morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2007-05-30
To: What Would Walt Whitman Do?
Miles today: 0.0

Destination Iowa!I'm heading back home today. Conqui is taking me to Logan International for an afternoon flight back home. I've been talking with Ann Marie quite a bit lately about getting off the trail and have decided that now is the time. It has been 1500 miles of adventure and fun. However, there was not a day in the 81 days of my trek that I did not think about being home with my lovely kids and beautiful wife. It wasn't an easy decision, in fact, the kids urged me to stay the course and continue to Katahdin this summer. In the end this was entirely my decision.But here's the deal. While I didn't have any explicit goals for my hike I did write down this excerpt from Uncle Wally's 'Song of the Open Road':Afoot and light-hearted I take to the open road; Healthy, free, the world before me; The long, brown path before me; Leading wherever I choose.Crazy thing, this is the same poem I saw last week on a bronze plaque beneath a statue of Walt while walking the AT through Bear Mountain Zoo. Seeing this made me consider the question: What would Walt Whitman do if he was considering bailing? He would follow his heart, of course. He would go be a father and a husband. He would let the path lead him where he chose. I feel fortunate to have hiked for so long feeling light-hearted, healthy and free each day.I will complete hiking the trail, just not right now. If I discovered anything out here it is that the AT is something to be enjoyed, savored and shared. I plan on sharing what remains with my family whenever we get the opportunity.Thanks to everybody who has followed my walk. I strongly urge all of you to stop whatever you are doing and head into the woods. Sorry about the long post.--Joe
Date: 2007-01-27
To: money
Miles today: 0.0

Saturday is a good day to put in some hiking miles but my resurfaced knee is telling me that I need to rest. I've been to three back packing stores this morning but did not buy anything. The thing I should have bought is a little plastic eye dropper (cost under a dollar) I'm sure it is for getting the left over alcohol out of my stove. I bought a FeatherFire alcohol stove via the internet. I have yet to fire it up. Maybe later today.I'm also looking to buy a titanium cooking pot but might just go with the stuff I already have. I'm tired of spending money. I plan to hike Georgia to Maine without spending a whole lot of money. I have a son who is a senior in college and I still have a few months more of paying for that. It is a beautiful day here in Asheville, NC I wish I was up at the Ridgeline (AT) it is only thirty miles from my front door to Sam's Gap, 314 miles from Springer.
Date: 2007-01-29
To: Good Medicine
Miles today: 0.0

It snowed in Asheville last night so I didn't go to work. I've been reading trail journals and trail advice all morning. Soon enough it will be time to venture forth from this warm and preditctible environment into one that is surely going to be wet, cold and challenging. I can't wait. My leg is feeling much better today. A few days off seems to always be good medicine.
Date: 2007-01-31
To: waxing poetic
Miles today: 0.0

Here I am.   In my living room.         Not on the trail. So what if I am looking at my pack and trekking poles. So what if I have on one gaiter and a floppy warm hat. So what if it is cold enough to freeze an egg on the sidewalk with a forecast of snow for tomorrow. I am not hiking. I am dreaming of hiking, thinking of hiking and Lord help me I am writing and talking about hiking, but I am not hiking! My wife is flying to Toronto this weekend to see old friends. My leg is feeling pretty darn good. Maybe in a few short days I will be hiking. Maybe in a few short days I will get a taste of what it will feel like on St. Patty's day when I am dropped off at Springer and the tears well up in my eyes because I am going to get a crack at the AT. A challenge very few get to even attempt. All I want now is to attempt. All I want now is to be at Springer with the promise of a blister in my shoe and the sight of you up ahead, trudging before me on the happy road to destiny.Johnnymud
Date: 2007-02-01
To: more gear. more fear
Miles today: 0.0

It is snowing in Asheville. Freezing rain actually. Enough wetness and slipperality to keep me cowering within the safe confines of my lumbered abode. The birds flit about the bird feeder outside the kitchen window, the cat sleeps atop the heat vent and me? I wish I were up on the ridgeline contemplating the elements and their ability to mess with my vary survival. I need more gear. I need to get rid of anything that isn't light and warm and I need to replace it with something that will make me stand out in the cold. I need something that will saym "he might be limping, he might be off, but he sure looks warm. Look at that thing on his back. It must be filled with helium. It is lifting him right off the ground."
Date: 2007-02-04
To: Maine
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

I have been doing way too much shopping. Luckily I have bought very little. I some alcohol for my stove finally. I paid around four dollars for a four pack of HEAT bottles. The denatured alcohol was over five dollars for one quart. The four bottles of HEAT was a quart and a half. I hope they work the same.I will try out my stove tomorrow. Maybe I will cook something for the super bowl.My leg is feeling better everyday. But I will need the six weeks until I start at Springer to have it where it needs to be.I took back the titanium pot I bought yesterday. It sat very poorly ontop of the pepsi can stove I have. I'll buy another pot tomorrow. I think I'm going to have to settle for aluminum. It has a lid and sits ontop of the stove nicely.
Date: 2007-02-07
To: Maine
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

The snow lies thick upon the ridgeline. A nightly chill dips amidst the valley and the rills rendering the trail shelter a lonely respite to the hiker who dares to be out so early in this season. A steady stream of wanderers will follow Northward aiming toward Maine. Why not go home? Why not admit the elements will hold reign even as winter frost gives way to spring rain? Is it because we have the equipment to neutralize the pain? Is it because we have a goal and cannot set it aside? I suppose the answer is up to the individual. I wonder what my answer will be...
Date: 2007-02-08
To: work
Miles today: 0.0

I have been reading the accounts of the early departures from Springer. I somehow wish I was out there too even though the thought of hiking in snow does not sound like a lot of fun. I hope to get out there as soon as I can. My wife is cool with me going as soon as this weekend, but my boss needs me until she can find someone else. I'm grateful that I have the sense to not just go without my bosses blessing.
Date: 2007-02-10
To: I wish I was hiking
Miles today: 0.0

God help me. I am thinking about starting the trail sooner than later. It is cold. There isn't too much doubt as to why. It is still winter. I received my PocketMail device yesterday and was pretty dissapointed that my dainty fat fingers couldn't type on it with the same speed as I can type on my laptop. I wonder if anyone has written a book on this little contraption. The trail account I read that suggested the pocketmail was written by a woman named Chardonnay who thru hiked in 06. Obviously she is more dainty than I am. Ok, I'm not going to send it back just yet. I'm sure there is a learning curve and I'm sure it will be great fun on those lonely nights when I am by myself in the middle of nowhere listening to the noises in the night. The best thing about it is that it has replaceable double AA batteries. I coudn't find a Palm device or any other PDA that I could hook a portable keyboard to and that also had the option of changing batteries in the field. People suggested that I drag along a solar charger or someother apparatus. It all sounded like too much weight to me. I'm going to give the pocketmail a try. I'm typing this entry on the laptop. Why torture myself on the pockemail when I don't have to.
Date: 2007-02-11
To: sleeping outside
Miles today: 0.0

I slept out on the porch last night. I didn't last the whole night so really didn't experience the coldest part of the night. It was supposed to hit seventeen degrees. It felt like about twenty-two when I came in. I didn't come in for any special reason other than my wife was inside and all that was outside was cold. OK, my feet weren't really warm enough to suit me. For some reason (ok honesty is tough) I wanted to try the nylon dress socks that someone recommended in their go light advice. Tonight I will try the experiment again but will wear warmer socks. I might put something under my feet tonight. My sleeping mat goes under my shoulders and hips but not my legs and feet. I don't think I can sleep like that even in warm weather.It looks like I might be starting Next Saturday. It is still all up in the air.
Date: 2007-02-13
To: Obsessing
Miles today: 0.0

the pain of waiting. I'm not waiting for good weather or a pay check. I'm waiting for good Karma and trying to visualize that the good Karma could keep me at home as well as take me out on the trail.I packed my bag yesterday and weighed it. Food, fuel, water and one too many jackets took me to 32lbs. I have to admit I am thinking about a down bag. The synthetic bag I have is warm to ten degrees but it fills up half of my pack and weighs six pounds. What to do, what to do? My wife says that all people have difficulty making tough decisions. I feel like this should be an easy one. So here is my decision: If I am able to leave in the next week I will buy the goose down bag. If I have to wait until March I will use my lighter synthetic bag. Now, that is done and I don't have to change my mind until the next time I decide to torture myself for awhile. My worst fear is that I am going to get to Georgia and then have to come home. I have been at Neal's Gap when the blistered, the beaten and the might have beens have made that phone call asking for the ride back home. I suppose if I fear it too much I won't go at all and if I don't fear it at all I will surely fail. Right now my goal is to be alright with whatever happens. It would be nice to hike all the way to Katahdin but I realize I'm thinking way too much about the end of the hike before I've even begun.One thing for sure. I am thankful that the Appalachian Trail is a reality. I am thankful for all the people that made it happen, all the people who keep it going and all the people, like me, who dream about it talk about it and romanticize over it. I'm hoping this is the weekend when I can start. I'm cautioning myself to take things as they come. I'm wondering how I can get my pack weight down closer to twenty pounds. Waiting until March 17th would take care of most of that.
Date: 2007-02-14
To: taking the saw and the big old knife
Miles today: 0.0

Happy Valentines Day,I was talking to a local guy this morning. I live in the Mountains of Western North Carolina in a town called Asheville. We are about an hour from Hot Springs and an Hour from the Smokies.The locals here are wonderful people. They are solid bible belt people. Most guys have been hunting and fishing their whole lives. Anyway this guy says I should be sure to take along a folding saw for cutting firewood and a big knife to make spears with in case I am attacked by a bear. When he told me about the saw he held out his hands about eighteen inches apart and made a folding motion. When he told me about the knife he held out his hands in the same manner as he had done for the saw but smiled as he patted his leg to demonstrate where I would carry such a knife, strapped to my thigh.I want to say how much I appreciate the trail journals of those who have already started. I think about how the weather didn't cooperate with them as they started North. I think how close I was to getting out in the snow and the cold with them. I realize I would be coming off the trail too. A big knife and a folding saw would not have helped.
Date: 2007-02-15
To: bought the down bag
Miles today: 0.0

I bought a sleeping bag today. My friend John McFarrin who owns "Take a Hike Outfitters" in Black Mountain gave me a good price on a WesternMountaineering Badger SMF. This bag is rated at 15 degrees. I went for the bag with the big shoulder space, I sure was wanting the lighter bags in the extreme light series. They weigh about a pound less. The Badger Bag has 67 inches at the shoulders compared to 59 to 64 inches for the lighter 20degree bags in the Extremelight series.I am thrilled that I have brought my pack weight down to a more respectable weight.The part of this story that I hate to admit to is that I am going to sleep outside on the porch tonight to see how the bag performs. I'm hoping I am downright toasty. With six inches of loft above me I should be. The temperature is going down to 19 tonight with scattered flurries.You know me. I will report back soon as to how the bag performed.
Date: 2007-02-16
To: sleeping bag test results
Miles today: 0.0

I slept out on the porch in my Western Mountaineering Badger Bag. It is rated at 15 degrees. It is designed for someone 6'6" and has 67 inches of shoulder room. I have the bag with the micro fiber shell.Well, where do I begin? I didn't sleep well. I'm not sure why. I felt at times that I needed a few more inches of length. I am 6'5". I often wished I had more shoulder room. When I slept on my side the bag was roomy. When I slept on my back with my arms to my side, my arms were pressed against the outside of the bag and this created cold spots on my elbows. When I rolled from one position to another I could feel cold spots on the bag where the down was still compressed from where I had just been lying on it. I also often felt cold spots where the bag rose up from the sleeping pad. If I shook the down it quickly feel down and covered the cold spot.The collar in the hood was wonderful as was the zipper and the drawstring. I wore light sleeping clothes so I could get an honest feel for how warm I would be. I also wore a polypro ski cap. I think the bag will do fine for me. I might have bought the 7'00" model if I would have known it was going to be such a tight fit.
Date: 2007-02-18
To: snow in Asheville
Miles today: 0.0

I tried out my alcohol stove yesterday. It works really well.It is a beautiful day in North Carolina. I wish I was out hiking.the preacher's sermon today was about freedom.here is what I wrote about freedom. I'm going to work on it as I go.Freedom is hearing an owl questioning the night and being open to the idea that you should simply be the who that comes to mind.
Date: 2007-02-19
To: warmer weather
Miles today: 0.0

This might be the day they find a replacement for me at work. I hope it is today. The weather is supposed to be much warmer for the entire coming week. I have a few very minor details to work out before I can go. I just hope today is the day. If it is, then the next entry in this journal will be from Springer. If it isn't, then the next entry will be another one of those banal preparation entries. I throw it up to the heaven's to decide and I humble myself to all possibilities as they unfold.
Date: 2007-02-20
To: I will stay home.
Miles today: 0.0

As you might guess from my title I have to reconcile myself to the fact that I will be hanging around Asheville for a few more weeks. It worked out for the best at work since we developed a family emergency in the last twelve hours and I am needed at home. It is good that I am able to put family ahead of my own selfish desires. I suppose that is why I am still married. I suppose it explains a lot of things.
Date: 2007-02-21
To: my starting date
Miles today: 0.0

It looks like I will be starting my 2007 thru hike on Monday February 26th. I'm a little frazzled. OK, maybe more than a little. but, the good thing is that I am ready to go, anxious to go and determined to go. The frazzled state of my mind will unfrazzle as I put some miles together and head Northward. I am grateful to my family and friends who have supported me and put up with me for these past few weeks as I prepared myself to go. I am the who the owl is calling.
Date: 2007-02-23
To: Starting on 2-26-07
Miles today: 0.0

I hiked a lousy four miles yesterday and now I can't sleep because of an aching hip. I haven't taken any ibuprophen but I'm thinking about it. I'm thinking about a lot of things. I'm worried about my physical ability to follow through with a thru hike. I will never know unless I try.Peace comes to all who travel far enough to let go.
Date: 2007-02-25
From: Somewhere shy of Hog Back Ridge Shelter

To: Sam's Gap 2
Miles today: 5.0

I woke up and packed up and headed north to Sam's Gap. The rain had soaked the tent but I was still dry inside my down bag. This is important. I stopped at Hog Back Ridge Shelter for a cup of coffee and then pressed on to where I had left my car. Overall, I would have to say my hip is going to be a problem. I am holding out hope that it is going to get stronger and less painful. The strange thing is that sometimes it hurts while I'm hiking and sometimes it doesn't. I would be less optimistic about it coming around if it was hurting all the time. It rained all the way to Hog Back Ridge Shelter and I took a picture of me in my hiking regalia so that I might set the standard for hiking fashion. I wonder what I weigh soaking wet.Tomorrow I will drive to Camp Creek Bald and hike to the car at Devil's Fork. I might be a flip flopping but I'm not stopping. I don't know if there are any rules governing this kind of hiking schedule. If someone asks me if I am a thru hiker I am going to say "So far so good". My plan is to work my way South toward the Smokies. I'll always be within a couple of hours of home. My son is going to hike with me, next week, for a few days during his spring break. At some point after that I will get myself to Springer and start northbound and then keep going, omitting the parts of the trail I complete in the next week or two during this southbound, auto assisted, flip flopping, shake down.
Date: 2007-02-26
From: Camp Creek Bald

To: Devil's Fork Gap
Miles today: 10.0

I am starting to feel like my hip is going to come around. I hiked 10 miles today over some very difficult terrain, carrying about twenty-five pounds, and the knee and hip did quite well. I rested often enough and was careful to relax as I was hiking. I was also careful to position my foot properly and to work on good posture. Tomorrow I will hike from Allen Gap up to the top of the Mountain just North of Little Laurel Shelter. It is called Camp Creek Bald. I'm not sure but I think I saw snow up there on the shady side of the mountain. I hiked from Camp Creek bald this morning, it is a great place to drive your car, if you want to see long views. From Camp Creek Bald I hiked to jerry Cabin. There are some wonderful parts of the trail on that section, good views and interesting rocks.I love Jerry Cabin. I have hiked up to it two other times. I stopped there for over an hour. Then I hiked on to Flint Mountain Shelter and stayed there for about half an hour. The trail has very little change in elevation from Flint Mountain Shelter to Devils Fork Gap (where my other car was) and I made excellent time. I covered the two and a half miles in an hour! Thats about as good as I've ever done.Tomorrow's hike is all up hill. I think I can do it.
Date: 2007-02-27
From: Hurricane Gap

To: Camp Creek Bald
Miles today: 11.6

start 8.30 from Allen Gaparrive at little laurel 11:00 arrive at car 2:10leave hurricane 3:30back to car 7:20 (why am I hiking in the dark?) I ate my first freeze dried meal ever.The beef stroganoff was quite good. I think I will buy more of them, I don't seem to ever get tired of eating the same thing over and over. I sunbathed in just my underarmor underwear. I shouldn't be shocked by how white I am but my belly alone is a horror story. I am trying to be honest with people by confirming that one of my main reason for hiking is to lose weight. I don't want to lose my head or health over it but I sure would like to lose my belly.So, todays hike is going well. I wish I could say that I am not having any pain but that is pretty much all I am thinking about. I have been trying to stay in the moment but my thoughts go from hiking the whole trail to being forced to quit all together.I'm finally getting the right ampunt of coffee into the dripper. Yum!!!I finished at Camp Creek bald earlier than I imagined I would. Now I'm at Spring Mountain shelter and the sun is starting to set. I can hear a mouse chewing away on something but I don't think it is anything of mine. I made coffee but it cooled off quick I had better head for Allen Gap or I will be hiking in the dark.
Date: 2007-02-28
From: Hot Springs

To: Hurricane Gap
Miles today: 9.3

I'm too tired to do much more.I need sleep more than I need to download photos or to write.I went from Hot Springs to Hurrican Gap...I slack packed up from Hot Srings to Tanyard Gap and carried my pack from Tanyard Gap to Hurricane Gap. I thought at first I would never slack pack but I'm resolved to just do the best I can. My hip needed a break.
Date: 2007-03-01
From: Davenport Gap

To: Roaring Fork Shelter
Miles today: 17.8
Weather: light rain

I have often sat within the confines of my house on a particularly weather filled day and said, "well, I'm glad I'm not on the AT today!" Today changed all that for me. I parked my car at the Ranger Station at Davenport Gap and hiked down past Moma T's and under I-40 and started up the stairs I hope you all get to see some day. I have a picture of them, I'll try to get them in my photo section. It started raining as I got to the stairs and I stopped at the bottom and put on my rain jacket and poncho. it was about 10 AM. It was a light drizzle for about an hour or two. As I got onto the Ridgeline and trekked along at higher elevations it started to blow hard and rain hard. By the time I got to the first bald, the one before Max Patch, I was cold, wet and fearing for my life. The temperature was mild when I put on my poncho but now it was near forty. I knew if I stopped to put on some polar fleece that I would likely be more soaked and all my dry things wet in the hurricane like conditions. I pushed on to Groundhog Creek Shelter. I was so glad to get off of the Ridgeline and down to a lower elevation. The shelter was dry and out of the wind. I put on my polar fleece and my synthetic vest, warmed up with a cup of hot tea and headed toward Roaring Fork Shelter. Just as I got to Max Patch the wind started again. It was hard to stay on the trail the wind was blowing so hard. Never mind that it was getting dark. By the time I got to the Hot Springs side of Max Patch and down to a lower elevation I could take a break and get out my flashlight. I spent the last hour of my hike using my flashlight and slogging through the mud. When I got to Roaring Fork Shelter at about 8 or 8:30 I was quite shocked to find the shelter was full. The occupants were considerate enough to scrunch up and make room for one more wet and stinky hiker. The strange thing was even though I had been hypothermic when I had reached the Ground Hog Creek Shelter earlier in the day and could not undo any of the buckles on my pack for a good five minutes, I was now warm and dry and comfortable. I felt like I had prepared well enough to stay alive and had hiked hard enough to make my destination. I was completely happy NOT to be at home.