morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2008-06-05
From: Sunrise Peak ridge

To: Pochuck Mt ridge
Miles today: 24.7

Today was a tough day for both of us. I got a new skin problem on my feet and Pickle is just plain tired out.I made a poor decision to wear very dirty socks this morning, since it rained again last night and I didn't want to get clean ones wet right away. By mid-morning, I felt pain in my heels and found areas rubbed raw. So I had to find a place to clean up, tape up and get clean socks on. Stupid.Pickle kept a strong pace most of the day with me trying to keep up wiht my sore feet. Then on the last climb up Pochuck, he lost all his energy. We'll see how he does tomorrow, maybe it's just a matter of diet. The morning was really hard hiking and we did at a good clip.We stopped in Unionville, NY for groceries and another stop on the diner-a-day tour. I was thrilled to see NY rye bread and bagels, and filled up my food bag.Thankfully, it was cool and overcast again, or the long walk out in the open past a wildlife refuge lake could have been miserable. With my sore heels, it was hard enough. I wish I could have enjoyed it more, but I could appreciate the swans, muskrats, deer, ducks and frogs. I'm sure there was much more to see if I'd been in the mood. I'm bummed out to be having these foot problems after so long being pain free. But no one told me this wasn't going to hurt. I've been extremely fortunate so far.And I broke my spoon--just that kind of day--not "feeling the love" on the AT today.
Date: 2008-06-06
From: Pochuck Mt ridge

To: Buchanan Mt approach
Miles today: 27.3

What a difference a day makes! Even in cool damp overcast weather, we took off this morning with renewed spirits. Even after picking slugs off shoes and socks (ugh), I enjoyed the early morning. It really helped that I had clean feet and socks and did a good tape job on the sore spots--I had no pain at all today. And Pickle's back in fine form. We blamed the rocks, and we had very few of them today.We're in New York now and I can't believe how gorgeous it is here. Waterfalls, glacial lakes, rock walls, raptors (including a golden eagle, we think), even very few signs of people and their litter.We continued our diner-a-day streak with a huge Italian meal at West Mombasha Road, and even had an afternoon banana split at the Bellvale Creamery. Civilized hiking has its advantages.   Pickle calls it a carrot-and-stick approach to hiking.The afternoon got stick hot, and we hear it will get worse this weekend. Ugh. This is the summer weather we'll be avoiding in large quantities by not hiking this area in July and August.We're camped on a ridge with a cool breeze, and we have our alarms set for 0520 tomorrow, to try to beat as much of the heat as we can into Bear Mt. A motel room and laundry there will be very welcome.We each fell on our ass once today, both on mossy damp rocks. No harm done.We climbed a ridge from which, on a clear day, you can see the NYC skyline. No such vistas today, but it's cool being that close to the ultimate trail town.
Date: 2008-06-07
From: Buchanan Mt approach

To: Bear Mountain
Miles today: 22.9
Weather: haze

We got the summer heat and humidity in full force today. At least it was cool overnight on our ridge and we slept well. We woke to a warm fog, not a good sign--very humid. And the first 8 miles of trail were murder--very fun, beautiful rock scrambling, through features like "the Lemon Squeezer"--but very slow and draining in the growing heat. I drank about six liters of water and peed very little.In town, it was 97 degrees at six pm. It was brutal out there in the sunny areas, with the sun nearly overhead now. Did I mention it was hot today?
Date: 2008-06-08
From: Bear Mountain

To: Shenandoah Mountain
Miles today: 21.5

It was a day of wonders, from delicate to powerful. First the delicate--we saw a bird's nest at knee height just off trail with four eggs in it. And the mountain laurel are at their peak and the interesting five-sided blooms are beautiful. Now the powerful--As the day warmed up, some moisture built up and formed storm clouds. We'd heard a forecast this morning for a slight chance of thunderstorms, not enough to worry about. We got a small drizzle at lunch, glad for the cooling. But as we climbed a ridge, a tempest came down upon us to smite us. I've never quite experienced anything like this storm in strength and frequency and proximity of lighting bolts. Was I worried? Enough to take a few precautions like increasing the distance between us and hurrying off the ridge. The maelstorm continued full force for what seemed like a long time, long enough to get chilled (didn't expect that on a 90 degree day). As it abated and the immediate danger passed, relief set in. I tried to do an imitation of Lt. Dan in Forrest Gump, lashed to the boat mast in the hurricane scene, "Mwah-hah-hah! Is that all you've got? Give me your best shot, I can take it! Mwah-hah-hah!" We laughed about that until we started smelling smoke, then we walked right up to a tree burning right on the trail. Oh boy, that was close.That, of course, launched us into a new, somewhat blasphemous topic of likening the experience to Moses', burning bush/burning trees on mountains and all that. We tried to come up with some commandments, but we couldn't think of any good ones.I forgot to mention a few things about yesterday, besides the heat. I saw my first copperhead snake, coiled up at the base of a shelter wall. We stayed at the Bear Mt Bridge Motel, a charming place, very welcome for the new A/C and new shower. We did laundry, too, and my clothes were almost as dirty as as I've ever seen them. One exception being a 120-mile desert crossing. If it were ever dry enough for the sweat to evaporate, I'm sure they would've been very stiff.We took advantage of the cooling rain and lower water consumption to bypass our planned stop (18 miles, a short day planned for the heat) and go a few more miles. Tomorrow's supposed to be really hot again, mid-nineties compared to low nineties today. Tomorrow we have another carrot to chase, an offer of shelter at a trail angel's house!My main resupply lately has been delicious NY bagels. I don't think I'll ever be able to eat a supermarket bagel-shaped bread-thingy again.
Date: 2008-06-09
From: Shenandoah Mountain

To: AT rail station
Miles today: 21.1

Suddenly the mosquitos came out yesterday. Add them to the sweaty heat and it's a fun combination. We found some nice spots on breezy ridges for breaks and we are thankful for the netting on our Tarptent shelters.Today the temperatures hit the upper nineties again. We were able to get an early start and hiked 14 miles by noon before it got noticeable. The morning was quite nice, actually. We thought for a while that the heat had abated. Then we hit an open area just after lunch and changed our minds. We had good access to water, and that helped. It really wasn't unbearable in the shade.We were able to meet up today with the Mac and Cheeses, trail angels in this area, who brought us to their home. We can't describe how wonderful it is to receive this kind of welcome, especially on such a brutally hot day. So we're well taken care of for the night. Tomorrow we officially enter New England at the Connecticut state line. We started talking about our strategy to finish this walk. We're about 2/3 done, and are a little tired, and still have a lot of climbing ahead of us in the White Mts. What's the best way to conserve and maybe build back a little energy? Shorter days? More zeroes? Both? Tomorrow we will start with shorter days and taking longer breaks in trail towns, see how that works.
Date: 2008-06-10
From: AT rail station

To: Mt Algo lean to area
Miles today: 18.0

Another bloody hot day today, four in a row. We finally reduced our mileage accordingly, with no goals in the near future. Also, we¢ve been saying all along that we¢ll slow our pace in New England. Well, today we got to New England, so we slowed our pace.We¢re in New England!! You have no idea how good that feels. We walked into a small CT town (Bull¢s Bridge) for a deli sandwich (of course¢the streak remains unbroken), and I saw nothing but CT and MA license plates on cars.And a guy there interviewed us for a documentary he¢s making about AT hikers. Besides the usual questions, he did ask one interesting one¢do you ever get bored out there? I realized that no, I haven¢t yet, not at all. Besides the excitement with weather and burning trees and such, today I saw two aquatic creatures swimming in Ten Mile River that I¢d never seen before. (Yes, there are advantages to slowing down.) He also expressed concern about diet. Luckily we had just been to a supermarket (thank you, Mac!) and were loaded up with good fresh food. Pickle held up his pack to show the two bananas in the back pocket, and I had an apple in mine.We sat out the heat of the afternoon in town and at a couple of nice spots on the trail. We had a relaxed mid-morning start after a nice breakfast in the kitchen with Mac and the Cheese. We¢re so fortunate to have made their acquaintance. They¢re great trail folk, though they haven¢t hiked yet. But they¢ve traveled and lived and really know how to give where it helps.
Date: 2008-06-11
From: Mt Algo lean to area

To: Belter's Camp
Miles today: 22.5

We¢ve been kicking and pulling debris off the trail all morning after last night¢s extremely violent storm. This one was very similar to Sunday¢s except we stayed completely dry in our Tarptents, and it had higher winds. Pickle thought it sounded like an advancing army, I had a train in mind. You could hear the high winds approaching, roaring closer in the treetops.   When it arrived, loose and dead branches started falling. At night in a tent, everything sounds louder¢a bunny becomes a bear, a falling pine cone is an entire tree. The best I could think of to do after tightening up guy lines was to assume the fetal position with hands over my head (no, I did not suck my thumb or whimper, really). Meanwhile, Pickle was imagining the Battle of the Bulge, fighting off the Germans. His tent must¢ve been more fun than mine.Later in the day, we hiked into some real storm damage. We must¢ve been just at the edge of it. Large oaks were uprooted and broken, many lying on the trail. We did considerable bushwhacking, very unusual for the AT.Besides the littered trail, the terrain was hilly and rocky much of the day. Our 22.5 miles was a tough haul. I know, we said we¢d take it easy. But there¢s a carrot here, too. From here, tomorrow we can walk to Falls Village for breakfast, then on to Salisbury for lunch and our reserved hotel room. Ahh, a day off will be nice.The forecast was for upper 80s today, but it felt like air conditioning after four days of upper 90s. What a blessed relief! We didn¢t dread the sun or climbs or drink eight liters of water and still be thirsty.Today we broke our diner-a-day streak. I lost count, but it must be nearly ten days. To eat all day out of the food bag seemed strange.We took inventory today. We have 700 miles to go, and we¢re feeling well, just tired. My feet and knees feel fine. I think I¢ve gained back all the weight I lost early on. I¢m confident we can do this. All we really have to do now is just finish¢no more time or weather goals, like had up to now, to beat the heat into New England (we just barely made that goal). I think we¢ll be exhilarated to be in the real mountains again and that will give us the energy.
Date: 2008-06-12
From: Belter's Camp

To: Salisbury town
Miles today: 10.5
Weather: clear sky

Finally an easy day. We're going to be lazy tourists for the next 24 hours. The White Hart Inn had a room ready for us at 11:00 when we walked into town, so it's ours for the next 24 hours.The town was without power for 24 hours yesterday. The storm damage on the trail today was worse than yesterday's. The first three vehicles we saw when we got to the road were tree trimmers. Stuff is getting back to normal. I was wondering if anyone in town would have even noticed the storm we had--I guess they did. In a way, we had it better than they did. We didn't have to worry about the stuff in the freezer or the big branch poking through the roof of the car. We haven't heard about anyone getting hurt, and that's good.I forgot to mention one thing during the hot days. I continue to be amazed at how Pickle can handle the heat. I was reminded of the very first time I tried to keep up with Pickle on a trail, we were on the PCT at San Gorgonio Pass near Palm Springs, CA on a 100 degree day. Pickle took off up a slight grade. GreasePot and I tried to keep up. GreasePot ended up with near-heat exhaustion and I didn't do too much better. The man is a machine out here.
Date: 2008-06-13
From: Salisbury town

To: Glenbrook leanto area
Miles today: 14.2

We're sticking to our slower pace promise. Pickle says he feels stronger already after some good rest yesterday. We're planning a couple of more fun days before Dalton, easy days at interesting places.We made it into Mass. today. And it's beautiful in the woods here. Sage's ravine at the border was wonderful and we're getting into higher country, over 2000! For the first time since virginia. I think.We finally met a crew of northbounders, four of them. They're keeping a good pace and seem to have good hiking habits. So we'll probably be seeing more of them. They left Springer earlier but they're picking up their pace and we're slowing ours down. So we may have hiking partners for the first time. This is pretty much as I envisioned it, that we'd meet up with some good experienced hikers late in the trip. It took GP and me 1700 miles of leapfrogging with Pickle on the PCT before we finally started hiking together on a daily basis. That sure was a fun group we made, first with Lord Tea ("The Fab Four"), then with FreeMan("GP and the stoplights"). So I'm hoping for similar good company now, at roughly the same mileage. Crossed 1500 miles today!Salisbury was a really good rest stop for us, very rejuvenating. I hope we can do that more often.
Date: 2008-06-14
From: Glenbrook leanto area

To: Benedict pond
Miles today: 18.4

Another disgustingly easy day for the deli duo. We spent a couple of hours at the Tom Leonard LeanTo with five other NOBOs. Sleepwalker, Long Stepper, Dirty Harry, FootLoose (all of whom we met yesterday) and Sinker, who is sick, maybe with giardia.Our goal tomorrow is another 18 miles to the very nice Goose Pond Shelter. We camped in a low spot just before "The Ledges" in a growing electrical storm. We've learned to respect those here, and to not taunt God during them.We stopped mid morning for a nice long fruit break at the Corn Crib - shared a $7.00 bag of cherries.We stopped early at just past 6. Thinking of just sitting out the storm. But we're satisfied with our distance - we wouldn't have gone more than a mile or two more anyway. So, guess we'll just stay here and try to sleep a lot. This should be a short thundershower. (I had to say that - now it's going to pour all night!)
Date: 2008-06-15
From: Benedict pond

To: Goose Pond Cabin
Miles today: 17.0
Weather: light rain

Yet another easy day on the AT, albeit a wet one. It didn't rain that much where we were , but there was a lot of water damage on the trail as we hiked north. These storms have been very intense.Most of the trail today was wet and or muddy, and we got quite dirty.We met a family out for a Sunday walk with an out-of-control , untrained off-leash dog, Bubbles. I sure was glad when we could no longer hear them screaming "Bubbles!".We arrived at the upper Goose Pond cabin in mid afternoon. We took baths and rinsed our clothes in the suprisingly warm pond water. Then we took out the cabin's canoe for a little spin around the pond. We saw a beaver lodge, a great blue heron and some redwing blackbirds. We also noticed a tree stuck by lightning right next to the shelter.Long stepper was there enjoying a reunion with his wife, who brought in a small feast in a cooler, we were invited to join in. What a great bit of trail magic. Sleepwalker cam in too, to join in. They even had rhubarb pie!The cabin is a nice place that's staffed in hiking season by AMC volunteers. They get to stay at a nice rustic cabin in the wood and meet thru-hikers and keep everything in good order. THe cabin has a bunkroom with mattresses!In the morning, it's apparently a tradition for the caretakers to cook pancakes for the hikers. So we got two unexpencted meals in a row.Later in the evening, Ishmael came in, tired after a long 28 mile day, but happy to be there and to see other hikers. It sounds like there aren't too many around here now.
Date: 2008-06-16
From: Goose Pond Cabin

To: Dalton, MA
Miles today: 20.4
Weather: light rain

I think today's our last easy day for a while. Tomorrow we start some real climbing again. It sure has been a nice break.We left the cabin after a nice pancake feed, followed shortly by Longstepper and Sleepwalker. We hiked most of the day with them, our first actual hiking companions on this trip! It sure made the day go faster, having some new stories and conversations.The morning was cool and misty with very light rain, then it got sunny in the early afternoon. But by the time we reached Dalton in the late afternoon we had ominous dark clouds and approaching thunder. We got a few groceries and ducked into a sub shop for a sandwich just as another violent storm hit. An hour later it was still raining, so we walked into the motel next door and they offered us a $70 room for $50 cash (incl. tax and laundry) because their phones were down. We couldn't pass it up, especially the laundry - it's been about a week, no laundry in Salisbury though we did wash in the shower.At sunset, it's still raining and there are tornado warnings in the area. It's nice to be inside and dry tonight. But it sounds like soggy trail conditions will continue.The woods have really been beautiful lately, nice ground cover, nice ravines, and rock walls. Healthy tree canopy, good mix of trees to my untrained eye. We're in the Berkshires, very pretty rolling terrain. I'm enjoying Mass. very much.I also saw my first large snapping turtle--fearsome creature. And the trail is full of cute little red efts - I'm afraid I've stepped on some without knowing it.
Date: 2008-06-17
From: Dalton, MA

To: North Adams, MA
Miles today: 23.3

A fine day today, despite a rainy forecast. It was cool, breezy, no bugs, not too muddy despite several hours of rain last night. And we climbed over our first real mountain in quite a while, Mt. Greylock.It was also great to see three small Mass. towns, Dalton, Cheshire and North Adams. It sounds like the town tours will stop when we enter Vermont tomorrow. We got to North Adams in the early evening. The motel here is convenient to groceries and dinner and we negotiated a decent hiker rate. Since there are very few lodging options coming up, we decided to stay here for a bonus night.We hiked alone today. We don't know where the other hikers we've been seeing lately are. The walking was fine, on good trail, very fine scenery.Tomorrow we enter Vermont. This is really getting exciting, getting into a real mountain state, as Pickle puts it.
Date: 2008-06-18
From: North Adams, MA

To: Little Pond Lookout
Miles today: 24.2

Farily often today, I would think to myself, "I'm hiking in Vermont", and I would smile.I'm not sure, but I think Vermont is French contraction for "Green Mountain". If so, the name makes perfect sense. Nothing to see here but green mountains.It was a very nice day today, cool, breezy, partly sunny, a few drops of rain. The trail's a little rocky and still pretty muddy, so we had to do a lot of dancing, not easy striding.We met legendary hiker "Artful Dodger" today. We saw no other NOBO through hikers. I'm afraid we may have already left behind the folks we started to get to know. But I hope we'll see them again soon.We've started seeing moose sign, mostly old pellets, just one fresh track. That's exciting. Lots of beaver up here. We saw a great blue heron at a pond.I took my first face-first fall, landing on soft dirt. I suppose if you walk enough, that's bound to happen.There have been very few viewpoints in the dense woods today, but we're camped at one of them. I'm watching low dark clouds scud by. Look like rain soon.
Date: 2008-06-19
From: Little Pond Lookout

To: Past Winhall River
Miles today: 27.2

We woke up cold this morning. It did rain last night and it got pretty cold. Now I'm glad I carried a warm jacket through the heat wave last week. I used it a lot today.Lots more moose sign, no moose yet. We're seeing spring flowers again up here. I'm hoping to see a snow bank.We traversed two summits today, Glastenbury and Stratton, both with fire towers and great views. The weather was another mix of clouds, sun, light rain, and wind.The descent from Stratton was on the best trail we've seen in a while, thus the long mileage today. I'm tired, but feeling fine. Pickle said he felt strong on the long climbs.I had some stomach cramps the other day going into North Adams, but just for a couple of hours. I ate a lot in town with no problems.I think we are camped within one mile of the 3/4 point. 75% in 77 days!
Date: 2008-06-20
From: Past Winhall River

To: Griffith Lake Tenting Area
Miles today: 17.7
Weather: broken clouds

Today's "hike naked day", the summer solstice. It's chilly, windy, light rain showers. Yet we did meet a small group doing it anyway, including a statueque young woman named Santiago (just kidding, Blaze!).We spent most of the day in the yuppie shopping town of Manchester, VT. But boy, do we look good now in our Brooks Bros suits. The Deli Duo is steppin' out! Again, just kidding. But we did get breakfast, showers at the pool, groceries for 50 miles, I got a haircut and new pole tips (preventive maintenance), and we got lunch at a place called Friendly's, where they don't even pretend their food is healthy by giving you any semblance of a vegetable except ketchup, not even a pickle. It was fried food and ice cream, and I loved it.Today's hitch into town was our first of the trip so far. We're a little proud of that. Over 1600 miles without hitching. Some of that is due to our resupply strategy and stoveless diet, some is due to calling for shuttle rides with Pickle's cell phone, some is due to meeting up with friends along the way. Anyway, both rides were from young AT hiker veterans.I'm getting a little tired of picking slugs off my gear. This morning one had crawled into the inside of the tongue of my shoe, right where I put my thumb and squeeze hard to pull my shoe on. Ick.I heard a pileated woodpecker today, so now we've heard one in every state so far.Vermont is quiet! We're actually some distance away from a major freeway or airport or city, and it's noticeable out here. There's also very dense underbrush, making camp sites harder to find.Pickle is enjoying hiking the ski areas I'm hearing some good ski stories. He got his excited on the PCT, too, as we hit the ski areas of the Cascades.We originally planned a hotel stop in town today, but we got there at 0900, we already had two hotels in a row this week, and the weather's been about perfect for hiking and climbing. Flexibility has served us well so far.