morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2013-07-19
From: MA 23

To: US 20
Miles today: 20.7
Weather: broken clouds

I dropped Spider off at US 20 and drove south to the trailhead by Great Barrington. I left the car there and hiked north. First thing, I climbed 500ft and got nasty sweaty. It was buggy for a minute, then the gentle breeze and higher elevation kept them at bay. I really enjoyed the morning's jaunt by Benedict Pond and through the soft forest.It was hot, but bearable--I didn't feel the full force of the forecasted 110 degree heat index. I got pretty thirsty a few times today, and every time I stopped to get water, the bugs swarmed. Had to keep moving. I only saw a few other NOBOs, nowhere near the dozens of hikers Spider saw. We met briefly just south of Cobble Hill to swap keys so he could drive the car to pick me up at the end of the day. The afternoon was nice and quiet. I loved hiking around Upper Goose Pond and was sorely tempted to go swimming. My only regret today was that we didn't figure it out to camp at the cabin tonight. It's a great place. Anyway, Spider picked me up at US 20 and we drove back to the house for the night. Not a bad way to beat the heat.
Date: 2013-07-20
From: US 20

To: Dalton, MA
Miles today: 19.0

The slack pack adventure continues. Spider hiked SOBO again, so I dropped him off in Dalton and drove down to Lee where I would pick up NOBO. The morning hike was pleasant and unremarkable. Time passed slowly, but I didn't mind. I wasn't in any rush. I met Spider at the Cookie Lady's house and we enjoyed hardboiled eggs, chocolate chip cookies, and pick your own blueberries. So delicious. We hung out there for an hour with Heavyweight, Mohawk, Wrangler, and Fig before continuing our hike.The afternoon miles passed quickly and rather painlessly. My ankle and knee (and toes, and quads) were sore by the end of yesterday's hike, and while I still felt like I'd been hiking all day I didn't feel worn out or depleted. Definitely grateful to be slack packing.Grateful for the nice weather today, cooler temperature (a bit) and none of the forecasted rain.
Date: 2013-07-21
From: Dalton, MA

To: US 2 (North Adams)
Miles today: 23.5

Dropped Spider off in North Adams (after a detour to get socks) and went to Dalton to go NOBO again. The first leg to Cheshire was a breeze. I sat a while at the ice cream place and talked with KFox and Heavyweight, then headed out and up. The climb wasn't bad at all; in fact, I really enjoyed it.I submitted Mt. Greylock without incident, except it was getting sort of late. With the day's late start, I was only barely at US 2 before dark. The last, steep decline was awful on my knees, ankles, and feet. This was probably because I ran down parts of it. Oh well.It was a good, long day, and we are both exhausted.more at: adventureclaudia.wordpress.com
Date: 2013-07-22
From: US 2 (North Adams)

To: Greenfield, MA
Miles today: 0.0

Unplanned zero, partly because we weren't sure if the car was available, partly because we were exhausted from yesterday's hike. Regardless, we had plenty of errand to do, and our bodies certainly appreciated the rest. Tomorrow, Vermont!more at: adventureclaudia.wordpress.com
Date: 2013-07-23
From: US 2 (North Adams)

To: VT 9 (Bennington)
Miles today: 18.4
Weather: light rain

Spider dropped me off at the trailhead in North Adams and I hiked north. He parked the car at the trailhead parking lot in Bennington, VT, and hiked south. We'll be doing this opposite slackpacking through all of Vermont, I think. It's certainly easier to get in bigger mileage.It was a rainy day, and the woods seemed totally saturated from the storm last night. It was misty from the get-go, and I hiked through a few showers early. Nothing too bad. My boots got soaked, and there are definitely muddy patches of trail, but still, nothing too bad. I cruised. It felt great to climb, and my surroundings were gorgeous. It felt mystical and timeless, as if I had been transported somewhere else. I love the Green Mountains.Spider and I ran into each other midday and took a break together before hiking on. The afternoon was a little less smooth, as my right knee started hurting on the downhills. The view from Harmon Hill was sweet, especially since it had cleared up and the sky was flashing a little blue. The final descent was rocky an steep, but I got to the car in one piece and went to pick up Spider.Overall, a good day. Sometimes it feels a little anticlimactic to be doing this with a car, driving between states as if it was nothing. Still, I'm grateful for the physical relief that slackpacking provides.
Date: 2013-07-24
From: VT 9 (Bennington)

To: Stratton-Arlington Rd
Miles today: 22.6
Weather: overcast clouds

Happy birthday to Barking Spider!Sort of a mixed-up day... Our alarms didn't go off, so we started really late. We had had to go back to Greenfield last night to pick up some forgotten things, so it was reaaallly late. At least we stopped at the Vermont Country Deli in Brattleboro for some delicious birthday treats. Then, Spider dropped me off in Bennington so I could hike north. Unfortunately for him, it took almost two hours to get to the northern trailhead due to a closed road, so he didn't start hiking until after noon. I had a great hike over rolling mountains, really enjoying the cool weather and wonderful views. I climbed the firetower at Goddard Mtn, so beautiful! Pines everywhere. It smelled fantastic, like holidays. I popped into Kid Gore Shelter briefly, as it has a lovely long vista, then hiked on to meet Spider. He had decided to hike out with me when we met up, as his late start meant he couldn't finish the section before dark. It was nice to hike together again, and we made it to the car around 8. My knee was bothering me still, especially at the end of the day.We drove into down and picked up some food, then took some time to relax and celebrate the birth of Barking Spider. We're "stealth camping" tonight (sleeping in the car).
Date: 2013-07-25
From: Stratton-Arlington Rd

To: VT 11 & 30 (Manchester Center)
Miles today: 17.5

I started the day with an excellent hike up and over Stratton Mountain. There's a fire tower at the summit, which I climbed to gaze out in all directions and snap some photos. It smells so good up there in the pines.I saw Spider by Stratton Pond, where we watched a slow, cold garter snake in the grass and half a dozen newts in the water. Got a little chilly (was cold last night and this morning), but it felt good once I was moving.The rest of the day was quiet, contemplative. I enjoyed hiking through forest, over relatively level terrain. We hit Manchester Center for a few errands and then went to Green Mountain House for the night. It's a great place, showers and laundry and ice cream and a kitchen and a living room, all for us lazy hikers. I love it.more at: adventureclaudia.wordpress.com
Date: 2013-07-26
From: VT 11 & 30 (Manchester Center)

To: VT 140
Miles today: 26.1
Weather: overcast clouds

Long day! After our great stay at Green Mountain House, we felt refreshed and ready to take on this section. I started NOBO with a climb up Bromley Mountain; I was surprised to see the ski lift up top. The weather was sort of cool and grey, nice for hiking. I could see the silhouettes of distant mountains at select vistas. As the morning progressed, I summit yes Styles Peak (view) and Peru Peak (no view). The descent from Peru Peak was rough on my knees, so steep.I met Spider on the rocky Baker Peak, but we only took a short break together--we had to get hiking. The afternoon was totally different than the morning's mountain after mountain--long gradual stretches through the forest and around an especially beautiful lake, Little Rock Pond. If it had been a little warmer, it would have been lovely to go swimming. There was a bit of a climb, then two other-worldly rock sculpture gardens. Dozens and dozens of elegantly stacked rocks everywhere. I've seen this in other parts of Vermont, in the middle of streams and deep in forested areas. I love it.A final steep descent and I was off to pick up Spider. We're grateful to have been able to do this hike today with less impact than if we had had full packs.
Date: 2013-07-27
From: VT 140

To: VT 4 (Rutland)
Miles today: 23.7

Less than 500 miles to go!!The first part of my day (NOBO) was fine, a few ups and downs, nothing too strenuous. I found a rhythm and called up all my reserve energy to propel me forward. It was pleasant out, if a bit hot.I missed Spider when I took a road detour around wreckage from Hurricane Irene and Spider stayed on the trail. He had spent the whole morning climbing up and over Killington. I had that to look forward to in the afternoon. It waste me, although its not a steep climb nor a terrible descent. It's just very, very long, especially on a bum knee and ankle. I ended up finishing at least an hour after Spider. Another long one.We resupplied this evening and tried to charge our devices... but I got too sleepy and curled up in the van to snooze. Spider drove us to our site for the night while I slept in the back.
Date: 2013-07-28
From: VT 4 (Rutland)

To: River Rd
Miles today: 5.6
Weather: light rain

Spider woke up early and drove us to get iced coffees... but I had a hard time getting up. We decided on breaking up our planned 23mi day into two days, today's 5.6 miler and a 17 miler tomorrow. I went back to sleep until 8 or 9, then ate and stumbled out of the van and onto the trail.So it was a very short day with very reasonable terrain. I passed the Maine Junction, where the AT splits off from the LT, hiked through Gifford State Park's campground, and passed Thundering Falls. The trail was pretty smooth, and although I felt sluggish for the first hour, the rest of the day was fine. Spider an I met up at the campground and I picked him up at Rt 4 shortly after finishing my NOBO section. We saw there was a proper parking lot off Rt 4, which we had missed the other night when we had parked and slept right off the busy road... whoops.We're spending the rest of the day in Rutland at a sweet little cafe, charging our devices and relaxing. My knee and ankle occasionally send shooting pain throughout my body, not a promising sign. It's muggy today.more at: adventureclaudia.wordpress.com
Date: 2013-07-29
From: River Rd

To: Woodstock Stage Rd
Miles today: 19.6
Weather: light rain

Barking Spider here:This was another beautiful perfect hiking day in Vermont. It's funny how the weather in any given stretch so highly influences our opinion of it. The Smokies were horrible. Shenandoah Park was amazing. Connecticut was hell. Now Vermont will be remembered by us fondly. Slack packing through it hasn't hurt either.Going north by incrementally slacking south can be the most confusing concept to get across. I have walked past as many as 45 NOBOs in a given day, and have explained myself dozens of times. Sometimes people understand right away and it's such a relief. A ridge runner named Pheonix took one look at my ripe beard and empty pack and said, "NOBO slacking south?" While others whom I see everyday and I think know what's going on, will ask me on our fourth crossing, "So how come you're not hiking with Stretch?" It's a different experience.
Date: 2013-07-30
From: Woodstock Stage Rd

To: Hanover, NH
Miles today: 21.0
Weather: light rain

Barking Spider:Another gorgeous day on the Appalachain Trail. So many fields and vistas that felt idyllic under the puffy white clouds. The temperature was perfect, and the biting bugs were minimal. Today is our final day of slack packing with my dad's car. We've slacked all the way from Great Barrington to Hanover, and our bodies are grateful for the break from heavy packs. It was luxurious to be able to resupply when we wanted to, and to start every day with a cold iced coffee. Sleeping in the van was pretty fun, too, and has us excited at the prospect of living from a van in New Zealand this winter.We are also happy in some ways to get back to a more traditional hike. All the driving we've done these past two weeks has been expensive. I've felt less connected with my fellow NOBOs doing a different style of hike. Also, camping is fun--we miss tenting and hanging out with other hikers. We're down to our final two states, and feel ready to hit the upcoming mountains head on.
Date: 2013-07-31
From: Hanover, NH

To: Dorchester Rd (Bill Ackerly's)
Miles today: 17.5
Weather: overcast clouds

Barking Spider here again: We spent the night at my dad's house and in the morning got a delicious breakfast from the local diner in Greenfield, which we doubly appreciated because the party is over. Real hiking starts again. We set out today with full packs.We got dropped off at the co-op in Hanover around 11. The sun was beating down on us in the parking lot. We saddled up and headed out. The bugs were much more active than we had seen them in Vermont and so helped motivate us to a quick pace. After a flat stretch, we climbed over two big hills, Moose Mountain and an anonymous steep climb at the end of the day that definitely seemed worthy of a name. We found the climbs not too difficult and were happy to see that our legs hadn't weakened from the slacking. In fact, I think we felt pretty fresh, encouraged, and excited about the mountains ahead.We finished the day at the Bill Ackerly's house, where alot of hikers had already ended their day. The atmosphere was jovial. We got a free ice cream treat and made a ramen dinner. All the NOBOs gathered on the back porch while the SOBOs hung out separately on the front porch, which was strange but understandable. We didn't get to meet Bill, but are nonetheless very grateful for the hospitality.
Date: 2013-08-01
From: Dorchester Rd (Bill Ackerly's)

To: stealth camp
Miles today: 21.3

Today felt like two completely different days smashed together. It started sweetly, perfect weather and strong hiking, and ended grey, run down, and soaking wet.We woke up before our alarm and packed up easily. As the other hikers arose, Bill made coffee and brought out lemon cookies for us to share. We enjoyed the pleasant morning and eventually set out to hike. We started with a long climb up to Smarts Mountain, where we took in the spectacular views from the fire tower. The clouds were puffy and white, although we noticed some dark ones in the distance. We set out our tent to dry (the condensation was out of control last night) and ate a snack. We chatted a minute with OnB and Smoothers and Better Man, then took off on the 4mi long descent. It was smooth sailing. And not a minute after we finished descending, we started the next steep climb, up to Mt. Cube. Still, the weather was excellent, the hiking was invigorating, and there were frequent views.At the top of Mt. Cube, we noticed those dark clouds were quite close and figured we better get down off the mountain. We hiked down to a brook and filled up on water, and while we did that Spider went over our food situation, which was less than ideal. Seems we've forgotten how to resupply. We're nearly out of food, and need to make miles to get to Lincoln before the P.O. closes on Saturday. Ok. We decided to go to a sugar farm that sometimes takes in hikers to get snacks and maybe stay under a roof tonight, dodge the bad weather. We had trouble getting a hitch, walked about a mile before a nice woman who's husband thru-hiked in 2004 gave us a lift. At the farm, we were really sad to see the snacks listed in AWOL's guide really just amount to maple syrup, and there was no one around at all. No food, no place to stay--we walked back to the trail and kept on hiking north. It was raining steadily at this point, and it hasn't let up yet. We hiked another 5mi in the rain before setting up our tent under a power line and getting settled. Tomorrow, we've got to get over Moosilauke and into Lincoln, or we are going to be some seriously hungry hikers.
Date: 2013-08-02
From: stealth camp

To: Kinsman Notch (Lincoln, NH)
Miles today: 13.9
Weather: few clouds

We got up early again and packed up in the early morning mist. The blackflies and no-see-ums joined the mosquitos for a full-on assault while we tried to make coffee to fuel us through the miles ahead. Today's provisions: a handful of nuts, ramen, instant coffee, four packets of oatmeal, and rice cakes. For two people. Up Moosilauke.The coffee propelled us down the first five miles of trail, and we found ourselves in a sunny parking lot in no time. We spread out our gear to dry and made breakfast, certain we'd need more calories to get us up and down Moosilauke safely. Luckily, the weather had cleared up and we were in good spirits. After our break, we packed up again and set out for the mountain.In no time, we hiked to the base of the mountain and started our miles-long climb, gaining about 3500ft in elevation. It was long and slightly arduous, but certainly do-able. It rained briefly as we climbed, just enough to cool us down, but was sunny again by the time we got above tree line.The summit was lovely and windy, with bright skies punctuated by the strong whites and greys of the clouds. We dried out the tent further and snapped a few photos before the day hikers chased us away. The two miles after the summit were relatively flat, but the two miles after that were nearly vertical. We took our time descending, grateful for some iron bars and wooden steps to make it easier.At Kinsman Notch, we caught a quick hitch to town and found ourselves at Chet's. We're very grateful for the great space he's set up for hikers. We have full bellies, tired feet, and very content spirits. Looking forward to really getting into the Whites tomorrow.
Date: 2013-08-03
From: Kinsman Notch (Lincoln, NH)

To: Lonesome Lake Hut
Miles today: 13.3

We woke up sort of late at Chet's, as it was grey and cloudy outside and most people were sleeping in. Once up, though, we packed quickly and headed out to breakfast. Diner breakfasts are the best. We went to the post office next and were dismayed to find that our package containing our winter gear hadn't arrived yet. Shit! It was supposed to get there two days ago. We decided to forward it to Gorham and try to pick up a few things in town to make it work. We weren't willing to wait around until Monday. Spider has enough clothing to wear at night in his summer bag to stay warm enough, but I needed another layer to have a chance of not freezing over the Presidentials. We got these last-minute errands done, then caught a hitch back to the trailhead.The Whites are awesome. The first few miles went by quickly, lots of steep angles and rocks and roots. It smells wonderful here. We saw lots of moose poop. Beautiful weather, too. We climbed up to Mt. Wolf and then slowly descended to Eliza Brook. Popped into the shelter for a short break, then started the long, steep, arduous climb to South Kinsman Mountain. It was endless. At times, the trail was a nearly-vertical rock climb. We were pooped by the time we made it to the summit, but the views reinvigorated up. We descended briefly then climbed up to North Kinsman Mountain, where the view was beautiful but a little less clear. From there, we descended steeply past Kinsman Pond Shelter, which is a pay site, and made our way slowly to Lonesome Lake Hut, praying there would still be work-for-stay available. Typically, these huts will offer a few work-for-stay placements for thru-hikers; we'll do dishes or sweep and mop in exchange for leftovers and a floor to sleep on. It's a good deal for us, since AMC bunks are prohibitively expensive. We were in luck! In fact, we seem to be the only two thru-hikers here.This hut is beautiful. I remember it fondly from 2010 and am glad we can stay here again. We're on the porch waiting for leftovers, gazing out over Lonesome Lake to Franconia Ridge beyond.A note from Spider: Watching the sun set on the ridge enchanted me. Dark wispy clouds were streaming by just over it. The guest of the hut came streaming out of the kitchen, happy and full, and chatty. I was making fun of them in my head, when we got called in to eat the leftovers. It turned out to be an amazing turkey dinner feast. I was so full of gratitude, I couldn't possibly articulate my feelings. Instead, I smiled and wolfed down a few plates, did my chore, and went to bed. Much love to the croo of Lonesome Lake Hut!
Date: 2013-08-04
From: Lonesome Lake Hut

To: Galehead Hut
Miles today: 16.0

Spider's entry:       A difficult day on the trail. We had a 5:30 wake up to help us get a head start as well as to get out of the hut before breakfast. Quickly, I felt my legs were weary from the past two days. We hiked down to Franconia Notch, and headed up to the Lafayette ridge trail. Stretch was having belly issues that were sapping her energy. I had had a few rounds of emergency diarrhea the day before. I suspect we drank poopy water, now that we haven't been treating it in the whites. Moose poopy. Oh yeah, we saw a moose on the lonesome lake!        Not too unlike our perfect shit storm that had us hiking Moosialake on an empty belly, we ran into some shitty times today. We hit the ridge line, and found amazing views for a second. When we got to Little Haystack, it started raining on us, and we had to put our heads down and get moving to get off the windy ridge. We became enveloped in a cloud for the rest of the ridge. Stretch took a spill that had my stomach turning. Then we still had a ways to go to the hut. The terrain was steep, and wet, and rocky, and rooty, and it sucked to walk over. It couldn't be done quickly, and it was dangerous, as well as painful.        After deciding we needed to book it and get to the hut as soon as possible to get a work for stay position, we made it to the hut to find two thru hiker packs on the porch. Lonesome lake hut would have taken a number of hikers in, but here, those two packs spelled our demise. I felt for the guy in charge of the hut, but his consolation was insulting. Instead of letting us have a spot on the floor, he was going to let us tent in a puddle out back even though it's "illegal". Maybe I feel a bit entitled, but I feel like if it's cold and wet out at 4,000 feet, let us sleep on the floor.        Still, we survived a tough day in the Whites, and are grateful to be here.