morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2015-07-21
From: Millinocket, ME

To: Millinocket, ME
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

I'm awaiting several packages here in Millinocket, ME: a box of some warmer clothes coming from home, my trekking poles that I accidentally left at the Appalachian Trail Conservancy headquarters in Harper's Ferry, WV, and a new pair of sandals because the strap came loose from the sole of my original pair. I definitely need a functional pair of sandals and my trekking poles back before entering the 100 Mile Wilderness because Maine introduces a new challenge: fording streams and even rivers. No shortage of water in Maine! Because I'm Way Up North now, priority mail takes 3 days to arrive. So while I'm waiting, I'm enjoying a vacation! In terms of trail towns in Maine, Millinocket is a big place. I've visited three small art galleries featuring paintings and photographs of Katahdin and moose, the Millinocket historical society that has a room full of old tools and photographs of the lumber industry, walked twice to Save A Lot and indulged in their produce section, eaten three times at the Appalachian Trail Cafe, enjoyed the Mediterranian Chicken pizza special at Angelo's, and taken walks at various times of day to acclimate to the weather (70's during the afternoon, much better than upper 90's in PA where I would be now if I didn't do the flip to Maine). Thanks Oleman, Navigator, Chief, and Mighty Mouse for the hospitality!
Date: 2015-07-24
From: Millinocket, ME

To: Millinocket, ME
Miles today: 0.0

The last of my packages that I've been waiting on arrived today, so tomorrow I'll be starting my southbound journey through the 100 Mile Wilderness, for real this time! The trail is teaching me the utter uselessness of making decisions too far in advance, so I'm really not sure how far I'll walk tomorrow. When I get to the first place that could be a possibility for camping, I'll see what time it is and how I'm doing back on trail after 6 days "vacation".   I've been reading Tales From Chimney Pond, originally oral stories told by Leroy Dudley, a ranger and guide at Katadin from the 1890's until his death in 1942.   The stories are about the people he met while guiding and his friendship with Pamola, the Penobscot Indian god of thunder that lives on Katahdin. Katahdin (meaning "greatest mountain") actually has several peaks, Baxter Peak at 5267 feet is the tallest of these and where the AT starts or ends, depending on your perspective, and Pamola Peak is another. The people that Dudley mentions in his stories seem to still be on-trail: The Widow Woman from Portland who talks so much she makes Pamola sick; The Man with the Green Hat who eats only dried fruits, has a lot of previous mountain climbing experience, thinks Katahdin looks "just like an ant hill" in comparison with The Matterhorn in Switzerland, but ends up at the doctor with a severe case of indigestion; The Growler who finds fault with everything and the other people at Dudley's camp at Chimney Pond ask Dudley to get Pamola to run him off the mountain; and Charles Idolphus Guindersleeves who still boasts about himself as a tough fighter even as he runs from Katahdin after his gun shots bounce off Pamola and Pamola freezes the lake when Guindersleeves goes to get water. I'd recommend this book for everyone! I'm looking forward to reading these stories again! (I'm trying the kindle app now because even though I love the experience of a paper book, the weight isn't worth it).Thanks to the developers of atweather.org that makes it super easy to look up the weather by shelter and to Unshoes, the Utah-based small business that makes my camp/water shoe, for sending me a replacement pair free of charge after the original pair broke. I'm grateful to be inside today as the rains come down.
Date: 2015-08-09
From: ME 15

To: US 201
Miles today: 36.7
Weather: broken clouds

After a lovely stay at Pumpkin and 10-Hut's summer camp, I'm back to trail this morning after breakfast. Last night 10-Hut cooked me a moose meat burger (tasted a lot like bison). My day today begins with a canoe ferry ride across the Kennebec River. I've heard the canoe even has a white blaze on the bottom! The trail stays fairly flat got the next 20 miles but then woah Nelly the elevation profile starts to get crazy. On the next section I'll be climbing and descending the Bigelows which I saw from Moxie Bald Mtn (360 views!) and Pleasant Pond Mtn on the way here from Monson. I also slogged through a lot of mud and forded more streams and rivers (I've lost count how many now). I've hit Maine right in the middle of blueberry season, so I'm easily distracted. Stay updated for pictures from the last stretch. Cheerio for now!
Date: 2015-08-11
From: US 201

To: East Flagstaff Road
Miles today: 20.3

Even though this photo was from the last section from Monson toU.S. 201, I chose it as this post's feature because I wasn't able to post pictures at my last stop and I had such a lovely, still, and peaceful morning by Bald Mountain Pond before climbing Moxie Bald Mountain (2000 and some feet above sea level although it felt much higher). From there I saw Katahdin and Chairback Mountain (in the Southrrn part of the 100 Mile Wilderness) to the North and the Bigelows to the South on a glorious clear morning. The last 20 miles have been walking in low land by many ponds and even a body of water that seemed to qualify as a lake. Thanks to the canoe ferryman for steering me safely across the Kennebec River. I've seen and heard many more loons out fishing, no moose yet though. It seems I haven't really recovered from my bout of dehydration in the 100 Mile Wilderness and today's forecast of 80% chance of rain and storms was not looking good for a trip over the Bigelows (over 4000 feet and above treeline) so I'm taking a full stop day today off trail to rest and recuperate. As I've learned to do on trail, I'll make a decision about tomorrow when the time comes closer. With a few days and nights of no rain, the trail was drying out some but this poem by children's poet laureate J Patrick Lewis made me laugh given the recent muddy conditions and the trail even under water in at least one place. I've seen a lot of amphibians lately! "Said the Toad" by J Patrick Lewis I was really in a muddlelooking over a mud puddle'cause I didn't have a paddleor a twig to ride the reef.But I said, Oh, fiddle-faddle,this is just a little piddleof a second fiddle puddleso I saddled up a leaf.I set sail on the puddle,but I reached the muddy middleand I rocked the leaf a little,then I gave it all I had.And I solved the mighty riddleof the whole caboodle puddlewhen I hopped up on the middleof a beetle launching pad. Thank you to everyone who has commented in my guestbook-- your encouragement has helped me through some tough spots. An enormous thanks to my mom, my #1 trail angel, for all that she has done to make this hike happen, most recently ordering a new pair of the Asolo boot that I wore from Erwin, TN to Harper's Ferry, WV because the other pair of new boots that I tried didn't fit well. Having a new pair of the Asolo boot is like having an old friend back.
Date: 2015-08-13
From: Kingfield, ME

To: Augusta, ME
Miles today: 0.0

Thank you friends, family, and trail journals aficionados for all your support, comments, and following my trip. I am happy to say that tomorrow I will be sitting on the Greyhound headed back home to Virginia after getting a 2 hour shuttle today from Kingfield, ME to the Comfort Inn in Augusta, ME. It is definitely comfortable! I feel like I accomplished the purpose of my Big Hike this year a million times over plus I got to climb Katahdin and see the beauty of Maine! My body and heart seemed like they just weren't into the long distance hiking thing anymore for now, but you can be bet I'll be back on trail in the future and keeping the writing going. In the immediate future I'm looking forward to eating real food again as the bountiful late summer produce arrives. Here's the whole poem by e.e. cummings that I quoted in my very first post:i thank You God for most this amazingday:for the leaping greenly spirits of treesand a blue true dream of sky; and for everythingwhich is natural which is infinite which is yes(i who have died am alive again today,and this is the sun¢s birthday; this is the birthday of life and of love and wings: and of the gaygreat happening illimitably earth)how should tasting touching hearing seeingbreathing any¢lifted from the noof all nothing¢human merely beingdoubt unimaginable You?(now the ears of my ears awake andnow the eyes of my eyes are opened)I am so grateful for the time and opportunity to hike A Long Ways on the Appalachian Trail! If you want to do it, do whatever it takes to make it happen! You won't regret it!
Date: 2015-09-01
To: Hiker Trash to Beach Bum
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

I am grateful to be enjoying an all-expense-paid family trip to the Outer Banks this week. Walking barefoot back and forth on the fine sand beach with no pack and going nowhere! I never felt like I got enough rest while on trail, but now I have plenty. This poem came up in my Poetry Daily app a few days ago and is a fantastic guide for the start of what I see as the third part of my Big Hike: reintegration into a more rooted life and application of what I learned on trail.   "Make Your Laziness Be Real Rest"-- Caroline KnoxMake your laziness be real rest; why should you throw out useful sloth¢it's there because you need it; you should think about practical emptiness. About what? Make your loafing real rest, make a deliberate ruin for it. Make a ruin and be its anchorite in empty time; make a run for it. Make a rune for your laziness, and now with your ears you hear the breath of grass and wind, of stones turned to water in lazy time. Heed the numinosity of a laziness rune; it's imperative to see a rune with your eyes shut, holding the shaded image in a historical light! Fallow earth is lazy and productive when we touch it, knowing its rest in time, and as we remember it from youth. The sun makes laziness volatile. Rays lift the air everywhere somehow, harsh- and/or sweet-smelling, and we know it, but while lolling about we don't register clearly, and isn't that okay. Emptier things: a mind a blank, a mind a haze, a mind a black polished screen, turning from meaning. Your laziness can be real rest, make it craftsmanlike, a devotion.So did I get more clarity about my vocational path, my secondary motivation for The Big Hike? There wasn't as much time for pondering the future as one might expect because fulfilling immediate needs (shelter, water, food, excretion) requires so much more work and energy. But the trail taught me to live in the true world of possibilities rather than than pseudo-world of absolutes. As a daily experience on trail, that meant that it useless at 10 am to start guessing about which possible campsite I would end up at. Only as the day progressed did I have adequate information (what time was it? how was I doing with the day's hike up to that point? had it started pouring rain? had it stopped raining? was there someone already at the campsite I had considered?) to make that decision. On a larger scale, it is similarly useless to think about what I'll be doing for work in 10 or more years. Way too many possibilities to try to even guess at this point. Whatever it is though, I know it will be wonderful, just like I knew something good was coming for me even before I met Aviator who hiked in 2013 and inspired me to get out and start The Big Hike this year. For now, I'm looking forward to zumba teacher training later this month.
Date: 2015-11-10
To: Principles of being
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

I took the title of this post from The Layers by Stanley Kunitz.   The beginning and the end of the poem:I have walked through many lives,some of them my own,and I am not who I was,though some principle of beingabides, from which I strugglenot to stray...Though I lack the artto decipher it,no doubt the next chapterin my book of transformationsis already written.I am not done with my changes.Principle of Being 1: PatienceAfter my stay at the wonderful Woods Hole Hostel near Pearisburg, VA and my three mile hike to the next shelter North, a kind gentleman there asked me when I wanted to get to Maine. "Whenever", I said. I truly meant it. Every day, I am attempting to apply this feeling to my life. The trail reinforced that deadlines just stress me out, they do not motivate me.Principle of Being 2: ProgressIn at least two places that I can remember, Awol's Northbound AT guide made a note that the trail actually was going compass South! Although the progress of the trail at least appears to be more concrete, linear, and measurable than the many possible directions to go in life and having to look hard to remember progress I've made, I'm am remembering the necessity of going South to go North.Principle of Being 3: Work and MoneyAs I ate with my friend Fiddle whom I met on trail in Georgia and was in my area this fall finishing up Virginia, we discussed our physical reactions to looking at job postings after backpacking for several months-- she broke out in hives and I got a bad headache and my throat contracted. I am not giving up my dream of finding/creating fulfilling and meaningful work that also provides a living income. In the meantime, I'm dancing like no one is watching except the squirrels and birds in my backyard. I love the line "hay que aprender a gozar de la vida" (you have to learn to enjoy life) from the song Tierra Santa by Los Pinguos that I recently heard and plan to use in my future Zumba classes, whenever the first one happens.Principle of being 4: ReceivingThanks again for the trail magic, all you trail angels! I am continuing to receive and am resisting the "you are what you yourself provide" dominant culture.
Date: 2015-11-17
To: Trail Work
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Last Saturday I joined members of the Potomac Appalachian Trail club for trail work on the AT in Shenandoah National Park. I got the light duty-- lopping branches and brambles encroaching on the trail corridor. The main work of the day was cleaning out and rebuilding water bars (drainage ditches) so I tried my hand using a McLeod (trail tool with a long handle and a heavy duty rake-like part at the end). The crew finished the day's work in 3 hours and even after lunch at Ivy Creek Overlook it was only 1:30, so I took a short hike to High Top on a glorious clear day. Looking South, layers of mountains! (see my photos) Food for a hungry soul. Looking West and North, the Southern end of the Massanutten Range and the rural population of the Shenandoah Valley in Rockingham County. Home! A breezy day, about 45 degrees, but thankfully sunny. Great to be back among people who care about the trail and understand the long-distance backpacker. I love this tender poem that came up in my Poetry Daily feed today. As I Was Carrying the Child-- Alan FeldmanAs I was carrying the child into the house from the car in the driveway, through the frosty air that ate through even the thickest coat, the garage door lifted, recognizing its code, and the walls of the basement smelled like a root cellar. As I was carrying the child into the house, her bare feet dangling (she had kicked off her boots), I thought, as anyone would, how light she was, though heavier than before; how someday she'd learn to keep her boots on (when she's too big to be carried) and to be more tactful¢You're strong, she told me, for an old man; and how, for her, the thought of an old man's death is a mere fact, the way water spills from a tipped bucket just as it should, so nothing in her affection is due to pity, but comes from the simple pleasure of being carried, quite high, by a being large and kind enough to do it, like a monumental horse breathing clouds of vapor, its legs way down, moving like something that falls, just a little, but doesn't, because it's charged with a strength that's muscular, and electrical, not mechanical, but responsive, and has a voice ... As I was carrying the child into the house from the car in the driveway, through the frosty air that ate through even the thickest coat, time rose up and swept through me like a breath.
Date: 2015-01-30
To: Planning
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

I have purchased all 11 guidebooks from the Appalachian Trail Conservancy and their related maps. I also have purchased the Thru Hiker's Companion to the Appalachian Trail.I also found an extremely useful article on White Blaze about elevation gain and loss data on the Appalachian Trail (http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/content.php/49).I am breaking down my trail analysis into two components: quantitative and qualitative. I have completed my quantitative analysis on a spreadsheet which divides the Applachian Trail into 17 segments, each of which is further subdivided into a number of mini-trips, usually from one shelter to the next, with total distance, elevatation gain and loss recorded for each such mini-trip.Based upon my quantitative analysis, I have created a plan for how many days it will take me to complete my hike and where I will be starting and ending on each such day.I will then turn to a qualitative trail analysis by reading the guidebooks again, in significantly greater detail, to note any significant challenges I may encounter within any particular mini-trip, such as difficult treadway, long stretches without water or stream crossings.Once I am done with my qualitative analysis, I will go back to my plan and tweak it as necessary to make sure that each day of planned hiking is in fact doable in light of anticipated trail conditions.
Date: 2015-01-30
To: Swimming 1000+ Miles And Thru-Hiking AT In Same Yr
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

I am planning to swim over 1,000 miles and complete a solo thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail this year. I am trying to find out if this has ever been done before (I don't think it has). I would like to become the first person ever to do this.
Date: 2015-02-09
To: Training
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

After spending a weekend in Joshua Tree with my WTC class, today I did all of my strengthening/stretching physical therapy exercises and swam approximately 6.5 miles. Details below:http://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/694011672http://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/694011679http://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/694011685http://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/694011689
Date: 2015-02-11
To: Training
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Today I had a great training hike up Bailey Canyon to Jones Peak, then on to Orchard Camp and back, 10.05 miles with approximately 3500 ft gain and loss in 3:20. After the hike, I swam 4000 meters long course and 5600 yards short course at the Rose Bowl. I wanted to do my PT exercises after the swim but was too tired. I will do them tomorrow.
Date: 2015-02-21
To: Orchard Camp from Bailey Canyon
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: snow

This morning I had an excellent training hike, starting from Bailey Canyon, up to Jones Peak, then on the transition trail to Little Santa Anita Canyon until it meets up with the Mt Wilson Trail, then on to Orchard Camp and back, 10.12 miles, approximately 3600 ft gain/loss in 3:45, maintaining a 22:18 pace. I carried a fully loaded pack and was really engaging my glutes on the uphill. After the hike I went to the RBAC and got in 8700 m long course pulling. Need to start having more days like this, if I do I will be more than ready for the AT!
Date: 2015-02-22
To: WTC Snow Hike
Miles today: 0.0

Today I joined my fellow students and instructors on a fun trip to Onyx Summit for our snow travel hike. Despite the extremely dry winter we have had (for three straight years now), Instructor Joe Speigl did a great job finding snow and we spent the day productively practicing plunge steps going downhill and kick steps going uphill in the snow. Lead Instructor Anne Marie Turner Richardson also gave us an excellent presentation on edging technique which we also practiced throughout the day as we were traversing various snow patches. We also did some fun snow shoeing and made a snow-animal (to some of us, it looked like a bear, to others like a pig). Our maximum elevation was approximately 9,500 ft. Sorry I was not able to join the class after the excursion for pizza and beer, but my sister Julie was in town and I had dinner with Donna and her.
Date: 2015-02-23
To: The Class of 2015
Miles today: 0.0

This was a rest day for me today. No hiking or PT, but I did get in 7200 m pulling at the RBAC and 4400 yds at Caltech Masters Swim Practice. I called Steripen to find out whether I should stick with my Ultra or switch to the Freedom, which weighs about 2 oz less and, like the Ultra, has rechargeable batteries. After speaking to a very helpful technical representative named Cheryl, I concluded that it makes sense to stay with the Ultra. It can treat up to 50L between charges, whereas the Freedom's capacity is only 20L. I do not expect to rely on solar power to charge the ultraviolet device in the field, because I also will need to charge the Garmin in the field on a daily basis, so the extra 2 ounces are worth having a device with double the range.I spent about an hour going through the list of people with AT 2015 trail journals and created a spread sheet with the start date, name and trail name of each thru-hiker. I plan to update this spreadsheet periodically. Hopefully, if the ATC website publishes the trail names of the persons who have self-registered, I can supplement the spreadsheet with this information as well. I think it will be neat to be running into other thru-hikers on the trail, and I would like to keep track of them as I do so and sign their guest books if they have trail journals.
Date: 2015-02-24
To: WTC Class
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Today I swam 10,000 m at the RBAC and completed all of my physical therapy exercises. I have started to do the first set of my standing PT strengthening exercises with a fully loaded backpack. This allows me to target even more my glutes, and they are feeling very strong.Tonight I attended an excellent class on food for my Sierra Club Wilderness Travel Course. I learned about chili oil and am excited to try it out and possibly substitute it for olive oil. I expect it will be not as healthy but much more flavorful than olive oil.
Date: 2015-02-25
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Good training hike to the top of Mt Wilson from Chantry Flat. At Hoegee's Camp, I tested my new Steripen Ultra and treated water from the stream. The device works fine, and I like the "countdown" feature. Overall, I think this is a meaningful upgrade from my old Adventurer. I'm happy I no longer need to buy hard-to-find CR123 batteries.From Hoegee's, I hiked to the top of Mt Zion, then descended to Sturtevant Camp, then made the steep climb up the Sturtevant Trail to the top of Mt Wilson. I used the drinking fountain next to the 100-inch telescope, had lunch, then completed the loop by taking the rim trail to the pavilion, taking the trail down to the toll road, further descending to Manzanita Ridge on the Mt Wilson Trail, then down to Hoegee's Camp on the Winter Creek Trail. Total distance was 15.12 miles with 5,407 ft elevation gain. According to Garmin, my calorie burn was 1281. Next time I will recalibrate the Garmin to include added pack weight and see how much of a difference that makes. It is important for me to determine a realistic estimate of calories burned per day on the AT so I can prepare my food supplies to include enough calories to achieve my goal of weight neutrality.
Date: 2015-02-26
To: General George S. Patton Memorial Museum
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

I swam 9000 meters at the RBAC, then drove to the General George S. Patton Memorial Museum at Siriaco Summit, where I met up with Justin Bruno, an instructor in my WTC class, and his friend, Luis, at approximately 3:00 p.m. for our hike to Carey's Castle. After the museum, we had lunch at the cafe, then drove to the trailhead, where Justin and I then left our cars and we hiked up to the mouth of the canyon, where we made camp that night. We had the entire place to ourselves.