morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2007-08-05
From: Pawling, NY

To: Ten Mile River Campsite
Miles today: 12.1
Weather: clear sky

Got started around 1 or so out of Pawling, one of my trekking poles broke so I'm only using one now. The hiking today wasn't too bad, some uphill but the hard part, again, was the heat. Takes a lot out of you. Not too much to mention, I hiked by myself for most of the day, but then again, I usually hike by myself. When I'm hiking alone, it depends on the terrain as far as what you can see. If it's nice, easy terrain, you can look up around you and appreciate where you are and what you're doing. If there are lots of rocks or roots or it's uphill or downhill, you have to look down a lot to see where to step. Sometimes I listen to music, that helps a lot, but I'm constantly thinking about friends and family back home. I wonder a lot about what people are up to, if they're watching the Braves or doing anything exciting. It's funny how much I miss the familiarities of home, like my bedroom, or the kitchen, even the front porch, which doesn't really get much use. I think a lot about Camp Mikell and what's going on there; the summer is over now, but after going to Roofers, I miss it a lot. At the same time, though, I don't really ever feel caved in by the solitude. Most of the time I love it, but every now and then I really want to have somebody there with me. A lot of times I'll think of friends I'll want to call, just to say hey or that I think of them out on the trail from time to time, but then when I get to a town or someplace where I have the time to call them, I forget all about it. Anyway, I made it to the Ten Mile River campsite where there were several other hikers. The campsite is right next to the river, so it was real easy to fall asleep on this night. Bugs weren't too bad, either.
Date: 2007-08-06
From: Ten Mile River Campsite

To: Cornwall Bridge, CT
Miles today: 19.7

Started hiking early in the day, got to Kent, pretty nice town but everywhere was either real expensive or had no available room, so we went on to Cornwall Bridge. Stopped at the P.O. in Kent before we left, though, and picked up my tent that Dad had sent me. I sent back the hammock to Ballard because it's a piece of crap. Just kidding. I was getting eaten alive in it by bugs, there was an opening in it somewhere I guess, either that or the bugs were just getting to me through the mesh and canvas. Anyway, I had to make the change. Stayed at a spot in Cornwall Bridge called the Hitching Post, a hotel with tiny rooms and a tiny bathroom. It was pretty cheap, though, considering Connecticut prices. The first night we were hanging out in the room and this guy, Tom Baird who runs the Baird's General Store down the street from the hotel, came over and invited us to his place to play some pool and watch baseball. So we did. It was a lot of fun, we played pool for a few hours, watched the Red Sox, just hung out. His daughter came down a couple of times, she was this really cute 5-year old who didn't really talk to us because she knew she wasn't supposed to talk to strangers. After she went to bed, Tom told us her name was Myah, and I made a joke that she was named that because Tom had a Long Island accent, and whenever people saw his kid and asked who she was, he'd say "Who dis? Dis is my, ah, kid" and he just named her Myah to save time. Pretty funny, right? Geez, you can tell the hiking has really been getting to me.
Date: 2007-08-07
From: Cornwall Bridge, CT

To: Cornwall Bridge, CT
Miles today: 0.0

Wound up zeroing in Cornwall Bridge, we were all pretty tired and hadn't taken a zero in a while and figured today would be a good day to rest up. Tom invited me to go to a horseshoes game that a bunch of locals play in, so I went with him and Candyman, another hiker I've met up with recently. It was a lot of fun, the way it's set up is that you draw a card and whoever else has that card is your teammate. We played three games and I played in the championship game all three times. After that we went back to the hotel room, where I watched the Braves finish beating the Mets, and then saw Bonds hit his 756th home run. It was kinda cool that I got to see it, especially considering that I didn't think I would before the season started up, but I still hate Bonds. Funny story, when Tom met us the day before in the hotel room, we were all introducing ourselves by our trailnames: Candyman, Dirty, Boognish, and C-shot. Tom knew he wouldn't remember any of those, so he pointed at each of us, saying "Ok, you're one, you're two, you're three, and you're four." I was three, so while I was in Cornwall Bridge Tom and other locals called me Three. I kinda liked it, so I'm keeping it as my other trail name for now. Beats trying to explain "boognish" to people.
Date: 2007-08-08
From: Cornwall Bridge, CT

To: Belter's Campsite
Miles today: 11.1
Weather: scattered clouds

Some pretty strenuous hiking today, lots of ups and downs. It wasn't too hot, though. In fact, after I got to the top of one of the mountains, it was pretty breezy, a very nice change. Got to Belter's Campsite and set up my tent, got to sleep around 9 or 10. That's about it for now, nothing too memorable about yesterday except I was listening to a Sigur Ros song and right when the song hit the climax I got to an expansive, amazing overlook with the wind blowing about 30 mph or so, just awesome.
Date: 2007-08-09
From: Belter's Campsite

To: Plateau Campsite
Miles today: 11.4

Don't remember too much about this day, other than there wasn't too much hard stuff. Went into Falls Village, which was a nice town, and stuck around at the library too long. Went on to the Plateau Campsite, where I met up with Coach, Kimchi, Genesis, and Mate (pronounced Mah-tay), four people who've been hiking together. Coach has a backpacker's guitar so it's a musical bunch. They usually do songs at the end of the day after dinner, and we did a few numbers tonight at the campsite.
Date: 2007-08-10
From: Plateau Campsite

To: Hemlocks Lean-To
Miles today: 13.2

Pretty crappy day, in fact, I think this day is one of my worst days overall on the trail. It started early in the morning, around 2 AM when it started raining and i couldn't get back to sleep until around 5 or so. When I woke up, it was still raining hard, but it let up after a while so I packed everything up and started hiking. A lot of difficult hiking today, lots of ups and downs (I had two very steep, long climbs) that went over rocks and roots and with cold, hypothermic rain and strong winds it was pretty miserable. At one point my right hand was numb, I was afraid I was getting frostbite, and I was getting extremely hungry but I didn't want to stop because I would've gotten too cold. I was going over Race Mountain, which has a very long, exposed rock portion where you can see for miles and miles (this is in Massachusetts). Unfortunately, with the weather being so bad, I could only see about 50 feet around me, so the only view I had was the rocks and bushes up ahead of me. As I was getting to the end of the exposed rock part of the mountain, I slipped and fell -- hard -- on the rock. My one trekking pole went flying in one direction and I went down the rock in the other. I fell right on my knee and it was bleeding pretty good. Then when I got back up I discovered that my right shoulder strap broke, so I had to hold that in place with my numb right hand the rest of the day, which included having to go up and over Everett Mtn., a 700 foot climb in less than half a mile, most of it at an incline of what I'd guess to be around 55 to 60 degrees. I finally got to the Hemlocks shelter where I met up with Dirty and C-shot and a handful of southbound thru-hikers. There was also a ridgerunner there who started a fire after a while and I changed into some dry clothes. Pretty miserable day, I called up Gregory (the company that made my pack) to see if they could send me a replacement pack but they said it'd take a week or so to get it out to me. I was about to cuss them out but my phone turned off before I could do so, probably a good thing.
Date: 2007-08-11
From: Hemlocks Lean-To

To: Tom Leonard Lean-to
Miles today: 14.4

Got a break after the cold rainy day. I woke up late in the morning and was talking to the ridgerunner and he said he'd give me a ride into town, so I got C-shot, who had just left a few seconds before, and the two of us rode with the ridgerunner into Great Barrington. I was able to do laundry, get a bite to eat, and then C-shot and I saw The Simpsons movie. It was good, first movie I've seen since starting the trail. I really want to see that movie Superbad now, but I don't know how many towns have movie theaters the rest of the way. Got out of Great Barrington after stopping by this place called the Corn Crib, a farmer's market set-up that is really pretty awesome, and hiked up to Tom Leonard Lean-to. (Oh yeah, they call shelters "Lean-to's" up here. They also call lakes "ponds," even though they're really huge.) Nice shelter, it had a really nice tent platform that looks out over the east. It's gotten a little cooler so the bugs haven't been too much of a problem any more.
Date: 2007-08-12
From: Tom Leonard Lean-to

To: Upper Goose Pond Cabin
Miles today: 21.1
Weather: clear sky

Slept in this morning, didn't really have any plan for the day as to how far I'd get, and wound up starting my hike around 11 or so. I ran into some southbounders again, one of them I recognized from the outfitters at Neels Gap (the Walasi-Yi Center). I got up to a shelter and it said I was only 11 miles from Upper Goose Pond Cabin, though my book said it was 14 miles away. I checked my watch -- it was only 2 in the afternoon, so I figured I'd have a quick lunch and get to the Cabin as fast as I could. I had heard about Upper Goose Pond Cabin from a few other southbounders -- it's a house on a lake that serves an all-you-can-eat pancake breakfast in the mornings to hikers. I really didn't want to miss out on it, and the other hikers I was with earlier in the day had said that they were going to go all the way there. At lunch I had one of those 5-hour energy drink things (those things are really awesome) and put on my iPod and started moving. The shelter I mentioned earlier that had a sign that said the cabin was 11 miles away was an old sign, so sure enough, I had to go 14 miles, and that included 2 or 3 long uphill climbs. But I got there in 4 and a half hours, which completely exhausted me. It was worth it, though. Lots of people were there and it was just a really great spot to spend the night, even though it was half a mile off the trail.
Date: 2007-08-13
From: Upper Goose Pond Cabin

To: Kay Wood Lean-to
Miles today: 18.0

Big pancake breakfast at the Upper Goose Pond Cabin, kept me there until about 10 or so. Started hiking soon after that, got to the top of Becket Mountain sooner than I had expected and the rest of the day was flat and very easy. Ran into a few more southbounders, made a quick stop at the Cookie Lady's place (right off the trail, she makes cookies for hikers and sells Cokes for a dollar), and pressed on to Kay Wood Lean-to. Wanted to go all the way into Dalton but I was too tired, as was the rest of my group (Mate, Genesis, Dirty, C-shot).
Date: 2007-08-14
From: Kay Wood Lean-to

To: Dalton
Miles today: 3.0
Weather: clear sky

Got into Dalton around lunchtime. Dalton is a great place, we had heard of two free hostels and decided we'd go to one of them called the Birdcage (it's run by Rob Bird, one of the best trail angels I've met on the entire trip) because he had a couple of guitars there. He took us in, made us take showers and clean our clothes, and the rest of the day was just hanging out, watching TV, playing guitar and singing songs. Rob really took care of us -- took us anywhere we needed to go, took us to a good spot for dinner, made us feel right at home.
Date: 2007-08-15
From: Dalton

To: Pattison Road (slackpack)
Miles today: 22.0

Rob drove us up to Pattison Road, on the other side of Mt. Greylock, and we hiked south back to Dalton, a 22-mile hike that was pretty easy after we got up and over Mt. Greylock, the highest point in Massachusetts. Didn't have really great views because it was windy and cloudy and pretty cold, but fairly good. Not much to mention from today.
Date: 2007-08-16
From: Pattison Road (slackpack)

To: Zero in Dalton
Miles today: 0.0

Hung out at the Birdcage today, slept in until about 9 or so and went to a diner where Genesis ate a 12-egg omelet called the Godzilla within 30 minutes and won a shirt. It was pretty awesome. The rest of the day was spent lounging around until Rob took a few of us to Wahcona Falls Park where there was a swimming spot and a rope swing. We spent about an hour there, really nice.
Date: 2007-08-17
From: Zero in Dalton

To: Congdon Shelter
Miles today: 15.0
Weather: clear sky

We got dropped off by Rob (who runs the Birdcage) back up at Pattison Road and the hiking was pretty good today. We met up with White Crow and Matthewski right before town and Matthewski wound up buying us a few things from the store (I got a few disposable cameras and some batteries). Went on to the next shelter, stopped for a snack for a bit, and went on to the next shelter, Congdon Shelter, which is right on the trail. Hung out for a while, had dinner, played a few songs, then a storm started rolling in so everyone went to bed. Pretty exciting stuff, huh?
Date: 2007-08-18
From: Congdon Shelter

To: Goddard Shelter
Miles today: 14.4
Weather: broken clouds

Got up to Matthewski cooking steak, he was kind enough to give me some, and eventually got all my stuff put together. It was a real cold and foggy morning and it took me a while to get everything done. Anyway, we got into town (Bennington), I did a small, quick resupply, and got a hitch back up to the trailhead with Genesis, Mate, and C-shot. We had a steep uphill hike from the trailhead that took about 2 miles and then leveled out for a while. Then it started going back uphill, took a long time to get up to the shelter where it was cold. Probably around 45 degrees out, and this was in the middle of August. We all stayed in the shelter but everybody pitched their tents to stay a little warmer. Too cold to play any songs tonight, everybody was too tired to do anything but go to bed anyway.
Date: 2007-08-19
From: Goddard Shelter

To: Stratton Pond Campsite
Miles today: 18.6
Weather: broken clouds

Don't remember much from this day other than it was chilly and long and we wound up at Stratton Pond campsite. This is supposed to be a pay-site but after I ran into the caretaker and talked with him for a couple minutes he didn't make me pay. He was a really cool guy, hiked part of the trail last year. The campsite had a few other section hikers around, and as we were hanging around the campfire getting our dinners cooked and everything there was a family with a little girl hanging out with us. It was kind of funny - C-shot kept cussing in front of the girl but the parents didn't really say anything and so he didn't really stop. For a while I wondered if he even knew about it but he mentioned later on that he was trying to stop. After everybody ate we played some songs -- a few Beatles tunes, Gillian Welch, some traditional songs, etc.
Date: 2007-08-20
From: Stratton Pond Campsite

To: Manchester Center, VT
Miles today: 10.6
Weather: overcast clouds

Got up and started hiking around 10 or so, not too much challenging today except towards the end of the hike when it seemed like the road was never going to come. Eventually got to Manchester Center, where I picked up a package from Dad (5-hour energy drinks) and some new shorts. Then went to the grocery store for re-supply, got way too much food, then went next door to EMS (Eastern Mountain Sports) and got some winter gear (gloves and a hat). Then it was dinner time, so I went over to a pizza place and got a pizza. At this point, it was getting too late to try to get a ride back up to the trail, so me and the rest of the group I'm hiking with decided to get a spot at a hotel just out of town. After we all got there and showered and everything, I decided to go into town to try to do laundry, thinking it was a 24 hour laundromat. It was a 1.5 mile walk into town, and I got there about quarter till nine, when one of the employees said "Oh, you're not trying to start a load now, are you?" and I said "Well, yeah," and she said "Sorry, we're about to close." I then said something very rude to her and apologized immediately, explaining that I had just walked 45 minutes under the impression that it was a 24-hr laundromat. She said "Well maybe you should check your resources more carefully next time." So then I had to call a taxi, figuring it'd only be a couple of bucks for a cab ride of a mile and a half. We got back to the hotel and the guy said "Alright, guy, 10 bucks." Apparently it was 10 bucks anywhere in town. Pretty crappy end to a good day.
Date: 2007-08-21
From: Manchester Center, VT

To: Big Branch Shelter
Miles today: 16.5
Weather: overcast clouds

A somewhat challenging day, started out leaving Manchester Center around 11 or so and having a 3-mile uphill climb over 1400 feet to the top of Bromley Mountain. The views were awesome, Bromley is a ski mountain so there were chair lifts at the top. Just a few miles after that we had Peru Peak, 1000 feet up over a couple of miles. Good views, but I enjoyed just walking in the forest more than looking out over something I'd already seen several times. Lots of pine trees, white rocks spread out throughout the ground, it really made me feel the section that I was in. By that, I mean it looked like I was hiking somewhere up north. Some sections of trail look the same in Georgia as they do in Massachusetts, and for me, it's times like that when I just trudge on through some of the same boring scenery I've already been through. Finished the day at Big Branch Shelter, which is right on a big stream so the water source was great. C-shot's father, whose trail name is Sherpa, met up with him in Manchester Center so the two of them were at the shelter when I got there. The rest of the group -- Genesis, Mate, Tenacious T, Radar, Politician -- got there soon after I did. Coach and Kimchi camped out a few miles south on the trail. Great night, we played some songs, and by this point it has become a regular thing. I can say, even before I finish my hike, that one of my best memories from the trail will be sitting around playing music with these people.
Date: 2007-08-22
From: Big Branch Shelter

To: Clarendon Shelter
Miles today: 16.9
Weather: overcast clouds

Got up pretty early and made good time getting out of the shelter -- probably started out at a little before 9:00 and for me that's good compared to how much I've been sleeping in recently -- but I had a really hard time getting going this morning. I don't know that I've mentioned it over the past couple of entries but I've been fighting a head cold recently and today it got me pretty good. I couldn't really get into a good groove hiking, and it was hard for me to get warm. Even though it was cold out, I've usually been able to work up a sweat in cold temperatures after about 10 minutes or so. After just a couple of miles, I stopped at Lula Tye Shelter, took a short nap, and when I woke up ate a few Snickers bars and Pop Tarts and a few other snacks. That helped out a lot, and I was able to get going pretty shortly after. The hiking today was pretty good; some strenuous parts, but overall it wasn't too bad. Just tiring -- 17 miles over hills. Finished the day at Clarendon Shelter, but not before a very steep uphill climb after the last road crossing, a mile before the shelter. It was probably the steepest section I've encountered yet, and as I was going through it was thinking it was good training for the Whites, which are up in New Hampshire and highly regarded as one of the most difficult -- but most rewarding -- sections on the trail. The shelter was real nice, had plenty of space inside and lots of camping areas. There were a few Long Trail hikers (the A.T. portion through Vermont coincides with the Long Trail for about 90 miles or so) at the shelter and as usual, we played a bunch of songs, though this night was one of the best that I can remember. Everybody just kept coming up with one song after another, and each one sounded really good.
Date: 2007-08-23
From: Clarendon Shelter

To: The Inn at Long Trail
Miles today: 16.4

Started out the day going over Beacon Hill, a steep uphill climb about 500 feet in half a mile, but it really wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. I've got maps that show elevation changes and on the map that looked like it was really going to suck. But it wasn't. We passed the 1674-mile mark, which looking at it that way doesn't mean anything, but it meant we had 500 miles to go until Katahdin. Somebody had left a cooler with sodas and crackers in it and a chair to sit in. When I got there, everybody else (Coach, Kimchi, Genesis, Mate, Radar, Tenacious...I think C-shot and his dad had already passed on) was there, taking pictures and celebrating and what not. It was pretty reassuring, knowing that we only had 500 miles left to go. Soon after, though, we had to go over Mount Killington, a 2000 foot climb over 4 miles of hiking. It wasn't really too bad until I got near the top. At that point, the trail got pretty narrow in parts and lots of roots sticking up one to two feet above the ground. Made for some tricky spots to step, and there weren't any views because it was real cloudy. I also kept thinking the shelter, which was at the top of the mountain, was going to be just around the corner, but of course it wasn't until about a half hour after I started looking for it. Stopped for lunch at Cooper Lodge where everybody else was hanging out. Had about 6 miles left to go and it was pretty much all downhill to US4, where there was a hotel called The Inn at Long Trail. Sherpa let me stay in the suite that he got for him and C-shot, which was a really nice surprise. Got a shower, did laundry, had dinner, and went to bed pretty early.
Date: 2007-08-24
From: The Inn at Long Trail

To: The Inn at Long Trail (Zero)
Miles today: 0.0

Easy day today, no hiking. Took a bus down to Rutland to do a quick resupply and a few other things. I got to see the movie "Superbad" finally, I'd been trying to find a movie theater somewhere along the trail that was showing it. It's pretty funny, if you haven't seen it. Anyway, after that, I went back to the hotel and hung out for a bit. There were a few bands playing down at the bar because it was the 30th anniversary of the hotel so they were making a big deal out of it. They had a lot of Irish music going on, which to be honest gets on my nerves after a while, and after a while I just went to bed. But while I was down at the bar I met up with another hiker, Teacher, who I had run into back in Tennessee or North Carolina during a really bad storm. He was section hiking with some friends of his (More Sunshine, Dumb, and Jimbo) and bought me a beer so I went over and we traded stories about the trail for a good 30 or 45 minutes. It was a different kind of experience in the sense that I've been around only thru-hikers for the good part of six months, so to have somebody else's perspective on the trail kind of gave me a wake-up call to how special this kind of experience is. Plus these guys were real fun to talk to and listen to their stories.