morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2003-06-05
From: Tinker Cliffs

To: Stealth Campsite....
Miles today: 11.0

Easy, but muddy walk down from the cliffs to the Troutville/Daleville area. Had a few nice views, but nothing to compare with yesterday. Met up with the crowd of hikers that Mala was taking to The Homeplace for dinner at the outfitters, and got a ride with them. The Homeplace definitely lived up to it's reputation, loads of really good food and a nice atmosphere. After digesting for a while, I stopped into the grocery and bought supplies for the next few days, then continued up the trail to the first place flat enough to camp.
Date: 2003-06-06
From: Stealth Campsite....

To: Bobblets Gap Shelter
Miles today: 18.5
Weather: clear sky

We crossed the 1/3 done mark today!! We had a few water problems today, first the cistern at Fullhardt Knob Shelter was dry (I wasn't planning on filling up there anyhow,) but the spring that is the usual source for that shelter was nothing but a mud puddle! Pretty much every thru-hiker that I ran into today wound up getting dehydrated at some point, but no major issues. Had a nice, long lunch break at Curry Creek with a few other hikers. Met Mala up by the Blue Ridge Parkway, he says that there's going to be lot of rain coming, so I went ahead on to the next shelter so I can be dry tomorrow morning. Made 4 pizzas successfully, traded two for candy bars.
Date: 2003-06-09
From: Matts Creek Shelter

To: Johns Hollow Shelter
Miles today: 3.9
Weather: clear sky

Just checking in from Glasgow, VA. Don't have time to fill in much on my journals except to say that I've been having an awesome time lately despite the rain. Heading on this evening, not sure how far though. Virginia has been awesome so far, it's good that the AT's in it for something like 550 miles. Well, that's all for now, gotta get back to hiking.Update 6/21Just thought that I'd add that I continued on to John's Hollow Shelter, didn't feel much like walking today.
Date: 2003-06-21
From: Pinnacles Picnic Area

To: Pass Mountain Hut
Miles today: 6.5
Weather: light rain

Just stopped into Luray, VA to resupply and do a little typing. Hitching in the rain sucks.Update 7/22/03I ended up getting resupplied and hitched back to the AT without any problems. An ex-superintendant of the Shenandoah National Park gave me a ride back to the trail, very interesting and nice guy (forgot name at the moment.) Had a fun evening at the Pass Mountain Hut with many other thru-hikers.
Date: 2003-07-07
From: Duncannon, PA

To: Peters Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 11.4
Weather: broken clouds

Hi!I'm just checking in from the Doyle hotel in Duncannon, PA. Interesting place, will write more later. The hike's going well, we're finally getting some summer-like weather. Well, that's all for now, gotta get to the grocery and get walking!                        -Ian-Update 7/22/2003Ended up hiking on to the Peters Mountain Shelter. Had a nice thunderstorm on the way out, but a nice hike other than that.
Date: 2003-08-02
From: Egremont Country Club!!!

To: Mt. Wilcox South Lean-to
Miles today: 15.3

Stretch, Tunnel Vision, Bull, and I woke up under the awning, still grinning from the night before. There were already some green maintainers (assuming that's the right term) driving around in golf carts giving us strange looks when they passed, I assume they hadn't heard about the events of last night. We decided to pack up and get back to the AT before the regular customers started showing up, then headed back toward the payphone in town. While Tunnel Vision and Bull called home, Stretch and I went to the convenience store to pick up some snacks, and try to score a ride back to the trailhead. There was a different lady behind the counter today, who turned out to be the very friendly owner of the store. We got some snacks and chatted a little bit. When the storekeeper found out we were hiking the AT, she offered Stretch and I a complimentary coffee and made-to-order deli sandwiches!! This town is amazing!! We couldn't resist the temptation, and soon were sitting on the front porch eating our subs and packing up the snacks. Bull and Tunnel Vision came down to the store, and Stretch and I gave them half of our sandwiches. While we were sitting there eating, the storekeeper came out and told Tunnel Vision and Bull that they were welcome to sandwiches and coffee as well, so they finished their halves and went and got a couple more sandwices (which they split with Stretch and I.) We thanked the storekeeper repeatedly before starting to walk back to the trail. We didn't get a ride the whole way to the trail, but of course we didn't care. A few hundred yards up the trail, there was a flat area where several other thruhikers were packing up and getting ready to go. Of course, we had to tell them all about our adventures in South Egremont, most of which they didn't believe. Good thing we hadn't known about that clearing yesterday morning!!
Date: 2003-08-03
From: Mt. Wilcox South Lean-to

To: Upper Goose Pond Cabin
Miles today: 15.8
Weather: haze

Today's hike was pretty uneventful (and wet as usual,) especially compared to the last few days of fun and excitement. Of course, that doesn't mean that we didn't have fun and excitement after hiking! I decided to stop at Upper Goose Pond Cabin to see what it's all about (did someone say pancakes!?) The cabin is about half a mile off the trail, about 3 times what I'm usually willing to do to get to shelter, but this place is supposedly worth it. Upon arrival, my most optimistic expecatations were shattered, this place is awesome! Many hikers had arrived already, they had voted to have pancakes for dinner instead of breakfast! After drip-drying for a bit on the porch, I claimed a place on the floor to sleep with my pad since all the bunks were full already. A steady stream of hikers kept on coming. Soon the porch and the cabin's main room were packed to capacity with hikers, the unique smell of cooking pancakes only slightly degraded by their presence. After a few minutes, plates piled high with hot pancakes were carried out of the kitchen and a feeding frenzy ensued. According to rumor, there was a limit of something like 4 pancakes each, but the rumors were proven wrong as everyone ate until they were full. That's a LOT of pancakes! We all sat around digesting, Rubberband Man, Karma, and I made a chess board and played a few games. Rubberband Man is really good (well, at least a lot better than Karma and I!) Darnkess fell, and soon everyone was sound asleep.
Date: 2003-08-05
From: Upper Goose Pond Cabin

To: Toms, Dalton, MA
Miles today: 20.6
Weather: haze

Written 02/02/2004:Long, but fairly easy walk today. The pancake breakfast sure helped! Stretch, Takereasy, and I were walking together when it started to rain. We started walking really fast/running, and made it to Dalton pretty fast. A local guy named Tom lets hikers get water at his house or tent in his yard, what a cool guy! It happened that he was off work for a few days, and there was a really big crowd of hikers in town, so he let a few of us sleep on his livingroom floor!! After drying off and getting a little bit cleaned up, Tom mentioned that he would be willing to take some of us to a nearby Chinese AYCE (buffet) restaurant if anybody would be interested. Of course, many of us were, so we loaded Tom's SUV to the brim, then added a couple more people. We all got to the restaurant safely and started chowing down. This was easily the best Chinese meal I've had. Loads of food, and everything was great! We had a blast, good food, good spirits, and good people. Needless to say, we all chipped in and bought Tom dinner and covered gas money. After the buffet, several of us resupplied at a nearby supermarket wile Tom ran the rest of us back to his place. For some reason, people weren't nearly as willing to contort themselves to fit in the SUV on the way home. I spent the rest of the evening visiting and fixing my radio, which I had accidentally left in my pocket when the rain started.
Date: 2003-08-06
From: Toms, Dalton, MA

To: Cheshire, MA
Miles today: 9.3

Written 02/02/2004:After a short visit to the Internet through the Dalton library, and a longer visit with a washing machine at the laundromat, Stretch and I hit the trail. There was already a big, dark cloud in the sky, but it's a short and reputedly easy walk to our next stop in Cheshire, MA. In Cheshire, there is a church which allows hikers to sleep on the floor of their gymnasium when nothing else is going on. After a couple miles, the clouds became darker and bigger. Deep rumbles of thunder urged us to go faster, soon passing a few hikers who had left town quite a bit earlier than we had. The thunder grew louder, and we kept accelerating. Before long, the cloud seemed to be right over our heads, but it was not yet raining. Stretch and I decided that the cloud was simply intimidated, so we decided it would be good to reinforce that thought by taunting it. Pretty soon, we were jogging towards Cheshire, screaming at the top of our lungs, maybe this trail is getting to our heads? We made it to town without being hit by a drop of rain, however we were soaked with sweat. Shortly after entering town, the blazes lead to the right, but we weren't sure if that would take us closer to the church or just back into the woods. Fortunately, there was an information board nearby, so after several minutes of deciphering, we were able to determine that the big white building a couple hundred yards in front of us was in fact a church, THE church in fact. About this time, Stretch noticed that a wall of rain was progressing across the street in our direction. A mad dash to the curch nearly saved us from getting rained on, but not quite. Before long, we had found the gym and were claiming spots on the floor and getting ready for dinner. For dinner, I had some seashell noodles with rehydrated dehydrated pasta sauce that T-Bird had given me to use as pizza sauce. After the addition of a bit of cheese, it was a nice, filling meal and there were even some shells left over! Right before bed, I realized that my camera had dissapeared! It turns out that I had left it at Tom's house by accident. It wasn't too late, so I went out to the church parking lot and called him with a cell phone. Fortunately, he had seen the camera and was going to be shuttling other hikers around here tomorrow morning, so he could bring it over in the morning! All hail Tim and Tom!
Date: 2003-08-09
From: Congdon Shelter

To: Melville Nauheim Shelter
Miles today: 5.9
Weather: scattered clouds

Written 02/02/2004:Takereasy and I hitched into Bennington this morning, which ended up taking up most of the day. Takereasy needed to pick up a new pair of boots at the PO, and I'm looking for a maildrop too. We got a ride into town really quickly, and found the PO without too much trouble. Takereasy got his boots, but my package wasn't there!? I wasn't completely sure that it was coming into Bennington, I guess that shows how organized I am.... I forgot what town I had told my dad, but after a few phone calls, I determined that it had been send to Dalton, MA where I neglected to check with all the AYCE excitement. Since the package was sent priority (as all my maildrops are,) I was able to bounce it ahead and pick it up in a couple days. While Takereasy and I were sitting in the PO lawn getting organized, a man walks up and asks us if we're hiking the trail. We told him that we were and after a short conversation, he offered us some MREs that he had in his trunk. Being thru-hikers and therefore perpetually hungry, we took him up on the offer and soon each of us had two MREs! Unfortunately, we soon realized that they're really heavy, but didn't want to refuse the kind offer at this point. After the man left, we opened up the MREs and threw out all kinds of excess packaging that was a major part of the weight. I went to a convenience store and picked up some snacks to augment the MREs, and ended up getting a liter of chocolate milkd and a dozen powdered donuts to go with it. Yummy! We stopped into a laundromat and split a load of clothes, and had a nice chat with some ski trail maintainers who were in town to do laundry. We traded some MREs and ate the heavier parts while waiting for clothes to dry, and did away with half the donuts in the same manner. When the colthes were done, we started walking out of town with out thumbs out and got a ride before too long. The climb up from the road was rather steep and made my tummy all mad, but it might have been the liter of chocolate milk mixing with chicken tetrazini, who knows. Takereasy built a fire at the shelter and we had a really good dinner from the MREs. Takereasy finished all of his, I've still got enough left to make a good meal with. Quote of the day: "It's been a while since I've built a fire bigger than the shelter!"
Date: 2003-08-11
From: Story Spring Shelter

To: William B Douglas Shelter
Miles today: 15.3
Weather: overcast clouds

Well, it's actually February 3rd, 2004 and I can't remember for sure where I slept 'tonight' (8/11/03) might have been Will Douglas, or maybe Spruce Peak? The problem is that in this section I had managed to mess up my maildrops and was hiking w/o a guidebook. This wasn't really a problem, but I used my guidebook to mark where I slept, hence the gap. Oh well, this is the only day that I'm unsure about, so it's not a big deal.
Date: 2003-08-12
From: William B Douglas Shelter

To: House Near Manchester Center, VT
Miles today: 5.8
Weather: light rain

Well, I was planning on going into town for resupply and then getting back on the trail, but ran into Stretch and we went on a little (mildly confusing) adventure. Stretch mentioned that he had a potential connection in town, so he might be able to get a place to stay for the night, and I could try tagging along if I wanted. The deal is that Stretch used to work in this in a funeral home, and still keeps in touch with his old boss. Stretch's old boss is really interested in Stretch's hike, and has a friend/associate who lives near here. Stretch's boss offered to call this friend/associate and see if Stretch could crash at his house since the boss' friend is an outdoorsy guy and has hiked the AT. After a few interesting phone calls, we established that the boss' friend was out of town, but that we were welcome to stay at his house and a housekeeper/close friend would be over to pick us up at a gas station in a few minutes. Weird situation, but getting weirder. So after a bit, a nice looking SUV pulls up and the driver asks if we're the AT hikers, and invites us to put out packs in and go to Stretch's friend's friend's house. On the way there, we had some nice conversation with Stretch's friend's friend's friend and establish that we will be crashing in the garage, but that it's a really nice house, so it has a really nice garage. The house turned out to be a long way out of town, but we did eventually get there, and there was a nice house, and it did have a nice garage, containing a nice motorcycle and lots of outdoorsy stuff. We spread out some gear to dry and got situated. Soon, Stretch's friend's friend's friend offered to give us a ride down the street a little farther to pick up some subs/snacks. Of course we took him up on the offer, and left our stuff in the garage, all without noticing the plethora of medevial weapons hanging on the far wall of the (nice) garage....
Date: 2003-08-13
From: House Near Manchester Center, VT

To: Big Branch Shelter
Miles today: 16.2
Weather: moderate rain

Continuation of yesterday:Sorry I left you hanging after the last entry, but I couldn't resist... We had some good sndwiches and went back to the house to hang out for a while. Upon arrival, Stretch and I both noticed the battle axes, swords, knives, and the giant mace on the wall of the garage, but independantly decided to pretend we didn't. The three of us stood in the drive chatting for a few minutes, then Stretch's friend's friend's friend invited us in. Stretch and I both needed to 'tend to our gear,' and promised to be in in a couple minutes. When the friend's friend's friend went inside, we had a quick, but quiet conversation and decided that it wasn't all that strange to have an armory in your garage. Nevertheless, we organized our stuff a little in case we had to grab it in a hurry and run, then went inside.The house's interior was decorated in a decidedly medevial theme, but not dark and gothic. Stretch made an inquisitive comment about a particularally long sword mounted on a wall, and we soon discovered that the friend's friend and his wife were in charge of a local renaissance fair, and that he was an amateur blacksmith! Needless to say, that helped ease a bit of tension, and we sat around and watched TV for a bit. The friend's friend's wife came home after a bit and turned out to be a very nice, normal person so we decided it wasn't some bizzare household afterall. We all had some really good pork chops for dinner, watched a Monty Python movie, and visited for a few hours. Eventually, everyone got tired and went to bed, as usual.On to today:We got a ride back to the trail early this morning after a quick breakfast. The trail soon went up and over Bromley Mtn, which is a popular ski destination. At the top of the mountain is a big observation platform where I stopped to admire the view, have a snack, and visit with some other thruhikers who had left town this morning. It's been decided that Stretch and I are the kings of yogi after the events at the Egremont Country Club and the friend's friend's house last night.
Date: 2003-08-14
From: Big Branch Shelter

To: Step-Aunt Betty's house!
Miles today: 9.6

Fun walk this morning! Pine forests with occasional outcroppings of rock. I went into Wallingford to call Betty and take her up on an invitation to spend the night when I get here. I didn't get in touch with her, but left a message on her machine and chilled for a bit. Ran into Stretch and we got some Ben and Jerry's then went over to the library to catch up on emails. In the meantime, Betty got my message and headed to Wallingford and found Stretch and I at the library. She's been pretty busy and wasn't interested in Stretch coming over for a visit, so Betty and I headed off to her house a few miles down the road. Indie, my step-cousin was there and it turns out that we had actually seen each other a couple days back when Indie was out for a hike near Bromley and I was hitching into Manchester Center. We had each thought the other looked familiar, but weren't sure enough to say hi. I suspect the fact that I was with a largish group of other stinky, hairy guys didn't help much either... Had a fun evening at Betty's house, including listening to a local Bluegrass band at an outdoor concert. On the news, I heard about some massive blackouts in New England, oopsie!
Date: 2003-08-19
From: Happy Hill Shelter

To: Velvet Rocks Shelter
Miles today: 7.3
Weather: clear sky

Two towns today! Wandered around Norwich a little bit (mostly because I hadn't been paying attention the the guidebook and thought it was Hanover,) then strolled over to Hanover. The AT goes through a couple very nice neighborhoods around here, kind of fun to daydream about having a nice house in a good neighborhood outiside a college town, and right on the AT (hostel anyone?) Ran into Takereasy and we walked into Hanover to find Sassy waiting for Kodiak with loads of soda and beer. We sat on the end of a bridge waiting for Kodiak, Hepcat, Billy Boy, Mello Yello, etc to get there for a bit, then saw them round a corner in the distance. Kodiak couldn't believe Sassy was there, it was a suprise visit from Atlanta, and he was definitely suprised. We hung around for a bit, drank some soda and beer, then moved to the college green. Laying around in the green was fun, and an interesting psychology experiment. For those who didn't know, Dartmouth College is in Hanover, and Dartmouth college isn't exactly a stinky, hairy, hiker hangout typically. We definitely got some intersting looks while crashed in the busiest corner of the green, laying on the ground with our heads propped on stinky, dirty backpacks soaking in the scenery. After dealing with resupply and maildrops, the crowd drifted over to an AYCE pizza place on the edge of campus and gorged for a bit. Brew dropped in, I hadn't seen him in ages. Turns out he had been ill and in a hospital for a bit. He definitely looked weaker, but was ready to hop back on the trail for a wihle longer. I passed up the Ben and Jerry's store since my tummy was already dangerously full, then cruised up to the first shelter out of town. Most of the other hikers who had been in town showed up a little after dark and we had a fun evening visiting before going to sleep.
Date: 2003-08-22
From: Hexacuba Shelter

To: Hikers Welcome Hostel
Miles today: 14.7
Weather: broken clouds

Getting ready for the whites. I got my 20 degree bag, fleece hat, and gloves back today. Gave my fleece blanky to the guys at the hostel so they could use it. There's a fun crowd here tonight, but since I'm writing this about a year later, it's pretty hard to remember many names. Had dinner at a little restaurant in town and resupplied from one of those big fancy filling stations. Lots of food. Big mountains! Moosilauke and maybe even the official start of the whites tomorrow!
Date: 2003-08-23
From: Hikers Welcome Hostel

To: Beaver Book Shelter
Miles today: 7.9

The climb up Moosilauke wasn't nearly as bad as people make it sound. Fun terrain at the base, walking though pastures and stuff before the real climb began. Treeline is really cool, reminds me of being out west a bit. Really windy and a bit cold at the top of the mountain, increasingly cold into the night. I'm really glad that I've got the old cat's meow (my sleeping bag) back, and feeling the chill in my chacos.
Date: 2003-08-24
From: Beaver Book Shelter

To: Eliza Brook Shelter
Miles today: 9.1
Weather: clear sky

Got a ride into North Woodstock, NH with Timber and Toothpick's parents to buy some boots. I got a pair of Garmont Vegans, which were about the only boot that felt right at the outfitter. I asked about working at the outfitter to get a discount on the boots (like how I got my current footwear, Chaco Z2s,) but the boss was really cool and just gave me the boots for $100 (that's about 30% off.) Mom gave me her credit card number over the phone, and bought the boots as a b-day gift. Thanks mom! I think she's finally getting over me being on the trail, which is cool. Got back on the trail and hiked a bit up to Eliza Brook Shelter. The boots are light as far as mid cut boots go, but they feel like bricks compared to the chacos that I mailed home.**Note 6/21/2003**My notes aren't too great for this section, and I went into N Woodstock twice as you'll see in the next few entries. I'm pretty sure this is how things played out, but I might have gotten confused about which events happened at which town visits.
Date: 2003-08-25
From: Eliza Brook Shelter

To: North Woodstock, NH
Miles today: 8.8

Well, this entry may say 8.8 miles, but when you add the walk most of the way into town, it was significantly longer. Quite a few hikers in town today, we decided to crash at a local B&B and watch a movie. Saw Pirates of the Carribean, then hit up the McDonald's dollar menu on the way back (fairly late in the evening.) The boots are treating my feet well, but they still feel heavy. I spent some time waterproofing them again, but I don't know how much it's going to help since these boots have a BUNCH of mesh (which is a good thing in my mind.) Got some groceries to get farther up the trail.