morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2008-06-08
From: Zero Day

To: Zero Day-Waynesboro
Miles today: 0.0

Heat emergency throughout the mid-Atlantic, with unseasonably high temperatures yesterday, today and tomorrow - I'm definitely not hiking when the air temperature is higher than body temperature!We have extended our stay here two more days and will head out on Tuesday, the 10th. It's frustrating to be stalled out, but also fortunate to have a good place to stay. Ran some errands - or shall I say "slowly walked" some errands - and rested, read and talked with the other hiker guests and the innkeepers, Nickie and Bill.Back to gear review, as promised: the main problem with the down quilt, despite it's favorable weight, is the absorbent nature of the down. In the extreme humidity it gets funky, fast, and I hesitate to be laundering it frequently. So, I'm switching to the little LaFuma 600x sleeping bag - fiberfill, 1 lb. 4oz, and easily laundered. Keeping the silk liner because it works to keep bugs off when we're sleeping in leantos on hot nights, although not so well that I relish the thought of doing that anytime soon. Picked up a pair of the insoles I used before, to see if they can improve the ball-of-the-foot soreness I've been experiencing. But with feet markedly swollen in this heat, I don't know what is going to work best. Seems that also when you take more than a day off, the feet swell - maybe due to the change in circulation force from heavy-duty hiking to light-duty strolling around town.ULA Catalyst backpack is okay, but I continue to miss the cushy harness of the Mountainsmith Boundary pack. I do love the hipbelt pockets and the deep, wide side pockets. The large back mesh pocket is very handy as well. More time needed to see if I grow into it more.Tent has been great - Tarptent Single Rainbow. Big, light, easy to get in and out of. Would love a window that opens on the side opposite the door, like the Double Rainbow. The latter you can open both sides and get any breeze that's going. Otherwise, excellent.Pocketmail has been wonderful - worth its 8oz. Use it every day, and because I am making the effort to carry it, I think it motivates me to use it. If it worked with cell phones it would be perfect. But well worth it to me, as a journalist who sends material to my transcriber to post.Well, more reviews as I think of them. Summer hiking will put different demands on the system - we'll see what works well.
Date: 2008-06-09
From: Zero Day-Waynesboro

To: Zero Day-Waynesboro
Miles today: 0.0

Last of the heat-related zeros, as the temp climbs to the high 90's yet again. I found out about a walk-in barber shop, nearby, that is staffed by women - so I took myself down and got a badly needed trim. It was fun listening to the general chat as they worked.At lunchtime there was a plan to meet Pops, with whom we hiked some time ago, and who lives nearby. So Leaping Turtle, Me (trail name), Auntie Mame, Pops and I all went to the South River grill for a good lunch together and lots of reminiscing about people and events on this year's AT.Many hikers are taking kayaks, rafts or canoes down the Shenandoah River as an alternative to hiking that section - although some will come back and hike it to be complete, or have already hiked it. (It's called "aqua blazing"!) We aren't planning to do this - I guess because for me it seems too complicated, and I finally feel I know what I'm doing on foot!Our afternoon was spent packing food and packs for this next section, and packing up the bounce boxes for Harper's Ferry. No matter the weather we ARE going hiking tomorrow, but it does sound like a little bit cooler and drier, so should be fine.
Date: 2008-06-10
From: Rockfish Gap

To: Campsite, mile 865
Miles today: 14.5

Back on the trail! Even though there was still a "heat advisory" today, we needed to get going - and it was somewhat better than when we left off, with temps in the low 90's instead of high 90's, and more moderate humidity and a slight breeze most of the day. I probably also am getting used to it, having gone around town every day, several times, doing errands and visiting people.Right now I'm in my tent on a hillside not far from Wildcat Ridge trail, at an unnamed site that many have used before. It's after 7pm, and thunder is rolling around the valleys - no storm yet, we'll see what happens tonight. we got on the trail at Rockfish Gap about 9:30am, with Bill kindly taking us after stopping at the FedEx store so we could send the bounce boxes ahead to Harpers Ferry. Sunny, breezy and very warm, but we did really well with it today. Trail was hilly at first but became more graded as the day went on so we were able to do a respectable 14 miles even with a late start.Heard crackling and crunching in the forest ahead at one point and scanned, looking for the deer which it sounded like - but it turned out to be a bear, not too big, apparently rooting around an old stump off the trail. We clacked hiking poles and spoke to it and it cooperatively ran off. That's what we like to see!But tonight we were extra careful to eat a good way from the tents, and to hang the food high and separately - if a bear gets one bag, perhaps the other will be spared. I've spoken with two hikers who had their bags ripped up and food eaten in separate incidents, so these cautions are not just silly exercises.Great to be out in the woods again, and on our way through Shenandoah National Park. It isn't much different so far from the trail before here except having to put a registration tag on your pack. Occasional good view of the tiny farms and towns in the valley on either side of the ridge, but otherwise a great deal of green forest canopy or overgrown fields.Much later: showers, thunder and flashes of lightning kept us awake, not to mention the heightened awareness of bears - a deer greeted us shortly after we arrived at this campsite by crashing and snapping around in the underbrush, sounding very much like the bear sounded earlier, and all night he/she wandered around...
Date: 2008-06-11
From: Campsite, mile 865

To: Loft Mt. Campground, mile 877.9
Miles today: 12.9

Sitting at our picnic table at this lovely site at Loft Mt. Campground, swatting the blackflies that swarm whenever a little cloud covers the sun for a moment...just like home!This feels incredibly luxurious - table with benches, a restroom with hot and cold running water and soap (!) just a little walk away, and a grassy site with plenty of space for our tents, surrounded by attractive trees but sunny at the same time.We awoke to cooler temps and some breeze which made our hearts leap up...and made the hiking more enjoyable. Trails today were very nice indeed, all very smooth, edges mowed, and few climbs to speak of, but what climbs there were were graded well. I had spent a fitful night, as did Auntie Mame, with the unsettled weather and the low-level bear alarm all set and alert and ready to go off, so neither of us was at our finest - hence the attraction of this established campground at 13 miles. My feet are pretty much done by 12 miles, so more than that requires great need or uncommonly good trail. We had the latter today, but even that wasn't enough to develop the urge to push on.It is a lovely evening here, catbirds, robins and bob-whites singing their songs. I washed my clothes in the set tub and hung them on the line A.M. put up, hoping the last few hours of strong sun and warm air will dry them.Time to wander down to the pay station and settle up, call home, then fix supper. Nice.
Date: 2008-06-12
From: Loft Mt. Campground, mile 877.9

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

6-12-08After calling home yesterday evening, it was clear that I need to get off the trail and go home to help with a family member's health problem. Any hiker with family at home knows that this sort of thing can come up at any time, and it makes you very grateful for each day on the trail.Auntie Mame has decided to go home with me, not wanting to hike alone or break up the team. It doesn't look like we will be able to pick up from Loft Mt. this season, but we will keep you posted.We were able to contact Mountain & Valley Shuttle Service to get us to the DC area, and Marcia's husband helped to arrange flights from there to Portland, Maine on Saturday.Sort of stunned, at the moment, but will write more when I get home and the fog lifts.
Date: 2008-06-25
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

I've been off the trail for 2 weeks now, and although the medical crisis that I came home to help with is resolving well, there is a long recovery period and I will need to stay close to home for an indefinite while yet.Getting off trail has been like this: you're in the middle of a really great, absorbing movie and suddenly the film breaks - flap-flap-flap - you're not sure what's going on at first, then you wonder if they're going to fix it, then you're outside on the sidewalk in the bright sun, blinking, walking home with images in your head of the movie, not knowing how it came out.The pace of life is SO different off trail. Seems very fast, clipped, busy. The hiking was often really hard, but hard in a consistent way - grinding uphills, heat, and wondering where the next resupply was, to be specific. Except for the occasional busy shelter site, one's contact with people was limited and slow. Back in the world of phones and email I have felt overwhelmed a LOT. I am so grateful for the support from journal readers and hiking friends, the kind notes in the guestbook especially, which I read often and it helps me feel connected and understood. Hoping to hike some AT in New England later in the summer, probably in shorter bits - something to look forward to! As for the physical adaptation, the hiker hunger has stayed with me, and I am realizing I can't just be let loose in a kitchen after months of being limited to what's in the old food bag! So, need to set some serious limits there. Yesterday, when I squatted down to read something on a bottom shelf in a store I couldn't get up afterwards...had to grab a shelf and HAUL...sheesh! How did I ever hike?! One big beneficiary of this return is the dog, who is extremely glad to have someone take him out for long walks twice a day. Good for me too, and helps with the surprising inertia that I feel a lot. More later - gear reviews and thoughts about the transition to off-trail after a long,long hike.
Date: 2008-07-18
From: home

To: home
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

(I'm putting photos into the album, and also onto the journal pages - it's a slow process, but little by little...thanks, Mame, for carrying a camera and taking pictures!)Switching identities from "thruhiker" to "section hiker " is harder than I would have thought, even though I have been a section hiker all my life and was very happy with that - until I experienced being part of the NOBO crowd this spring. Looking back, it was an illusion, "thruhiker", since the pace we were keeping would not have gotten me to Katahdin by Labor Day - that option was realistically out the window by Damascus. I couldn't look at it, though, because it would have cost my partnership with Auntie Mame if I had become totally set on thruhiking. And the partnership was so excellent, more than I had hoped, that I couldn't imagine giving it up. So I stayed vague in my mind about my goal - phrasing it as "keeping the options open" - to avoid the pain of facing it.So, I ended up facing it these last 5 weeks - and painful it has been. Non-hikers will find this silly, but it was fairly awful to wake up each morning and figure out where I was and then realize the dream was OVER. I guess when you throw yourself into something, and it works out well, and you meet wonderful people, and it is physically and mentally challenging, well...of course it's hard to stop. And as I reflect on what I have heard from friends who have completed the trail as a thruhike, and from friends who have come off the trail for injury, illness, family matters or other reasons, it's hard all around, no matter how it ends. Fortunately the transition is easing up now, as my partner's health returns - we are so fortunate in this, which is by far the most important thing. And so the door has opened to do some more hiking this summer, in NH and in Maine, between now and Labor Day when I have to be back at work. Auntie Mame is busy setting up encounters with hiking friends, and I'm excited to possibly run into a number of folks we met months ago who are either all the way up in New England now or are flipping and heading south. Should be fun, hiking New England with some kind of conditioning - and come to think of it, not having the pressure of heavy mileage might be a good way to deal with the tougher sections. So, all is not lost. See you out there!
Date: 2008-07-24
From: N. Woodstock, NH

To: N. Woodstock, NH
Miles today: 0.0

Here I sit at the Autumn Breeze Motor Inn, North Woodstock, NH, killing time as the weather gods unleash their entertainment. Light rain, heavy rain, drizzle, fog, lightning, high winds, sunny moments - all day, all across New England. Driving here this afternoon from central Maine was more of an adventure than it usually is. I had to pull over and stop 4 times because the rain was so hard it flooded the road and was so heavy you couldn't see. Then there was the young moose that stumbled down a bank and caught himself, recognizing the whoosh of my car as something to avoid. I guess we were both lucky.Nearly 4 hours after I left home, I came to the Autumn Breeze - mentioned in the guidebooks and suitably clean and extremely well located, next door to a small grocery store and a few buildings away from the Woodstock Inn which has a great restaurant. Here Auntie Mame was supposed to meet me, but as of 5pm she hadn't left her house yet and so I discouraged her from setting out on a 4-5 hour drive in this incredible rain, through winding mountain roads, after dark and with moose roaming about. The plan for tomorrow was to go to the Glencliff hostel, pick up Certain and leave one car, then drive to the north trailhead above Moosilauke and slack ourselves south back to the first car. Since Mame won't be coming in til tomorrow, I called Certain to see if others at the hostel would like to slack, and I will take them all to the trailhead as planned. I've already hiked Moosilauke so don't need to hike it for AT section miles.When Certain gets done, I'll go get her and we'll plan the next section over the Kinsmans. At least that's the general idea. The fellow checking me in told me about a tornado in southern NH this afternoon that caused considerable damage...we'll see what the weather is up to.A few comments on what makes a good motel stop, gleaned from experience the last few months: reasonable price, location - near store, PO, laundramat, library - clean, big enough to spread stuff out and organize, telephone, A/C, and proximity to other hikers. This one fills the bill, with a few perks like fridge, microwave, sink counter, table & chairs as desirable extras. This town is a hitch away from the AT, but is fairly close to 3 trailheads - Glencliff/Rt 25, Kinsman Notch/Rt 112, and Franconia Notch/Rt 3&93. Might see some other hikers over the next few days - would be good!
Date: 2008-07-25
From: N. Woodstock, NH

To: N. Woodstock, NH
Miles today: 0.0

Woke up in the motel to bright sun streaming down over the eastern mountains - what a great sight, especially after yesterday's torrents. Went for breakfast at the Clement Room in the Woodstock Inn - decent food, good coffee. Then drove the 20-odd miles over to Glencliff to meet Certain for the first time. I've known of her for a couple of years from her very detailed journal on Trailjournals. She started a thruhike in 2007 which was interrupted in Virginia and now is back on, completing her hike. Auntie Mame thought to contact her since she is hiking into NH now, and perhaps we could team up for some hiking. Certain answered back and here we are, poised on the edge of a joint adventure through the White Mountains.Anyway, I arrived at the hostel by 7:45am and knew who Certain was from her pictures online - it was fun to greet her, and meet Stripe and Lizard who also wanted to slack Moosilauke. I also was pleased to see Rabbit, who we hiked with near Montebello,VA, and he accepted a short ride to the southern trailhead. I left everyone off at Kinsman Notch trailhead, agreeing to return when they called from Glencliff, and set about puttering the rest of the day away, sorting hiking stuff, poring over maps and identifying trailheads, and driving up to tomorrow's trailhead and scouting the best place to park. This trailhead, where the AT crosses Rt 3&93, between the Kinsmans and the Liberty Spring trail, has no immediate parking. It also is on a divided highway, so you either park a mile or so south near the Flume or a mile or so north at the Basin parking, and hike down to the AT via the bike path. The Flume parking is easier to put a car at from either direction because it is on Rt.3 before it joins 93 and becomes divided, but the Basin parking area is a little closer, by foot, to the trailhead.Later in the afternoon Auntie Mame drove in and we had a jolly reunion. Shortly after, Certain called and I left to pick her up. We had fun meeting and talking, and enjoying the "social equivalence" of being thru-hikers who had to get off in Virginia. It sort of casts you out of your crowd, when that happens, and so it was very nice to connect with someone else who'd been through that.Then to dinner at an extremely crowded and noisy Woodstock Station, which had excellent food despite the Friday night crush of people and energy. A good day!
Date: 2008-07-26
From: Franconia Notch Rt. 3 & 93

To: Eliza Brook Shelter
Miles today: 8.8
Weather: scattered clouds

Last night we drove one car to the Kinsman Notch parking area,so all we had to do this morning was drive to the Basin parking area to start hiking. We got up at 5:30 with that tingly, half scared, half excited feeling I always get when hiking out here, and went to Peg's for early breakfast. Actually hiking by 8am.We planned a one-night southbound backpack over the Kinsmans, since it is a fairly steep and particularly bouldery section (read: slow going). But my pack was fairly light with only two days of food, and the promise of ample water all along the trail - no drought in New Hampshire right now!Speaking of ample water, right off the bat - a hair-raising stream crossing. Yesterday's deluge swelled Cascade Brook to the point that finding rocks to clamber over was tricky. All reasonable paths seemed to end with a hopeless torrent - so each of us set out on a different trajectory, but I felt like I was playing a particularly diabolical game of Twister...we finally made it without having to wade. The whole stream was about 25-30 ft. across, but was waist-deep at some points. (In retrospect, I ought to have been less anxious about getting feet wet, and simply looked for the safest means across, whatever it took.)By 9:30am we were at Lonesome Lake Hut, where we met Rabbit again, who had been hiking north since yesterday morning. He had made very good time over Moosilauke, Wolf Mt. and the Kinsmans all in one swoop. Big guy, long legs, much drive. We had a snack and fresh water, and set out again.The hiking was steep and rocky, but I noticed how much pleasanter it was since the last time I hiked this section - now that I've got those 3 months of hiking behind me. And I loved being back in New England, with familiar plants and rocks, vistas and aromas - lots of balsam fir on this leg, great smell.Despite the light pack and good condition, though, it took us 9 hours to go the 8.8 miles to Eliza Brook shelter site. Found a tent site that both our tents would fit on, and Certain strung up her hammock down the path a ways. We ate and went to bed early - plenty tired from the hard climbing. Just as I got in the tent it started to rain, and stormed for a while - we were so grateful it waited til then. Enjoyed the iPod - Arthur Russell's Wild Combination - and crashed for the night
Date: 2008-07-27
From: Eliza Brook Shelter

To: Kinsman Notch, Rt 112
Miles today: 7.5
Weather: overcast clouds

It stormed last night - rain, thunder, lightning - but I slept pretty well anyway. The Lafuma 45 degree bag needed a little help for optimal cozy-ness, so in the middle of the night I added a hat and a powerstretch shirt. Should have put socks on too, but didn't want to wake completely up. I was pleased that the bag is fiberfill, though, because the rain was so hard it splashed up thru the screening around the bottom edge, and also misted a little from condensate flying off the inside roof when rain hit so hard. Just a little damper than I would have liked with a down bag, so I was generally pleased with the Lafuma.This shelter site has a metal bear box, very handy, sparing us the evening antics trying to get bear lines suspended over high branches. Also there are gravel tent pads, which drain well and prevent flooding, even at the cost of sandy splatter all over the bottom of the tent.On my mind is how to coordinate ourselves. I have hiked a lot in the White Mountains, but it is becoming clear to me that I did so as a section hiker. That means you take weather, your physical condition, fatigue level, and all other variables into consideration when you plan a section here. But thru-hikers don't really do that - there is a great premium on mileage, so thru-hikers just up and hike through...So, how are we going to coordinate our different aims? I'm a little, no, a lot worried about this. I no longer have any incentive at all to make miles, since a thru-hike is out the window. But I love to hike. And New Hampshire has spectacular terrain and trails. We'll see.8pm Got the 7.5 miles done in 7.5 hours - another long day but not so steep or strenuous as yesterday. Met a lot of NOBOs, including Mountain Sailor and Bear Trap, with the physics equation on his upper arm, who we met in Georgia. It was a nice day, sunny until mid-afternoon, then light cloudiness. Warm. No views from Wolf Mt., but occasionally you could see through the trees and appreciate how high up we were. The most expansive view was the ride back to N.Woodstock and the Autumn Breeze motel, when you get a fantastic view heading south on 112 from Kinsman Notch. We picked up a couple of secton hikers who needed a ride back to their car, and had a good chat about that perspective on things. I'm getting calmer and happier about that as time goes on.We showered up and went out to dinner at the Woodstock Station, where the light-size London Broil plate was huge and delicious. Great leftovers!
Date: 2008-07-28
From: Kinsman Notch, Rt 112

To: Zero Day - N. Woodstock, NH
Miles today: 0.0

Zero day - N.Woodstock, NHGot up at our leisure, out to breakfast at Peg's, and then just lazed around. Napped. Went to the grocery store. And began planning the next few days.Tomorrow's plan is a day hike up the Liberty Spring Trail and across Franconia Ridge Trail to Lafayette summit, which is 6.3 AT miles with almost 4'000ft. elevation gain - which you then have to lose as you come back down the Greenleaf and Old Bridle Path trails for an additional 4 miles or so. We couldn't get hut reservations for tomorrow night, so we will day hike it.We got hut reservations for Galehead Hut on 7-30, so we can hike back up the Old Bridle Path to the summit of Lafayette and across Garfield Ridge trail to the hut. Then hike over to Zealand and out the next day. The following day we can hike in at Zealand rd. and hike the Ethan Pond Trail down to rt. 302, a relatively easy hike after all steep stuff.Dunno - sounds like a lot, day after day, but we'll see. Meantime, it's fun having a town day with Auntie Mame and Certain - they are both like their journals sound: warm, enthusiastic, multi-faceted, interesting people with great senses of humor and very pleasant to spend time with, on trail or off. Could do worse!