morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2007-07-29
From: Falls Village, CT

To: Salisbury, CT
Miles today: 7.5
Weather: light rain

Today was a short and relatively easy day to Salisbury, CT to meet my sister and her 2 boys who are on their way from Washington D.C. to VT.I didn't leave my campsite at the powerplant until nearly 10.00 AM due to the wet weather and easy day I had planned. It had begun raining again, hard at times, about 6.00 AM and I just sat in my tent to wait it out. It finally quit about 8.45.The great falls of the Housatonic River were flowing fast and furious with all the recent rain and the noise of the falls was impressive. Unfortunately there were nearly no views from Prospect Mt, Rand's View or Billy's View due to the fog from the high humidity. I had hoped last night's storm might clear out some of the humidity. But instead, the wet woods now seem like a sauna and steam room. The temps are only in the mid to upper 60's but I drip constantly and have to drink constantly to keep from becoming dehydrated.I made it to Salisbury about 2.00 PM and checked in to the White Hart Inn to wait for Laurie to arrive later this evening. It felt great to get a hot shower and shave and feel nearly human again! I unpacked all my gear and draped it on every available surface to dry then turned the air on full blast..I went food shopping at the only market in town but their selection was strange, lots of expensive and unusual items, like 4 flavors of Pate', but no granola bars. The parking lot was filled with Volvos and Audies so I should have expected an upper crust selection of items in thw market. But, only the prices appeared to be upper crust. There also was no cell phone service in town. The Inn's front desk later confirmed that there was no Verizon service in town. This seemed odd given the obvious wealth everywhere in town.In the market I ran into Sven and Uff-da who had just come in to town. I offered to buy them a beer at the Inn's tap room in exchange for letting me photocopy their Thru-Hiker's Companion pages for southern MA up to Dalton. We had a very nice time sitting on the porch of the inn with cold brews watching other guests play Bachi Ball. It was really good to see them again; we had hiked thru the Smokies together and spent time at Trail Days in Damascus together. They are some of the folks I really enjoy on the trail. They decided to head out about 7.00 PM and go to the next shelterm which would likely involve some night hiking by headlamp.Laurie called the hotel to tell them she was stuck in traffic and construction in NJ and wouldn't make it until much later that evening so I ate dinner then returned to my room. I repacked the food I had bought and repacked all the gear I had hung around my room to dry. Trail bedtime (about 9.00) came and went rapidly but I stayed up long enough to watch the week's forecast on the Weather Channel. It looked like more hot humid days with afternoon thunderstorms the rest of the week. As long as I keep walking there isn't much point in worrying what the weather for days ahead might be.
Date: 2007-07-30
From: Salisbury, CT

To: Brassie Brook Lean-to
Miles today: 5.4

Today was a 'nero' for me, not a total zero but near to it. I spent most of the day visiting with Laurie, David and Nick. They had arrived at the hotel quite late last night after I had gone to bed so our visit really began this morning over breakfast. It was great fun hearing all about the boy's recent week-long trip to the Grand Canyon on an Elder Hostel adventure tour with their dad and granddad. They had gone rafting on the Colorado River, taken a helicopter ride out of the canyon, walked 600 feet down under ground inside a cavern, and had an interesting nature walk in the Mohave Desert. I see these boys far too infrequently and they are growing up so fast, they amaze me every time I see them.While we visited Laurie drove us to a laundromat where I did laundry and to a supermarket where I found a few items the store in Salisbury did not carry.About 3.00 PM she dropped me and the boys off at Hwy 44 where I had left the trail yesterday and we walked the mile to the next trailhead. At that point we all continued northward on the AT, me with my pack. We walked about 1.5 miles together before it was time for them to turn back and drive north to VT. We parted ways about 4.30 PM and I continued north up the trail. It was a wonderful visit, though all too brief, visit with my sister and her 2 great boys.I found the climb up to Lions Head to be steep and more tiring than it should have been. I have not been feeling well for several days and seem to be more run down than usual. I'm sure the constant high humidity is part of my lack of enthusuasm for the trail but I have also been fighting a sore throat for several days as well. The constant soaking I have taken from the recent rains and high humidities has also not helped things much. If this lingers on much longer I may have to take a real live day off and do nothing but sleep.The Riga Lean-to was filled with 12 very chatty teenagers from an upward bound program who were out for a 5 day backpacking trip on the AT. They were very friendly and asked all sorts of questions about my hike. I decided to push on the 1.2 miles to the next lean-to in hopes of finding a more quiet place to cook and sleep. It tuened out that Brassie Brook Lean-to was empty so I cooked and ate alone while watching the sun go down. Tomorrow I should leave CT and enter MA.
Date: 2007-07-31
From: Brassie Brook Lean-to

To: Great Barrington, MA
Miles today: 17.8
Weather: clear sky

Today's weather and viewa were wonderful and I enjoyed being on the trail tremendously. I am however quite a bit down in energy and am having a tough time hill climbing. Climbing has always been my strength and I have been able to catch most other hikers going uphill. These past few days however I seem to have lost nearly all of my uphill steam.After a cool and quiet evening camped alone near the shelter I got off to a late start and was not on the trail until nearly 9.00 AM. I hadn't seen morning temps in the mid 50's in quite a while. Skies were clear with good visibility.I climbed Bear Mt, at 2,300' it is the highest mt entirely in CT, then dropped down the steep grade into Sages Ravine. At the bottom of the steep ravine is a wonderful clear brook with tenting sites nearby. I sat by the creek for more than an hour and enjoyed a second breakfast. The creek also marked the boundary between CT and MA, leaving the 10th state and entering the 11th of the trip..The steep climb up out of the ravine and onto the open ledges of Race Mt was slow but well worth the effort. The views north to Mt Everett and both east and west for many miles was excellent. The trail stayed on the east side of thw mt and ran along the rim of a rocky escarpment that provided many fine views to the valley and hills to the east. I had hoped to get a look at Mt Greylock, the highest peak in MA and one I will climb in about 4 days, but the flank of Mt Everett blocked the view to the north. The views in all other directions from the open rocky ledges was wonderful and I ate lunch and spent another hour enjoying the fine mountain day.The climb up Mt Everett was a bit long and tiring but was also anti climactic because the summit was forested with trees that were tall enough to block the views in all directions. The old fire tower had been taken down so I continued on over the summit without stopping. I paused briefly at Guilder Pond, a small pond high on thw flanks of Mt Everett and a very pretty place.The walk down the ridgeline to Jug End seemed to take forever but the hike down over the rock ledges was not as tough as I had been led to believe by the guidebook and local advice. The toughest part of the day turned out to be the final 4.5 miles across the flat valley floor to Route 7 where I departed for Great Barrington. This was all very wet forested ground and the mosquitoes were terrible! I walked as fast as I could go in the hopes of outrunning most of the bugs and covered the distance in about an hour. Even so, I think I donated at least a quart blood along the way.Hitching into Great Barrington proved as tough as usual for me and I ended up walking nearly half way into town. I headed steaight for the Comfort Inn and hoped to join Sven and Uff-da who had arrived early in the morning. I never ended up finding them in town but at least had a shower and got cleaned up so the side trip and extra miles were worth the time and effort.
Date: 2007-08-01
From: Great Barrington, MA

To: Mt Wilcox North Lean-to
Miles today: 13.5

Today was another low mileage day and a day when I did not feel up to par. The night in the hotel did me some good, along with the town food that came with it. But hill clims today were still a struggle. The high humidity is still a problem for me but I deal with it by carrying nearly 4 liters of water with me all the time and drinking as much as I can. The extra weight of the water makes my pack much heavier than I wanted for short trips between supply points, but it has to be done during this hot weather. I am am rarely carrying more than 3 days of food but with the extra water my pack weighs about 45 lbs.The first wave of southbounders from Katahdin has finally arrived. I am seeing SOBOs every day now. They are coming up on their 700 mile mark and look energized and in top hiking form. I remember feeling that way in central VA, 20 mile days seemed to roll by easily. The appaent enery and enthusiasm of the SOBOs contrasts strongly with most of the NOBOs around me who look thin and feel rather played out after 1,500 miles. For me personally, I just hope that what ever I have had the past week fades away and I am able to make it back closer to my normal hill climbing pace.The notable feature today was Benedict Pond. It was a fine small lake that had a few canoes on it when I passed. It was a very ptetty place to spend an hours' snack break.The mosquitoes seem to be with us now in numbers that drive most hikers into their tents before dark to escape the constant barrage of probing thru what ever clothes the hiker is wearing at the moment. Most clothes carried by hikers are light weight and thin and thus not much protection from the bugs. For this reason, few thru-hikers are sleeping in shelters anymore. Nearly everyone is tenting now regardless of the weather. But, the SOBOs tell us that the bugs thin out not too far into VT.
Date: 2007-08-02
From: Mt Wilcox North Lean-to

To: Upper Goose Pond Cabin
Miles today: 14.5
Weather: clear sky

The bugs at the shelter were bad, but Sven and Uff-da were there making it all worthwhile. The Upper Goose Pond Cabin at the end of the day was great. A good ending to a hot day.I left the shelter a little after 8.00 AM and was immediately hot and sweaty although the temp was only 62. The high for the day in the sun was over 90 so I spent the day soaked. The terrain was mostly up and down, though nothing too steep or difficult. Footing was kind of rocky and rooty so footing required attention to detail.I arrived at the ATC's Upper Goose Pond Cabin about 5.00 PM. It is a 2-story enclosed cabin with bunkroom that sits high on a bluff overlooking the pond. A caretaker brings water from a spring across the lake in a canoe. It is a wonderful place to stay and rest.I borrowed the AT canoe (it is an aluminum grumman with an AT symbol on the front) while others were swimming and paddled to the island. I dropped Birdlegs off on the island to join Rebel then canoed around it several times. Eventually I picked up Birdlegs again and we set off to find the adjoining lake. Eventually we found the narrow channel and went through to the next lake. While we were paddling along the shoreline I saw a juvenile loon swimming a short distance out beyond us. We were able to get fairly close to it several times and got great looks at it. It talked to us several times but was not disturbed by our proximity. It was one of the best bird sightings of the trip.There were about 30 hikers staying at the cabin. About a dozen SOBOs were there but the rest were NOBOs, most of whom I had already met. It was a lot of fun with lots of activity. The people and the canoe trip were one of the best times on the trip.
Date: 2007-08-03
From: Upper Goose Pond Cabin

To: Dalton, MA
Miles today: 20.6
Weather: clear sky

Peggy, the cabin caretaker, was up early this AM making blueberry pancakes. The blueberries were fresh picked yesterday at the Cookie Lady's farm and dropped off by the ridgerunner. There were 21 hikers overnight at the cabin and Peggy kept a constant run of blueberry hot cakes coming until everyone quit eating. It was great!There was one climb of 1,000' vertical in the morning but the rest of the day was relatively gentle terrain. I caught upto Sven and Uff-da in late morning and spent the rest of the day hiking with them. They are very enjoyable company. We stopped at the 'Cookie Lady' and she brought us fresh baked cookies. There were about 8 hikers there and we all atr lunch on the picnic tables next to the blueberry bushes. After lunch I picked 1.5 lbs of blueberries and put them in my cook pot to take with me. I don't know what i'm going to put them on but can't bear to not take some with me.It was another 9 miles from the blueberry farm in to Dalton and I didn't leave until about 3.00 PM. With Sven and Uff-da we made good time up the trail. There was thunder much of the afternoon but little rain came of it.We strolled into Dalton just before 7.00 PM and stopped at Tom Vellardi's house/hostel. Tom was just serving dinner to a full house of 15 hikers so we decided to stay the night instead of trying to find 'The Birdcage' hostel. It ended up there was no room for us indoors so we tented on the back lawn.We are seeing quite a few SOBOs now and there were 6 at Tom's for the night. We have gone well over 1,500 miles now and they have gone over 600 miles so we all feel like trail veterans. Tomorrow I hope to do laundry, a small resupply, get a shower and leave town in late afternoon when it starts to cool down.
Date: 2007-08-04
From: Dalton, MA

To: Crystal Mtn Campsite
Miles today: 5.0
Weather: clear sky

Today was a much-needed nero day. After more than a week of having had little energy for walking, spending a day doing not much was just whar I needed.After breakfast in town I walked to the laundromat and did laundry, then scrambled to get to the post office before it closed (Saturday AM). I was able to get most of the supplies I needed from my bounce box and leave only a few items to find in town. I bounced my box ahead to Manchester Center then walked back across town to the small market for the rest of the items I wanted, of which they had only a few. I only needed about 2 days of supplies to get me over Mt Greylock so i'd make do with what I had found. I spent nearly 2 hours sitting on Tom's porch working on the internet. My data connection was intermittent and I kept loosing the connection, loosing the work I had done. It seemed a waste of time so I gave up and just enjoyed the fine summer afternoon with friends.I thought about staying another night at Tom Levardi's house but needed to get a few miles up the trail to be able to make it over Mt Greylock during this short stretch of fine weather. The weather channel showed one more day of clear weather then showers for several days. So, about 5 PM I left and continued up the trail.I arrived at the Crystal Mt Campsite about 6.45 to find it empty on a very nice summer evening. The water source was down to a few shallow pools but the water looked OK and I had no choice because there was no other water until Cheshire. Unfortunately a rather loud group showed up just before dark so it was not a very peaceful evening.I spent another hour in my tent attempting to upload journal entries, after talking to Mom and Dad and Brenda. I had a strong voice signal but my data connection was very slow and I only got 2 days uploaded before it was time to get some sleep. I have found very weak Verizon service thru out eastern NY, western CT and MA, making journal updates difficult and time consuming. Tomorrow will be a long day with the most extended climb since northern VA, so journaling will have to wait until later.
Date: 2007-08-06
From: Williamstown, MA

To: Williamstown, MA
Miles today: 0.0

Today was the first real zero day I had take in a while where I spent much of the day off my tired feet just sitting in my hotel room and working on my journal. After breakfast at a nearby caf© I spent nearly an hour on the phone with Verizon so they could check all the settings on my phone to make sure they were up to date and correct. I have had very poor and frustratingly little service for most of NY, CT and MA and wanted to be sure my phone was not the problem. Turns out there is little coverage in this part of the country and my phone was fine. Later in the day cell service improved and I was able to upload all my recent journal entries to the web. Mostly I just needed a day where I didn't have to walk much and it felt wonderful! Mom and Dad arrived in late afternoon and I was then able to go food shopping and do laundry, which were both clear across town, without having to walk or hitchhike to get there. My perspective on distance and the value of having a car has certainly changed during this trip!
Date: 2007-08-07
From: Williamstown, MA

To: Williamstown, MA
Miles today: 0.0

Today was another zero day for me; no AT trail miles walked. I spent most of the day in the Williamstown, MA town library uploading digital photos to my web journal. The library had a very slow web connection but they didn't have the usual 1 hour limit on computer use and allowed me to stay for as long as I wanted. I had hoped to be able to upload pictures from back into PA but the slow connection prevented me from getting my second SD card copied off my camera so these photos will have to wait for another day. I also repacked my gear and food for the next 5 days so that I can hit the trail first thing tomorrow.
Date: 2007-08-11
From: Spruce Peak Shelter

To: Manchester Center, VT
Miles today: 2.8
Weather: few clouds

Today was a Nero and basically a town day. I needed to get to the post office before it closed at noon to pick up my bounce box and my new Henry Shires Rainbow Tarptent. I met Mom and Dad at about 8.45 at the VT 11 & 30 crossing and they took me into town to the post office. We spent the rest of the day doing town errands like going to the supermarket, 2 outfitters, laundromat and lunch. In the afternoon I organized food into two 3 day packets, one to get me to the Long Trail Inn and the second to get me to Hanover, NH. In the afternoon Dad and I seam sealed my new Shires tarptent and my old 6 Moon Designs tarptent. My 6 Moon tent had been leaking a bit recently where sealer had worn off so I wanted to redo it while I could although I do not intend to use it again for the rest of the hike. It is not free standing, which the Shires tent is, and I wanted a free standing tent for the platforms in NH. It turned out to be another busy town day with no time to just sit back and relax, but Mom and Dad made it much easier than it would have been for me alone on foot.
Date: 2007-08-15
From: Long Trail Inn

To: Chateauguay Road
Miles today: 12.8

Today I left the Long Trail and headed east towards NH and the high peaks of the White Mountains. I spent 6 days on the LT and covered 105 miles, an average of 17.5 miles per day. I had rain on half the days I was on the LT, but that is what keeps the Green Mountains green. This next 50 miles of trail over to Hanover, NH should have few other people on it besides AT thru-hikers.Black Stallion joined us for breakfast and we had a good chat with him. He seems like a very sharp young guy and should do well in what ever he decides to do. Mom and Dad left about 9.00 AM and took Black Stallion into Rutland for supplies on their way home. I stayed in my room until just before 11.00 AM and uploaded the 6 daily entries I had ready to go. But by 11.00 it was past time for me to be on the trail. I had hoped to get caught up on a few missing journal entries but there wasn't time for me to do that and still make Hanover, NH by Friday afternoon so they will have to wait for another day.The day today was mostly a lot of up and down crossing over ridges that run N/S. There was only one view of Killington Peak and that was pretty limited. Apparwntly there are few lookouts between here and Hanover, NH.I got to Stony Brook Shelter about 3.30 PM and didn't want to quit for the day so I kept going another 4 miles to a road crossing where I hoped to find a campsite. After another series of steep ups and downs I arrived at the road crossing about 7.00 PM. There was no other place to camp except a pullout alongside the road. Not very stealthy but I hope it will work. The road is gravel and doea not appear to get much use so hopefully there won't be too much traffic overnight. There is a small creek nearby so water is available, a big plus.
Date: 2007-08-16
From: Chateauguay Road

To: Cloudland Farm
Miles today: 14.5

Tonight will be unique accomodations; I will be sleeping in a horse barn in one of the stalls with horses for next door neighbors. It will be a first for me, but it is dry and warm during a big thunderstorm.I had a less than restful nights sleep last night. Rabbits were running around my tent waking me up regularly with their loud running, and one banged into my tent guyline. Plus, each time I woke up I wondered if the moose whose dropping piles were nearby might be getting ready to step on me! I awoke to another gray day but it soon cleared off and it was variably cludy then clear until late afternoon. It was cool all day and much better hiking weather; 51 in the AM with a high of 62.There were pretty much constant ups and downs today as the trail crossed from one ridgeline to the next one. Elevation changes of 500' to 750' were common and teice they were nearly 2,000'.In mid morning I came to 'The Lookout', one of the few views between Sherburne Pass and Hanover, NH. It turned out to be a private cabin perched on the top of a narrow ridge crest. The cabin had a ladder that went up the outside wall and onto the roof to a platform built on top of the roof peak. It had a wonderfull 360 view with ridges and mtn peaks marching off, row by row, in all directions. Nearby Killington Peak and its ski runs dominated the nearby western view. The valleys were foggy but it was generally clear above the peaks, making the view that much more dramatic. I stayed and enjoyed the place for about an hour before heading on up the trail.Just past the Lookout I ran into the same group of day hikers I had past on the trail yesterday just after leaving the Long Trail Inn. Yesterday they had given me a peach and an apple. Today they gave me another apple. Trail Magic two days in a row!At VT 12 I walked 0.2 miles west to a farm market and got a pint of ice cream, a brick of VT smoked cheese, and something to drink. A hiker that was leaving couldn't finish all of the strawberry/rhubarb pie he had bought so I finished nearly half of it for him.A few hours later at the Cloudland Road I needed water so I walked the 0.2 miles west to the Cloudland Farm market. They let me fill my water bottles but I couldn't resist and bought another pint of organic strawberry ice cream too. What a day - 2 pints of ice cream! While I was eating a major thunderstorm quickly rolled in right over top of the farm. The owner's son said I was welcome to sleep in the barn, that they had a special stall for hikers to sleep in and many hikers stayed overnight. I had intended to hike another 2.5 miles to a shelter but when the storm rolled in at 6.00 PM I decided to stay in the horse barn and stay dry. I was glad I did. Another unexpected experience on the AT!