morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2006-06-02
From: upstairs hospital bed

To: another day in the hospital
Miles today: 0.0

Again.. photo doesn't go, but i guess i was thinking of times like this on the trail, while i was in bed, sick. Another IV issue, this time it clotted, so 2 more blown veins before they finally got one in that would be #7!!! And it really hurts! Only now they are giving me morphine, so things are looking up. I feel better today, although i think my spirit is broken! My time on the trail is over. And it is killing me. I wish it did not have to end this way. I might get out tomorrow. I have to wait for some test results to come back. It is very hard to go from hiking everyday, to doing nothing at all. I miss my trail family!missy wrote - Here is an updated for everyone. She is still in the hospital and hopefully getting out tomorrow. She had a couple of fever episodes yesterday and they want her to go 24 hours w/o one before she is released. The last blood test results found no traces of bacteria. If she does have another fever, then they will need to run more tests to see what is causing that. I would like to thank all of her friends for visiting and keeping her company at the hospital. It is comforting to our family to know that she is not alone and there are people there for her while we cannot be!!!! Missy
Date: 2006-06-03
From: another day in the hospital

To: daleville
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

I get out today! Yippee... I still don't feel so hot, but who cares, take this IV out of me! The amazing trail angels that helped me get to the ER Theresa and homer also came to get me to take me back. I guess i could have died if they were not so helpful, and willing to take me when they did. I realize now how serious all of this was, and how lucky i was to not be in the woods when it happened. I went to the hotel and chewy was there. So sleeper, chewy and merlin were all together again, joy of the trail. We all hung out, went to dinner, had a laughing attack with sleeper of course. Almost spit my water all over the table. Earlier that night i did spit out a bunch at the market. merlin said there is something wrong with us, but in my book there is never anything wrong with laughing. Although this whole choking on what ever i am drinking whenever sleeper is around has got to stop i went to say goodbye to other hikers that caught up while i was in the hospital. Fred, jonny K, chuck norris, contagious, bmaine, and soda pop where all there. Fred was so excited that he finally caught me! I reminded him that it was because i was in the hospital for 3 days. But then let him be excited he accomplished a goal of his. I am glad i got to say goodbye. Chuck Norris started the trail at 19e i was the first hiker he met on his journey. He told me a bit ago "Rasta, out of all the hikers i met, you seem to be getting the most out of the trail" What an amazing compliment, i will always remember that. If i got nothing more out of this then that. I had fun! this whole time! I even think i got some other hikers to have more fun too, take the side trails, and remember it is not all about getting to Maine. I was there on his first night and i got to say goodbye on my last. Sleeper finally called home (i knew his parents would be worried by now, i kept telling him to call, but there was so much going on) It takes him a long time when he calls home, so i slept, and then we chatted for a bit when he was done. I am really going to miss sharing my days with him, he is a lot of fun. He helped me through such an awful time, i don't know what to say about him. It took forever for me to figure out how to get out of this place and back to RI, and lots of help from my dad and step mom with internet connection. Tomorrow i take a 4 hour bus ride to Richmond, stay over night and then a 9 hour train ride on monday. Wow it is really over. I really have to get off the trail. It's not fair.
Date: 2006-06-11
From: richmond VA

To: rhode island
Miles today: 0.0

So i guess there is no need to keep going with this everyday. I have been in RI for almost a week. I just finished the last entry of trail time. I have almost 400 photos up, but they are not labeled yet. they are athttp://photo.yahoo.com/asiaoznz04but give me a couple more days to finish with them, get them in order. I have now become addicted to this site! I am reading every journal, of people on the trail now. Most of who i had the pleasure of hiking with, and some who are now my eyes, naming people they are with that i know. Thank goodness for this site. i feel connected a little to the trail because of it. It has been really hard for me not hiking. I miss the woods, want to get back in them, get back on the trail, but i know i can't. I still feel tired a lot, but my bruised arms are healing, and so is my heart. It has been great to see friends and family here in RI. I have not seen some in a year! I fly back to seattle on weds, I am really happy about that. I will be there for the Solstice parade! Naked people on bikes oh yeah! I guess it makes up for not seeing naked people on the trail (the solstice is hike naked day) It is pretty interesting what living in the woods for 3 months can do to someone, it must be even more crazy after 6! I miss the inside jokes the most at this point. The laughing everyday at little things. I miss eating what ever i wanted, and not having to take showers. I miss my trail family most of all. I got to talk to 42 for a little while, but of course it is not the same. And i know how it is when you are on the trail, you have little time for people who are not on the trail. It is just the way it is, and i know it. I really am going to do my best to keep up with everyone. I can not wait to see what happens over the next couple of months, and see who makes in to Maine. What an amazing journey this has been.
Date: 2006-06-18
From: rhode island

To: Seattle!
Miles today: 0.0

Ok so this is way harder then i thought! I had a great time in rhode island with all my friends and family. Then i got back to seattle a few days ago. I was ready to get back to work, and get back to my life. We got a letter in the mail saying we had to move out of our house! Sometimes i feel like i could just give up. We have rent that is unheard of in the city! We will now have to move and pay 2x as much as we pay now, and we will not be able to stay in the fremont area. This is so sad for all of us, since we have put so much work into this house, and love all the friends that live on our street. So i have not even unpacked yet, i don't know were anything i own is, i feel very unorganized. I don't like traffic, or large crowds, i have changed more then i thought. I wake up sore every morning and i just want to be in the woods. I don't want to deal with hospital bills, moving, and going through bins to figure out were i put all my underwear! Life was easier on the trail! I wish i could still be out there! I miss everyone so much.
Date: 2006-06-23
From: Seattle!

To: AT hiker reunion!!!
Miles today: 0.0

Last night i got to be with my hiker pals! ok it was just a dream but it was great! I think it was the fact that i talked to 42, and wolfpaw! And have more plans to talk to them tomorrow ( i was really busy last night) Anyway so the dream was great, I was in a town, i am not sure where, but my hiker friends started showing up one by one. I saw sundance and she was crying she was getting off the trail, i was so glad i got to see her before she did, i gave her a hug and was telling her how amazing it was she made it this far! I watched her get in a car and drive off. I hope she is ok, and would write to me!!! there was a bunch of small yellow buses in the woods and people setting up tables to sell pottery and old nick nacks, i wondered why they would do this for hikers. 42, feng shui, 2much, enuff, donkey love, cheeto, p-tity, and fred were all sitting on a log along the road. Then i saw merlin and knew sleeper must be with him. There he was, (amazing how dreams do what you want them to) and i was so surprised telling him i thought he was way behind all my friends and didn't think he would be there. I already had a room with single malt, and didn't have to be at work until tuesday! Very exciting! Then my alarm went off! Darn it! just when i was getting to the good part! Now instead it was the start of an 18 hour work day! ahhhhh! of course i had a break this afternoon while the kids slept, and they have been in bed since 830pm. So i get paid to read trail journals, and find a place to live. All and all not so bad! In real life i am trying to be in a better mood... SO i had to make some changesI ran!!! 3 miles!!! in 30 minutes!!!! i could never do that before!(well other then 11 years ago when i was in the army) I didn't even think i could do it now. And considering my ipod battery died and i had to do it with no music was even more amazing! I hurt for 2 days after but i don't care, i can run 3 miles, with out someone yelling "YOU BETTER MOVE PRIVATE!" "YOUR LEFT YOUR LEFT YOUR LEFT RIGHT! BRAVO" So even though i have not done shit since i went into the hospital 3 weeks ago i am still in shape! GO HIKING!!I have also learned that my trail journals are boring. And when i hike the PCT i am getting pocket mail, and i am going to try to be more interesting, or in other words, write more of the funny stuff that goes on during the day. Like 42 and feng shui, and slick b they are way better at this then me. In real life i talk to much too so i guess it makes sense! I still have no idea what to do about where i am going to live, and i don't care because tomorrow i wake up and drive 2 hours north to be in the woods! I know i feel better there, on my friends farm. No running water, sleeping in my hammock, and chickens and ducks running around! AHHHHH nature. Then i leave for california on weds. High Sierra music festival here i come. Dancing outside oh yeah! I also think i am going to start playing the lottery. My life would be way better if i had a couple extra mil hanging around yah know?
Date: 2006-07-06
From: AT hiker reunion!!!

To: oregon country fair
Miles today: 0.0

So my life is sorta getting back together, although i spend lots of time reading trail journals now! And trying to keep up with all my trail friends that i miss so much. I found a house, i will move in the first weekend of august, I filled up my summer hours for work, and just got back from california on monday. I went to the high seirra music festival and had a blast!! Got to see people that i know from going to shows/festivals all the time, got to see tons of amazing music, new and old, and dance the weekend away in the sunshine! It was so much fun. The everybody orchestra, grey boy all star, nickle creek, chris berry and panjea,bella fleck, garage a trios, railroad earth, drew emmitt, and disco biscuits to name a few. I got to ride on this cool 2 person bike, learn more pio tricks, and play a game of red rover at 1 a.m. in the middle of a field with a bunch of strangers, it ended in hugs and high fives! I have now realized music festivals might be the closest thing i can get to "trail" attitude. Another place in the world where you can talk to anyone, become friends with people you just met super quick, and sleep in a tent every night (although seeing 5-12 person tents everywhere was a trip) It amazing me how different camping is when you actully don't have to hike all your gear up a mountain first. I had a great forth of july! And tomorrow i leave for the Oregon Country Fair.. and will have another weekend of music, food, dancing, and talking to strangers!i still don't feel like i am 100% back in the game, but i plan to work my butt off as much as i can for the next 2 years so i can have enough $$$ for the PCT.. i am going to see about taking a wilderness first aid course, a map and compass reading course, and start researching the trail. I am nervouse about the hot 115 degree weather with 33 miles between water... i think maybe my whole hosptail almost dying thing on the AT was good in the fact that i will be even more careful, on the PCT... Ok i am off to work..Hope life and trails find you well..
Date: 2006-07-14
From: oregon country fair

To: a weekend off!
Miles today: 0.0

WOW!!! So keeping up with my trail family is going great! Phone calls from 42, single malt, and sleeper. And emails from coolhand, puffy nipples, and 42 again.. along with peoples trail journals i am keeping tabs on my crew! still wish i could find out about slick b, ponch, mo, tater, i heard jody foster got off the trail and i need her contact info. Even Sundance got off.. wierd since i had that dream that she did!Out of trail life.. i had a blast at the fair! Only to have another small setback this week, when someone smashed my car window...I had to think about the fact that i would not have to deal with any of this when i lived in the woods, having to deal with a car, a house, moving, working, and all that jazz... the trail sounds pretty stressful right now! With the heat, floods, bugs,and rocks.. and people dropping off the trail left and right! Then some awful news in the paper! Two women (mother and daughter) shot on a busy trail in WA not too far from seattle. A trail so many of us have hiked and many people hike all the time 1.9 miles to a lake from a FS road... killed in the middle of they day! It gave me chills, the PCT goes through that area i am pretty sure. And no word on if it was a stranger or if it was a planned thing. From the article it seemed like they were well liked and did so much for the community and envirnment, so a motive would be hard to find. It makes me so sad, when something like a hiking trail can be as dangerous as a back ally in the city! It won't stop me i am off for a 3 day hike on thurs! i can not wait. I want to be back out there. This running around the lake thing is not the same. I am so excited to see what i think of the west coast trails now! And i get to go with my goodfriend jason. He is the only person other then taylor that i have gone on hiking trips with. It will be great i am sure!SO my window is fixed, i move in three weeks, i am spending all day tomorrow at a rythem festival in the city. Free drumming, african dance classes, and performances all day. It should be a blast, and a great work out too!I feel better now then i did when i first got off the trail. Although it is still hard, and i still wish i lived in the woods. It gives me the motivation i need to get to saving some money for the PCT! I will have to start a new trail journal for that i think! ha ha...much love, peace and lightrasta!
Date: 2006-07-24
From: a weekend off!

To: finally!
Miles today: 0.0

Sundance, slick b, fred, marco solo, james, chewy, geek,cohiba,blind monkey and more oh my!!! for some reason trailjournals stopped sending me emails when people signed my guestbook, so all this time, i just thought no one was writing! Then i get on for some unknown reason to see so many people have signed my book! with words of encourgment and happy thoughts! oh my trail family!!!! i have a tear in my eye! I so wish i could still be out there with all of you, sharing in the pain on the way to maine! i got really good at drinking deet in new zealand! (just kidding.. but i know about biting bugs and it is so hard to keep your spirits up with that so you all better keep on keepin on!)I thought about the AT so much this past weekend when i went on my first hike since getting off the trail! All i can say is Pacific north west trails are just as hard as the AT... i now remember why i didn't think that approach trail was as bad as everyone else thought it was. I hiked 4,000 ft in 2.2 miles, then the ridge was still up... 5 hours of up! The only difference is that when i get to the top of these hills there are snow capped mountain peaks in every direction, as far as you can see. It blew me away, again and again. Wild flowers everywhere, and amazing sunset! I feel so much more confident out there, i can hang a bear bag, know what and how much food to bring, have all my own gear, and know that i can climb anything in front of me. It was great. I almost slide down the mt though. First time every actually falling off the trail. I grabbed onto some roots and held on as i yelled for jason to help me. He came running up the trail and took my poles and i handed him up my pack, so i could turn around and crawl back onto the trail! yikes! was shaking but then we looked and decided i would not have died, there was some trees and too much shubbery to fall that far. I also realized i will always think like a thru hiker, even for weekend trips, no my nalgene is too heavy, no i do not need all of that, are you sure we need to get 3 liters of water here? do we really need rain gear? It was great. But it did really make me miss the AT... or more so the people on it. so i called everyone from the trail on the way home. Of course they all have thier cell phones off since they are hiking, but i left messages, it was worth it. I feel so proud when i find out my friends are still making it to maine! This is not an easy thing to do at all!Seattle is having a heat wave... well for seattle! Next weekend i head into the woods again for 3 days! This time to my friends farm for his birthday party. I can't wait!hope all is well with every one! i am doing so much better, and even more so now that i have read my guestbook!still wonder about tater, mo, and ponch!
Date: 2006-07-26
From: more photos

To: mistake
Miles today: 0.0

Just realized i added my hiking photos from this month to my other photo sitehttp://photos.yahoo.com/stephie_innzso my AT photos are still athttp://photos.yahoo.com/asiaoznz04sorry this is so confusing, but i am not going to reload 60 photos in again.. It is sorta crazy how many photos i have saved on-line! i hope yahoo never shuts down!oh and one more thing! A freshette!!! it should be an added item to every hiking womens gear! Sundance had one, i thought it was interesting, but had no idea how much it could help! It lets women pee standing up.. sounds gross??? weird?? yeah kinda what i thought when i saw sundances funnel like pink tube! then i bought one and went hiking! No splash back on your shoes, you don't have to take your pack off, squat down, (i squatted onto some stinging nettles once and let me tell you it was not fun!) or worry that some stranger will walk up to see your white butt! It is great! i love it! won't ever hike without it! And men have no idea how lucky they have sometimes! ok sorry enough of that.. i just had to say something!
Date: 2006-08-16
From: mistake

To: work work work
Miles today: 0.0

SO things have been crazy! Since i last wrote, i spent a weekend up north at my friends farm for his birthday, moved into my new house, went to two string cheese shows, went to a 4 day music festival, and now i am on a 70 hour work week... ya dig!Summer is flying by really, and it is crazy to think how different my life is now then it was months ago. I get updates from my trail family, phone calls, and emails, and of course trail journals!I was talking to one of my bosses the other day telling her i got a phone call from friends on the trail. She asked me who and said she feels like she knows them since i wrote about them in here and she followed my journy while i was gone. I thought it would be fun to try to figure out everyone i have ever mentioned on here and let you all know what they are up to. so here it goes42, my girl, my approach trail, first friend, and just an all around amazing women! She is still going, I talked to her last week i am pretty sure she is in NH now!Singlemalt, met her also on the approach trail, loved hiking with her and having nice conversations. We hiked together in the start, lost eachother and then found eachother again my last weeks on the trail. She called me when she stopped in NJ for her mamogram and tests to make sure she is still cancer free, she is. She will celebrate her 50th birthday on the 24 on The big K, making her do a flip flop to finish the trail.feng shui (i named her) she is still going too, i think she is in VT going into the whites, she just sent me an email 2 days ago, she cracks me up. I can remember having to sleep in her tent with her at muscrat because we were so cold!! Conductor we met him our second night, he could be hiking up the K as i speak, he is really close!Too much and enuff! love them! also met them the 2nd night on the trail and would see them on and off through out. Are still out there too last i saw they were in MA...ok kids are up i have to work, i will finish this more later.. oh this is fun!
Date: 2006-08-29
From: work work work

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

So I really thought i would have time to give an update on what everyone of my trail family was doing, but life got in the way!just found out that tater, grinds, andy d, rematch(who i met with his girlfriend kate on my very first night at the shelter before we even started the approach trail on the 15th) and conductor have all finished! amazing! and a couple other people that i met but never spent tons of time with... i will try to get some updates of others soon...buford and fluer, long shanks, step and 1/2 (the guy who named me) and gus his wife, greg, and howdy.. all people i met on my 1st day are off the trail.. along with sleeper, merlin, sundance, one of the ozzie sisters, kilgore trout, bud, carnivor, jody foster,james, poles, and marco solo.42, feng shui, 2much and enuff, singlemalt, slick b,, mule,jukebox, other ozzy sisters, hawk eye, knock knock, coolhand, tec, sun crow, sunshine day dream, she bear, sleepy the arab, cheeto and puffy nipples ARE ALL STILL ON THERE AND GOING STRONG! i have no idea about mo and ponch,wolf paw,e-rock, ghost of natty boh,or chewy! although i would love too! and i am sure there are lots of people i am missing, but i need to finish my resume for some interviews i have in the next week or so.. i am going for it! getting a real full time job with one family... I just got back from yet another music festival! the best one by far.. since it is this festival last year that i met Taylor "the librarian" AT'03 it was here we became friends and started chatting.. from there it went to instead of going to peru i think i might hike on the AT for a while.. and now over a year later i have done just that.. taylor and i have become the best of friends.. and he just finished a 2000 mile kayaking trip down the yukon in alaska! amazing adventures all the time! and they will just keep going for us i feel. i had a blast at this festival with old friends.. and a new one that feels like an old one... that has started asking me questions about the AT and has thoughts of hiking it himself.. is this how it goes. We now inspire others to take this leap! to do something you think you can't do, wonder if you would like it... you really have no idea what will happen when you get out there, you can even try to imagine what it will be like. But all i know is that is changed my life, and i can not wait to do the PCT.. This job is going to be my way to do it. Getting a job with a super rich family... the two i am looking at both travel a lot! so i can still keep that part of my life fullfilled...I feel great, i get tears in my eyes when ever i read people journals about how they feel about the trail, and about the hike up big K.. i really feel so proud of everyone who is still out there.. much love and light and peace always...rasta