morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2006-08-10
From: Salt Lake City UT

To: Salt Lake City UT
Miles today: 0.0

Today was our first day at Outdoor Retailer (OR). OR is the biggest trade show for people that have outfitter stores like Pack & Paddle. What we do at OR is to book all of the clothing, footwear and gear that we will stock in the store for spring 07.Today we had appointments with Horny Toad, Mountain Hardwear, Prana, North Face and a few others I am not remembering right now. We feel pretty normal being at the show and off the trail. After the show, we ate dinner and hit the hot tub at the hotel. This is living it up!!! It is so fun not to worry about the weather, cooking meals on a tiny alcohol stove, purifying water and hiking for 12 hours. More tomorrow...Gumby & Coyotebec
Date: 2006-08-11
From: Salt Lake City UT

To: Salt Lake City UT
Miles today: 0.0

Our second day at the show was a blur. We saw Patagonia, Patagonia footwear, Chaco, Keen, Smartwool, and others that my blurry mind is not remembering. It's been fun to see all our reps and people we know at the show. They are amazed by my beard, our trip and how stunning Coyotebec looks. Our patagonia rep Mike Thompson said that she looks "gorgeous". I agree.More tomorrow...Gumby & Coyotebec
Date: 2006-08-12
From: Salt Lake City UT

To: Salt Lake City UT
Miles today: 0.0

The third day is the day that most shows start to not be fun anymore. You go from strictly looking at stuff to having to make decisions and write orders. We have been getting up at 4:30am and going to bed between 10 and 11pm. UGG... this is tougher than the trail. I feel more tired than I feel hiking 20 miles a day. It is fun though. We are greatly enjoying the change of pace and meeting back with old friends and sharing the fun we've had over the last 5 months. Tonight we had a marathon order writing session. I will tell more about it tomorrow. Too tired right now...More tomorrow...Gumby & Coyotebec
Date: 2006-08-13
From: Salt Lake City UT

To: Portland ME
Miles today: 0.0

Last night was a meat grinder. I swear that I have not been more tired in the last five months than I was last night. For those that don't know, when I get tired, I can't sit still. My legs get a weird uncomfortable feeling and I become (according to Coyotebec) a little bit aggravating. We got it done - but we were up late (midnight). There was more work to do that had to be turned in before we headed back to Maine, so we decided to stay in the room and work instead of going back to the show. Part of the decision was that our plane left at 1:30. Because of the terrorism scare and a problem Coyotebec has with her drivers license, we decided to go to the airport 3 hours early. Of course, security wasn't a problem. But we relaxed and hung out with Dave till it was time for us to part - Dave heading home and us heading back to our adopted home on the AT. I am really excited and happy to be going back to the AT. I wondered weather I would be bummed that we had to go back to finish. Definitely not the case. I am excited about reuniting ith the trail fam, hiking the Hundred Mile Wilderness and summiting Mt. Katahdin in about 10 days. Wow. I can't believe it is this close. Hopefully we can savor the last little bit of this journey. I think that our time at OR has made me want to savor the last miles even more.More tomorrow...Gumby & Coyotebec
Date: 2006-08-14
From: Portland ME

To: Caratunk ME
Miles today: 0.0

FINALLY!!! We are back in Maine and getting ready to continue our quest northward. Our day started with a cab ride to the bus station. From there, it was a two hour ride to Waterville where we met our shuttle ride to Caratunk. By noon we had arrived at Caratunk. This made for 24 hours of travel with only 4 hours of sleep. Uggg... At Caratunk we reunited with Tink and Hindsfeet. We spent the afternoon catching up on their lives over the last 3 weeks and talking about finally finishing the trail. We met another old friend, Mr. Breeze. We have not seen him since Delaware Water Gap. We also met Skunk and Rightside who have been with Tink and Hindsfeet for a few days. Rightside was on Baldpate Mtn in southern Maine, walking to the road to quit the trail when Hinds and Tink found him and were able to get him to keep hiking. He worked through his low point and is doing great again. Tomorrow we start up the trail again. We have been off for 6 days and we feel kind of nervous that maybe we have lost some trail fitness. Hopefully we will have a great day and put those worries behind us.More tomorrow...
Date: 2006-08-15
From: Caratunk ME

To: Moxie Bald Lean To
Miles today: 18.8
Weather: broken clouds

It is so, so good to be back out on the trail today. I don't think I realized how much the trail has become our life now. While on our trade show, we felt competent and like we had not missed a step as far as business. But when we got back to the trail, we felt like we were home again. The familiarity of knowing every single possession in your life and exactly where it is in your pack, the comfort and security of our tarp, even our food makes us feel at home. Of course the people are a big thing as well. Being with our trail fam was great today. Catching up on what¢s been happening in their lives and telling stories of the trail from when we were apart made the day fly by.Right now we are camped near a beautiful Maine pond. A few minutes ago we watched an incredible double rainbow over the pond. As the sun fell, we got into our tent to journal and wrap up the day. The loons in the pond were making their calls as we lay listening. We are truly blessed to be here right now.Today we were up on Pleasant Pond mountain, sitting with Tink and Hindsfeet and ESP looking at the incredible view and feeling the freedom of the moment. It hit me pretty hard that in only one week, this will no longer be my life. This adventure will be a memory. How will I handle that? What will my life be like? What changes will I have undergone on this trip? These are some of the things I was that we will certainly be thinking about over our last week. More tomorrow....
Date: 2006-08-16
From: Moxie Bald Lean To

To: Monson ME
Miles today: 18.9
Weather: scattered clouds

I don't say this often, but today was mainly about the miles. We left camp after everyone as they had to hustle in to town before the post office closed. Since we had no deadline, we left a little later and took our time. The route had a couple of fords that required us to take off our shoes. the oool water felt really good. We moved quickly and were in to town before 4pm. We bought groceries and headed over to Shaws lodging. The room here includes an all you can eat breakfast. Yum...Around 7 we headed over to the Pub and had an awesome time with Tink, ESP, Mountain Goat, Coyotebec and a southbounder without a trail name. After supper it was off to bed.More tomorrow....Gumby & Coyotebec
Date: 2006-08-17
From: Monson ME

To: Cloud Pond Shelter
Miles today: 19.1

The Hundred Mile Wilderness is something you hear about throughout the whole trail. Today we walked into this section of the trail. We walked along ponds and beautiful creeks rushing down the hillsides. As always, it was not as easy (or as hard) as other people have told us. We walked the day with ESP, Tink, Mountain Goat. The weather was gorgeous - with cool temperatures and clear skies. We are even starting to see some autumn leaves on the ground. Our campsite is right on the shore of a beautiful Maine pond. Just after we finished cooking our supper tonight, somone noticed a rainbow was forming. We went down to the pond and slowly a full rainbow (we could see both ends) formed. One end had the most intense colors I have seen in a rainbow. This is a sight I will definitely remember from this trip.Later, as we lay in our tarp, we could hear the sounds of the loons calling to each other. The males and females have a different call. The sound is eerie and beautiful and uniquely Maine. More tomorrow...Gumby & Coyotebec
Date: 2006-08-18
From: Cloud Pond Shelter

To: Carl A Newhall Lean To
Miles today: 16.8
Weather: broken clouds

This morning I had the thought "This time next week, I will be off the trail". At the same time, I thought how great it will be not to be worrying about things like getting water, climing insane mountains, dealing with aches and pains and worrying about the rain. But - we will be finished with the greatest adventure of our lives. This leaves me in this weird ambivalent state of mind. There are moments of sheer joy with the thought of going home to my old life followed almost immediately by some amazing high walking along a mountain ridge or pond shore. An interesting thing about life on the AT is the way that hikers segregate themselves. Thru hikers and section hikers are often not comfortable around each other. Especially the section hikers. They somehow always have this feeling of inferiority towards thru hikers. Right now there is a particularly afflicted section hiker that has been around us for a few days. He is on his final section, so he should be celebratory, but he is so downtrodden around the thru hikers. Almost like it is ruining his trip. Kind of a weird thing that is hard to ever break through with them.Today was an unexpectedly tough day. We climbed Fourth Mtn, Third Mtn, Columbus Mtn and Chairback Mtn. I guess looking back, I should have seen all these names with "mountain" after them. Somehow we weren't mentally prepared and had a bit of a rough time in the morning.We had the group hiking thing going most of the day. It was fun talking wiht Mtn Goat, Tink and ESP. Definitely makes the time pass quickly. more tomorrow...Gumby & Coyotebec
Date: 2006-08-19
From: Carl A Newhall Lean To

To: Cooper Brook Falls Shelter
Miles today: 18.9

Last night all the hikers at the shelter were worrying about how tough the coming day was going to be. The profile map looked intimidating. Four peaks, one after another - each higher than the last with a saddle in between. We went to sleep with these images in our heads. This is why you should never judge how hard your day will be by looking at profile maps.As hard as the profile looked, the actual hike was easier than we thought it would be. Back in the Whites, we started a tradition of "toasting" each other with our water bottles at the top of each mountain on tough days with multiple peaks. Today we clinked bottles with Mountain Goat and Tink at every peak. We arrived at the highest peak (White Cap) by 9:30am. Then we cruised the rest of the day on easier trails. A couple of hours before camp, a thunderstorm broke loose on us and gave us a good soaking. We arrived at the shelter to find it full and went in search of a campsite. I am not looking forward to the night and possibly getting soaked by the heavy thunderstorms. Oh well - nothing we can do about it. We are now less then 50 miles from our goal. It feels strange, but good. It is hard to believe we have been on the trail over five and a half months. Sometimes it feels like it has been a blink of the eye and sometimes it feels like we have been on the AT forever.More tomorrow...Gumby & Coyotebec
Date: 2006-08-20
From: Cooper Brook Falls Shelter

To: Mahar Tote Road
Miles today: 14.3

We had a single focus for today. To reach the White House Landing camp by noon so we could enjoy the 1 pound hamburgers we have been hearing about for months. It was 15 miles away which made it pretty tight for reaching it in time. We left at 6am and took advantage of the flat terrain. A light rain came down all morning as we walked through beautiful moss covered forests near beautiful Maine ponds. ESP, Mountain Goat, Tink, Coyotebec and I flew through the mileage and reached the side trail by 11:30. There's a .9 mile side trail to the White House landing where an air horn is positioned near a floating wharf. The instructions were to blow the horn once (a short blast) and then wait. They come out in a boat to pick you up. We had heard in Monson that if you blow the horn more than once, they would leave you sitting there for an hour or more. The boat came out for us quickly and soon we were transferred from our weth rainy surroundings to a beautiful wood lined lodge! . We all feasted on burgers and pizza watching the rain fall outside. Unique hostels like this give the AT experience a lot of its spice. Meeting cool owners making their small businesses work in the middle of nowhere - providing services for hikers and enjoying life in the wilderness.Gumby & Coyotebec
Date: 2006-08-21
From: Mahar Tote Road

To: Rainbow Springs Campground
Miles today: 21.2
Weather: broken clouds

Tonight was the perfect camp night you dream about as a thru hiker. We are surrounded by friends that we have been through so many battles with, camped only feet away from each other. We built a fire to dry our shoes from the rain and mud we've been going through. We are relaxed and confident about the next couple of days. The loons are calling over the black lake. Stars hang over the lake like a million tiny pin holes. Our little group of Mountain Goat, ESP, Tink Coyotebec and I sit quietly on boulders on the shore of the lake just watching. Together only for 1 more night after tonight. A bittersweet thought for sure.Before breakfast, we sat on the porch of White House Landing with Mountain Goat. It's amazing how fast you get to be friends with people out here. We barely knew Goat before Monson. Now we are really good friends with him. Mountain Goat is an Australian. He has traveled quite a bit and has a real passion for Punk Rock music. His stories have kept us entertained for the last week.Today we left White house landing around 9:30 in the pouring rain. The last month or so I get a bad chafe in my crotch if it rains more than one day. This being our third day of rain ushered in a nice case of chafe. At tensies I tried out Tink's rainshorts. They worked fairly well, but the chafe is still killing me. With 20 miles to cover today, we kept our breaks to a minimum. The day was routine and by 7pm we were at the campsite. We saw Mr Breeze and Sundancer here as well. On to our final backpacking day tomorrow. Then Wednesday we climb Katahdin.More tomorrow...Gumby & Coyotebec
Date: 2006-08-22
From: Rainbow Springs Campground

To: Birches Lean To - Baxter State Park
Miles today: 20.3

When you are mired in the middle of Virginia, you often dream of the day you will hike into Baxter state park to spend the night and get ready to climb Mt. Katahdin. Today was that day. The terrain was mostly flat and we pushed quickly through, with the Abol Campground store in mind for lunch. Around 11, we broke through onto the road and walked across Abol bridge. The bridge is a great spot to see Katahdin. We all walked onto the bridge, then stood there and just stared at the mountain. It was huge and beautiful. The top of the mountain was obscured in the clouds. Best of all, it looked close enough to touch. At the store, we had hamburgers and bought a couple of snacks for our climb tomorrow. Everyone was in a jubilant mood. Mr. Breeze, Sundancer, ESP and Moutain Goat were there with us enjoying the picnic table outside the store.After lunch we headed out to cover the last 10 miles of trail before the climb up Katahdin. Thru hikers are allowed to stay at a special campsite and shelter called The Birches. We arrived around 3pm and walked over to the Ranger station to sign in for finishing the trail and to pay for our campsite. Back at camp, we collected some wood and started a campfire. We all traded stories on everything from our favorite state (ours is Maine) to our best hitch (with Johnny in the 18 wheeler) to our favorite hostel stay (Elmers in Hot Springs). A good time was had by all. Time for bed. We've got a trail to finish in the morning.More tomorrow...All the hikers gathered around the fire to share stories. Coyotebec cooked our last camp meal.
Date: 2005-11-15
To: Gearing Up
Miles today: 0.0

As I said in the first prep entry, an AT thru hike has been a vague goal for years, becoming clearer and clearer as the years went by. As retirement approached and my body started to tell me I truly am getting older, I realized that now was the time. Over the last few years, I've gradually "geared up" with lighter weight gear. Reading all the journals from 2005 let me know I had a ways to go to get my pack weight down further. I realized I'd need a lightweight tent since one can't count on space in a shelter and I like the bug protection. I've been using an REI Visa card for years and have used the dividends over the years to get the gear I'll need. For a tent, I got a Marmot EOS-1, a one-person, free-standing tent that weighs in just over 3 pounds.I also realized my 0-degree down bag would be overkill on the AT and that I'd probably be better off with a synthetic bag. I chose a Mountain Hardware 2nd dimension 15 degree quallofill bag which I'll supplement with a silk liner for warmth and washability. This will be switched out for a lighter bag when it gets too warm, or I'll just bounce it ahead and use the liner.I have an MSR simmerlite stove, but am still toying with the idea of pepsi can stove. For cooking a 1 liter pot with lid and home-made cozy. For eating, a lexan spoon. For water, I have an MSR pump. I like the field maintainability. However, I'm considering Aqua Mira. I'll carry an MSR 4 liter bladder with a hydration kit lid and one or two Nalgenes.For clothing I'm planning on: 3 pair Smartwool hikers, 3 pair liner socks, 2 smartwool light weight T-shirts, 2 capilene boxers, 1 smartwool longsleeve shirt, 1 smartwool long-johns, 1 convertible hiking shorts, pants, Marmot precip rain jacket, Arc'teryx Beta LT light weight rain pants, REI gossamer primaloft fill vest, a toque, a Tilly hat for sun, and a bandana. From Mt. Rogers to NH, I'll replace the smartwool T's with capilene T's and lose the legs from the pants.First Aid kit is homemade and fits in a quart ziplock. Hygiene kit is small pack towel, Dr. Bonners, the ubiquitous orange trowel, and TP.A mini-compass/thermometer/whistle, a tika headlamp,a swiss army knife, pieces of a guidebook, probably Wingfoot's, a Sony Cybershot 5 megapixel camera with 2 extra memory cards round out the kit. I need to get an ultralight MP3 player/FM radio.All this fits into my Gregory Z-Pack with room for about 7 days max of food.I'll have a bounce box with town supplies, electronics chargers, extra prescriptions, etc. Wow! I think this comes to about 25 pounds without food or water. I see I still need to trim this back a bit!
Date: 2005-11-15
To: Shakedown cruises
Miles today: 0.0

Since I retired on June 30, I figured I'd have plenty of time to do some shakedown trips with the gear just mentioned. It turned out my old employer needed me to come back and help when some other employees left unexpectedly. So, while that eliminates any concerns for financing of the hike, it has crimped my style as far as the shakedown trips are concerned. At least, I've only been working about half time!Fortunately, I'd planned to volunteer for the ATC trail crews both for physical conditioning and to get a little closer to the trail. I did two sessions at Konnarock in July, building trail on relocations in VA and had so much fun I volunteered for two more. I highly recommend volunteering. It's fun and a good way to give back to the trail. All of my sessions had previous through hikers who I was able to tap for information and tips. Believe me, I have a new appreciation of the work that goes into building and maintaining trails.In October, we built a boardwalk on the Mid-Atlantic crew near Scott Farm north of Boiling Springs. (Saw two copperhead near there in a relatively built up area!) At Rockytop, we did trail rehab about 5 miles from Davenport gap near Mt. Cammerer. We hiked in about 3 miles (and 1500 ft elev. gain) to base camp near Cosby Knob shelter and hiked 3 miles to and from the work site each day. I had a great time working with the crew leaders and the other volunteers on these crews and may catch a week or two during my hike. It was hard physical labor so it was good training, and I used the gear I plan to carry at the base camps.One of the Konnarock weeks had a 3-1/2 mile hike to the work site from base camp and we enjoyed(?)multiple, heavy thundershowers on 4 of 5 days, so I got a taste of being wet and got to test the weatherproofness of my EOS-1 tent. The tent worked very well though it was a bit cozy----definately too small for anyone taller than 6 feet. On a personal note, I managed to keep up my spirits in spite of being mostly wet--either from sweat or from the rain---and definitely smelly, since water was in short supply and had to be reserved for drinking and cooking.At Rocky Top the last full week of October, the weather varied all over the map. The weather started out warm and clear, but I got a chance to test my clothing for adequacy in cold weather as we had light rain at 40 degrees one day (hypothermia weather) and woke to frozen sleet the two following days. My sleep gear kept me toasty and the gear I'm taking was enough to keep me warm if I kept myself well-fueled. As this was a backcountry base camp, the ATC camp coordinator had us well-stoked with the types of foods I expect to be taking on the trail, and I got to sample everything that comes in foil packs. I especially like the salmon and chicken. The foil packed meats are a major improvement over canned and I expect to be using them on my hike. Finally, the hike in gave me a feel for how my pack and boots worked under a load close to what I'll be carrying coming out of town.
Date: 2005-12-31
To: Training
Miles today: 0.0

Since yesterday was dreary, drizzly and cold (about 33 F) here, I thought it would be a good day for a hike with my full pack and clothes I expect to wear. Found I needed gloves, my hat and a long sleeve shirt over my smartwool T. I was comfortable in the shorts, so the zip-off legs will stay home. If it gets really cold in camp, the rainpants over smartwool long midweights will be good. Did about 4 miles with a few ups and downs at about 3 mph and felt really good. I'll expand this to 5 miles next week if the weather holds. I hike thru a park located in the middle of Youngstown that adjoins our property. Got some "this guy must be crazy" looks from some of the casual walkers, but I've gotten used to those. This is the first training since returning from a long visit with my daughter, son-in-law and new grandson in Tampa. Whole family enjoyed the holidays down there in the land of sun and warmth. I did several full-pack jaunts of 3 or 4 miles and am feeling really good.Plan to bring my bike inside and mount it on the trainer to get in some aerobic conditioning during the cold spells in January and when I'm on the "semi" part of my semi-retired status the last 3 weeks of January.