morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2004-07-31
From: Garfield Pond Steath Site

To: Crawford Notch Stealth Site/Saco River
Miles today: 18.6
Weather: mist

The terrain must have been easy today because I did over eighteen miles when I though it was only fourteen. Loking at the map profile, I discovered that the terrain was mellow after all. Tomorrow should make up for my slacking with a 2700' cliimb in 4.6 miles. Good thing I'll tackle that haul in the morning when it should cool weather. The day tomorrow will be spent in the Presidential Range of the White Mountains with summits includingWebster, Jackson, Clinton, and Franklin. Depending on the weather and how I feel upon arriving at Lakes of The Clouds Hut, I migh press on to Mt. Washington. The weather forcasting afternoon thunderstorms for the rest of the week, which may force me to climb Washignton in the morning and with no views. I hope the forcast is wrong though because the views are supposed to be amazing!I got out of camp at 7:10am in a light fog, which had lifted by the time I got to Galehead Hut. There I found a huge group of hikers getting ready to start out for the morning. I scored three calzones that were left over from the night before and chugged water. By this time, the clouds had lifted to show beautiful forested mountains. By the time I arrived at Zealand Falls Hut seven miles further, the sun had begun to poke through broken clouds. I've caught up with M and Rising Sun, Bean and Root, and P.A. Mule, marveling at the upcoming scenic terrain. One peak in particular stood tall and slender, looking like a spike on the horizon. I pondered if I i'll be looking back from that one in a couple days. At the hut, I scored some AYCE pizza (again leftovers) and strummed a few chords on a ratty guitar. This time I made sure to chug an extra litre of water after becoming a bit dehydrated from all the food at the last hut. Bean shared some chocolate chips and Rising Sun gave me a tootsie pop. With all this great food, I donlt feel much like eating dinner tonight... wait.... did I just write that?These huts that I've passed are quite impressive due to thier rustic appeal and isolation. Most use a few sustainable technologies and practices because they are not connected to a city's power grid. Generally powered by propane and generators, some have solar panels, composting, and conserve as much resources as they can. Even still, they have some mordern comforts, are cozy, and quite clean. In addition to composting food waste, the bathrooms are equipped with composting toliets and motion-sensing faucets. Not too shabby for a place miles into the woods! The "croo" (hut workers) are energetic and appear to enjoy their demanding job of catering to backpacking tourists. I'm stealth camping tonight (again) in a wooded area by the river parallel to US302. I was unsuccessful finding the site that P.A. Mule had mentioned, so I pressed on to the base of Mt. Webster. I've enjoying some late afternoon sun by the river and soaked my feet in the cold water. Storm clound are rolling in fast so its time to setup camp and hit the sack!
Date: 2004-08-03
From: Osgood Tentsite

To: Imp Shelter
Miles today: 18.2
Weather: scattered clouds

It sure was a rough eighteen miles today and much more difficult than I expected. Got our of camp at 7:20am and was too late for the AYCE breakfast at Pinkham Notch Visitors Center. They stopped serving at 8:30am and we wrrived about a half hour late. Bummer. They did open the deli window though and put out leftover pancakes for a buck per plate. It wasn't AYCE, but my stomach came a way happy! I also got a new camera battery at the gift shop... mine started to die yesterday. Now I can continue my trigger-happy photo taking ways... yea!The climb up Wildcat Mtn. was rocky and steep, similar to walking up a ladder with the rungs spaced far apart and at awkward angle. We were expecting, and recieved, another tough climb up Carter Mtn, but the smaller elevation changes in between took us by surprise. We had expected the smaller climbs to be easy, though many were hard scrambles, and slick, steep slabs on the decents. I had to spot Root (Bean's dog) a couple times as he tried with all his might to cimb near-vertical walls. Dogs have always amazed me though when it comes to climbing rough terrain. Even with the saddle bags Root carries, he shot up rocky faces more quickly than I could ever hope to. Even more impressive, the daring dog flew head first into a few sketchy decents that would have made me runaway whimpering!We got some amazing viewa today, in part because of the crazy weather. The day started out sunny with big, puffy, cumulous clouds. As we decended into Carter Notch, the clouds began filling in and by the time we had made it to the top of Carter Mtn., we were completely socked in. As the clouds had been rolling in, we got to enjoy intimidating vies of dark clouds rapidly approaching our position from the Presidental Range across the valley. From out point of view, the clouds looked more like fog becuase of our elevation, but no doubt capable of producing a powerful storm. Thunder had been cracking in the distance, but began to sound farther off as we decended Carter Mtn. The summit of Carter was in a dense cloud when we arrived but by the time we got to the top of Mt. High eight tenths of a mile later, the storm was quikly blowing over. It left beautiful vistas in its wake, consisting of opposing layers of stormy and white, puffy clouds rolling over the mountains. By the time we dropped into the saddle, it was blue skies again. Arriving at camp tonight, another storm is blowing in, threatening lightning and more rain. The storm is now over us, but through the trees, I can see the changing colors of a mild sunset on the distant horizon.
Date: 2004-08-04
From: Imp Shelter

To: Gorham, NH
Miles today: 8.0
Weather: broken clouds

At ¢The Barn¢, a friendly hiker hostel tonight. It was an easy hike into US 2 and an even easier hitch into town. Rising Sun and I got a fast pace going from Imp, talking about cars (including her new 67 Mustang Coupe) and our favorite foods. Just the talk got quite an appetite worked up. We all ate at Mr. Pizza for lunch where Rising Sun introduced me to Taco pizza. It tasted a bit strange compared to what I¢m normally used to, but any pizza is good pizza!After lunch, I finally got my beyond smelly laundry done. Most of it wasn¢t really dirty, but has gotten wet in the rain. Combined with a wet tent and wet cloths, the smell developing in my backpack was less than pleasant. Consider that I use my extra cloths as a pillow at night and you can understand why they must be washed!We all split up (Rising Sun, M, and Bean) to get stuff done. I did a recon at Rite Aid for a possible resupply and decided that I would be able to get enough food there. The Shaws supermarket is almost a mile out of town.I checked into the Barn after gulping down my usual pint of Ben & Jerry¢s. The hostel was nicer than I expected in that there were real mattresses to sleep on! Bean and I watched Leap of Faith and afterwards, Rocket and I began the unexpected long walk to meet M and Rising Sun at the Fortune Cookie.The restaurant had a clashing atmosphere surrounding it. It featured a full bar with pool tables, rock music on the jukebox, and Caucasians staffing. Regardless, they has a decent buffet and ok margarita (Hey, if a Chinese restaurant is playing rock music, then I can order a Mexican drink!)As usual, I ate way too much food. I think the desert is what did me in. It was especially tasty being a chocolate cake with peanut butter, chocolate chip frosting. Yum! On the way back to the Barn, I got some food at the Rite Aid. I was able to pull enough out of the hiker box at the Barn that all I ended up getting at the store was some basics. I was also happy to find a 6-pack of Long Trail beer for only $5.39. Hikers like sale beer!Lugging my supplies on the long walk back, I found Bean headed off to Cumberland Farms for some movie snacks. Apparently he had decided to come meet us for dinner but gave up looking for the restaurant after going top two of the wrong places. Bummer. Earlier, he had not left with Rocket and I after chowing down on a 12 gallon of Breyers Peanut Butter Cup ice cream. Who could blame him?Later, we watched Kiss of Death, which I would not recommend to anyone unless they are completely bored out of their mind. Staring Nic Cage and some other famous actors, the film turned out to be a badly acted, lame action flick. This marmot gives it two thumbs down. After the movie, I hit the sack completely stuffed, but relaxed and happy to be on a soft bed!
Date: 2004-08-05
From: Gorham, NH

To: Genitian Pond Shelter
Miles today: 11.8

It felt so good to sleep on a mattress last night! Getting out of town proved to be a challenge this morning because both Bean and I weren¢t really that anxious to get back on the trail. Root wasn¢t arguing either! I had walked down to the P.O. to mail souvenirs to my sister and met up with Bean on the way back. He said he was thinking of getting out of town around 1:00pm and it didn¢t take much convincing for me to join him!We got a sandwich at Subway and then headed back to the ol¢ tube to watch Mrs. Doubt fire. Finishing off the beer in the fridge, we finally got moving around noon. After a quick hitch back to the A.T., we began to sluggishly hike up the trail. It took a while to get back into the groove, but eventually felt like we could do some miles. Of course, it was late in the day when we got underway so we only made 11 miles. The shelter here has a great view and is adjacent to a nice pond so there¢s no need to push on. The original plan of camping on top of Mt. Success was thrown out the window after hearing that it was a mud pit.
Date: 2004-08-06
From: Genitian Pond Shelter

To: Old Speck Mtn.
Miles today: 15.8

It was a lazy morning today and hence, a late start thanks to the cold. A cold, dry front is pushing through, making it quite chilly but no rain! More precipitation is on the way for Saturday afternoon. I had a great view of some cumulus clouds from my sleeping bag. If it hadn¢t been for my bladder being full, I could have enjoyed the view longer!The terrain was more tiring today than I had expected. It wasn¢t as tough as coming over the Wildcat Mtns the other day, but exhausting nonetheless. The climbs were steep and pretty technical. However, they were shorter climbs than the rest of the Whites¢¦ most were in the range of 500-700 foot elevation gains. The biggest today was up 1300 feet to Mahoosuc Arm after the infamous Mahoosuc Notch.Mahoosuc Notch is a one mile stretch that I¢ve been hearing about since the beginning of my hike. It is regarded by some as the most difficult mile on the trail and involves scrambling over , around, and under enormous boulders. While it wasn¢t as extreme as my imagination had built it up to be, it was still fun and challenging. I got some good shots of Bean + Root climbing through the playground of boulders. Root did very well, although we did have to help him five times and offer a lot of encouragement. I¢ve got to hand it to the dog. Some of the Matrix moves he pulled today shows that he¢s got to have balls as big as NYC!Perhaps the most exciting news of the day is our crossing into Maine, the final frontier of this journey. As Bean, Root, and I crossed this state line, the last 281 miles to Katahdin await our sore feet. As I write this from our camp, only 270 miles lies between me and the final A.T. goal. My fingers are just about frozen now thanks to the cold weather. I¢d like to write more but must warm them up for fear of losing them! On to Andover, ME tomorrow and the famous ¢Cabin¢ hostel!
Date: 2004-03-22
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Not long now! I have my plane ticket in hand. I will be traveling to Atlanta on April 6, 2004 and then on to Springer Mountian. Hope to spend the night of the 6th in Springer Mtn Shelter and then officially start my hike north on April 7th. I learned so much from last years effort. Zero days are necessary, but too many just slow you down. It is hard to get out of a trail town once you stand in the warm shower and have someone else cook you a meal. Slack packing is not illegal, but blue blazing is! Just kidding, everyone must hike their own hike and enjoy what there is to enjoy. I do hope I run into some of the people I met last year. I see some are already out on the trail.
Date: 2004-03-23
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Extremely excited about getting my journal started. Setting up the journal makes the upcoming trip seem real and my plane ticket in hand reinforces the feeling. Last year, I was such a novice, I didn't know what to expect. I was eager with anticipation to get on the trail, however, the hike up the Benton McKaye trail to Springer Mtn was a rude awakening. Within the first mile, I was asking what I was doing. Why was I submitting myself to the torture of the cold, the blowing freezing rain, and the broken equipment. I thought I had trained well, but living on the prairie of Minnesota, my legs were not ready for the climbs.This year, I have been working hard for the last two months. Still, I know the first climb on the AT will make me wonder what I'm trying to do. Having walked over 1100 miles last year, I know it gets better, and you do get trail legs after 5-7 days. The secret is to start out easy and to build each day.Yesterday, I packed my pack, filled the camelbak and hiked 6 miles. It felt good to have the weight on my back, the pack felt good with the right balance between hips and shoulders. I've been hiking with my pack stuffed with weight, but yesterday was the first day I've hike with what I believe I will be carrying when I start the trail. This year there is a different feel than last year. I know I will miss seeing my wife each day, but luckily, she plans to meet me along the trail a few times. Last year she joined me in the Shenadoah's and helped me slackpack for a couple of hundred miles. Sure was nice to come off the trail each night, get a resturant meal, take a warm shower, and sleep in a bed. It is funny how lonely one can get on the trail. Even though there are so many fantastic hikers to meet, talk to, share a shelter with, there are also times when the shelter is empty, no one on the trail and you feel you are alone in the woods. As a hike, you relish both the solitude and the camaraderie around the campfire. I once told my wife, "What good is solitude if you don't have someone to share it with?"Troutman's last entry in a shelter log summed it up best. "I have such as sense of loneliness, my friends are weeks ahead of me, and I haven't seen anyone in days. My experience has been wonderful, and I'm sure the trail will call me back, but I need to go home."   A couple of weeks later, when I got to Harpers Ferry, I found out that Troutman had spent time with family and friends and then returned to the trail. I'll never forget Troutmans fishing rod strapped to his pack. Now I reminiscing last years trip. I guess that why I hike. The memories last forever the pain goes away quickly.
Date: 2004-03-24
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Another day has gone by, and I'm beginning to feel the pressure of making sure all the planning is complete. Don't know why, I've been through this before so you would think I knew what I was doing. Today, I sent emails to my friends and family, letting them know I will be back on the trail and where to find my journal. My 2004 AT data book arrived yesterday. It is so hard to look through the book without getting lost in the memories of last year. As always, so many things are coming down to the last minute. Oh well, once on the trail, it won't make any difference. You must adjust!
Date: 2004-03-31
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

A week to go and I will be back on the trail. Preparations are going fine, but I know I'll forget something. I've packed and unpacked, looked at the list and tried to figure out what to leave behind. I don't know why I feel everything is necessary, but within an hour on the trail, I can find all kinds of things I don't need, or won't use. Oh well, Neels Gap is the place when the final decisions are made anyway. I'll bet the post office there makes a mint just from the shipping of gear home. Hope to see you all on the trail soon!
Date: 2004-04-06
To: Travel to Georgia
Miles today: 0.0

The waiting is over. Today I travel to Atlanta and then on to the hospitality of the hiker hostel. Tomorrow morning starts with the first step up Springer Mtn. Within an hour,, I should have turned around and taken the first step north. The journey begins with that first step. I am finally packed! (I think) I must be since I have every piece of gear I own in the pack. As I said before, by Neels Gap, my decisions should be firmer. I wonder what goes home? I'm looking forward to Unicoi Gap where Cheap Suit will join me for a week. He is easily recognized by his dress shirt and tie, and his suit coat that he wears when hiking the AT. Why? I don't know. He just says he always wanted to walk the AT in a "cheap suit" out respect for Benton Mckay. To think they allow him to maintain airplanes for a living! He talked about wearing a kilt this year and I told him I would walk far in front and deny any association.I would like to express my appreciation for all that have viewed my prep activities in this journal and have signed the guest book. Amazing how much the hiker community follow and support each other. I am also amazed by the number of hikers that have returned from last year. Flight to Georgia was uneventful. Leigh, from the hiker hostel met myself and another hiker drove us to the hiker hostel with a stop at an outfitters along way. Accomodations are excellent and the hospitality is outstanding. Pizza and beer for supper, a trip to "wally world" for gateraid. I'm set to go. Now for a good nights sleep.
Date: 2004-04-07
From: Springer Mountian

To: Horse Gap
Miles today: 10.1

Great to be back on the trail. Slackpacking today with Adam (ST> Louis). Will spend the night at the HI Hostel. The Hostel is absolutely the best I've seen on the AT. More to come.Done for the day. Weather was beautiful and trail was kind. Planned on only going to Hightower Gap but got there at 2pm so decided to push on to Horse Gap. Walked with Adam all day. I wanted to call him St. Louie since he is from St. Louis but that didn't stick. Latter in the day, I caught him twirling his trekking pole like a baton. That settled it, Adam is now "Baton". 7 of us went to Dave's country cooking for supper. I have never laughed so hard. The waitress came to me first and I ordered the Meatloaf special with mash potato. Gypsy wanted the same and the waitress said, "I'm sorry, that was the last meatloaf." Needless to say, I took a bunch of ribbing but it didn't stop me from eating every morsel and declaring the meatloaf the best I have ever had. Baton is hilarious and he had me rolling on the floor in laughter. The group included: John, Gypsy, Dutch, Skipper and Bearbait. It was great to meet Bearbait. I sent her an email before I left for the trip, so when I introduced myself, she said "I know you!" Tomorrow, on to Woody Gap!
Date: 2004-04-08
From: Horse Gap

To: Woody Gap
Miles today: 10.0
Weather: light rain

Morning start at 8am with the climb up Sassafras Mtn. That is a good way to wake up and get the blood moving. Adam (Baton) flew up the Mtn, while I was huffing and puffing. The heart felt like it was going to bust out of the chest. It was strenous for me, but Adam ate it up. I kept thinking about last year and I now know how ill I was. So far all is well and the exercise is just what I'm looking for! Tomorrow, I will got 10.1 miles and end up at Neels Gap. Once past Neels, the ghost from my start last year will be released.The views today were spectacular! I stopped to take a number of pictures and I will swing by Wal-mart and get some copies that I will make into postcards. Since Adam was so far ahead of me, he stopped at some cliffs, put on his ear phones and listened to music while waiting for me. As I came up behind him, I saw he was jiving and moving with the music on the edge of this cliff. I tried to get picture of him but I couln't get my camera out before he sensed I was there. It would have made a great picture. As I was telling !Ready about the photo op, she came up with the new trail name, Cliff Dancer. Seems good to me, so from now on he will be call Cliff Dance. Besides, Baton forgot his trekking poles today.Ran into !Skylander today. His knee was hurting him, so he decided to call it a day at Gouch Gap and go back to the Hostel. !Ready picked him up then swung by Woody gap to pick up Cliff Dancer and I.Eight of of went to dinner, including Leigh, the Hostel Hostess. The owners, Leigh and Josh are such accomodating folks and demonstrate a sincere caring for hiker. As usual, Cliff Dancer was in fine form and had us all in stitches. I have a slight blister on my left heel. I'll treat it tonight and hopefully it won't get worst tomorrow. All last year I only had one small blister.Looking forward to the hike from Woody Gap to Neels Gap. Some tough climbs including the climb over Blood Mtn. Can't wait.
Date: 2004-04-09
From: Woody Gap

To: Neels Gap
Miles today: 10.7
Weather: overcast clouds

Today I challenge Blood Mtn. I'm sure the mountain is trembling in fear. Cliff Dancer and I shuttle to Woody Gap. We shake hands and say we hope to see each other at trail days in Damascus. He climbs to fast for me to keep up with him. I go downhill pretty good, but those climbs take my breath away. Like I've said before, "Youth is wasted on the young." I will miss Cliff Hangers humor and spirit. Well I made it to Neels Gap but not without incident. About 2 miles from Woody Gap, I started to feel the blister on my left heel start to be irratated. I cover the spot with moleskin. I think it provided some protection but by the time I got to Neels Gap I had an extreme amount of pain. As soon as I got to Neels Gap, I took off my boots and asked at the outfitters for some blister bandaids. The blister on the heel is one of the worst I ever had. I couldn't understand why I was getting blisters since last year I use the same brand, style and size boot. When I limped back into the hostel and took off my socks, I found that my big toe on my left foot had been bleeding significantly. The toenail had in fact push back thru the cuticle. Well there goes that toenail! I checked my right foot and I have three toenails turning black and it looks like I'll lose those also. I guess it is true what they about losing at least one toe nail somewhere during the hike. The downhills are muderous on the feet.Other than the pain, todays hike was wonderful. A couple climbs before Blood Mtn, a rest at Bird Gap and then the climb up Blood Mtn, the highest Mtn in Georgia on the AT. At Bird Gap, I found a nice new trekking pole. I was there for 20-30 minutes and no one was around so I thought the pole had been left accidently. I decided to carry it to Neels Gap and leave it at the outfitters. After summitting Blood Mtn, and resting, trying to find my legs. After 20 minutes I decided it was time to move on but wanted to get a picture. I asked a young hiker if he would take my picture. As he was taking my picture, his friend asked if he found his pole. I said did you leave a pole in Bird Gap? Needless to say he was a happy hiker. He said he left the pole there to let hikers behind him know that he had stopped at the Woods Hole shelter. You can't always tell. I thought the pole had been lost and I wanted to get it to the outfitters so the could try to reunite with its owner. The hiker, Mike, joined myself and three others and went back to the Hiker Hostel. Due to the blister and damaged toe nails, I think I'll take my first zero day tomorrow. Josh needs to get on the computer, so I need to sign off. Josh is the owner of the Hiker Hostel and with his wife Leigh, they couldn't be more cordial. If there are any hikers out there reading this, I recomend the Hiker Hostel highly.