morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2009-07-21
From: Two-Week Summary

To: Two-Week Summary
Miles today: 0.0

I finally got my Peek in the mail, so I can resume my normal journaling activities as usual. Here is the last 2 weeks in short summary:After spending the 4th of July at Rocket's uncle's house, morale was at an all-time low. Of course, being there was a wonderful experience, like being on vacation. In fact, it was the most "home-like" I think we have ever felt. However, it was SO nice that we realized that -- if we spent any more time there -- it could do damage. Everyone had been feeling really exhausted, so we lowered the miles to average 12 a day once we left that house. High enough to make miles and low enough to feel a bit more rested. It really helped.Grommet had her 28th birthday on July 9th. We celebrated in fashion, gifting her water guns and candy, and a big party at the end of the day in Clarence Fahenstock SP. Moss, a friend from home, surprised us at the very end of NY by hiking South and meeting us on the trail with snacks and ice pops. Amazing.A few days ago, a super scary hail storm rolled in just before walking over a ridgeline. The lightning was striking pretty close by and I was too afraid to go over the ridge until it was safer, so Grommet and I waited it out under some mountain laurel and the rest of the girls moved on. We were pelted with golf ball sized hail. It felt like I was being repeatedly hit with baseballs. Thankfully, everyone was ok and the storm passed by an hour later.Speaking of storms and rain, I think this has to be a record year for rain and mosquitos. It rained 25 days in June alone. Due to the hefty amounts of rain, everything is boggy and there is swampy stagnant water everywhere, which breeds mass amounts of mosquitos. I hear they are twice as bad as any other normal year; they are awful and all need to die! I am plowing through Deet like it's going out of business. I hope they lessen once the weather cools down as we get further north.
Date: 2009-07-22
From: Angela's House

To: Upper Goose Pond Cabin
Miles today: 7.0
Weather: overcast clouds

After spending 2 days off at Moss's house, it was time to get a move on. It was great to have a true zero where we spent an entire day watching movies and eating wonderful Indian food left overs. Finally a relaxing day!Upper Goose Pond is awesome. We were planning to hike another 8 miles but heard the caretaker here makes pancakes for breakfast, so the decision to stay was easy. I am glad we decided to stay, my energy level totally plummeted; I am wiped out. The day turned out to be really nice and the pine forest here is beautiful. Another lovely day.
Date: 2009-07-23
From: Upper Goose Pond Cabin

To: Kay Wood Lean to
Miles today: 17.6

I have concluded that this is no longer a thru-hike, it is a 2100-mile run from storms. We are either in one or running from one. This has to be the rainiest season on record, period. Today we visited the cookie lady who gives out homemade cookies to hikers. They were delicious and a nice treat during the day, on top of the 2 rounds of trail magic we already received. It was a junk-tastic day! Off we were to outrun the nasty storm brewing up in the sky. The sugar from all the junk consumed today threw me up mountains and into camp before the skies opened up. My feet were blaring in pain from pushing it hard, but I was happy to not get soaked, again.Trail magic does wonders.
Date: 2009-07-24
From: Kay Wood Lean to

To: Cheshire, MA
Miles today: 12.3

Another day stopped short to not be stuck in a storm going up Mt Greylock. We are staying at a free church hostel for the evening, what a treat it is here! The 5 of us plus McBride enjoyed a nice dinner at the town tavern, I think I ate too much though, my stomach is unhappy right now. All in a day's work.
Date: 2009-07-25
From: Cheshire

To: Stealth Camp
Miles today: 14.3

Today we climbed Mt Greylock. It was awesome! It reminded me a little of the climb up Moosilauke I did last year. The pine trees were aplenty and finally we were gifted good weather. If it had been cold it would have smelled just like Christmas. I don't want to jinx it, but the mosquitos were absent on today's hike; I hope they have all been gassed somewhere! Exhaustion seems to be plaguing us again. From here on out, I think every day will be pretty hard. I don't know where I will muster up the energy when I need it, but nothing is getting in my way of Katahdin. Sometimes I think I am sleep-hiking, sometimes I am.Vermont tomorrow or bust!
Date: 2009-07-26
From: Stealth Camp

To: Congdon Shelter, VT
Miles today: 13.8
Weather: light rain

Goodbye Massachusetts, hello Vermont! Yep, 11 states down, 3 to go. We are still moving a bit on the slow side but still knocking down miles and plowing through states. I am happy with our progress.Today the weather threatened us but miraculously it only drizzled for a little while. Vermont is awesome so far, piney forests and really cool ponds with beaver dams. We watched a beaver swim for a while; he was even diving and slapping his fat tail on top of the water. There have been several moose terd sightings, but no moose yet. I am keeping my eyes peeled!
Date: 2009-07-27
From: Congdon Shelter

To: Goddard Shelter
Miles today: 14.4
Weather: light rain

Rain, rain, and more rain. The trail is a muddy sloppy disaster and my feet have been wet for days. I have never smelled anything so grotesque; I think I have corpse feet. Attractive, I know.Today Rocket, Grommet and I stopped for a break. The Condiments were ahead by a mile or so. The sky threatened and eventually opened up. We had an ingenious idea: pitch Grommet's tent so we didn't have to get wet. Brilliant! We managed to stay dry and happy while all crammed in a 1 person tent. Did I mention how bad we smell?! Tonight we met a bunch of new thru hikers. Well, new to US. I think it is really cool that there are tons of other hikers out here and we are still meeting new faces. I wonder how many are ahead that I might never meet.
Date: 2009-07-28
From: Goddard Shelter

To: Stratton Pond
Miles today: 19.4
Weather: few clouds

An incredible day all around. This morning the temp must have been 50 degrees; I love cool weather on the trail. It was breezy and comfortable, like a perfect fall morning. The hiking was beautiful: lots of gradual ups and downs and green hemlock forest that smell amazing. I definitely had a little more pep than usual. This weather makes me smile! We climbed the fire tower on Glastonbury Mountain for stellar views of the Green Mountains. Nothing has been quite this beautiful so far. We took breaks every 5 miles or so to break up the day and enjoy the finally-perfect weather. I hope it lasts; we deserve some good-weather days after suffering through mass amounts of rain and bad storms. We pushed onward and upward to Stratton Mountain, a place I have only visited in the snow when I skiied it. There are 2 caretakers who live at the top and maintain 10 trail miles. They have been doing this every summer for 40 years; such dedication to the trail. I think they are my favorite people I have met so far, incredibly interesting and smart folks. We didn't want to leave their company, but we needed to push on and get down the mountain to the pond for the night. I can't wait to wake up tomorrow and see what Stratton Pond looks like. (We arrived in the dark.) Oh, and we heard loons calling, they sound so eerie!P.S. I guess I disturbed a wasp's nest: I was brutally attacked in the leg. It hurts like a bitch!
Date: 2009-07-29
From: Stratton Pond

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

An easy 10 miles flew by and we got into town well before the rain started. We had an amazing lunch at the book store/cafe in town and resupplied before getting picked up by Jeff, the owner of Green Mountain House hostel. This is by far the nicest hostel on the trail. The hostel is a house with a full kitchen, movie room, free internet, free Ben & Jerry's and free soda. Oh, the laundry is also free. Does it get any better? This place is a hiker's dream. It's been 8 days since my last shower; I feel incredible now that I am clean and purdy again.Instead of ordering pizza, we joined forces and cooked a real meal. I made my specialty, pasta and peas, Rocket made a big crunchy salad and brownies, and Grommet made her southern dish, chicken and dumplings. It was a fantastical dinner, nice work ladies! The Condiments are making us breakfast tomorrow, yum! It is going to be hard to leave in the morning for the muddy trail, but North we must go. I feel like we are getting so close, but we still have about 530 miles left. Dreaming of the days of hiking on a dry trail...
Date: 2009-08-01
From: Manchester Center, VT

To: Stealth Camp
Miles today: 16.6

Well, we got to Green Mountain Hostel on Wednesday night and ended up talking 2 zeros, neither of which were planned. When we woke up Thursday morning, we packed and were ready to go. The hostel was so nice and cozy and had a great DVD selection that it wasn't a tough choice to stay, that's for sure. I felt like I was at home. The hostel is a house with a few bedrooms and bathrooms and a full kitchen and living room. Jeff, the owner, only opened it last year, so everything is so neat and clean still. It was an incredible place to take time off; I highly recommend it to anyone to stay on their thru hike.Today we saw our first moose coming up Bromley Mountain. Way cool. He was hanging out on the trail eating some leaves acting all cool and moose-like. Finally, a moose! He was huge, although small for a moose; I think he was a little young. Tall, dark and handsome!While walking along later in the day, I found it really weird that there were maybe 15 abandoned backpacks on the side of the trail. Turns out, some 14 year old girl was stung by a bunch of bees and went into anaphylactic shock. Her friends were all stung too, sending everyone in a tizzy. The Condiments, Rocket, Early Bear and Lil Dipper were there to help carry this poor girl down the mountain and into the arms of the EMTs. Grommet and I dropped our packs and back-tracked to help retrieve all the abandoned packs strung along the trail. It was a shit show. A bunch of us had to bypass our campsite and walk this group of girls and their packs down to the road, then back-track to camp. This went on until 10:30 at night; it was completely exhausting, but I hope the poor girl is ok. Another thing that proved is that each day is a total surprise out here. No day ever goes as planned.Happy August!
Date: 2009-08-03
From: Minerva Hinchey Shelter, VT

To: Rutland, VT
Miles today: 20.0

Today we climbed Killington Mountain; it was long and strong, but beautiful. Once at the top, we took the incredibly steep blue-blazed trail to the actual peek where 5 states can be seen. It is where the gondola is too, which was very cool to walk to. I skiied Killington a long time ago and rode that exact gondola, but drove and was there in a snap, not 5 months! The views from the peak were incredible; the mountains are large and in charge. For the first time that I can remember, we were at cloud height. Time ticked by; we had 3 hours to do over 6 miles down to the Long Trail Inn before the kitchen closed. We flew and made it just in time for burgers and beer, yum! A nice cap to an ass-whooping 20-mile day. Hanging with us were Toaster and Frankenstein, our new trail buds. Will the rain ever cease? Because of it, the trail is never dry, meaning feet and shoes are never dry. My feet are tearing open and chafing really badly; they look like raw meat. It's pretty painful but I am doing my best to control it with ointment and tape. Rocket's feet have been doing this for some time now too. It's awful. Are we being punished for things from our former lives?! But, we'll all keep on keepin on. Under 500 miles left of this beast!Off for town chores in the morning.
Date: 2009-08-04
From: Rutland, VT

To: Zero Day, Rutland, VT
Miles today: 0.0

Another unplanned zero, but we are sticking to a schedule and making up missed miles to get to Katahdin on our summit date. Yes, we have a summit date and a hopefully fool-proof plan to allow it to happen. Muster is going to keep us in check.We had breakfast at the Long Trail Inn this morning. It rocked my world. Homemade Irish soda bread and the best fruit salad known to man, eggs and awesome hash browns, and coffee and chocolate milk, of course! A hiker-sized breakfast for a hiker appetite.Back to business as usual tomorrow.
Date: 2009-08-06
From: Mountain Meadow Lodge

To: Stealth Camp on Dana Hill
Miles today: 20.0

The trail was strangely quiet today. I only saw a few day hikers in the morning, and a few SOBOs at the very end of the day. Sometimes we have a whole stretch to ourselves. It's kind of nice. Another pretty day; I wish it didn't rain so often. The trail is finally drying up a bit too, so my feet have had some time to heal up from when they tore open the other day. Wet feet day in and day out is horrible on the tootsies. Dry ground does a body good! Vermont has been great, but tomorrow we leave it behind and enter New Hampshire, the second-to-last state on this spectacular journey. We hit 1700+ miles today, I still don't even know how that feels. Wow, we are closing in on the final leg here; it's starting to feel weird that in just over a month, we will be done and home. I am ready for the hiking to end, I am exhausted, but I don't want this adventure to end yet. All good things come to an end.
Date: 2009-08-07
From: Stealth Camp on Dana Hill

To: Stealth Camp
Miles today: 18.6

Two 20 mile days in a row are exhausting, especially when the terrain is roller coaster-like all day. Tonight we made a pact to not night-hike again. It sucks. Every time we do it, we say never again! So, never again.Vermont has been really great, but it's time we say see ya! Today was amazing, lots of rolling hills, wild flowers, and green mountains all around. We came upon a chair in the middle of nowhere, on the side of a mountain overlooking the valley, so we did a photo shoot with it. I wonder who lugged that heavy wooden chair up the mountain, and why. Strange things are found out here, and I always think about how they end up where they do. Grommet, Rocket and I got to a road crossing that had a sign saying Cloudland Farm was 0.2 of a mile up the road with ice cream and sodas. Done! This place had the best mint ice cream ever, made with fresh mint leaves. The soda was Vermont maple flavor. Does it get any better than this? The Condiments were ahead, so we packed out some sodas for them to enjoy with lunch.Around dinner time, we arrived in the town of West Hartford. The trail passes down the main street and right in front of a deli. Dinner! It's so nice when I don't have to cook or clean my pot. This was an unexpected treat at the almost-end of a very long 2 days. I am beat.New Hampshire or bust!
Date: 2009-08-08
From: Stealth Camp

To: Moose Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 14.8
Weather: few clouds

Hello New Hampshire! We walked right into the town of Hanover, a busy town with lots of shops and reataurants, and home to Dartmouth University. This morning we left camp really early to get in for breakfast. Gotta love town food. We ate at the bakery which serves some damn good breakfast! I walked away with a full belly and a smile. I went to the PO to pick up my tent replacement, the zipper on mine was broken and rigged for a while now. Big Agnes has awesome customer service. We ran around town doing the rest of our chores and headed back into the mountains. A few miles later we were picked up by Tigger to shower and do laundry at her house. She offers this to hikers free of charge, too cool. Again, back to the trail to complete the day's miles. It was a jam-packed day but we got everything done and hiked a full day. All in a day's work.
Date: 2009-08-09
From: Moose Mountain Shelter

To: Fire Warden's Cabin
Miles today: 12.4
Weather: broken clouds

Ahhhh it feels great to be in my tent before dark for once. The weather is cold and crappy, so I cooked and ate in my tent while in my sleeping bag. Yes, it's early August and the weather is cool now, it feels strange. Today we got a visit from Angela, it was fun to have her hike with us again. She delivered us cold sodas and pancake-sized cookies, amazing. Angela hiked part of the way up Smarts Mtn with us before she had to turn around. Boo for a short hike, but yay for the visit! In 2 weeks she'll be hiking southern Maine with us, we get her for a whole week, uncle Hikey too! Lots to look forward to.
Date: 2009-08-10
From: Fire Warden's Cabin

To: Dancing Bones Commune, NH
Miles today: 12.0

Today had some really great views of New Hampshire once the fog burned off from last night's nasty weather. This is a pretty state so far, but the mud and mosquitos are back in full effect. I thought we were done with all that!At lunch, Billyhoot asked us if we wanted to stay at a commune for the night, I said hell yeah! I had no idea what would be going on, but everyone agreed. It's free if you do a work-for-stay, and if it's in the guidebook, it can't be too weird. So, here we are. They fed us tons of leftover food from a party and taught us Paneurythmia dancing. This is a total hippie commune, it's a cool experience to be spending the night. They let hikers sleep in the huge gazebo, really sweet since it's supposed to rain later. This place rocks!
Date: 2009-08-11
From: Dancing Bones Commune, NH

To: Glencliff, NH
Miles today: 7.9

No day on the trail ever turns out the way you thought it might. Out of respect to other parties involved, I'll not give many details. A change in group dynamics has happened tonight that has affected our team, our family. The trail has brought many wonderful people into my life. I am so thankful. When these people have hiked most or all of the trail with me, we become an instant family. When one leaves, we all feel the pain, and with under 400 miles remaining, the timing is so off. I am really sad, as we all are, so it makes me wonder, will I be even more of a disaster when this hike comes to a close? Saying good-bye is never easy; we need to make the best of what remains.Tomorrow we head into the Whites, the hardest section of trail. I look fully forward to it, even though I will have my ass handed to me. We've been through so much and have overcome every obstacle. I know we will be ok. "Keep on rockin in a free world..."
Date: 2009-08-12
From: Glencliff, NH

To: Zero Day, Glencliff, NH
Miles today: 0.0

The forecast for today changed, saying there would be nasty thunderstorms, so we decided to stay. Nobody slept well last night. It was just as well we stayed to relax before the Whites. The next 4 days call for good weather; I hope the weather channel is right this time.A perk to staying is Toaster and Frankenstein showed up! I missed those guys; it's great to see them and hopefully hike part of the Whites with them. A downside is there are so many people stockpiled here held up by weather, so we are now in a huge group. Hopefully the SOBO we met didn't give everyone the stealth camping info, too. The Whites have lots of camping regulations and the huts are awful unless you are a high-paying customer. Thru-hikers are not really wanted. That's too bad because it's us who make up a huge part of the trail community. I have heard only bad things regarding the huts so we are going to avoid staying in one at all costs.White Mountains, here we come!
Date: 2009-08-13
From: Zero Day, Glencliff, NH

To: Stealth Campsite
Miles today: 9.5

Day one of the Whites: conquered! We climbed Mt. Moosilauke, the first above tree line. The weather was decent but mostly all fogged in at the top. At least it wasn't raining though. The descent took a really long time and was horrible on the knees; we were moving at a snail's pace. It was extremely steep and wood steps were nailed into the rock face to make it walkable. Without those steps, it is basically a rock slide and would be impossible to go down. For once, we are at our destination at a reasonable time, giving us ample time to rest and eat dinner. Toaster and Frankenstein are stealth camping with us tonight. It's nice to actually hang out at the end of the day and laugh with friends. Lately we were getting into camp in the dark and going right to sleep after eating. Looking forward to another day in the Whites.
Date: 2009-08-14
From: Stealth Campsite

To: Kinsman Pond Campsite
Miles today: 11.5
Weather: few clouds

Day two kicked my ass straight up all day. It's so frustrating to move at 1 mph when there was a time we did 3 or 3.5. Those days are long gone! These mountains are incredibly beautiful, but so exhausting. Most of the day took a lot of attention and care. Climbing with poles was impossible. We used tree roots instead, using them to hoist ourselves up the slippery rock faces and boulders. It took every ounce of leg muscle to push myself up today. I hope every day in the Whites are not this hard. It took us 12 hours to do 12 miles; that's a pretty average day for these mountains. Kickin some white mtn ass, one day at a time.
Date: 2009-08-15
From: Kinsman Pond Campsite

To: Little Haystack Mountain Summit
Miles today: 8.5

Today was much easier than I expected. In fact, we managed to hike 2 mph for awhile. Over the last 2 days, we hiked the hardest 17 miles of the Whites, and we're glad it's behind us now. I keep being reminded why I am out here every time we hit a peak. These mountains are gigantic and completely amazing. The weather has also been nothing short of perfect. We decided to stealth camp on top of Little Haystack Mountain (the Appalachian Mountain Club would give us a fine if we were caught!) since it's such a clear night and the stars will be peppering the sky. I heard today there was 150 miles of visibility; that's damn impressive. A night like tonight makes me realize how lucky we all are to be doing such an incredible thing. I don't want it to end, not this beauty. I am also very thankful to be here with these wonderful friends. Goodnight Haystack.