morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2009-08-13
From: VT 11 / 30 (Manchester Center)

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

All around good day on the A.T. Groom, Old Hobo, and I shared a cab/taxi back to the trailhead. Back on the Trail and hiking at 8:30 am.Right off the bat I got to climb Bromley Mountain. Good workout, not too steep. The last .3 miles, the A.T. goes right up the middle of one of the "Ski Bromley" ski runs .... pretty cool! I think someday I need to come back here in winter and ski that run! No views since it was totally overcast and low ceilings. I still enjoyed it.Then we climbed Styles Peak and Peru Peak .... again without views. Last climb of the day was up Baker Mountain, and the sun was out and the views were awesome! Plus the mountain itself was one big rock so the climb up was fun.The Trail is still pretty sloppy! Poor Appalachian Trail .... she has taken a beating this season. I ran into a volunteer trail maintenance crew from the Green Mountain Club that were doing some trail work. The crew was made up with people from all over the place.... Philadelphia, PA, MA, VT, CT, and even Germany and South Korea! Thanks for all you do guys!I'm camped for the night at Big Branch Shelter with Groom and Anna at a campsite right along the Big Branch River. Very cool site. Old Hobo is staying at the shelter. We had dinner out on a huge rock in the middle of the river. Nice spot!The hike is moving along smoothly. I'm 3 days ahead of schedule right now and I think I will most likely finish a week or two before my planned date of 2 Oct .... maybe as early as 21 Sept .... we'll see.
Date: 2009-08-14
From: Big Branch Shelter

To: VT 103 (The Whistle Stop)
Miles today: 15.9

Wow! Starting to rack up the perfect days on the A.T.!! Woke up at the river-side camp .... slept very well. Didn't want to get up. Got rolling down the trail at 8:30.Nice morning hike following a stream to Little Rock Pond. This is where I found the most peaceful spot for me on the A.T. so far .... I kid you not! Perfectly blue sky, crisp morning air, not a bug to be found, beautiful lake in front of me, beautiful forest all around me, not a person within miles, not a sound to be heard .... and a bench! Needless to say, I spent quite a while there with not a care in the world. I hated to leave, but Katahdin won't come to me! So off I go to climb White Rock Mountain. Beautiful pine trail up. And two "rock gardens". There were two separate areas along the trail where people have just stacked rocks to make their own art masterpieces! They were very cool! Hope the pictures do them justice (they won't)! Then down a side trail to White Rock Cliffs .... outstanding view ... sheer cliff, hundreds of feet straight down. The walk down the mountain was nice also ... pine forest and stream.Then up and over another "Bear Mountain". I think that's at least 3 Bear Mountains and I haven't seen a bear on any of them! Nice hike though .... no views .... tree covered summit.A hiker named Rael told me about a restaurant called The Whistle Stop on a road about a mile from where I was camping tonight. So I stopped. Old Hobo and Groom joined me there. The meatloaf special was awesome, and strawberry shortcake, and a couple of beers. Karen, the owner, allowed us to camp out back. So here we are! The bonus is we get to get up and have breakfast in the morning! Thanks Karen.Yep, another tough day on the Appalachian Trail!
Date: 2009-08-15
From: VT 103 (The Whistle Stop)

To: US 4 (Inn at the Long Trail)
Miles today: 17.4

I changed my plans for today from the original plan. Old Hobo and I have been hiking with Groom (Keith Siggins) for about a week now. Groom is hiking the Long Trail. Today the A.T. and Long Trail split (technically tomorrow morning) ... the A.T. and Long Trail have shared trail for about 100 miles. Groom had planned on staying at a place called the Inn at the Long Trail. So Old Hobo and I decided we would go there also, and have a "farewell dinner" for Groom. I called it Operation G.G. (Goodbye Groom). So we had dinner, and a couple of beers, while listening to an Irish duet sing in an Irish Pub, McGrath's. So we celebrated our hikes and his upcoming marriage.Backing up, this plan would add about 5 miles to my originally planned day. Knowing it would be a killer day, we all planned to get an early start. The Whistle Stop Restaurant (where we camped last night) opened for breakfast at 6:30 am. We were all ready up, packed and ready to go at 6:30. I had an awesome breakfast, and on the trail by 7:30.OK, first, the Vermont forests are gorgeous and I've loved the Trail in Vermont .... it may be my favorite hiking state so far. Does the Appalachian Trail, 2178.3 miles, and 6 months seem like too much for you, but you want to get out for a couple/few weeks? Do the Long Trail!! 270 miles of beautiful trail. I believe I will come back some time and do the remaining 170+ miles some day.The hike today was work .... all day! Bascially, I hiked uphill from 7:30 am until 1:30 pm, culminating in the summit of Killington Peak. I can't remember the last time I was going uphill for that long!!The views and scenery on the peak of Killington were awesome! Beautiful! Nice long comfortable break there. Perfect weather! Thanks God!A little bit of a spoiler was that they run a gondola from the base of the mountain to the peak .... today was Saturday .... perfect weather .... there were tourists all over the summit. Never the same as having a summit all to yourself!! Totally still enjoyable .... and I'm glad people get to see those views, who may not be able to climb Killington.The rest of the day was all downhill.....equally a workout ... but not too bad. I've had many hikes lately where I was "normally" tired at the end of the hike .... but today I was worn out! Felt good, but glad when I could sit down for good at the end of today.Gonna try to sleep in a bit tomorrow, as I have a short hike into Kent Pond for a maildrop!Awesome day on the A.T. ..... bright sunny day (80's), cool trail, great workout, good food and company at the end of the day!
Date: 2009-08-16
From: US 4 (Inn at the Long Trail)

To: Kent Pond ((Mountain Meadows Lodge)
Miles today: 4.2

Up at 6:30 am. So much for the sleeping in. Had breakfast with Groom, Old Hobo, and Rainbow (section hiker) at the Inn at the Long Trail. French Toast was awesome. Said my goodbyes to Groom as he breaks off on the Long Trail. Rainbow finished her hike yesterday and goes home today. Old Hobo will continue North on the A.T.. I will be stopping for a maildrop/resupply. I will probably catch up with Old Hobo somehwere down the line .... maybe by Hanover, NH.Quick uneventful hike this morning. About an hour into the hike I came to Maine Junction, where the A.T. and Long Trail part ways. As I'm typing this, a thought occurs to me. It should be a lot "more quiet" on the trail as I head north on the A.T. There have been a lot of hikers sharing trail over the last week or so, the Long Trail-ers, both directions; the A.T.-ers, both directions; and the section hikers out for a summer hike in the good weather we have been having. Well, now, no more Long Trail-ers; the A.T. Southbounders will mostly all have passed me headed south within a week or two; and the summer hikers will be getting fewer in number as kids go back to school.I got to Mountain Meadows Lodge, where my maildrop was sent. It was early, and they had a wedding yesterday, so my room wasn't ready yet .... so I went exploring. There is an outfitter about a 12-minute walk from the Lodge, so I went there to look around. It's a very nice store, but it's trying to cover a lot of sports, so hiking supplies were limited, but he does have the basics (fuel, water treatment, etc). OK. While I'm exploring, I ask if there is a convenience store around. He tells me that there is one just a quarter-mile up the road. Jackpot! There's also a Deli!! Italian Sub for lunch, some supplies. Good to go! Oh yeah, along the way, there is this huge building that looks abandoned....but there is an ATM in it! Very weird, but I needed some cash, just there in the middle of nowhere!!Back to the lodge. Room is ready. Hot shower!!!This Lodge is very cool. An old ski lodge converted into a hotel. So very comfortable. Comfortable guest rooms, huge common areas on the first level just for relaxing. Set in a meadow of course, with nice views of Kent Pond, just 50 yards away. Kent Pond is big, and there were a dozen kayakers out there while I was hiking in.The wedding has cleared out and I think there is only me and a group of 4 (two older couples) staying here tonight. A whole lodge, basically all to myself..... and I think of the movie, The Shining, with Jack Nicholson!! It does have a computer!!!!!!! Which I am on right now!! And no one telling me my time is up! I'm tempted to zero here tomorrow, but I know already, I'll be back out on the Trail tomorrow!
Date: 2009-08-17
From: Kent Pond ((Mountain Meadows Lodge)

To: Winturri Shelter
Miles today: 15.7

Last night at the Lodge, the owners invited me to have dinner with them since I was practically their only guest. Thanks Bill and Anne. They had a wedding the day before, so we had "wedding chicken" for dinner. I guess it is a traditional Vermont wedding entree. It was very good. It was Bill, Anne, 2 of 3 daughters, 1 of 2 sons, and a guy who was working reception that day. Nice, fun dinner.During dinner, the "working guy" asked me if I had been stung on the way into the Lodge, along the Trail near the Pond. "Yes", I had gotten stung! I guess about 5 hikers in two days had been stung by hornets that had made a nest down by the trail. I wondered what had gotten hold of me ... dang huge mosquito. No worries, I'm not allergic to them. Thanks God!Bill was going to go down and spray today. Nice relaxing night watching 2 Fast 2 Furious.The computer there wouldn't let me download pictures, so I e-mailed them home and Brian will post them. I'll put titles on them when I get a chance.OK. To today's hike. On the trail at 8 am. All day I'm thinking "I'm really bored." I was kinda antsy and it took me a few hours to figure it out.See, the real good trail left in Vermont is on the Long Trail. Remember that the A.T. broke off from the Long Trail yesterday. The Long Trail came first, and has more good stuff headed straight north like good mountains such as Camel's Hump. But the A.T. needs to go East, to get to New Hampshire, to capture the White Mountains. So, the Trail I am on right now feels like a segway .... just getting us from good stuff in Vermont over to the Whites in New hampshire. Think of it as the walk between two roller coasters at an amusement park.The trail was pretty and all, but nothing of note to look forward to. And we had just been on Glastenbury, Bromley, Stratton, and Killington .... post mountain let-down!By the way, over 1700 miles today!
Date: 2009-08-19
From: West Hartford, Vt

To: Hanover, NH
Miles today: 9.8
Weather: overcast clouds

Up at 7 am and back at the West Hartford Village Store for breakfast. On the Trail at 8:30 am. Today is just a relaxing stroll into Hanover, NH. Nothing of note along the way. Just a 10 mile walk to complete the "segway".It was a relatively simple walk. Into Norwich, VT by noon. Stopped for a Gatorade and then crossed the Connecticut River (not a typo) into New Hampshire. Wow! Only two states left ... New Hampshire and Maine ....441.8 miles left.Woops! Let's stay focused. Caution: Huge Mountains Ahead!!I haven't decided whether or not to take a zero day here or not, in Hanover. Part of me wants to, just to relax and look around. The other half says to press on out of here tomorrow. Right now, I need to get to the Post Office and pick up some supplies and send some stuff home. It feels very strange to be going to the Post Office and pick up winter gear when it is 80-some degrees out and humid!! I've had this same feeling before, packing for the Winter X-Games in Aspen (just a spectator) when I was living in Louisiana!OK. Maybe more later .... if I zero here. Off to do chores!
Date: 2009-08-21
From: Hanover, NH

To: Trapper John Shelter
Miles today: 16.7
Weather: light rain

First thing I need to do in this entry is thank God for having mercy on fools like Bison! Thanks God! I'll get back to this.Good choice to zero in Hanover. I felt great, rested, all day yesterday. Up and on the Trail at 8:30 am. I knew I had two good climbs ahead of me today, but the first climb out of town (not one of the two expected) was more than expected.The weather forecast for today was PM thunderstorms, like 100%. Probably should have stayed in Hanover .... glad I didn't! So my plan was to hike to Moose Mountain Shelter, the 1st of the 2 expected climbs, and see how it looked, and go from there.So the whole morning, as I'm climbing Moose Mountain, there is thunder rumbling above, for a couple of hours, but no rain. So I get to Moose Mountain Shelter a little after noon. What do I do, is the question. It's not raining. I know it's going to .... but when? It could rain in 5 minutes, or not until 7 pm.So I decided to press on to my scheduled destination .... about 6 miles (3 hours) away.About an hour after I leave Moose Mountain, the thunderstorms begin .... and last until after I get to my shelter! Well the rumbling thunder all morning was God telling me to stop at Moose Mountain Shelter. Thanks God, for not striking me with lightning for not listening! Today's hike was very enjoyable, even with the storms. I broke one of my rules and broke out the camera in the rain to take photos from Holt's Ledge. I'm glad it was bad weather. The view was cool with the bad weather clouds and mist clouds in the valley! Cool.Only me and Poco Loco in the shelter tonight! I expected many more with as many hikers as there were yesterday in Hanover. They must all be at Moose Mountain Shelter.1st night in a shelter since I got back on the Trail after the July break. Hope the bugs let me sleep some!!
Date: 2009-08-22
From: Trapper John Shelter

To: Hexacuba Shelter
Miles today: 12.0
Weather: light rain

Holy cow! I sure don't miss shelters. But I knew I was in trouble last night when Poco Loco was bundled up in his sleeping bag at 7 pm! A huge tree branch or tree fell in the woods at 2 am. Woke me up. I took a look around, nothing to see. Back to sleep. Later I hear rustling in the shelter. It is pitch black outside. I take a look at my watch .... 5 am!! Are you freaking kidding me? Then he fires up the stove at 5:30! You have got be joking? That's ridiculous. It's not even light yet .... none. Have a little respect for your fellow hikers.I ask him where he is headed today. He tells me "Ore Hill Shelter". Whew. I'm headed to Hexacuba Shelter. If he would have said Hexacuba Shelter, I would have changed my plans and headed for Ore Hill Shelter. It was supposed to rain most of the day and tonight so I expected to be in a shelter tonight again .... which I am.The hike today was very nice. I had a short day planned, so I was really able to take my time.Most of the morning entailed a climb up a lessor mountain before continuing up Smarts Mountain. It was a very long, but very enjoyable climb. There is a fire tower on top, but no view today. There was a totally enclosed shelter (old fire warden's cabin) where I took a very long break .... mostly to dry my feet. Glad I had a short day .... my feet were soaked all day.On the way down the mountain, I ran into 3 girls who claim to be the last southbounders of the season.On the climb to the shelter, I passed Eastman Ledges. Nice break spot .... nice views.I get to the shelter and it actually is a hexagon shaped shelter. Unique. Cool!There is an outdoor's group here from the University of New Hampshire tonight .... 9 people. Should be interesting.No way I could have got my tent set up. Been raining pretty steady all afternoon.The shelter is packed tonight. The Birds (Mockingbird, Hummingbird, Titmouse) and Dusty showed up tonight, and also Magic. Shelter for 8 sleeping 11 comfortably. (5 of the school group are in the shelter, 4 are tenting).Nice relaxing day on the Appalachian Trail. Rain on the shelter roof ought to put me to sleep fast!
Date: 2009-08-23
From: Hexacuba Shelter

To: NH 25
Miles today: 14.6

Nobody up prior to light this morning. The school group started to stir about 6 am. I layed about a bit until 6:30 am, and then got started. On the trail around 7:30 am. First climb is up Mt Cube .... my favorite type of mountain .... one big piece of rock! Had to be careful and move slow .... rocks are slippery this morning. No views from the top.After that, nothing to do but climb down to the Hostel to get some laundry done, and get a shower .... been about a week since either. On the way, I stopped at Ore Hill Shelter for a break. Rael came in while I was there and gave me some good tips about the upcoming White Mountains ... he has hiked them several times before.Nothing else of note on the hike. Very wet, muddy trail. Very wet, muddy feet. Soaked feet 3 days in a row. I will take a zero day here if it is raining in the morning when I get up. If it is not raining, I will hike out.Laundry is done. Showered. Fed. Going to sit back and just relax the rest of the evening.Staying here in Glencliff, NH at the Welcome Hikers Hostel. Here tonight are Old Hobo, Rael, Nice Man, Poco Loco and several others.The White Mountains are next .... first up .... Mount Moosilauke (4802'), over 3000' climb, will be the first time above treeline.
Date: 2009-08-24
From: NH 25

To: NH 25
Miles today: 0.0

I've decided that my best option today is to "zero" here at the Welcome Hikers Hostel. The main reason is just to let my feet dry out for a day. They were pretty tender last night, and also when I got out of bed this morning. I still have almost 400 miles to go, so I need to still take care of the feet. That's right, I went under "400-miles-to-go" yesterday.The weather report is also calling for more rain today and tonight, clear skies by midnight. And my next days hike takes me over Mt Moosilauke. And I want to have views if possible. Also the climb down is rocky and tough .... much more difficult than the way up. So if I wait until tomorrow (forecast is for sun), I'll have better chance for views and dry rocks for climb down the mountain. Plus happy feet!I'll still leave here 4 days ahead of my original schedule. Speaking of schedules, it seems I will finish, most likely, around 26 Sep. Talking with past thru-hikers, most agree that it takes the average northbounder about 37 days to hike from Hanover to Katahdin.It's going to be a restless day. I've got all my chores complete. Now I just wait to hike. But I know it will be the right choice in the long run, and be worth the "downtime". Another benefit of waiting a day is that it will separate me from a crowd of hikers. The Birds, Dusty, Magic, Old Hobo, Nice Man, Restless, Moe, and probably other hikers I don't have an eye on, are headed over Moosilauke today. Hopefully, less tomorrow.Inch Worm asked me a question in my Guestbook about length of time between re-supply. The big question in planning a re-supply is how much food can you carry, and how much are you willing to carry. Weight and space limit me to 6 days hiking, into town on the 7th. I'm planning on 8 days hiking, in to Gorham on the 9th during this next stretch. Obviously, I don't have room for 9 days worth of food. And I don't want to carry that much food (weight) over a tough section of Trail like the Whites. So I am going to try a "hybrid" approach to this section. I'm only going to carry 3 days worth of breakfast/lunch foodstuff, and 7 days worth of dinners .... basically 10 pounds of food. I'm comfortable carrying that much weight to start a section. I should be able to "fill the gaps" with food from the Huts, and snacking places. There is actually a snack bar on the top of Mt Washington (local tourist stop), plus a couple "reachable" at road crossings. There are towns I can get to along the way, if my plan fails, or I run into some other unforseen problem (like 4 days of straight rain).I should make it clear here that I'm "weird" in this whole food planning thing. I don't mind the extra weight, and like being out for 5/6 days straight. Most hikers shoot for 3 to 4 days. Obviously, I like the lessor weight of this option, but it seems like you are in and out of town all the time.
Date: 2009-08-25
From: NH 25

To: Beaver Brook Shelter
Miles today: 7.9
Weather: broken clouds

The Welcome Hikers Hostel was the perfect place for a zero day. Their DVD library is massive. Only a couple of hikers there doing other things so I spent the entire day watching movies. What a relaxing day! Nice comfortable place, and good people .... glad I stayed.So I have a theory about the White Mountains. Most of life's attitude/mental state is based on expectations. I think I have a plan that will allow me to enjoy the White Mountains. For instance, today, most hikers will shoot for Eliza Brook Shelter, almost 20 miles. The first half, which I did today, was pretty easy. But the 10 between here and Eliza Brook, especially for the last half of a long day, would be tough. So I stopped here today. Awesome, easy day, great hike, not tired at all. Short day, so I was able to take it slow and enjoy the hike .... not worried about making 20 miles. I'll do the 2nd half tomorrow! This will be my approach throughout the White Mountains .... I've been waiting 1700 miles to get here .... now slow down and enjoy it!Since I had a short day planned, I decided to take you all on a hike today. I took a picture of today's hike .... one picture every 15 minutes (approx) .... from NH 25, over Moosilauke Mountain, and to the Beaver Brook Shelter. Plus I took pictures of cool stuff, like the summit and also navigation signs along the way. The photos are titled "Moosilauke Hike #(#)". Enjoy!The climb up Moosilauke was long, but the grade was easy. Perfect hiking weather today .... sunny skies, with just the right amount of puffy white clouds. It was cool for good hiking, but warm enough that you didn't need to add a layer during breaks, or on the summit.There were several people on the summit, but not enough to ruin the occasion. The group of University of New Hampshire students that I camped with at Hexacuba Shelter were up there. There was also a group of Girl Scouts .... nope, no cookies for sale. And a couple of thru-hikers.From the summit, I could literally see the next week of hiking. Pretty cool! I hung out up there for a couple of hours, just enjoying the mountain ..... one of a whole bunch to come! Then it was a short hike down to the shelter. I met Annie, a very cool girl who is headed South to Springer Mt. So I guess I haven't seen the last of the Southbounders.Then I see a couple, each carrying toddlers, hiking up the mountain. Insane!!! I think about how many times I have fallen .... and I am careful. I wanted to give them a piece of my mind!! Maybe I'm over-reacting, but it didn't seem like a place for infants.Awesome day on the A.T.! Great scenery. Great weather. Great Trail.Here tonight at the shelter are Lunch Box, Bone Lady, Bivy, and Chrome Dome.