morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2006-08-15
From: Monson, ME

To: Long Pond Stream Lean-to
Miles today: 15.1
Weather: broken clouds

Breakfast at Shaws was at 6:30. Everybody was invited to sit down at the breakfast tables. I then had to pick my number 1,2,3,... and whatever number you chose that was how much food you got. I picked number 3 so I got three blueberry pancakes, 3 pieces of bacon, 3 eggs, 3 sausages, and 3 helpings of potatoes. It sure was a lot of food I was glad I only picked 3. Dodger, Krystal, and I went out with the second shuttle to the trail. Oh dear how I suffered those first miles. Too much food in the belly. I was near the brink of absolute misery and just wanted to sit down for an hour to digest. This was the beginning of the 100 miles Wilderness that I heard so much about. Sure it was not as much steep up and down but the trail still went up and down over boulders, hills, rocks, and roots making it a little bit harder than dreamed of. I also passed a lot of ponds and looked for moose at each and everyone but saw none. After six miles I got to Little Wilson Falls. Believe me those falls were not as small as the name indicates. They were beautiful and rather interesting as you could almost walk across the top of the falls. I didn't do it as the rocks were really slippery and I wanted to finish the trail instead of falling down a tall waterfall. After a little more hiking the trail came to Big Wilson Stream. The water was not very deep, however, it was too deep to walk across in boots and get out of it with dry socks. Instead I sat down took of boots and socks and put on sandals. The water felt good is was not icy cold just a little chilly the first couple of steps. All the mud got cleaned off my legs and as I arrived at the other side even my feet looked all clean Took a short break at Wilson Valley Lean-to to fill up on good cold tasty spring water. There is nothing better than when a shelter has good cold clean spring water coming straight out of the ground. The last five miles of the day were easy and when I got to Long Pond Stream I took a chance and rock hopped across the water. It was a little iffy as the rocks were not that close together and the water was running rather swift at that place. Yes, I must admit I got lazy and didn't want to stop and take off my boots and put on sandals. Later I learned that three other hikers had done the same as I but with a much more wet result!!!Long Pond Stream Lean-to was filled with hikers. Had not seen that many at one shelter since Moosilauke. I got lucky though as one guy in the shelter was leaving and there were now room for two more hikers (Dodger and I) after we squeezed together a little. Eagle Eye and Conductor were already there in their tents and later on Homebrew came in. Dinner was selected by weight - wanted to eat the heaviest items first as Dodger and I were carrying 7 days worth of food in our packs, which makes it a "little" heavy. The pocket rocket once again made the cooking duty go by fast. It really heats up the water fast but I have to be real careful when the food is added because the heat is rather intense on the bottom of the pot. Burned food just doesn't taste as good.
Date: 2006-08-18
From: East Branch Lean-to

To: Antlers Campsite
Miles today: 16.0
Weather: broken clouds

I had left the shelter wearing my sandals and carrying my boots in hand. According to the Trail Data Book the East Branch of Pleasant River was only 0.3 miles away and it had to be forded. However, when Dodger and I stood at the brink we quickly saw we could jump across from rock to rock. So down we sat again to put on the boots we thought we had been so clever to leave off.Nothing like a little surprise or change in the plan - keeps the trail life interesting. We were looking for a spring as we were low on water (the water had not been great at the shelter). It felt like a steep little hill but when I got to the top I realized I had just "summited" Little Boardman Mtn. That meant we had also missed the spring. No worry, there were only two miles to the next water source, which would be hard to miss as it was Crawford Pond. At Crawford Pond we saw two wonderful sights: 1) a watersource other than the pond, and 2) a sandy beach Time for a good long break at the beach. It was awesome sitting there int he warm sun and the water in the pond was completely clear and the bottom was nice sand instead of the usuall slippery or sharp rocks and brown muddy water. Half an hour went by, then an hour, and before I got my boots on again two wonderful relaxing hours had gone by. Well, it was 13:05 and we still had 11.5 miles to go. Nothing like a flat smooth trail to kick up the pace a little. We hiked so fast that we arrived all out of breath and with sweat dripping down. It had become a little mini race against the clock just to see if we could make it to the campsite within 4 hrs. - We made it, with two minutes to spare With a good workout getting us all sweaty we quickly unpacked and then jumped in the pond we were tenting at. The Antlers Campsite was almost like a peninsula and we had picked the outermost campsite surrounding us with water on three sides. After getting dried off again we enjoyed a good meal. Neither of us felt we had enough to eat that night but we had to ration our food a little. A bar of chocolate right before bed did wonders and we no longer felt hungry. Laying there underneath the bug screen I could look right up into the sky and see the stars that became more and more bountiful as it got darker.
Date: 2006-08-19
From: Antlers Campsite

To: Rainbow Stream Lean-to
Miles today: 21.7
Weather: overcast clouds

Dodger was so good. He had gotten up early and started packing before he woke me up at 5:00. Now I didn't have an excuse to say "just 5 more minuttes" as he already had packed up his sleeping bag and tent. The smell of the pine trees and the sand, the sound of the tiny waves breaking at the edge of the lake, and the texture of the fine sand underneath the tent all made me feel like I had just spent the night on the beach. What a great way to wake up. I took a couple of photos of the sunrise over the lake before the fog rolled in and covered everything. Off we went ,although not until I had stopped by the fancy privy "Fort Relief". This privy had windows with real curtains, a "sink" without running water, and its very own register as bathroom reading. That's a five star privy *****. Almost 4 miles later Dodger and I stopped at Potaywadjo Spring Lean-to (I do not know how to pronounce that name so for the ease of it I named it the Potato Shelter!) There we shared a 1 lb cheese burger - the breakfast of champions. Another hiker had bought two burgers yesterday at White House Landing thinking the burgers were regular 1/4 lb sized and so she couldn't eat it all. With good American food in my stomach and music on the mp3 I felt great walking along the trail. 10 miles further I stopped for lunch at the Wadleigh Stream Lean-to. As I sat there eating Krystal and Billy Goat walked up. They had spent the night at White House Landing Hostel. There were a fourth guest in the shelter - it was a mouse. However, it was no ordinary mouse this one really spooked Krystal. The face and the tail of the mouse were all mauled probably by some predator making the poor mouse look like something straight out of a Freddy Kruger movie. There was only one name to fit that mouse: SCARFACE! Together Krystal and I hiked up Nesuntabunt Mtn. It used to be a tough climb but the trail maintainers had built a whole series of rock steps that made the walk a lot easier. What a lot of work it must have been to build all those steps and those were HUGE rocks. The sky quickly clouded over and it started to rain but we made it to Rainbow Stream Lean-to without getting too soaked. This shelter was the second out of three that have the baseball bat floors. Floors are made from thin round pine logs making it look like a whole row of baseball bats, hence the name. The area was great. The shelter sits in an evergreen forrest with the stream running right in front of the shelter. Sitting down in my warm dry sleeping bag I looked through the Trail Data Book for today's section. I suddenly realized I was on the very last page Could I really have walked through 73 pages worth of mileage? It seems like I just started last month. Where is volume two when you need it?
Date: 2006-08-20
From: Rainbow Stream Lean-to

To: Hurd Brook Lean-to
Miles today: 11.5
Weather: light rain

It had rained most of the night into the early morning but around 7:00 it finally stopped. First thing on the program was crossing the stream in front of the shelter. There were a couple of thin pine logs strewn across as a makeshift bridge. Ever so careful one step at a time I balanced my way across. The logs were not far above the water but it just didn't seem like a great way to start the day being all soaked after having fallen in the water with the pack on!!! About an hour into the walk it started raining hard again - so much for the sunshine I had heard about in the weather forecast. Many places the trail had turned into a huge mud puddle. It was a mess. Luckily nobody out here yells "wipe your feet" or "Don't you dare dragging that mess into the house" so I guess there is something positive about it. After trying to evade the sixth or seventh mud hole I started walking right through them - I was soaked and muddy already, in fact, I don't even think I could get much worse. When you get to that point it is best to start laugh and just have fun with it or you are gonna have a most miserable day. Getting to the Rainbow Ledges I found lots of blueberries at the top. Unfortunately, I was getting cold in the downpour and the wind was kicking up here in the open so I didn't stop this time. There were more roots, rocks, and mud puddles, to be crossed before this day was over. It sure was nice to see the shelter knowing I had a dry place to sleep. After getting settled inside my warm dry sleeping bag a big group of boy scouts came to the shelter but luckily they camped out in their tents. This shelter too had the baseball bat floor just like the previous shelter. There are only three left with this design on the AT. Hikers seem to either love it or hate it - I love it. This is the last shelter on the AT. The thought alone makes me so sad, lets see if I can't chase those thoughts away with some food That seems to always work and the better the food the better the method! (there are actually a twin set of shelters at the Birches but I do not count those as that is a pay site). The afternoon and evening was spent easting all the food I had left, which wasn't much. It sure was nice to sit inside during this miserable weather. I didn't even want to think about this being close ot the end of the hike but the thoughts kept creeping back in. Two other hikers were in the shelter with Dodger and I but they were Flip-Flopping, meaning they had gone north from GA up to Harpers Ferry, and now they were going south from Katahdin to Harpers Ferry, lucky them they still had many more miles to enjoy. Couldn't help it - I was a little envious. I am on a rollercoater now - an emotional one. One minute being all excited the next all sad - Can't I just stick with one feeling, like, feeling hungry?
Date: 2006-11-30
From: Mt Katahdin

To: ???
Miles today: 0.0

Several months have now passed by since I stood on top of Mt Katahdin. A lot of people have asked what has happened since the finish and how the trail has affected my daily life? Well, I didn't change my religion, freak out, or even change my choice of music - and yes, I still eat tuna fish However, I did feel the change from trail to urban life strongly in the beginning, such as: What do you mean - I have to take showers more than once a week! How do I know whether to take a right or a left - there are NO white blazes!Where do all these people come from? - I am more used to the racoons! On a more serious note. The changes I have felt are much more sublte but I hope that means they are here to stay. I like to take moments at night to just look at the stars, love the silence I find in the nature, and the thirst for adventure is just growing stronger and stronger. I loved the feel of freedom and independence that living on the trail gave me, along with the physical well being stemming from the daily exercise routine!!! ("one step after the other"). What I have been doing after the trail? After getting settled back into Nashville, TN. I went into REI and got a job there - of course working in the camping department, not too sur eif it is such a profitable hire as I often seem to reminisce and daydream about the trail. How could I not, working there next to my Hubba tent, the pocket rocket, looking at all the sleeping bags, and walking around in my new boots (new copy of my old AT boots that made it the whole way with the same set of shoelaces!!!). The pay is not as great as one would wish for so I soon entered into the world of printing. So for now I work for REI and a Danish printer here in Nashville. The planned ascend of Mt Raineer in September did not happen as my climbing partner was sent of to duty in Iraq. However, as the adventure spirit is starting to itch at the bottom of my soles, I find myself once again looking toward that summit, so much that I have decided to climb it in April. This time I will be climbing the mountain together with Raineer Mountaineering Inc. as it will be a full-on winter expedition. I most certain will try to keep you all updated and I wish all the new class of AT hikers a big congrat for 2006 and a happy New Year to all the future 2007 hikers. May the trail and its sense of freedom and adventure get in your blood. Red Dane
Date: 2005-02-01
To: Blackburn Trail Center
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

We feel like the luckiest people in the world! How could it be possible to dream of running a hostel, be fortunate enough to thru-hike as part of an information gathering time, only to return home and find out that we have an opportunity to be caretakers at a hostel in northern Virginia six months later? Well, maybe it¢s not luck, but we do feel blessed!        Thanks for taking a look at our journal; we hope you¢ll enjoy it. Because our journal includes our 2005 thru-hike and now our time at Blackburn Trail Center, things are a little more difficult to navigate. Fear not, here is the breakdown.1.        Prep Entries #2 through #4 will help you know a little more about us2.        Prep Entry #5 through Entry 10/07/05 cover our 2005 hike3.        Entry 2/28/06 through Now cover this next phase of our life on the ATSorry for the all the confusion and thanks again for being part of our journey.
Date: 2005-02-02
To: Who are we?
Miles today: 0.0

Thanks for visiting our trail journal! We look forward to sharing our thoughts and experiences as we prepare and as we hike. Whether you skip around or read every word, we're glad that you're here. To begin, it makes sense to share something about who we are, but instead of describing ourselves, we decided that we'd rather have each of us tell you about the other.    So, here it goes...   My wife, Marie, is the most amazing woman I have ever met! Proverbs 31 says, ¢A wife of noble character, who can find? She is worth far more than rubies.¢ As I read on from there, I see a description of Marie. Marie brings good, not harm, into the daily situations of life. She is an early riser (unlike myself) who is never idle, all while pouring herself fully into whatever comes her way. Her compassion for people of all walks of life, and her ability to see and address their needs, are truly a gift from God. She is clothed in strength, dignity, and wisdom. As I watch Marie with others, I see her honest love for people drawing them out of their shells, and putting smiles and hope on faces. Her ability to encourage and build others up is unmatched. Her optimism has even managed to put my sarcastic view of life to rest. As we prepare for the journey of a lifetime and wonder who we¢ll meet and where they¢ll be from, it occurs to me that there is nobody I would rather experience the Appalachian Trail with than Marie.   My husband, Scott (or Red Wing), is a man who has earned my admiration and stolen my heart. Our story is not one of ¢love at first sight¢, but rather ¢friendship caught fire¢. I can honestly say that I fall more in love with my friend every day. I love the fact that he¢s eager to keep on learning and growing. I appreciate his wisdom and I often seek out his insight. Along with others in our community, I respect his leadership and I can trust his decisions. I¢m inspired by the passionate, yet responsible way in which he embraces life. I admire the fact that he is a man with vision and purpose. Scott is known as a man of his word, and I¢m proud of the way that he conducts his affairs with integrity. I¢m encouraged by his loyalty and faithfulness to his relationships with God and with others. He totally makes me laugh and I¢m very thankful for his sense of humor that helps me take myself less seriously. He is my perfect teammate for life, and for hiking the AT. I can¢t wait to experience it with him by my side!   On July 26th, 2003, we got married and began our life together as one. We live just outside of Traverse City, in beautiful northern Michigan, where Marie is a high school Spanish teacher and Scott was a youth director at our local church. Both of these jobs have been rewarding as we enjoy working with young people. We feel blessed to be surrounded by an incredible community of family, friends, and our church family who have all loved us and been encouraging voices to live life and to live it to the full.   So, why leave so many things we love and (of all things) hike the AT?¢¦(Click below on "next" to hear more)
Date: 2005-02-03
To: Why Thru-hike?
Miles today: 0.0

So why leave so many things we love, to spend a summer on the AT? There are many reasons why we want to do this; here are three of the four that made our decision final.   #1 We want the opportunity to share in a great adventure. We love to be together, and we look forward to setting aside our individual jobs and schedules, and focusing on the same big dream. Marie and I want to work together, and rely on one another, as we strive for a mutual goal that we have set in our lives.   #2 Our appreciation of the Appalachian Trail community and each unique individual within it continually draws us back. In 1999 a friend (¢Hoover¢) and I thru-hiked the AT, following college graduation. We expected the Trail to be a place of solitude mixed with occasional chances to talk with interesting hikers. What we found was a Mecca for curious and inquisitive people who loved to talk about life and, once in awhile, maybe for a few hours of hiking each day, we would experience solitude. The diversity in hikers, and the questions they were wrestling with, were enough to fill those hours of hiking with thoughts that could have lasted for years. Marie and I love to hear these thoughts and add some of our own ideas into the mix as well.   Since our wedding a year and a half ago, Marie and I have managed to travel from northern Michigan to the AT four times. Continually, we find the AT to be a place with a unique dynamic within its community, where friendships can form literally overnight. The picture shown above was taken on a weekend trip to Pearisburg, VA where we stayed with the Smith family, which invites hikers into their home every Saturday night. They provide dinner, showers, Internet, etc. as a way for their family to show love for the hiking community. We were blessed to be part of one of those evenings. The following day, Marie and I took a day hike and ran into most of our new friends from the night before. This photo includes a few of them at Doc¢s Knob Shelter.   #3 Quite simply, hiking is awesome! There is no better way to experience the outdoors. A long distance hike forces us to submit ourselves to the rawness (is that a word?) of nature and we are left to be humbly obedient to our role within it. Hiking is a holistic activity which exercises our body, soul, and spirit like nothing else I have ever experienced.   And reason #4... (next entry)
Date: 2005-02-16
To: Steps of Preparation
Miles today: 0.0

Well, we¢re down to 43 days before Springer Mt. (hoping to start hiking on March 30) When you dream of something for so long, it hardly feels like reality when it starts getting close. As we continue to countdown the days, here are the tasks we find ourselves in the midst of...   Packing, packing and packing some more. We¢ve chosen to rely primarily on maildrops to resupply. That means trying to figure out how many meals we need to pack in each of our 22 boxes, buying foods in bulk, and dividing it into appropriate proportions. The picture for this entry is just a fraction of our food supplies that we're sorting through and packing up for maildrops. I wonder which of these meals we¢ll detest the most by this fall. Thank you to everyone who has helped us out by donating various items and quantities of food for us. We appreciate your support and know that you¢re looking out for us not just with food but also in prayer. Thanks!   We¢re preparing by reading everything that we can get our hands on, about the trail. Marie¢s book club just finished reading and discussing Bryson¢s, ¢A Walk In The Woods.¢ I think this is mandatory reading for any aspiring thru-hikers. My previous hiking experiences were nothing like Bryson¢s, but I found that while out there others would always ask, ¢Have you read Bryson¢s book?¢ Now, we feel like we can be part of that conversation even if our experiences are something totally different. We also have had a lot of fun reading other journals from the trailjournals site and have had a lot of fun emailing other contributors.   We¢re preparing by training vigorously. We¢re up at 5am each morning for our jog before we practice stomaching oatmeal and TVP. Then (after waiting a 12 hour for everything to digest) it¢s off to the pool for an hour before we start our day... Umm, just kidding. This would be the weakness in my preparations. I think the first few weeks will have to be my training. I may have to walk to the Smokies to get into trail shape. These 20 degree northern Michigan days don¢t inspire me to get out like I should. Marie will do fine, I just hope I can keep up.   As for gear, we¢re mostly prepared. We¢ve been studying gear guides, watching for deals, and storing stuff up for almost 2 years now. Gear is the fun stuff and so that was probably the first way in which we were ready.   We¢ve been meeting and connecting with others here at home. It feels kind of weird to start saying goodbye to people already. As we get time, we¢re visiting friends and family who we¢ll be missing for the months to come. On the same note, a few weeks ago, Marie told her high school students about her plans to hike this year and that she'll be leaving soon. Some were sad, some were excited, some just didn¢t care, but most were confused and didn¢t really get it, ¢You¢re doing what? You¢re walking all that way?¢ We can't say that's the first time we've heard those questions. Anyway, so the process has begun.