morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2006-07-03
From: Manchester Center

To: Bromley Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 2.0
Weather: few clouds

Two miles. This is exactly what happens when you go into town, you just can¢t seem to get back out. Snake and I had so many plan changes today. Fortunately, all of them started with breakfast at this cool little restaurant called up for breakfast. It was marvelous, but while we ate, we discussed the unlikelyness of leaving in time to do 15 miles, so we decided to do 10 miles instead. Then, just as we had that settled, Fire Hazard and Cantaloupe appeared and suggested we take a bus to Rutland and do a couple days slackpacking. Snake convinced me this was a good idea and it meant a zero day today so I quickly jumped on board.Four hours later, after a trip to the bookstore and a shoe-buying stop for Snake, we found ourselves outside the outfitter staring at a bus schedule and pondering our abilities as hikers. It turned out that in order to do our slackpacking plan we would have to walk 26 miles in 10 hours, otherwise we would miss the last bus. In the end, we decided against it and that was when our plan changed to the whopping 2 miles we achieved.Before we could tuck these miles under our belt, we had a few last pieces of business. At the grocery store, we needed enough food to get to Killington and then Snake had the ingenious idea that we mail drop our own food to Killington and Glencliff since we wouldn¢t have easy access to grocery stores. This made shopping and sorting more difficult than usual and since we were pressed for time, I got a little stressed out.Once the sort was done, we ran over to the UPS store and were dismayed that it had closed a half an hour ago. Not knowing what to do, we ran back to the outfitter to see if they had any suggestions. They had already locked the door for the night, but when Snake knocked and told them our dilemma, they invited us in, got us packaging materials, and acted as our shipping service. As if that wasn¢t enough, the lady offered us a ride back to the trailhead. I love Mountain Goat Outfitters.The 2 miles was all uphill but Snake and I talked the whole way and I was genuinely surprised to see the shelter sign. It was hands down the best hiking day I¢ve had on the whole trip and I wish I could have more like it.
Date: 2006-07-04
From: Bromley Mountain Shelter

To: Mad Tom Notch
Miles today: 3.5

We hiked the mile to the top of Bromley Mountain this morning without any problems where we failed to find the slide we were told would take us to the fun park at the bottom. It was right about then that a call from Granite revealed that we¢d have to be by a good pick-up point by 1:00 to go to a July 4th party. The only attainable one we could find was a mere 3 miles away. We¢ll never get to Maine at this rate. Snake and I got a ride back to the McDonald¢s in Manchester Center from a group of nice Boy Scouts where we waited for Granite.We spent the next several hours playing a round-up game, during which time Granite got a speeding ticket. We got to say our goodbyes to Yeti, Jebus, and Thumper who were moving so fast we knew we¢d never see them again. Then it was back to Bennington for the party. I had fun and I achieved my goal of seeing many of my long-lost hiker friends like Grizzly (of course), Doogie, Buttercup, 4-Today, Lowkey, and Crumbs. I finally met the Maine Train, who I¢d heard so much about, and I also got to meet Took and Cuppa Joe, whose trail journals I had read last year. It was very exciting.
Date: 2006-07-05
From: Mad Tom Notch

To: Lost Pond Shelter
Miles today: 9.3
Weather: overcast clouds

I¢m tired today. Really tired. We had breakfast this morning with Grizzly before heading back out to the trail. We didn¢t start hiking until 3:30 and I really wanted to stop at the first shelter but I pushed on to the second one because Snake was really starting to get depressed about our mileage. I set up my tent to ward off the bugs and then crashed.
Date: 2006-07-06
From: Lost Pond Shelter

To: Clarendon Shelter
Miles today: 18.6
Weather: broken clouds

I was still really tired when I woke up this morning so I got up, ate breakfast, told Snake I was going to a shorter shelter than him and then climbed back into bed. I eventually got moving and had a pleasant, yet exhausting day. I didn¢t see any other thru-hikers but that was okay since I knew I¢d be meeting up with Snake tomorrow. The best part was that I got to the shelter around 7:30 so I was able to set up my tent and eat before dark.
Date: 2006-07-07
From: Clarendon Shelter

To: Rte 4, Killington
Miles today: 16.4

I woke up around 2:00 last night with a fever and tried to keep myself from throwing up. The rest of the night was really restless and I woke up just as exhausted as I had been yesterday. The rest of the day was a struggle, especially since I couldn¢t eat since my stomach was so queasy. I met 2 more thru-hikers today, Powerstroke, who had started in Key West, and Sweet Tea, who helped me take my mind off my situation by hiking with me.By the time I staggered into the inn at Long Trail, I was beat and in no condition to walk, or even move. I got cleaned up and choked down some delicious stew before crashing.
Date: 2006-07-08
From: Rte 4, Killington

To: Rutland
Miles today: 0.0

I slept 12 hours last night, and when I woke up my fever was gone and I felt a little better. Over our complimentary breakfast, Snake convinced me to go to the doctor this morning. After a difficult hitch, I found myself at the doctor¢s office, where I was told I most likely had Lyme¢s Disease. This would explain my exhaustion over the past couple of weeks. Prescription in hand, we decided to take the rest of the day off so I could rest up.
Date: 2006-07-09
From: Rutland

To: Cabin at the Lookout 
Miles today: 17.5

I had a moment of weakness during my illness and decided that I needed a nice hotel room in which to recuperate and sleep. Unfortunately, this type of place is hard to come by in Rutland so we ended up at this gorgeous bed and breakfast. It was the best night of sleep that I¢ve had on the trail and it was followed by an exquisite 3-course home cooked breakfast served on china with fine silver. It was a though adjustment from life in the woods.I was feeling better today when our host dropped us back off by the trailhead. I was still feeling good, when moments later I slipped on a bog log and did a face plant. Luckily I had enough sense to right myself before Snake could snap my picture sprawled out all over the ground. We stopped for lunch at Kent Pond which was a pretty little spot. By the time we stopped for a break at the next shelter I was utterly tired again. Snake pretty much pulled me along to this cabin on top of a hill, but I¢m really glad he did because I¢ve been feeling like I keep dragging us further and further behind.Daybird was already at the cabin when we got there and right before we were about to fall asleep, Sparrowhawk showed up! We swapped stories of what had happened since we¢d seen each other and he showed us pictures. One of the most interesting pictures was of round worms in the water at the Melville-Nauhein shelter. Sparrowhawk laughed, but all I could think was great, now I¢ll have round worms too.
Date: 2006-07-10
From: Cabin at the Lookout 

To: Cloudland Shelter
Miles today: 11.9

This morning Sparrowhawk pointed out that there were 2 places to get ice cream today. Snake and I were, of course, all over it. A 3-hour break at the first ice cream place indicated that we wouldn¢t be making it to our intended destination. At the second ice cream place I was back to my Lyme¢s Disease ridden normal exhaustion. So, we find ourselves here in this abandoned shelter with Lefty, the SOBO, being eaten alive by mosquitoes.
Date: 2006-07-11
From: Cloudland Shelter

To: Velvet Rocks Shelter
Miles today: 18.2
Weather: light rain

Today was a really good day. We left later than planned because we waited for an early morning rain storm to pass. I headed out first with every intention of getting into Hanover before 5:00 in order to pick up my mail drop. When I got to the West Hartford Library, I realized I probably wouldn¢t make it in time so I called to have my mail forwarded. Then I called Robert and my mom for a very brief hello. As I sat at the library, who should appear on the trail? Granite! Our friends are finally catching up with us, so hopefully we won¢t be alone anymore. We sat there chatting for a little bit longer than planned over some cold Cokes that a nice stranger brought us before hiking the rest of the way into Hanover and the great state of New Hampshire. This was my most exciting state crossing so far, and the next one will be into Maine!We stayed in Hanover just long enough to get pizza and resupply at the grocery store before marching right out of town again. I felt very uncomfortable in Hanover. I¢m not sure that the ever-shifting population of college students is used to thru-hikers coming through town because we definitely got some odd and unfriendly looks. The other unexpected thing that happened to me today was that my platypus got a hole, which soaked me and my pack and left me without a water bladder. Such is the life of a thru-hiker.
Date: 2006-07-12
From: Velvet Rocks Shelter

To: Trapper John Shelter
Miles today: 15.2
Weather: overcast clouds

We had a bit of a non-incident last night and neither of us got much sleep. I say non-incident because nothing actually happened, but some little chipmunk or raccoon sure did mess with our heads and led to me carrying a hiking pole as a weapon when I went out to pee, Snake sitting up with his headlamp on guard, and ultimately, me hanging our bear bags at 2 in the morning. The sound of footsteps can evidently lead a person to insanity.The only thing that got me up and out of the shelter this morning was the thought of food. My book said there was a deli a mere 6 miles from where I was at, and that was enough to get me to pack my bag. When we got there it was everything I dreamed it would be, and I sat inside pigging out and watching TV while it began to rain outside.Another rain delay. We stayed as long as we could, but it was evident that the rain wasn¢t going to stop so we trudged on out. We walked and walked and walked through the rain and were soaking wet by the time we arrived at the crowded shelter. Walking through the rain is kind of like walking through snow because you can¢t really stop and put your pack down so you never take any breaks. It can be exhausting. This was the reason we were slightly apprehensive looking into the shelter packed with SOBOs and students, but luckily the students had set up camp for the night. For a minute there, I was afraid that Snake was going to have a meltdown.
Date: 2006-07-13
From: Trapper John Shelter

To: Hexacuba Shelter
Miles today: 12.0
Weather: broken clouds

Yesterday was my anniversary and I never had cell phone reception to be able to call Robert, although I was able to send him an e-mail. For some reason this made me really sad this morning and put me in a bad mood. The rain didn¢t help. We again waited for it to stop before heading out, so we didn¢t leave until about noon. The trail had turned back into the Appalachian river and even though it wasn¢t raining any more, my feet got soaked, which I hate. The 2 brooks we crossed today were more like raging rivers and resulted in my feet getting more wet. Even the terrain seemed to fuel my bad mood as Smarts Mtn proceeded to kick my butt. The best part of today was the end because not only did we get to the shelter at 6:30, we were the first ones there. I was able to relax and write in my journal for once, and this enormous hexagonal shelter that looks more like a cabana was a good place to do this.Two familiar and welcome faces showed up at the shelter tonight. Lowkey, who has broken away from her Jukebox Clan and C-Ram, who has been flying after his return from Bonoroo. I have mixed feelings because I¢m really happy that Snake and I will finally have other people to talk to, but I¢m starting to feel like people are passing us like we¢re standing still. There¢s 2 problems with this. First, it¢s demoralizing, second, it makes me worried we won¢t get to the end in time. Ack!
Date: 2006-07-14
From: Hexacuba Shelter

To: NH25, Glencliff
Miles today: 14.7

I promised Snake I would wake up at 5:00 this morning to make up for the short day yesterday, so I found myself on top of Mt Cube at 7:00 looking at the top of the clouds melting away from the hills - Beautiful.Then, it started getting hotter, and hotter. By the time we got to the hostel, it was over 90, but I was so happy to be done hiking at 2:00 I could ignore my profuse sweating. Finally, dry feet and clean clothes!
Date: 2006-07-15
From: NH25, Glencliff

To: Beaver Brook Shelter
Miles today: 11.9
Weather: overcast clouds

This morning I made a conscious decision to stay at the hostel until I could get up to date on my journal. We were also kind of hoping that Grizzly and Doogie would finally catch up to us. I worked diligently and finally got finished around 1:00. The best part of the morning was when my total at the post office was $6.66 and the postlady looked at me and said, ¢Those are the Devil¢s numbers.¢ Snake and I hiked out with Granite and Lowkey but lost them (or rather they lost us) as soon as we started heading uphill. Man, was it a climb, but the treeless view at the top was well worth it ¢ our first one on the entire trail. We even got lemonade on our climb from some nice DOC students. It was hot but at the top I finally felt like I had made it somewhere. I¢d been dreaming about the White Mountains since spring and there I was on Mt. Moosilauke, the entryway.
Date: 2006-07-16
From: Beaver Brook Shelter

To: Kinsman Pond Shelter
Miles today: 13.1
Weather: clear sky

We had a late night last night and it all started when Snake flipped a mosquito coil onto his newly acquired Thermarest and burned 2 holes in it. Thus started a hilarious chain of events. So the morning I had a hard time waking up and moving and I ended up playing a word search for a half an hour. We left around 9 with Granite as a new addition to our troupe, but that didn¢t last long as she easily skipped down off Mt. Moosilauke leaving Snake and I in her dust. We saw her only one more time, briefly, at a road crossing where we tried to get Snake to call it a day and go into town. Unsuccessful we started our next rocky climb. It was a tough day and a good introduction to the Whites since le learned we¢re going to have to drastically cut our daily mileage. We had wanted to go 17 miles today but realized this was impossible as we straggled into this campsite at 6:30. I¢m thinking 12-15 is going to be our limit for a while. The best parts of today were the views from the mountain tops which unfortunately revealed our future ¢ even taller mountains. But everything seems more beautiful here, we¢ve definitely returned to the wild. At one point today we crossed by a pond that was nestled between the mountains, and it left me speechless. This was the part of my hike I¢ve been looking forward to since the beginning.
Date: 2006-07-17
From: Kinsman Pond Shelter

To: Franconia Notch
Miles today: 4.8
Weather: few clouds

Last night before I went to bed I tried to make a tentative schedule for the rest of the trip, summiting Katahdin on the 11th, the day I¢ve promised Snake we will summit. The schedule worked out with what I think are reasonable days, but I wish we had more time to enjoy Maine. I¢m not really sure we¢ll be able to follow the schedule at all, but at least I have a rough outline to gauge myself with. The result of this obsessive schedule was me waking up this morning to tell Snake we would have to walk past town today or we would never make it in time to see my parents. We hiked out and down off the mountain, Snake doing so in record time and zooming out of view. We stopped at the Lonesome Lake hut, our first AMC hut, to see if they had any leftovers from breakfast. There we found pancakes and Granite, and we relooked at stopping in town for the night and decided to go ahead and do it. So after a short and happy journey we arrived at Crawford Notch and called a shuttle to go into North Woodstock where food, rest, and a beer sampler awaited. I¢m really glad we took a short day because it got really hot out, plus Grizzly and Doogie finally caught up to us ¢ Yay!
Date: 2006-07-18
From: Franconia Notch

To: Garfield Ridge Campsite
Miles today: 10.3
Weather: moderate rain

Today was so crazy I don¢t even know where to begin. Maybe the best place would be the restaurant we went to for breakfast where I suddenly go very sick to my stomach. I think it was from the antibiotics because I didn¢t eat soon enough, so I (very abruptly) asked the waitress if she could please bring me an order of toast right away. She seemed puzzled and came back a few minutes later, toastless, to ask if I wanted butter. I don¢t even know what I mumbled at her but I know my look said, ¢Toast, now, please.¢ Unfortunately the toast didn¢t save the contents of my stomach from their cruel fate, and I found myself huddled next to the toilet waiting for a mom and her child to leave the restroom. The silver lining was that I felt much better after that and I was able to eat half my breakfast. The shuttle dropped us off at the I-93 on-ramp around 11:30 where we walked back to the trail. It was really, really hot which became an issue when I found myself climbing 2500 feet only a few moments later. I was sweating out what little liquid I had left and I was starting to feel sick again before Granite and I finally took a water break. The top of Little Haystack Mountain revealed the awesome, treeless ridgeline we¢d be crossing, and we reveled in the swirling clouds over lunch. Snake and I were the last ones to be done as usual, so we found ourselves back in each other¢s company for the afternoon hike. We didn¢t make it very far before thunder started booming in the distance. We quickened our pace hoping to make it back into some trees before the storm arrived. Not succeeding with this we huddled under a teeny tiny rock ledge by some little trees until the storm passed getting as wet as we¢d be walking. Once we were back out on the trail I started getting blown over by huge gusts of wind ¢ I fell over three times. My glasses also fogged up, so I followed after Snake, blind and stumbling. When the weather finally cleared up and I could see again I was rewarded with a beautiful mountaintop view. We had one last climb of the day and it started with a very scary moment. The trail went up the face of a rock, became a shelf and then went up the slope of another rock. It had just been raining and was slippery. Snake started climbing first and I was shortly behind. All of the sudden I heard him fall and I looked up to see him slide down the slope, down the ledge and then drop 5 feet to the ground. He probably fell like 12 feet in all, but he managed to land on his pack and walk away with nothing but a scratch. All I could do was stand on the rock shelf and watch the scene unfold, totally helpless, and I¢m so glad he didn¢t get hurt. Luckily we were only about .5 miles from the shelter and we made it the rest of the way without event. The best part of the night was when Leaf (or Leif? It¢s hard to tell on the trail), the campsite caretaker, claimed he couldn¢t eat all of a dessert he had made, and we got cherry cheesecake with dinner.
Date: 2006-07-19
From: Garfield Ridge Campsite

To: Crawford Notch
Miles today: 17.4
Weather: scattered clouds

What a beautiful and wonderful day. It started out early so we could get breakfast leftovers and the Galehead hut, and an added bonus was that it was nice and cool and clear. Snake and I made it down to the shelter in time for blueberry pancakes, and we hung out so long that everyone caught up. A little anxious I might miss lunch at the next hut I hurried onward and upward up the biggest climb of the day. The view from the top of the mountain was once again amazing, and I could clearly see Mt. Washington looming in the distance. Lunch at the Zealand hut was incredible, and I had cookies, lemonade, and a bottomless bowl of soup. I could get very used to this. Granite, Grizzly, Doogie, Snake and I stayed for a couple of hours before all hiking out together. We were rewarded with about a 5-mile flat section, our first and maybe only flat section in all the Whites. We were able, for the first time in weeks, to hike at our regular 2.5 MPH speed. We were done hiking at 5:30 and after Doogie convinced Grizzly not to hike to the top of Mt. Washington tonight (sometimes the boy is a lunatic), Snake got us a sweet ride to the Crawford Notch Campground, which turned out to be a very nice place. I hope my sore toes feel better by tomorrow.
Date: 2006-07-20
From: Crawford Notch

To: Lakes of the Clouds Hut
Miles today: 12.6
Weather: few clouds

So my toes don¢t really feel better today, but the more pressing matter this morning was sleep and my stomach. I didn¢t sleep very well last night at all, and I eventually got up and sat outside for a while so I wouldn¢t wake anyone up. In the end I fell asleep on the flop under a picnic table. Part of the sleeplessness was due to yet another stomach ache which continued throughout the day and which I still attribute to my Lyme¢s disease medicine. Regardless, I¢m tire of being sick on the trail and always feeling weak and slow. It was another challenging and beautiful day here in the Whites, and we had the most gorgeous weather yet. So clear that Mt. Washington, the goal for the day, was visible at every vista. The initial climb up was taxing on my exhausted body, but the view at the top into the valley below and across to the distant cliffs and mountains was breathtaking. There¢s no good way for me to describe the landscape, but I hope to bring Robert back here sometime. At the Lake of the Clouds hut we had a hopefully temporary group split. Snake, Granite and I decided to stay, while Doogie and Grizzly hiked on the next hut. It was my earliest shelter stop yet, and a nice day so far ¢ 3:30, and it was nice to be done hiking. Hopefully we¢ll catch back up to the others tomorrow and we¢ll be able to get over Mt. Washington and the ridgeline without any inclement weather. I¢m currently ready for bed, but there are an insane number of people in this hut all having a good time in the lounge, which is where we peon thru-hikers are supposed to sleep when everyone goes to bed. It might be another sleepless night
Date: 2006-07-21
From: Lakes of the Clouds Hut

To: Madison Hut
Miles today: 7.0

Last night ended up being a little bit crazy. The "Croos" that run the huts evidently have late night raids to steal pieces of flair from rival huts and it was suspected that last night would be an attack. In order to thwart the attempt we were asked to sleep on tables under the decorated area and were offered rewards if we sounded the alarm. Needless to say, I didn't get much sleep, especially since they started getting breakfast together at 5:30. Our work for the morning was cleaning tables and sweeping, and we climbed up Mt. Washington after that. The summit was encased in a cloud, windy and drizzly, so we lounged around the summit house for a while grabbing snacks from the snack bar. Eventually we had to leave since we still had over 13 miles to hike and it was already noon. As is coming routine on my hike, I was not feeling well (I'm almost done with my meds!) so I trudged out into the dreary mist over the rocky path very grudgingly. You would think that when I got to the Madison Hut in the rain about 4 hours later and Granite and Snake tried to convince me to stay I would be happy, but instead I felt hopeless. I'm supposed to meet Mom and Dad tomorrow at 10:00, and I think it will be really difficult to get there from here, but somehow they convinced me anyway. I'll just have to get up really early tomorrow morning and skip breakfast. I went ahead and paid for a bunk in the hut because I really need a good night's sleep and a filling dinner. I had no energy today and I hope this fixes that. I really hope I don't regret this hut decision in the morning.