morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2004-05-01
From: N. West Dover Rd 

To: Ten Mile river Lean-to 
Miles today: 11.5

Date: 5/1/04   Day 5Start: l8 mi. N. west Dover Rd @ 7:00; Stop: Ten Mile river Lean-to @ 2:00Mileage: On trail: 11.5; Cum. 54.9. Off trail: 0; cum. 0.8Weather: sunny and warmMajor Landmarks: Ten Mile Hill and RiverMajor Milestones: Entered Connecticut, state #10, went over 50 miles total this trip        May Day! May Day! What a beautiful May Day! Another sunny, mid-summer day, temps in the mid-70¢s. A good day for a hike as long as you drink plenty of water, which I did.        The hike down to the Metro-North Railroad AT station and Rte 22 was quick and easy. Passed some turkey hunters camped out---first day of the season in NY. From there I crossed a lot on muck, much of it on boardwalks, some on corduroy that was laid down and is very difficult to walk on, and some in the muck. Picking my way across a farmer¢s field, I jumped onto what I thought was a rock that turned out to be a cow flop. I did see a really unique silo at that farm though.        I took a nice long break at Wiley Shelter and read some log entries. Most were by the caretaker who visits there at least twice a day and writes a paragraph about it, plus 3 lines for his name. It was hard to find the hikers¢ entries, but it¢s nice to know the place is well looked-after. It¢s near a road so a likely spot for parties.        Next, on to Hoyt Road and the NY/CT state line. Nine states down, and five to go. Once across Rt 55, it was up and over Ten Mile Hill. It¢s only a mile climb but seemed like 10 at that point. I finally made it to 10 mile river Lean-to, a nice spot with an open field in front and the sound of the rushing river. I took my grungiest clothes and some of Trader Joe¢s Pure Castille Soap I had scoffed from the large supply at Wiley Lodge and went down to the river to clean up, wash my hair and wash the clothes. Once done, I laid on my pad in the shelter for an afternoon siesta.        Soon, a nice couple from New York stopped by and we had a good chat. Then a young couple and her mother stopped in, scouting out potential places for a trail wedding. Seems they met on the trail in New Hampshire but all the relatives are in this area, so they¢re looking for a closer spot for the ceremony. Neat!        Saw a nice flock of large turkeys on Ten Mile Hill. Don¢t know if it¢s open season in CT. Also met a number of day hikers out to enjoy this beautiful day.        Tomorrow it¢s Schaghticoke Mt..---stay tuned.
Date: 2004-05-02
From: Ten Mile river Lean-to 

To: Kent, CT 
Miles today: 8.7

Date: 5/2/04   Day 6Saying from my fortune cookie at the Chinese restaurant: Your next voyage will be filled with untold memories.Start: Ten Mile River Lean-to 2 7:45; Stop: Kent, CT @ 12:15Weather: overcast, rainy, cooler, windyMajor Landmarks: Schaghticoke Mt.                When I got up at 3:00 a.m. to relieve myself, the stars and moon were still up. When I awoke at 6:30, it was overcast. And as I was putting the final things into my pack, I could hear the first of the raindrops on the shelter roof. After 5 beautiful days, it was time. And, in fact, the cool air and light rain felt good.        Today¢s objective was Schaghticoke Mountain, a 2 mile climb. The summit is actually in New York and the trail here goes back into NY before coming back down into Connecticut. When it enters CT, it crosses the Schaghticoke Indian Reservation, the only place on the AT to cross an Indian Reservation. Apparently there are two factions in the tribe and, although the tribe has been recognized by the State, it hasn¢t been by the Federal Government. An article at the Ten Mile River Shelter, reprinted from ATC¢s website, gave a detailed history of the case and it looks like the legal battle will go on for sometime. Apparently at one time the tribe planned to demonstrate for their cause by blocking access to hikers on the AT. It never happened and today there was no one there to prevent me from making it up and down the mountain.        After a quick stop at Mt Algo Lean-to, I decided to head into town for a hot shower, a hot meal and a good night¢s sleep. First stop was the Market Deli for a roast beef sandwich and cold Coke. Hmmmm! Then on to the Fife and Drum Inn for a room with a shower. Then to the Laundromat for some really clean clothes but it turned out to be a laundry, not a 24 hour Laundromat and was closed Sunday. So, back to the room to wash clothes with the Gilchrest & Soames Mineral Bath with Sea Kelp Extract. Tomorrow I get my food drop and head North.        Not much to see today. The mountain was completely in the clouds, which didn¢t allow me to see any false summits, a good thing. Yu also could not see from any of the views, except one time when the clouds lifted and there was a view of the Housatonic Valley. There also was no wildlife around, except for the newts. They must like the wet weather.
Date: 2004-05-03
From: Kent, CT 

To: Stewart Hollow Brook Leanto
Miles today: 7.0

My wakeup this morning was not the usual singing of birds, but the sound of the trash truck at 4:00 am. It must have been an inexperienced driver, because he took forever. Finally I got up at 7:00 and had a breakfast of eggs, sausage, home fries, toast and OJ. Then to the Post Office to pick up my food drop. There was more than enough food, but no maps or Trail Log sheets. I must have left them out of the box. Oh, well, just follow the white blazes. It will be fun and interesting not knowing exactly what the day holds. At least I have my AT Data Book, which lists landmarks, many with elevations.As I packed up, I realized some of the clothes I had washed were still damp. So I got out the hair dryer in the bathroom and stuck it into the opening of each of my socks to finish drying them. Big mistake. Did that ever smell up the room.I finally headed up the road back to the trail. At the top of the first climb there was a deer standing in the trail watching me. I watched her for a while and she finally roamed off. A short time later a herd of 8-9 deer ran down the side of the mountain.There was nice view of Kent from Caleb¢s Peak, but the trail down from St. John¢s Ledges was all rock, very steep and long and quite slick in the wet weather. Once down, though, there was about a 1/2 mile road walk along the Housatonic River to the South Gate, then the trail followed the river all the way to the shelter. There were a lot of Canada geese on the river, and it looked like a nice section to canoe, with some group camping sites along the way.At the shelter I met Kyle, a recent high school graduate who was between shifts at his day care job and decided to take a day hike. Nice young guy.Pretty quickly I cooled down, so I changed into dry clothes, brewed a cup of hot tea and crawled into my sleeping bag to warm up. I think I was asleep when Lon and Bruce arrived. Lon, the Arkansas Traveler, is from East Tennessee and is doing a section from Palmerton, PA, to Falls Village, CT. Bruce lives locally and was joining Lon from a couple of days of hiking. They are both Southern Baptist ministers. They had done 15 miles from Ten Mile River Shelter and Bruce¢s knees were bothering him. We had some great conversations and I gave Lon my email and phone number so he could contact me when he reaches Vermont. He is planning another week in the fall to get him up to Williamstown, then will do Vermont in the spring.
Date: 2004-05-04
From: Stewart Hollow Brook Leanto

To: Sharon Mt. Campsite
Miles today: 12.4
Weather: broken clouds

It rained most of the night, sometimes hard. The weather channel in Kent had predicted up to 1/4 inch of rain. They missed that one. By morning it had cleared, but was quite cold. You could still see your breath at 10:00.The trail passed along the river for some distance. There were five turkeys in the cornfield next to the river and a blue heron stood in the shallows along the riverbank. Soon the trail took me up over Silver Hill. On the way down, I found someone¢s pack cover hanging from a branch in the middle of the trail. It looked like it might have caught on the branch and been pulled off, or else someone found it and put it there. I jammed it into my pack and would look for any notes along the way from someone who might have lost it.Right after crossing CT 4, the trail comes to Guinea Brook. With all the rain, it was impassable. After trying a few possible routes across, I decided to take the road bypass rather than risk getting wet or crossing a slippery log high above the brook. It was about 0.8 miles out of the way, down one road and back up another. But on the way back up the second road I met a man standing at the gate of a large unique home surrounded by a lot of fence. We chatted for a while and he said that his mother took in hikers there during the season. Nice digs. I continued up the road, looking for the trail, but apparently went right by it, because I soon heard Lon calling "Gray Panter" behind me. He had gotten across the brook on a log and caught up with me. We hiked with each other to West Cornwall Road and then said goodbye as he hiked on ahead to Falls Village. Bruce had taken the low road because of his knees and gotten off in Cornwall to hitch back to get their car and drive up to meet Lon.After a break I continued on over Easter Mountain to the campsite. I could hear the sound of race cars all afternoon at nearby Lime Rock Park, a 1 1/2 mile track said to be run by Paul Newman and other celebrities. I hoped that they wouldn¢t continue into the night, and they didn¢t.A tale of two hikers: A couple of entries in the shelter registers have shown the diversity of people who hike this trail. When I got on the trail the first day I began to see entries in the registers by Magic, who at the time was a day ahead of me. He got on the trail February 16th in Georgia and is apparently the first through hiker to make it this far north. One SoBo I met had talked with him and learned he was doing 4-5 30 milers a week. He has to be averaging over 20 miles per day and should reach Katahdin by June. By now he¢s 4-5 days ahead of me and I won¢t meet him, but I hope he is enjoying his hike.Another shelter entry that caught my eye was at Mt. Algo Leanto. Al P., 81 years old, had just climbed over Schaghticoke Mountain, a substantial climb and an 8+ mile hike. I can only hope that I¢m still able to do that in 20 years. This trail really does attract all kinds of people.
Date: 2004-05-05
From: Sharon Mt. Campsite

To: Rega Leanto
Miles today: 17.4

The early night was filled with the sound of a lone turkey calling nearby, then later a pack of coyotes could be heard roaming back and forth along the ridge. I assume they didn¢t meet. On the trail I first came to the Hang Glider Launch site where there is a view down to the race course at Lime Rock Park that was the source of some much noise the day before. Thankfully it was not in use at this hour. Once down off the mountain, there was an easy walk along the Housatonic River, part of it on a handicap accessible trail. The trail finally came out by the hydro plant and crossed the iron bridge below the "Great Falls," source of the name for Falls Village. With most of the water going through the plant, the falls weren¢t that great.From Falls Village it was up Prospect Mountain, then an easy woods walk. At Salisbury, I walked along the road for some distance, then into a short woods section. It was here that I found my first trail magic, a can of Diet Coke sitting on a rock in the middle of the trail. Even though it was diet, I drank it down and left a "THNX" on the rock made with sticks.My goal for the day was Plateau Campsite, just 0.2 miles up from the road. When I got there, it was hardly a plateau, but a cleared tenting site that wasn¢t quite as steep as the rest of the mountain. It didn¢t turn me on, so I decided to go the additional 3.8 miles to Rega Leanto, the shelter with a view. The climb up wasn¢t that bad and when I got there I was glad I had decided to go the extra miles. There was a nice view to the east, which would allow the morning sun to warm the shelter. An afternoon shower came through and soon there was a rainbow off in the distance. Great spot.I had seen signs of bear activity along the trail during the day and there was a warning in the shelter register of a bear encounter in the middle of the night there about 1 1/2 weeks ago. Apparently the bear was on the steps of the leanto when the occupants became aware of it and scared it off. I decided to keep my poles inside tonight just for insurance.After dinner I crawled into my bag for the night and soon Officer Taco arrived. Ben, his real name, is from Holland, MI, and is studying to be a police officer. He had just done 27 miles and immediately offered to fill one of my water bottles as he got water to save me time in the morning. He went about his evening chores and we chatted. He started February 1st in Georgia and is probably the second through hiker to get this far north. He¢s averaging close to 22 miles a day now and will finish in June. His sister is joining him in Maine for the 100 mile wilderness and the big K. Nice to have young legs and about 1500 miles behind you. Oh well, I feel pretty good about my 17 mile day.
Date: 2004-05-06
From: Rega Leanto

To: 1 mi. north Glen Brook Leanto
Miles today: 11.1

It was another cold night, but there were no furry visitors during the night. It did rain, but the one time I had to get up in the night, the full moon shone through.I left before Officer Taco (OT), and headed up Bear Mt. There was a built up stone structure on top with a granite tablet at its base whose inscription was unreadable. I have no idea what that was all about. From there it was down very steep rocks into Sages Ravine. At Sages Brook, the trail followed along one edge of the stream for about 1/2 mile. It was a beautiful stream falling steeply through evergreen forest that has never been cut. I finally crossed the stream and was greeted by a "Welcome to Massachusetts" sign, my 11th state.Then began the long climb up Race Mt. When I reached to ridgeline, there were 8-10 turkey vultures cruising along the escarpment. From there the trail followed along the edge of the escarpment to the summit, with long views and turkey vultures almost at arm¢s length. I took a nice break at the top as I viewed the next quarry, Mt. Everett. OT came along and took a sort break with me. He¢s heading to a shelter beyond where I plan to stop, a 24 mile day for him.During the descent, I met three day hikers on the way up, attesting to the attractiveness of this mountaintop. Once down, it was a tough climb up Mt. Everett. By the time I reached the summit, it felt like Mt. Everest. It is the second highest mountain on the AT in Mass. after Mt. Greylock.Then it was down to Guilder Pond, highest water in the state, and on to Glen Brook Leanto. OT was there finishing his lunch, which was an extra dinner that he had cooked. Then at 3:00 in the afternoon he headed off to do another 14 miles.   Better him than me.I had planned to stay at Glen Brook, a beautiful old growth forest location, but the shelter was down in a hole which seemed dark and dank. I much prefer light and dry, so decided to continue on. After picking up some water along the trail, I found a nice spot on the ridge toward Jug End. Most of this area is all rock, but I found a small spot down between two rock ledges providing some protection. Once I crawled into my tent for the night, I realized what a good location it was. The wind began to blow and it blew hard throughout the night, together with a little rain. If I hadn¢t been in my little protected spot, I probably would have been blown off the mountain.
Date: 2004-05-09
From: Lee, MA

To: October Mt. Leanto
Miles today: 7.2

I got up around 7:00 and checked to see if the Friendly¢s across the street was open yet. It wasn¢t. So I got some of my stuff organized and called Nancy to wish her a happy Mother¢s Day. Finally Friendly¢s opened and I had my usual town breakfast of eggs, sausage, home fries, toast and OJ. Then I packed up and headed up Rt. 20 back to the trail. As I expected, hitching a ride on Mother¢s Day morning wasn¢t easy. Not that there weren¢t plenty of vehicles on the road. The macho guys in their pickups and SUVs weren¢t about to stop, even when it started to rain. It was a young mother in her compact car with her young son in the back seat that finally stopped after I had walked about three miles. I thanked her sincerely and wished her a happy Mother¢s Day as she dropped me off.Even though it was raining and cold, I stayed in my shorts and tee shirt as I headed up the trail. I figured as long as I kept moving I¢d stay warm. When I reached the top of the first climb and stopped to sign the log book that was there, my hands were hardly functioning from the wet cold. But on down the trail I went, feeling wet and cold and miserable, until I came to a pond and decided I¢d better put on my raincoat for warmth at least. Easier said than done. My thumb and forefinger were so cold I couldn¢t get them to work the squeeze clasps on my pack. I finally got them open using one of my poles. Then while struggling to get my raincoat on over wet body and clothes, a SoBo came by and we had a nice chat. It¢s amazing how that one short encounter lifted my spirits. That¢s one thing I love about the hiking community; by and large they all have a positive attitude and help each other out in many untold ways. I¢m sure he had no idea how much he helped me, but he did.From there it was pretty much a non-stop walk in the woods to the shelter. I met one other SoBo and a couple of trail maintainers who were out clearing deadfall. I thanked them for all the wonderful work they do to keep the trail in good shape for those of us who want to hike it. The trail today, though very wet, had some interesting parts. There were two beaver ponds, one very extensive, and I saw my first moose droppings, a good indication we¢re entering the north woods. I remember last year when Hammock Hanger and I hiked the northern section of the Long Trail, being amazed at the amount of moose poop on the mountain tops. There were places where you couldn¢t avoid stepping in it. The AT in this section also crossed a number of ATV/motorbike trails, and even now I can hear them in the distance churning up mud out in the woods.I like the design of the leantos in Massachusetts. They have bunks on either side and a large overhang in front covering a picnic table. The overhang has a floor providing loft space for additional hikers. Very efficient.
Date: 2004-05-10
From: October Mt. Leanto

To: Crystal Mt. Campsite
Miles today: 16.5
Weather: overcast clouds

Greeted by another cool morning, I stayed in my sleeping bag extra long today. Finally up and out, it was a pretty easy walk to Dalton. The trail traversed a lot of wet and muddy lowlands. One section of the trail had been rerouted because of beaver activity. What little gain or loss in elevation there was, was either quick and short or longer and more gradual.   I did scare up one deer and saw a newt on the trail, but other than that, it was pretty uneventful.Warner Mt. was pretty, fairly open with flowering trees and spring beauty lining the trail. Trout lilies are out in profusion , and the white painted trillium has been added to that family.On the walk through Dalton, I stopped at a small store and picked up a cold Sobe Orange Carrot Juice Elixir, a nice pick-me-up. Then the last five miles to the campsite.Tomorrow I get off the trail for about five days for a wedding. I¢ll get off in Cheshire and try to hitch a ride to East Dummerston where my wife will be picking me up at my brother¢s house. I¢ll leave my gear a his house when we travel to the DC area and return there Sunday night. Then he¢ll drive me to the trailhead near Bennington to resume my hike on Monday morning. So I¢ll have some gaps to fill later in the summer in Massachusetts. I¢m thinking that Nancy and I will spend a couple of days around Williamstown where she can visit the art museum and see her book artist friend while I slack pack the missing links.
Date: 2004-05-17
From: East Dummerston, VT

To: Kid Gore Shelter
Miles today: 14.4
Weather: broken clouds

I was back on the trail at 8:00 this morning and it felt great. The trip to D.C. for the wedding was fun, but certainly a change in culture. We had fun walking around Old Town Alexandria and then took a boat ride from there up the Potomac to Georgetown for lunch. The rehearsal dinner and wedding reception were at local restaurants which gave us a flavor of the area. After the reception, we all went on a trolley ride around the sight of Washington on into the evening when everything was lighted. At the hotel where we stayed, they provided a free breakfast (which was a hiker¢s delight) with eggs, sausage, pancakes, make-your-own-waffles, toast, bagels juice and coffee. They certainly lost money on me each morning. The only down side was the 450 mile drive each way.        Then last night I stayed at my brother¢s house again. They prepared a wonderful meal of beef tenderloin, potato salad and fresh broccoli, along with a bottle of red wine. What a great send-off back to the trail.        After my brother dropped me off, it was a 10 mile climb to the top of Glastonbury Mt, with many dips and sags and level areas along the way. Most of the woods were mature beech that had not leafed out yet, and the forest floor was covered with spring beauty and trout lilies. I found a lot more moose droppings with their frequency becoming progressively more abundant as I got closer to the top of the mountain.        I took a nice long break at Goddard Shelter and enjoyed the view from the porch. Then I headed up to the top of the mountain to get the full 360degree view from the fire tower, but alas, it was closed. So, I headed down the other side for the last 4 miles to Kid Grove Shelter.        I met one SoBo on the way down who complained that he had only seen 2 people in 3 days, but for some reason he wasn¢t interested in stopping to talk, as continued on up the trail.        There was a young couple at the shelter when I arrived, both recent graduates form Green Mt. College hiking down to Mass. So a least I¢ll have a little company in the shelter tonight.        Amber just graduated with a BFA and Jaime is a sophomore studying history. I found out from their entry in the shelter register that Jamie¢s last name is Stone. When I mentioned it to him, he said I was the first person he had ever met with his same last name. Ah, the connections we make hiking the trail.        My legs are feeling pretty good today after 5 days off. I really didn¢t have to take any breaks on the climbs and made pretty good time to the shelter. I¢ll see tomorrow when I hike over Stratton Mt. whether I really have my legs under me at last.