morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2019-08-08
From: Mile 1679.3

To: Mile 1693.3
Miles today: 14.0
Weather: broken clouds

It rained again last night and started again as I was packing up. Not sure how long it rained but quite a while. A couple of very steep climbs, one was a wet boulder scramble. There was one large climb, about 3.5 miles and 2400 feet, I got 0.9 mile and 500 feet done before I set up camp to get out of the rain. It stopped about a half hour later but it was starting to get dark and I wasn¢t about to tear down and move.
Date: 2019-08-09
From: Mile 1693.3

To: Cooper Lodge 
Miles today: 3.4

Cooper Lodge is really just a shelter, a run down shelter at that. It was not my real destination, the town of Killington was. I hadn¢t even gone a half mile when, stepping up a wet boulder, my left foot started to slide. I could feel a great stress in my left leg and I thought it was going to break. I fell off the boulder and off the side of the hill, not a cliff but a steep incline, but I grabbed a tree and hung on. I waited until I could access the leg and when I decided it wasn¢t broken I crawled back to the trail. I had to go back down the hill to retrieve one of my poles, that I threw during the fall. I knew I needed both poles to hike. I had over 3 miles to hike to Cooper Lodge, from there I took a side trail to the top of Killington Ski Resort. It was only 0.2 mile, but most of it was a straight up boulder scramble. Once there I rode the gondola down to the bottom where I caught a bus to Rutland and the urgent care clinic. X-rays showed no break just an intermediate ankle sprain. It wasn¢t long after that I decided I would rather be home than hiking, so it was time to go. I know how Forest Gump felt when he was running coast to coast and said, ¢I think I¢ll go home now¢.  I made it almost 1700 miles and the trail will still be there but if I decide to finish it, because I am now a section hiker instead of a thru-hiker.
Date: 2019-05-22
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Maine: 281.8 miles highest point: 5,268 ft (Mt. Katahdin)Rugged trailMahoosuc Nothtoughest mileboulder field with scrambles100 mile wildernesslots of wetlandsmaybe see a moose!canoe around Kennebunk RiverMt KatahdinNew Hampshire: 160.9 mileshighest point: 6,288ft (Mt. Washington)Toughest statepoorly graded, few switchbacksTradition: moon the cog railway home of Dartmouth Collegehopefully some trail magicVermont: 150.1 mileshighest point: 3,908ftmuch more moderatewild blueberry patchesMt. Bromley: gondola on top with a small hut for thru hikers- can watch the sunsetMassachusetts: 90.5 mileshighest point: 3,491 (Mt. Greylock)Mt. Greylocklandmarksee 5 states from summitmany famous people have reached itUpper goose pond- favorite shelteredge of pond for a swimcongested, walk through backyards and neighborhoodsConnecticut: 47.8 mileshighest point: 2,316ft (Bear Mountain)no campfire permittedBulls Bridge has a rope swingNew York 92.6 mileshighest point: 1,433ft (Prospect Rock)Bear mountain is lowest point on trailMost crowded section No hitchhiking allowedHas biggest tree on entire trailBear Mountain ZooPass west point academyCross over Hudson rivercan take a train ride into Grand Central Stationsee NYC skylineNew Jersey: 72.1 milesHighest point: 1,653ft (Sunrise Mountain)a lot of wildlife: BEARSwildlife sanctuaryboardwalkMy highschoolPennsylvania: 229.3 mileshighest point: 2040ftone of flattest statesROCKYDoyle hotel is a must stay atPinnacle has a great viewlots of chicken of the woodsMaryland: 40.6 mileshighest point: 1,795ftcross Mason Dixon markernice overlook at Washington monumentWest Virginia: 17.7 milescan do in a dayHarper's Ferry: town, considered halfway hubAppalachian Trail conservancy is here and will take picture to be placed in the hiker archivesMidnight Rising: read before getting thereVirginia: 540.6 milesHighest point: 5,729 ft (Mt. Rogers)25% of the trailDamascus: well known trail townWoods Hole hostel- favorite hostelGroup of ponies at Grayson HighlandsMcAfee Knob: most photographed spotNorth Carolina and Tennessee: 386.7 milesHighest point: 6,643 ft (Clingman's Dome)wild flowersold growth spruce-fir forestsThe Smokys (70 miles)Lots of grassy baldsHot Springs, NC is a must stay for natural hot springs and main street walk to French Broad RiverGeorgia: 78.5 milesHighest point: 4,458 ft (Blood Mountain)Neels Gap- only place the trail goes through a doorwaywarmest state but will be cold for useasy to moderate terrain
Date: 2019-06-02
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

The rise and fall of dinosaurs: Steve BrusatteThe curse of oak island: Randall SulivanI am Malala: Malala YousafzaiLife of Pi: Yann MartelHillbilly Elegy: J.D. VangeMeet me in Atlantis: Mark AdamsTurn right at Machu Picchu: Mark AdamsSee you in the Piazza: Frances MayesThe road to Little Dribbling: Bill BrysonMidnight in Sibera: DaveThe last train to Zona Verde: PaulThe longest Road:Philip CaputoA walk across America: Peter jenkinsRiver horse: William LeastTo shake the sleeping seld: Jedidiah JenkinsThe sex lives of cannibals: J. Maarten Troost (it's not what you think it is)Women who run with the wolves: Clarissa Pinkola EstesMary Queen of Scotts: John Guythe Lost City of Z: Davi GrannDodge City: Tom ClavinSpqr: Mary BeardBehind the beautiful forevers: Katherine BooAlone on the wall: Alex HannoldNorth: Scott JurekThe boy who harneesed the wind: William KamkwambaThe Stranger in the woods: Michael FinkelTHe longest silence, a life in fishing: Thomas McGuaneWayfinding: M. R. O'ConnorThe voyage of the Beagle: Charles DarwinGizelles Bucket list, my life with a very large dog: Lauren Fern WattWild horses of the summer sun: Tory BilskiMama's last hug: Frans de Waal100 Heartbeats: Jeff CorwinA year with nature: Marty CrumpThe only kayakThe forest unseen: David george haskillUntamed: Will HarlinGrandma Gatewoods walk: Ben montgomeryOn trails: Robert Moorthe secret wisdom of nature: Peter whollebenthe sun is a compass: Caroline Van Hemertwild at heart:alice outwatercry of the kalahari: Mark and Delia OwensOverun: Andrew ReeesGulf: Jack E. DavisPoached: Rachel Love Nuwerdreaming in turtle: Peter LauferPeace, love, goats of anarchy: LauricellaThe sheperds life: james RebankSalt to the Sea: ruta sepetysthe librarian of Auschwitz: Antonio Iturbethe Tattooist of Auschwitz: Heather Morris (me according to everyone on instagram)the sixth extinction: Elizabeth kolbertthe 5th wave: Rick Yanceythe hobbit: JRR tolkienAnnihiliation: Jeff Vandermeerthe home for unwanted girls: Joanna goodmanPeregine home for peculiar children #'s 2 upwe, the rowned: Carsten jensenthe air you breathe: Frances de Pontes Peeblesthe Lost Vintage: Ann MahStation eleven: Emily St. John MandelLumberjanes: Lilah Sturgesthe Dinosaur artist: Paige Williamsend of megafauna: Ross D. McapheeWooly: Ben MezrichKing of the dinosaur hunters: Lowell DingusThe Wilderness Warrior: Douglas Brinklethe Girls of Atomic City: Denise KiernanThe Radium Girls: Kate MooreNever home alone: Rob DunnThe Snow Leopard Project: Alex DehganThe edge of the sea: Rachel CarsonThe word in 80 trees: Jonathen Droriwoodswoman: Anne LaBastille
Date: 2019-06-02
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Osprey Aura 65L pack (M) (wrong sized changing soon)Big Agnes Copper Spur 2 person tent with footprintNemo blow up sleeping padMarmot sleeping bag rated to 15 or 20 degreesCambelbak 2 L water bladderSmart Water BottleKitchen: snow peak stove, Katahdin water filter, water treatment droplet backup, sea to summit spork, 1 8 oz fuel, collapsible bowl with lid, scraper, campsuds soap, toothbrush scrubberToiletries: toilet paper, wipes, toothpaste, tooth brush, itch cream, antibacterial cream, nail clipperAmenities: cut out guide book pages, head phones, journal, pens, go pro, solar charger, phoneClothing: Tshirt, Tank, Under armour shorts, eddie baur pants-capris, 2 sports bra (patagonia & puma), 3 pairs of underwear (ex officio), 2 smartwool or darn tough socks, 1 woolrich camp socks, marmot puffy coat, long sleeve althetic materical from SBFC, LL Bean thermal underwear, LL bean rain coat and pants, random baseball capShoes: Keen covered toe sandals (creek crossings and camp shoe) and Soloman boots
Date: 2019-06-03
From: Sunrise Overlook

To: High Point Shelter
Miles today: 11.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Starting at Sunrise Overlook at Culver¢s Gap, we set out with 50lbs in our pack and some company from my dad and stepmom. We saw some birds nests and a deer, as well as, lots of red efts. We at first started going the wrong way but we luckily met Flatlander and he pointed us in the right direction. We went about 11 miles to high point shelter and it took about 7.5 hours at a pace of 2 miles per hour. Some sights were Sawmill Pond, Mountain Creek, saw the high point monument, and we went up the observation tower at high point. We met Danger Boy, A grumpy guy, and Goat at high point ranger station. Got our passports stamped here and a free can of soda. We ate dinner with some older gentleman section hiking as well as another guy finishing his in Vermont. Have some bad blisters. For dinner we had burritos (not very good). Camped in between two streams near the shelter. Counter 2 road crossings, 4 creeks, 28 logs.
Date: 2019-06-04
From: High Point Shelter

To: Pochuck Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 12.0
Weather: clear sky

Today was a long day! Pulled out our first 12 miles with our incredibly heavy and huge packs. We started off a little late, getting on the trail around 8:30. A lot of blisters with my too small shoes. Traveled along boards laid out through swamps and wet areas while seeing a ton of frogs. For lunch we decided to check out the Jim Murray "secret shelter". This beautiful property had a cabin for hikers to recharge their phone and obtain water from the pump right outside. As we were finishing up our tuna packets and getting ready to move on, a chubby donkey came out of no where! This ended up in a 30 minute detour from our plan to leave as we took pictures with the donkey and petted him. Finally Kara pulled me away and we headed to the shelter. This walk was a slow painful walk and we eventually stopped at the Wallkill Bridge to eat our afternoon snack and redress my banadages. We were going to try to go for a quick swim, since it was so hot out, but ended up getting very muddy. We got back on the trail and traveled through Wallkill National Wildlife Refuge. Here we encountered many birds, a small fawn, and some snakes. Our final .6 mile stretch was the worst! Straight up hill 0.2 miles was our last water source for the night. We filled up water as I was in tears about the pain of my feet. Kara, being the trooper she is, managed to get me to travel to the shelter. This was another 0.4 miles straight up with our humongous, water filled packs. We got our pack set up and met some new friends! We ate dinner with Flatlander and Blue. During the night we had some visitors walk through camp including a bear and a deer. Luckily, Kara and I both have to pee at the same time in the middle of the night and could make sure either of us weren't eaten.
Date: 2019-06-05
From: Pochuck Mountain Shelter

To: Aunt Nancy (Trail Angel of the Year)
Miles today: 2.7

After a restless night of sleeping, we ate breakfast down by the shelter. We met new people including Treadmill, Rabbit, and Greyhound who are also flip floppers. We packed up to leave and again climb a hill with too very large packs. My climbing was more like a hobble as my feet felt like shockwaves of pain were going through. I will later see at Aunt Nancy's that in addition to the two huge blisters I as taking care of, my pinky toe had disappeared under layers of blisters and my one toe nail was falling off. Fun times. As I hobbled and Kara hunch backed her way through the Jersey hills we made a call to stop at Glenwood 565 to treat our injuries and get me a new pair of shoes. Luckily Aunt Nancy was extremely flexible and came to pick us up. We had a wonderful nero and zero day with her, got some great food, and continued on the trail!
Date: 2019-06-07
From: Glenwood 565

To: Lakehouse Road near Waywayanda
Miles today: 10.1

Today was the day of boardwalks, Heaven hill farms and icecream, Stairway to Heaven, and pretty much revisiting Vernon. Beautiful sunny day, hot going up the stairway to Heaven, but worth the view. Kara really enjoyed the turkey vultures. We enjoyed our lunch at a beautiful bridge with a river. Here we met Chocaholic and Duke. We spent the rest of the day up on the ridge and stopped at the Waywayanda Ranger Station to fill up on water. We unfortunately missed the open times but Aunt Nancy was nice enough to bring us in the morning where we could get our passports stamped. Aunt Nancy picked us up at Longhouse or Lakehouse Rd and we enjoyed a nice cozy bed and wonderful dinner!
Date: 2019-06-08
From: Longhouse Road

To: Wildcat Shelter
Miles today: 10.2
Weather: overcast clouds

Dropped back off in time to say hello to Duke and run into Chocoholic. So glad to have run into them. Chocoholic filled the hours with her incredible stories of accomplishments she had achieved such as ultramarathons, ironmans, hiking southern portion of the Appalachian Trail, backpacking throughout the world, living in different countries, gear advice, and so much more. She's an incredibly positive and bubbly character that has now turned into one of our closest friends on the trail and we would not know what we would do without her. Today was the day of the Bellvale Creamery where we saw Duke eating massive sunday. We all went in and of course got ourselves some waffle cones and icecream and sat down at the picnic tables. Here we became the animals at a zoo as onlookers lined up for icecream and stared at our still overly large packs, with Duke's also large pack (he had a huge tupperware container), and Chocoholics minimalist base weight of 13lb's pack. We also smelled pretty bad probably. We waited for Duke to recieve his pizza delivery to the icecream place then headed up just in time to meet J^2 (our second closest friend on the trail) as his wife dropped him off. With icecream in our bellies, there was 2ish miles to the shelter. We got there set up and were joined by weekend warriors (father and a son, and two guys who apparently like to talk about couples massages at 11:30pm while smoking weed). The group we have is a lot of fun and had a fun first pack shakedown by chocaholic. Today we saw a baby snake, big snake, and toads. We heard red eyed vireos, ovenbirds, hermit thrushes, eastern wood peewees, and eastern phoebes.
Date: 2019-06-09
From: Wildcat Shelter

To: Aunt Nancys
Miles today: 10.2

Due to problems with bears at Fingerboard shelter, there was too large of a gap to the next shelter (20ish miles). We heard a bear had ripped through a mans tent, grabbed the backpack, and got the food sack out in day light as he was setting up his camp. So instead we headed out to do more rock scrambling like the day before, putting our poles on our packs, and almost rock climbing up the mountains. These were not easy in the slightest bit but were not "death inducing" (as Duke has said) as yesterdays that were one wrong step and you would fall off a cliff and die (maybe, hopefully not). Beautiful mountain Laurel everywhere and gaain it was a pleasure to hike with Chocaholic. We took lunch near water again and continued on. As we were walking a 5 lined skink exploded out from the leaves and tried to get up my pants leg. Another afternoon snack wwtih Duke and Chocaholic by a lake covered in mountain laurel. A lot of steep up and downs after this that Chocaholic blew past us with. At one point, Duke, Kara, and I, were all red faced at the bottom struggling to breathe and dripping sweat while she steadily climbed to the top and exclaimed "this is fun!". Kara and I both agree that this was not our ideal moment of fun and Duke got very annoyed to see there were more uphills. As we finally went over the last uphill, there was an even steeper down hill on rocks, leaves, and boulders. Kara gracefully ran down the mountain as Duke, Chocoholic and I struggled and looked down in amazement that Kara was not rolling down. At the bottom we encountered our first trail magic (jugs of water) and J^2! Chocoholic then gave us our first trail names that we have decided to be reserved for use by only her! I got Bambi (Of course all I talk about is animals and I told her my mom said I have cow eyes, Chocoholic compromised at deer eyes). Kara became Swiss Miss after she decided not to go with my suggestion of leiderhosen lady with her sock liners, braids, and egg cap. Chocoholic recommended Swiss Miss. We also said goodbye to Duke. He was only doing a section hiker and was still in high school! We may see him again in Vermont!
Date: 2019-06-10
From: Aunt Nancys

To: William Brien Shelter
Miles today: 9.3
Weather: overcast clouds

Said a sad goodbye to our wonderful trail angel Aunt Nancy who we think should be trail named Mary Poppins because she had everything for my ailments, problems, and goodies! We miss her and Maggie <3. On our way up the hill we got stuck behind a field trip of second graders. For Kara we lucked out and got out second dose of trail magic, a donut! Beautiful grassy meadows through the woods overlooking a lake to the lemon squeeze. Kara and I barely fit but we did it while walking sideways and while the second graders cheered "her pack is to big". Immediately after the lemon squeeze was a rock climbing maneuver. With second graders behind us, I tried with someone giving me a hand but found that with the weight of my pack and my height I could not reach over. Kara tried next and was almost climbed over by a second grader. We ended up taking the blue blaze trail and were called "losers" by the boy that climbed over Kara. We watched a girl take on the blue blaze scramble with caterpillars on her hands because the teacher would not take them for her. We climbed up those and Kara made the wise decision of dropping our packs there and going back to try again...and we were successful! With a reach with both hands around a gigantic tree root and a sideways turn with knees pressed against the rocks, you were able to launch yourself up and over. Again, fun times! We proceeded to keep walking hrough more meadows, ferns, blueberry bushes, and on top of ridges. It started misting and drizzling but not too bad. At the fingerboard, bear problem shelter, we saw a deer.We made it to T_____? park pavilion where we ate lunch in the rain. As we climbed back up and down hills we encountered many red efts and a marbled salamander. After hours of walking through the pouring rain, one time getting lost, one Kara fall, and our clothes totally drenched even with rain gear we made it to the shelter. We thought we were going to have to make dinner in the rain BUT we are smart and set up my tent to try to put some stuff under then set up Kara's rain tarp and sat in our wetted down rain gear to cook dinner. After we set up her hammock. As we got water for the next day, we saw the one and only Chocoholic! We were very excited. She pointed us to the water and we proceeded to nail our first bear hang. With no branches and pouring rain, it took us about an hour to sort of suspend our bags between two trees. Other people just tied them to a tree, we felt that the bear would take theirs first. We stopped by the shelter to say hi and met another high schooler out for a section hike, a guy whose tent we passed floating in a pool of water earlier, J^2 (he just always seems to appear), Nuke or Newt (still not sure), and Sir Nick. Then we went to bed to finally get dry and warm.Note on People:Chocoholic- Finishing at KatahdinJ^2- flip-flop from PaSir Nick- Flip flop from JerseyNuke: guest hiking, thru hiked a different year
Date: 2019-06-11
From: William Brien Shelter

To: Bear Mountain Bridge Motel
Miles today: 9.3

Dried out tent a little with the wind over night. Stayed dry otherwise. Had a 3am excursion to get fruit snacks down for Kara with pouring rain and night! Last night, I forgot to mention, it was foggy and we were eating dinner and a turkey appeared! As we were eating breakfast this morning, the turkey reappeared and walked through camp, almost into the shelter, and back out into the fog. Kara fondly named him Tyrone and we figured he guarded our food from bears last night. We saw him a few more times, patrolling. No one else noticed the turkey. SO maybe we were seeing things. Chocoholic left early, as did J^2, but we saw Sir Nick and Nuke for most of the day. Trail was steep and rocks were slippery in many sections. As we climbed up over West Mountain, you could see the NYC skyline. As we were taking pictures, Kara yelled: Don't move, snake. 4 feet away was the largest rattlesnake (Timber) I have ever seen with 10 rattles. He was not rattling and eyes were cloudy indicating a shed soon. Very pretty but we quickly moved on to be spooked by a skin draped close to the trail. As we maneuvered down some slippery rocks, we became the red eft rescue team as we picked up all sizes and placed them off the trail (at laest 20-50 per day). Cool to see bear moutain and monument from across the way but were not excited to hike up it. The time did come and we did hike up some steep sections with lots of rock work stairs. We sat in a beautiful wooden bench and overlooked a rock with crater like depressions, out to the spots we had just taken pictures at about 2 hours earlier. We hiked to the monument and treated ourselves to a soda. We then walked down the beautiful path of Bear Mountain towards the inn and saw a black rat snake and waterfall. As we got to the inn, we called "Grandpa" at the Bear Mountain Bridge Motel. He picked us up and showed us our beautiful room. He told us plenty of stories and introduced us to his beautiful and sweet pit bull Bella. (I almost put her in my pack). After showers and laundry, we were told that someone who knew Swiss Miss was coming. So off went Grandpa to get these hikers that we were usure if we had met. Turns out we hadn't and that there's another Swiss Miss, who is pretty famous (especially after having a bear come into the shelter with her). That is when we met Dairy King, Tiawana (definitely not the right spelling), and Papa Smurph. They invited to us to dinner at a BBQ place next door (Very good for Fort Montgomery, NY). After we came back to hang out with Grandpa, who showed me the trees we fell and we shared stories of woodsmen, Montana, and the trail. Dairy King showed us professional stretches using a traffic cone (not really, he also kept trying to put his foot behind his head as we all laughed at him or with him, whatever you prefer). Very fun evening and traded contact info and are still hearing from them!