jack, & others. Then it was off to the campfires, where I met even more nobo's who were ahead of me. Let's see, Vocal...oh nevermind, it was too long a night to recall everything that happened. I didn't get back to Elmers until 3 AM...a crazy night for sure, especially since hiker bed time is usually 8-9PM.
Date: 2004-04-17
From: Elmers Hostel

To: Elmers Hostel
Miles today: 15.0

I woke up early--again, not enough sleep was had the night before, but i was deteremined to slackpack 15 miles today regardless of the shape I was in. Breakfast at Elmers couldn't be beat, waffles with fruit and coffee. The first 4 miles were definately rough on a full belly and still groggy head, but eventually I did come around, and it was a great hike, & fun to go south again, quiet and alone. A good time to reflect on the hike thus far, and the upcoming completion. I also just enjoyed being perceived as a day hiker by most of the nobo's who I crossed paths with. It was entertaining to see how their attitude towards me changed and my vague answers about where I was going, or how long I was out definately made me more invisible on their thru-hiker radar. Today was a day just for me. Once I returned to Hot Springs, I attended laundry & showers & the like, while also spending some time in town at the festivities of music, food, and the ducky race. A nap was what I've just awoken from, and it's 8 pm. Time for dinner and a repeat of last night Wow...the night turned out to be absolutely amazing. I didn't get to sleep until 5:30 am...am I starting a trend of this in towns? Anyway, it started out walking down to the campfires like the night before, and shortstopping at a cafe on the river where I spotted NRchi & his family. I joined them for dinner, and then back to his family campsite before going down to the campfires with him. Brianna was singing her heart out at the campfires, despite her performances during the day and at the cafe that night. She's a vocal trooper! Most people left the campfires around 2 am, but NRchi, Crash Test & I were still up and had to walk home to our beds (NRchi had decided to stay at Elmers for the night). On the walk home, Crash Test showed us the undernearth of a bridge that gave us a different perspective of the town we were in. Then he left us to do our own exploring, which we did. I faced a fear, crossing over an old rotted out bridge that led us to an amazing victorian B&B called the Mountain Magnolia Inn. It had an amazing black chestnut tree in it's beautifully landscaped lawn, and we stared up through it's branches and to the stars for a while. The branches actually bowed down, touched the ground, and reached up toward the sky again..it was just so amazing to see a tree like that. It was a truely magical spot as we imagined what sorts of parties would take place in the summers. We saw 3 shooting stars that night before it was time to turn in. Back at Elmers, Poppins was still up as well, and the boys had an early AM snack while I brushed my teeth & called an end to a spectacular night.
Date: 2004-04-18
From: Elmers Hostel

To: Flint Mtn. Shelter
Miles today: 18.0

Well, Coyote hadn't shown up in town by the time pancake breakfast ended, so i suppose she's still back on the trail just a little ways off. Too bad, I was really hoping to see her in town. I had breakfast with NRchi & his family, and then headed over to the outfitters for some last minute ATM use before paying Elmer & hitching 15 miles out. I helped Poppins and the other organizers of Trailfest take down the larger tent, and then sat with Squirrelmeat and Poppins as they ate some food...unwilling to leave just yet. As I hiked, I mostly thought about the fun Id' had in town with friends. I started hiking by 1 pm and knew that it'd be a night hike to get me 1/2 way to the finish of Big Bald by this evening. The sun set as I watched, and I finally saw a bear as well. S/he was running off into the thicket as I approached, but I got a good view of her butt. Funny, as I'd just hiked over a place called Big Butt not an hour before. Glad that I'd now had an official bear spotting, I donned my headlamp, and made it to the next shelter with smiles.
Date: 2004-04-19
From: Flint Mtn. Shelter

To: Big Bald
Miles today: 18.0

Today was it, the day I completed my hike of the AT. Exactly 5 months behind my sobo friends, although my finish would be a bit different than theirs. Again, I was alone nearly the whole day...a position that started a slow smile across my face as I realized that I may be able to have a naked finish to this hike of a lifetime. I whooped and hollared once on the top, and looked around at the incredible 360 views before me. I ended my hike with salt on my face, a true telltale of the effort it has taken to complete such a journey. I took some time to sing and say words of gratitude to all that had been a part of this adventure for me. My parents, friends, family, drivers of hitches, hostel owners, friendly people in towns, fellow hikers, trail maintainers, and the trail herself. In my wake, i left my rock from Katahdin, surrounded by 4 incense sticks, one devoted to each earthly element, who had also been a large part of my journey. Once at the base of Big Bald (yes, I had to blue blaze off the bald, through a resort-community, and to the highway), I got two hitches, one from some old men harvesting wild ramps (which smelled of onion and garlic, simply devine and pungent!), and one from a sweet couple who drove out of their way to ensure that I got to Miss Janets well and good that night. Then it was a night of celebration for me, meeting new hikers & seeing some familiar faces at Miss Janets. I DID have a monster burrito for dinner...no other way to do it, and returned to Miss J's for some beers and a bed. The following day I had plans to white water raft, possibly with a sobo named spoons, who I'd just met.
Date: 2004-05-05
To: Celebration
Miles today: 0.0

Today Spoons & I feasted on another gloriaus breakfast of Miss Janets...complete with her out of this world hashbrowns, veggie gravy for biscuts, and veggie sausage! She rocks! Then we made plans for the white water rafting trip on the French Broad. The more we saw of the river (as we drove along side it to the rafting company), the more dismayed we became--where were the rapids? Well, it turns out that we didn't see any rapids that day, not because we floated the river, but becuase I'm not always the most map-adept driver in the world. We were way off from where we were supposed to meet the guides, and so our rafting plans went down river without us. No worries though, again, it just made for more sporadic planning. We went back to Hot Springs, had some beers, played some cards by the river, and waited on our friend, Crash Test, to come join us at the brewery & decide upon some nightly event to attend. When he arrived, word was in the air that Leftover Salmon was playing at a small venue in Ashville, NC. Dinner was scarfed down as we rushed to make the cheap show! In Ashville, I managed to get in touch with Birdsong, (sobo friend from 2003), and saw him & chatted throughout the first 1/2 of the show. Man, I've missed him, it was AWESOME to see him again! I also bumped into the two ridgerunners that I had met in Gaitlinburg at the show, and Crash Test, likewise saw many familiar faces at the show. We danced the night away at the concert, and Spoon and I returned to Miss Janets at 4 AM. NRchi, bless his heart, had made it into Erwin that day, and I was so happy to find him there, when I returned (feeling slightly guilty for not being there when he arrived). We spent part of the next day togther before it was time to say my goodbyes and drive back north to my home and awaiting WFR recertification class. It's been the best 3 weeks, an amazing completion to an amazing trail. I've met so many great people, and had so many new and exciting experiences. Glad to have kept a journal so that I may reflect upon this adventure in the years to come. Next adventure that I forsee myself doing: A bike across the country. also on the list:Bike New ZealandBackpack EuropeLong TrailJohn Muir TrailPCT (in sections)Tahoe Rim Trail...also interested in sea kayaking, sailing, teleskiing, & mountaineering
Date: 2003-11-20
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

It's the day after the 2003 volleyball banquet, and that means this thruhike is really starting to draw near. My brother Dave and I first talked about thruhiking the Appalachian Trail around 1997 and have been planning it for the past two years. My lovely fianc©e Heather and I are planning our wedding for the summer of '05 since D & I are planning on walking from March to August. I've picked up almost all my gear and tested a good bit of it - but only now does the hike seem right around the corner.For the past five years, I've had the pleasure of sharing my fall with the Westborough High School girls volleyball team, first as an assistant coach and then as the JV coach the past 2 seasons. I've kept my thruhike plans from the team this season so they could focus on volleyball. Last night, my college buddy and head coach of the team let the cat out of the bag, telling the girls and their parents about my hike plans and presenting me with a couple books: 'The 2oz Backpacker' and 'Up Sh*t Creek'. The second book truly looks delightful, subtitled 'A collection of horrifyingly true wilderness toilet misadventures.' I'll let you know if it's a book worthy of your attention So the season's over, the team knows of my plans and I've entered the next phase of my planning: getting in shape and shelving my software development business.March 12th is still a long way away. Plenty of time to answer the obvious questions such as ¢Are you nuts?¢, ¢What¢s Heather going to do without you around to annoy her?¢, and ¢Can I keep your dog, Tally, while you¢re gone?¢ Keep reading. I¢ll do my best to keep you informed and amused.
Date: 2004-01-20
To: 7 weeks?
Miles today: 0.0

I took a break from building websites for a while over the weekend and picked up one of my favorite AT books, Sojourn in the Wilderness by Ken Wadness (Peacewalker). I've been working hard to prepare for this walk for months, even years. The prep I do for the trail is only half of it. The other half is trying to fulfill all my business obligations: completing software and web development projects, documenting everything so that it can be handled by Heather, my friends and co-workers while I¢m on the trail. So I¢d been working non-stop and my mind was racing ¢ and it was just the right book to grab!There are many books about the AT. As you¢ve seen from Trailjournals.com, there are a ton of journals out there too. If you¢re looking for a great read from last year¢s class of thruhikers, check out Jan Liteshoe¢s journal. Peacewalker¢s book is a bit different from most of the books. It¢s a coffee table book containing some awesome photos from his 1990 southbound thruhike. So I open the book and find myself on top of a mountain in New Hampshire. I¢ve been to many of the locations of the photos and they are truly incredible. If course, Peacewalker had a pack that maxed-out around 80 pounds, so a little high-quality photography equipment fit in easily.Where was I? Oh yeah ¢ it¢s easy to lose the forest for the trees. I¢ve been prepping so long and hard that I forgot most of the reasons I¢m going in the first place. So I crashed when I saw the pics, taking a number of deep breaths and slowing down for a while. It is beautiful out there.Back on the prep front, I sewed a few pockets into the inside of my pack. There¢s a lot of new lightweight gear I¢ve picked up over the past couple years and I¢m still customizing it. Just received my digital camera (Canon S400) with enough time that perhaps I can learn how to use it and not have to carry the manual for the first week of the trip! Been talking a lot with my brother, planning food and maildrops, arranging starting plans (his house on 3/12, on the trail 3/13), and talking gear.Oh yeah ¢ and if you¢re reading and enjoying this journal, consider a donation to Leif & ZipDrive ¢ former thruhikers who built and run this wonderful site!Until next time...
Date: 2004-02-11
To: One month...
Miles today: 0.0

One month from now, I¢ll be driving down to Virginia with either my fianc©e Heather or her brother John. We¢ll be picking up my brother David in Charlottesville, spending the night at our friend Claude¢s place in South Carolina and hitting the trail on March 13th. One month. I can¢t wait! I¢ve been customizing my pack a bit, adding some pockets to the inside to keep the little handy items like snacks & toilet paper accessible. After carrying my Mountainsmith Frostfire pack for 7 years, I traded it for a Ghost pack last year. The Ghost is 12 the size, 1/3 the weight and has forced me to really lighten up my load. So I¢m sewing pockets and thinking about the last time I used a sewing machine. 7th grade home economics. I don¢t remember the assignment, but I know I used my mind-boggling imagination to come up with my project ¢ a pair of scissors! Think of all the cute, cuddly things that I could have sewed! Then think about having a pair of stuffed scissors as a nighttime companion! At least I can prove that I wasn¢t normal back then either¢¦The last items on my gear list have been arriving. I¢ve decided to pack Montane Featherlite pants and ditch my waterproof pants. I just can¢t imagine that I¢ll need waterproof pants in the southern spring, given that I¢ve winter camped in the White Mountains and never needed them up there! Longjohns, hiking pants and windpants will be enough lower body protection for me ¢ my key is just keeping my core warm. And ditching the 10oz pants for 4oz windpants is a nice trade. Yeah, I¢ve become a weight-freak. Not that my 17 pound winter pack base weight (no food or water) is all THAT light, but I was carrying 35lbs just two years ago. What¢s 6 oz of weight on a 2175 mile AT thruhike? It¢s the equivalent of picking up my Honda Accord and carrying it for a quarter of a mile. I sure do like these windpants!My camera came in as well and I love it! The 4 megapixel resolution means I can blow up pictures to 8x11 for printing and the 35-105 zoom is pretty handy. The best part about the camera is its macro functioning - I can shoot from 2 inches away with the S400! So much of the beauty of the woods is in the details ¢ and now I can capture the details! David, Heather and I were hiking in Shenandoah last year when a butterfly landed on his glasses and pissed on him. My other camera couldn¢t do the scene justice, but this one will be able to! That¢d be quite the trailname for my brother, hmmm?Trailnames ¢ for those of you who haven¢t been informed (or haven¢t had to listen to me talk for the last few years) ¢ are given to or selected by hikers for use on the AT. I don¢t have mine yet. I¢ll let my friends on the trail find a fitting one for me. I have a feeling I may regret this decision later!
Date: 2004-02-25
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Last week, I realized I¢m no longer counting the weeks ¢til the hike ¢ I¢m counting the days. 16 days from now I¢ll be driving down to VA with either my fianc©e Heather or her brother John. I just spoke to my father on the phone and found myself saying ¢every moment feels precious right now.¢ That¢s how I¢d like to feel all the time, but the accompanying pressure to wrap up my business is a poor reason to feel that way! I¢ve gotten almost all my contacted websites built. Jim, one my partners in Air2App Wireless Telemetry, is coming over tomorrow to review software that he¢ll be maintaining in my absence. Thanks Jim!On the other hand, I¢ve reached the point where I don¢t care about the details of my gear anymore. Once I finish sewing stuffsacks and foodsacks for my brother and myself, I¢ll be ready to hike. No more shaving ounces and debating whether to bring an extra pair of socks. I¢m wonderfully relieved to find myself willing to let go of the details. After the first 30 miles of hiking, I¢ll have a chance to tune my load. For now, I¢m happy just carrying it.My brother and I have been talking on the phone almost every day and a lot of the talk has centered around the guidebook we¢re planning on bringing. We did most of our planning out of the 2000 and 2001 Thru-Hiker¢s Handbook. I¢d been hoping to use either the 2004 edition of the same or switch to the 2004 Thru-Hiker¢s Companion, put out by the American Long Distance Hikers Association. Unfortunately, the format of the new books makes ¢em tougher to use. Rather than using mileage as the basis for the books, both have switched to focusing on the gaps, mountains and shelters along the trail. That¢s great for pleasure reading, but when I want to know where the heck I am on the trail, I can¢t find it from the guidebook! I¢d be interested in learning why the books are written this way!I just fed my dog Tally a bunch of the turkey I was eating ¢ that means she¢ll be cruising by, looking for more soon. She¢s an 8-year-old Samoyed that Heather and I adopted 2 years ago and yes, that¢s her picture on the left side, not mine - I¢m nowhere near as pretty! If you have a tough time with cold winters, get a Sammy! Tally loved the below-zero weather we had this year, pouncing on the snow, crunching the ice and just generally having a ball. It¢s been impossible to look out the window and think how terrible the weather is, ¢cause instead I¢m out walking in it and finding out how beautiful it is once you get used to your nose going numb.Good moral there ¢ the first step is always the hardest. Just get up and walk.16 days. Time to play another game or two of volleyball, finish the work, enjoy some good food, friends, family and especially Heather¢s company. And then when I¢m done with that, I get to go have the time of my life!
Date: 2004-03-11
To: Heading to Georgia!
Miles today: 0.0

One last entry before I hop in the car! Heather's brother John and I will be driving to Virginia to pick up my brother in about an hour, arriving a bit after midnight. It's been an absolutely crazy last week. All the last minute pack and gear prep was amazingly the least of my concerns! Taking care of work - thanks George, Jim & Heather! - has been nuts. And that's been compounded by having a stomach bug for the last week! I don't know how much is nervous and how much is physical, but there's no choice in the matter - I'm heading south!Heather's a high school physics teacher, so I won't see her at least until April vacation and perhaps until the end of May. That's going to be tough! She'll be getting my handwritten journal entries and transcribing them, so expect a delay of a week or more between my writing and her posting.Thanks to my parents and everyone who's supported this dream and promised to following along with me! Your support means a ton and I can't wait to see/hear from you along the way.
Date: 2004-03-12
To: South Carolina
Miles today: 0.0

It's the night before Christmas...or at least it feels that way! Dave and I are staying with our friends Claude and Laura & their wonderful kids tonight near Columbia, SC - 4 hours from the start of the trail. We just had a great last dinner of home cooked BBQ and some great company.Up in the morning early, John will drive with us to the start of the trail and then drive my car home. Claude will be hiking with us for the first 20 miles or so and then get picked up by Laura. And D and I are almost on our way.4 or 5 miles tomorrow. I'm so happy to be here and just start walking. Sunny weather expected and nice temps. I'll write soon from the trail...