morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2014-08-12
From: Glastenbury Mountain Fire Tower

To: Stratton-Arlington Road
Miles today: 12.2
Weather: broken clouds

It cooled off nicely last night to another one of the coldest nights. I was able to fall asleep in no time thanks to the cool temps and my warm sleeping bag. I woke up around 6am and could not fall back asleep, so I figured it was time to get up and hike. I packed all my stuff and ate a quick breakfast because it was still pretty cold outside. I would say it was the coldest morning I have had packing up since at least Georgia. Viking and Stardust hiked out around 7am and I was right behind them. Rock, Pond, Weather Man, and Swamp Donkey were packing up as I was leaving. Around a hour later, I walked up on the Kid Gore Shelter. Denali was leaving as I was getting there. I filled up my water and ate a snack. It was awesome having the shelter and great view all to myself. As I was leaving the shelter, I saw Rock debating if he needed water or not. He took off in front of me. Another hour or so later I got to the Story Spring Shelter where both Rock and Denali were eating a snack/lunch. Pond and Weather Man walked up about 20 minutes after me so we all hung out there for a bit. Rock's birthday is tomorrow so we are trying for Manchester Center, VT so we can celebrate. We got to the dirt road right before Stratton Mountain and took a break. We had only done 12 miles but felt tired and worn out. Rock said "if I see a car, I'm throwing up a thumb just for the hell of it!" Sure enough, a car rolls through about ten seconds later. She stops and says "do you REALLY need a ride?" We looked at each other and he said "no, not really, but it would be cool to go to town." We decided not to go after talking to her for a bit. Weather Man walked up too and Denali was already there with us. Pond and Swamp Donkey were not far behind us. A few minutes later, a Prius is coming towards us. Rock throws up a thumb again while sitting down. They drive by, reverse, and then ask "is that how people hitch these days?" Rock laughs and says "it's my birthday tomorrow and we want to go to town." Sure enough, Rock, Denali, and I pile into the car. It was about a thirty minute ride to town down a dirt road, but there is only one road that goes to town. They dropped us off in Manchester Center, VT and handed Rock $30 for dinner. We ate then quickly got a room at the Red Sled Motel close to Stratton since the rain was moving in fast. Apparently a big storm is coming since everyone felt the need to tell us it would be raining tomorrow. Miss Janet stopped by around 8pm to say hello on her way south to pick up a few people. I asked if she would slack me over Stratton but she has to go to Dalton, MA so I am going to slack pack myself tomorrow by hitching back to Stratton-Arlington Road. I was out by 10pm after washing some clothes in the shower and taking a nice, long, hot shower. It will be pouring the rain tomorrow, but at least I'll be slack packing.
Date: 2014-08-13
From: Stratton-Arlington Road

To: Manchester Center, VT
Miles today: 17.5
Weather: broken clouds

I was up at 5am and heard it pouring outside. The wind was pretty fast too. I took a shower to wake up. Rock and Denali decided to hang out for Rock's birthday and take a rain delay. I did not even make it out of the parking lot before a local hiker asked me "where are you heading?" I explained to him what I was doing which he thought was awesome, and then said "get in." The rain had let up a little bit, but the wind had picked up. I was in for a wet day. I started up Stratton and it started to rain hard again. Everyone who told us it was going to rain a lot was 100% right. I was soaked all day long from my head to my toes. My pack was soaked under my rain cover as well from rain and sweat. There was absolutely no view to be seen from the top of Stratton, which is good, because I did not even bring my camera with me anyways. All my gear is back in the hotel room. After the summit of the mountain, it was literally the fastest 13 mile hike to Manchester Center, VT I have ever done. I felt like a kid playing in mud puddles. It was nice and flat. I did not even consume three liters of water today because it was cool temps and wet all day. I got back to Manchester Center around 5pm. Maverick, Swamp Donkey, Bouche, Pond, Weather Man, Denali, and Willy Wonka had all hiked in a few hours before and got two motel rooms. After everyone took a shower, we hitched into town and ate at a Mexican place. I had a taco salad and a beer. We all bought Rock a couple beers for his 32nd birthday. It was a pretty mild night for all of us, but Rock. He was in party mode after we bought him a 30 pack of PBR. We have Roku in our motel room with Netflix, so our "birthday party night" consisted of watching a bunch of movies. We were all up laughing and watching movies until 1 or 2 in the morning. It was a great time with everyone there. My mom comes out in five days to slack pack us as far as we can get, and I cannot wait! All of us are pumped for that week. She got us a room at a very nice hotel in Hanover, NH where we will call "base camp." Our goal is to get as close as possible then slack pack in and out of Hanover. It is going to be a blast and crossing into NH is very exciting.
Date: 2014-08-14
From: Manchester Center, VT

To: Griffith Lake
Miles today: 10.6
Weather: overcast clouds

The lake we are camped next to tonight seems like it is right out of a fairy tale. Today was my favorite day on the trail in a long time! Everything that we passed by today I loved. We were all up by 8am. Some of us took showers, some went to breakfast, and some went to town to resupply. I packed up, showered, then grabbed a few sandwiches to go. When I got back, there was a guy who thru hiked last year who had everyone pumped up to spend the day at a lake hanging out with him. Pond, Weather Man, Rock, and I decided to hike instead of party at the lake today. It was around 1:30pm when we finally made it back to the trail. It was a perfect day for hiking! Windy and cool. I doubt it every got over 60-65 which is my ideal temp for hiking. We did the three miles to the top of Bromley Ski area which was gorgeous! We hiked about .3 up one of the actual ski slopes which was really cool to see in the summer. It made me miss the winter and excited for ski season. We hung out on the summit for a while and checked out the ski patrol room. It was a cold downhill hike after to a fire road. I had a snack, took a break, then got ready for "Peru Peaks." It was a steep two mile hike straight up, but unbelievable after that. It felt like I was back in the Great Smokey Mountain National Park near my home in Asheville, NC. We got to the Peru Peak Shelter which was packed with SoBo hikers along with a few NoBo hikers. We quickly left there and headed about .5 miles down the trail, which turned out to be the best decision in a while! We arrived at Griffith Lake. A untouched lakeside campsite in the middle of the woods. The water looked fake along with everything that surrounded it. This made me miss living in New England but also made me realize how fortunate I am to have this opportunity. We set a four person camp in a two tent site. Then, we all got our dinner stuff together and went to the lake side to cook and have a fire. It was such a great night. It cooled down quickly after the sun went down so I was in my tent by 9pm. We have four more big days until my mom gets here so I'm sure we'll head out early in the morning. I feel like I just started the trail again thanks to New England. 528 miles to Katahdin. That is exciting and scary at the same time.
Date: 2014-08-15
From: Griffith Lake

To: VT 103
Miles today: 21.8

None of us really slept well last night because racoons were running around outside our camp all night. I was up by 6am. It was another very, very cold morning. Therefore, I was hiking just before 7am right behind Rock who left out first. We passed by three shelters in the first seven miles this morning. We stopped at each one to check it out. Just before the third one, there was a very nice suspension bridge over the river that was built just for hikers. It looked like a lot of money was invested in it in order to build it as it was a newer suspension bridge. We crossed the road that goes into Danby, VT which had an outhouse that we all used. We has a pretty easy uphill after that to the White Rock Cliffs which is where it started to rain on us and the wind picked up. It was a cool view even though it was raining. It looked like bands over the horizon. There was a steep uphill after that but it went by quickly. The six miles in the rain to VT 103 went by pretty quickly. After looking at the guide for a few minutes, we found a pretty easy way to slack pack ourselves over Killington tomorrow. We hitched into Rutland, VT then took a bus for $2 up to the Inn at Long Trail. It was pouring the rain and they had one room left on this Friday night. Also, live music in the Irish pub. This meant an easy decision. Pond and Maverick got a room that four of us stayed in (Pond, Maverick, Rock, and I). Weatherman decided to stay in the woods and hike into the Inn at Long Trail tomorrow. $25 a piece for the night and we get a four course breakfast in the morning that is included. Tomorrow we will slack pack south bound out of the Inn at Long Trail over Killington. Then, we will get back to the Inn at Long Trail the exact same way we got here tonight. It will be a good 18 mile slack pack and I cannot wait to see the top of Killington. the Whites are getting closer and closer. My mom will be slack packing us before we know it. It was a great day on the trail!
Date: 2014-08-17
From: US 4 / Inn at Long Trail

To: VT 12 / Woodstock, VT
Miles today: 23.3
Weather: overcast clouds

I woke up around 7am to the rain absolutely beating down on my tent. I could hear Grizz and Pond talking about the rain under their tarps. The wind was blowing like crazy and I thought my rain fly was going to take off for a while. They all went to eat breakfast at the Inn but had to pay for it this time. I was still full from dinner so I just hung out and charged my phone in the hiker lounge for a bit. I found out my mom was already on her way up and was only about 7 hours away. Miss Janet said she was going toward Hanover, NH later. It worked out perfect again! I packed all my soaking wet gear and piled it in her van. Pond and Rock did the same. Mountain Man was about to start putting on pads and rotors for her, so we took off towards Woodstock, VT slack packing. Yeah, another day of slack packing, and I love it! We crossed the 1,700 mile marker at the Gifford Woods State Park before climbing the fairly easy Quimby Mountain. This means we now have less than 500 miles until Katahdin. It was cool and soggy today so I barely had any water. After that first climb, it was small ups and downs all day. I only filled up water once at Locust Creek about 7 miles before Woodstock, VT. Miss Janet was at the red barn waiting for us when we got there. I was the last one there behind Weatherman, Pond, and Rock. A guy lets hiker stay inside the top of his barn for free about 100 yards off the trail. It is a really cool place! We piled in Miss Janet's van and drove the 20 minute drive to Hanover. She dropped us off at the Residence Inn Hotel (part of Marriott). Needless to say, both Miss Janet's van along with us getting out of it got some interesting looks. We hung out at a picnic table outside now that the sun was out and my mom pulled up less than a hour later around 6:30pm or so. We were worn out! She already had rooms from the 18th-24th for us, but got two more for tonight as well. One for her and one for the four of us. This place is sooooo nice! The rooms are suites and are set up like appartments. Within a few minutes I could see why my mom wanted her own room. Our stuff was everywhere drying out and it already smelt like rot. It is bad if we can smell it. We all took showers and passed out before 9pm. We were so tired. It is great that my mom is already here because that means a full week of slack packing starting tomorrow. This really helps us make up some miles and coming back to a hotel room every night is beyond amazing. Thank you mom! Tomorrow we head out for Woodstock, VT and hike into Hanover, NH.
Date: 2014-08-18
From: VT 12 / Woodstock, VT

To: Hanover, NH
Miles today: 22.9

If I have not said it before, I'll say it now, I love to slack pack. It makes the hike that day so much easy and more enjoyable without a fully loaded pack on my back. We found out there is a free breakfast at the hotel every morning from 6:30am until 9am and a free dinner Monday - Thursday from 6:30pm to 8pm. So, we made sure we could get our hikes in during this time period in order to eat as much as possible before and after. We set out alarm for 6am and of course we were early to breakfast. We devoured our eggs, sausages, yogurt, potatoes, juice, and everything else you can think of. It is definitely not your average continental breakfast. We were piled in my moms car by 7am and drove the 20 minute drive back to Woodstock, VT. My mom dropped us off and I hit the trail. Rock, Pond, and Weatherman stayed for a few minutes to talk to Bliss and Nora V. It is the first time we have seen them in a while. Then came what we thought was going to be a quick and simple slack pack into Hanover. The 13 mile hike into West Hartford, VT kicked our butts. It was like the roller coaster all over again, or at least it felt like it. I'm not sure why I had not heard about how hard this hike was. We were beat! Up 500ft, down 500ft, up 500ft, down 500ft, for about 7 or 8 peaks. It was insane and took us a lot longer than expected. We walked across the bridge into West Hartford, VT around 3pm and still had another ten or so miles to Hanover, NH. I wasted no time because I knew the more I sat around, the more I would start to tighten up. We all took off and crossed under Interstate 89 on our way up the much easier climb to the Happy Hill Shelter. I did not stop to check it out I just wanted to get to Hanover. Thankful it was such an easy hike from there. We came down a slight downhill into town and walked in right next to the NH line which is the river. We walked right over the VT/NH border, took pictures, and then into the town of Hanover, NH. This makes 12 states down, and ONLY TWO TO GO! Holy shit. It's getting close. We walked right through the college campus of Dartmouth. It is such a nice campus. I had no idea it was an ivy league school until my mom picked us up and informed me of this. We could've stayed and made sure the freshmen orientation was going as planned, but we decided dinner would be better. Four guys who have been in the woods for over five months just walked into a college campus that started school this week. It was great! We got back to the hotel around 7:30pm and ate as much food as we could. Thankfully the dinner is buffet style and the lady running it loved us. Maybe not our smell, but we made sure we were fun. We are all excited to be staying in a hotel again tonight, not to mention every night this week. I took a long, hot shower then updated some journals. I called it a night around 10pm as we have another good slack pack tomorrow starting with breakfast at 6:30am. THANK YOU MOM!
Date: 2014-08-20
From: Grafton Turnpike / Lyme, NH

To: NH 25A / Wentworth, NH
Miles today: 16.1
Weather: scattered clouds

Today was 16 miles, slack packing, that felt like 30. When I ran into Miss Janet yesterday, she said "tomorrow will be tougher than today." Well, she was right. We were up at 6am, ate breakfast as usually, then got in the car and drove back to Lyme, NH where my mom picked us up yesterday. It was only about a 20 minute drive and we were hiking by 7:30am. Within the first mile Rock, then myself, then Weatherman walked right over an underground hornets nest. Pond, who was in the back, got the best of it; right on his knees. Needless to say, he did not say much for a while as he was pissed as any of us would be. We started the climb up Smarts Mountain which turned out to be incredibly steep! It was a lot of fun though. Steps were made into some of the rocks because it was straight up and you would just slide right back down the rock if you slipped. It took us about 4 hours to do the six miles to the top. It was a really cool tower that was "closed" to the public. $5,000 fine for climbing the tower. Of course we did not climb it....the privy was nice too. We all decided since it was my mom's birthday tomorrow, we would find her something from the woods to make a card on for her. She had been talking about how she missed all the white birch in New England as she has not been here since we moved in NC in 2003. Pond, Weatherman, and I all found great pieces to make cards on for her. Rock, as anyone would guess, found a cool Rock to write on and give her. We thought the hardest part of our day was done. We hung out at South Jacobs Creek for a bit before checking out the Eastman Ledges a mile up. I called my mom and said we only have about 5.5 miles left and it's only 1:30 so we'll probably be early. I was wrong. We went up another mile to the Hexacube Shelter which was really nice. I left there only having about five miles to the road. It killed me. Straight up the side of Mt Cube, to a false summit, then straight up again to the real summit. I got mixed up on the summit for a bit trying to find the trail. Then when I did, it was straight down washed out roots with a nice layer of mud underneath. I went the 3.5 miles down as fast as I could. I got to the road around 4:30pm worn out. I threw my stuff in my mom's car. She was laughing a bit and said "not as easy as you thought I guess?" I said "no, Miss Janet was right." She had Gatorade and water for us thankfully. Rock came out of the woods just as dead, then Pond and Weatherman. Thankfully, we are taking a zero day tomorrow. I cannot wait! It is my mom's birthday and a perfect day for a zero. Today killed me. Epson salt tonight. I got back, took a quick shower, then ate dinner. Jo Cool is in town and needed a ride to Verizon to replace her phone so I got her over there before 8pm when they closed. We got a few things at WalMart, dropped Jo Cool off, and called it a night around 10pm. I was out.
Date: 2014-08-21
From: NH 25A / Wentworth, NH

To: NH 25A / Wentworth, NH
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM! We all got up around 7am, ate breakfast, then went back to the room and watched TV for a bit. Showers then checking out everything in town. L.L. Bean, EMS, and a few other stores for a few needed items. After that we all ate dinner and gave my mom her cards. She loved them! It was an awesome zero day and a great day to rest since it rained almost all day. This week is flying by and has been one of the best slack packing weeks yet. This week and when my mom came to Daleville has been awesome! Thank you soooooooooo much! We all really appreciate it.
Date: 2014-08-22
From: NH 25A / Wentworth, NH

To: NH 25 / Glencliff, NH
Miles today: 9.8

Today was a great easy slack pack. We all woke up at 6am planning to know the almost ten mile slack pack out in 3 or 4 hours early this morning, but it was pouring the rain so we ate breakfast then hung out for a bit. The rain stopped around 10am so we went back to 25A and slack the ten miles in just under four hours. We did not bring backs and my mom waited for us at 25 because it was not worth going back to the hotel since it was such a short day. After we got done slack packing, Rock, Weatherman, and Pond went to hang out at the student center with Denali, Swamp Donkey, and Boucher. My mom and I went to Supercuts so I could get a hair cut then ate at Chilis. It was a simple, fun, and easy day. My mom cooked Spaghetti later in the night since she had to use it up and we all devoured that as well. All of us are pumped for Moosilauke tomorrow as this marks the start of the White Mountain National Forest in our minds. The locals say it started in Hanover, but Moosilauke is the start to us. It was a mellow night as we were all in bed around 9pm to get ready for tomorrow. I cannot believe we are starting the Whites. I have been waiting for this since before 2011. WE ARE HERE!
Date: 2014-08-23
From: NH 25 / Glencliff, NH

To: Kinsman Notch / NH 112
Miles today: 9.3

Moosilauke is by far my favorite mountain and view on the AT yet this far. I was in aw all day every time I looked around. We were up at 6am and eating breakfast at 6:30 after packing our slack packs for today. We piled in the car and were on the road by 7am. It is a good 45 minute to a hour drive to NH 25 where we got off yesterday. We pulled in and were on the trail by 8:15am. We came across the other Blue putting his dress on for the famous climbing Moosilauke in a dress. Neither of the four of us wanted anything to do with that. We immediately started going up hill right after leaving the road crossing. The Jeffers Brook Shelter was about a mile in and we stopped to check it out. Ourselves along with Blue were the only NoBo's there. Everyone else was south bound. I left there first and got lost in a cemetery I thought was the trail. It has a nice beaten trail up to it with tombstones from the early 1800s. Then I realized people were walking up the road about another .3 miles so, I did the same, and sure enough, there was the trail. Pond and Weatherman were in front of Rock and I. The climb up went by surprising fast! I kept expecting something like the Cathedral trail going up Katahdin, but it was a cake walk compared to that! Rock had his headphones in so could not hear Pond and Weatherman yelling at us to come to the South Peak. He kept hiking and I went the 1/10th of a mile side trail to the South Peak. AMAZING! I could not stop looking all around me. I took a million pictures. It looked like a scene from a movie. We were sitting above the lower clouds with higher clouds above us. I loved it! After we left South Peak, it was .8 miles to the summit. Another awesome hike! We all took pictures, hung out with other hikers, ate snacks, loved the group of girls out for a day hike, then started for the decent. It was only 11:30am when we got to the summit so it took us less than three hours to get up it. I had told my mom 5pm so I called her and said lets plan on 3:30 - 4pm. The climb down was harder than the climb up I thought. Straight down with wet steps. It was next to a waterfall the whole way which was very cool. I got to the bottom around 2:30pm. The three others hike up about a half hour later. I guess they had stopped at Beaver Brook Shelter which I walked right by. My mom pulled in around 3:15pm and we headed back to Hanover for our last night in a hotel room. Showers, dinner, laundry, and packing is what our night consisted of. It has been a great week and I am so thankful for this opportunity. Thank you, again, mom! Hopefully I can keep my journal updated more frequently in the sections coming up. Until the next time I am on a computer,