morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2006-08-17
From: Manchester Center, VT

To: Peru Peak
Miles today: 8.8
Weather: broken clouds

Up, down, up, down... etc., etc. The peaks around here are full of green, mostly in the form of pines and moss. Very boggy in places -- so different from the southern AT.Some days it is easy to know for sure that there is no better place to be than in the friendly woods (no matter how fresh the diner coffee is, or how comfy the benches). Some things make it obvious: nights under powerlines, the billion stars so perfectly round and small and far away, nights when tinier and tinier stars appear, fainter and fainter, until it seems the entire sky must collapse under their sheer numbers; the double-trunks of a huge birch tree shining in the twilight on Shenandoah Mountain; the sun rising over the Smokies; the quiet of the Georgia wilderness, so far from roads and towns; the sun on your arms on a cool day in the Roan Highlands; drifting off to a dreamless sleep on a hardwood shelter floor after a long day of climbing. I feel healthy out here, capable. And safe. And simple. Yesterday I stopped by the coffeeshop at the Northshire Bookstore, and was positively bewildered by the variety of the brightly colored advertisements and products -- coffees, juices, sodas, syrups, smoothies, cakes, cookies, sandwiches. And people, in make-up and clothes they change everyday, to buy it all. I'm free of all this, now, I thought. Except coffee -- I still needed that.
Date: 2006-08-19
From: Bully Brook

To: Cooper Lodge
Miles today: 18.4
Weather: clear sky

I thought we might never make it up this mountain in the creeping darkness and gathering fog. 11 miles without a break -- who would have ever thought I'd be capable of such a thing? Asters all over the place now, white, yellow, purple, sometimes in bunches so profuse they look to be tipping the whole plant over. This shelter is old stone, decrepit, leaky, and covered in grafitti. It appears to have once had large windows to keep out the mountain chill (hence the name, "lodge", I suppose), though the place is currently an open-air affair. The fog creeps in, along with a light drizzle, and it's chilly.
Date: 2006-08-20
From: Cooper Lodge

To: The Inn at the Long Trail
Miles today: 8.1

Today we woke damply to a drizzle, the bunk above us having provided only limited protection from the night's rain. Immediately, Marc made me put on my boots and hike the steep 1/3 mile up Killington Peak. It was cloudy, and getting worse -- soon we wouldn't be able to see anything. We didn't see the "five states and Canada" we'd been promised -- only clouds moving along the mountains, covering and uncovering the pines of nearby peaks. I was grumpy at being dragged up there over wet, slippery rocks in a drizzle, and wouldn't admit then that it was pretty at all. Privately, though, I will concede here that the scene was more fantastic than it could have been on even a cloudless June day.
Date: 2006-08-21
From: The Inn at the Long Trail

To: The Inn at the Long Trail
Miles today: 0.0

There is a whisky menu here at the Inn. Need I say more? Okay, I can: The railings are fashioned of whole birch branches, our room is wall-papered in blue stripes and has a bathtub, the food is good, the company is pleasant. But the truly luxurious thing about the Inn is breakfast -- raspberry pancakes with real maple syrup and soda bread. The mist and drizzle continue, interrupted sporadically by raging thunderstorms. It has, in fact, been raining almost since the moment Marc read the weather report in the Rutland Herald on the 19th -- the one that promised nothing but sunny skies.***Skies are blue now, outside the Price Chopper in Rutland. They must have changed while we were debating the merits of bulk granola and Hello Kitty pop-tarts. The grocery store is our new prime entertainment venue. Never before have nutritional value, weight, and shelf-life enjoyed such a position of importance in our lives. Add in the small matter of price (if we could afford those backpacker meals, this would be a lot easier!), and choosing the menu becomes quite a diverting game. I also like to look at the amazing array of products available in the grocery store: frozen egg-rolls, fresh pomegranates, bouncy-balls painted to look like eyeballs, etc... Though I have to admit we usually stick with the same purchases.
Date: 2006-08-22
From: The Inn at the Long Trail

To: Lookout Cabin
Miles today: 15.6

How could anyone prop up a murdered spruce tree in their living room and call it Christmas? Tragic. They look so much nicer living in the ground with their birch and beech associates. Thanks to my strategic stalling and lollygagging, we left the Inn at the crack of 9:30 this morning. A short thunderstorm assailed us about 2 miles from our destination, and I have never heard such an electric noise from the sky -- it was the sound Spielberg gave to the light-saber, the sound of buzzing power lines. The 360 degree sunset view from this "Lookout Cabin" (not really a shelter, but a private building that we're allowed to crash in) is the best so far, no kidding. I can see the White Mountains ahead and the Green Mountains behind, and there's even a SOBO here to share stories with.No moose yet (though others have seen them), but plenty of scat. Marc is carrying two rainjackets, neither of which he put on in today's storm.
Date: 2006-08-23
From: Lookout Cabin

To: campsite in a field
Miles today: 16.5

Exhausting day, and these are the foothills. The flowers, though, are amazing again. What late summer wildflowers lack in grace, they make up many times over in sheer ground-cover -- the goldenrod, jewelweed, and bee-balm are prolific. I love Vermont, and I loved today -- particularly the magical-looking fairy forest on Breakneck Hill where we saw orange dandelions, lichen, and puffy moss. But everytime I get all muddy or itchy (mosquitoes are still out, yes), I think "I am SO tired of this!" Moose tracks have joined the piles of scat on the trail, but still no live sightings. Tomorrow: New Hampshire!
Date: 2006-08-24
From: campsite in a field

To: Velvet Rocks Shelter
Miles today: 13.6
Weather: broken clouds

Some would have you believe that the gluttony of a thru-hiker knows no bounds. The two of us performed a little experiment today in search of our gastronomical limits, and found them. Painfully. The "Vermonster" is 20 scoops of ice cream, with every topping Ben & Jerry's offers, plus bananas, chocolate chip cookies, and brownies. We ordered only half a Vermonster, and probably would have been okay, if we hadn't tried to have dinner afterwards (curry may have been a bad choice). We ended up sprawled on the lawn of a nearby church, drawing disapproving stares from passerby. We didn't care. We couldn't move. We thought we were going to die. Never, EVER, on the TRAIL have we felt so miserable as we did in town today.Otherwise, it was a very nice day. Saw some trees tapped for maple syrup. We caught up to a lot of our friends in town, and eventually managed to hike 1/2 mile out to the shelter.
Date: 2006-08-25
From: Velvet Rocks Shelter

To: Trapper John Shelter
Miles today: 15.2
Weather: light rain

Sometimes I'm ashamed to be a thru-hiker. Some of us are so whiny about trail-maintenance, and so ungrateful. The DOC let maybe 1/4 mile of trail get a bit overgrown, and some thru-hikers are writing not only complaints but nasty derogatory remarks in the register. Many NOBOs are getting restless, stressed, tired, and unhappy -- it shows in their entries and their behavior. I see it in myself -- I talk less, get less excited about things -- but I hope I'm not a jerk.
Date: 2006-08-26
From: Trapper John Shelter

To: Hexacuba Shetler
Miles today: 14.7
Weather: overcast clouds

No views on Smart Mountain today (well, there are for people brave enough to climb that rickety firetower, just not for me), but the place smells great. I would say New Hampshire, overall, smells like Christmas. But it's probably just that Christmas smells like New Hampshire.
Date: 2006-08-27
From: Hexacuba Shetler

To: Glencliff, NH (Welcome Hikers Hostel)
Miles today: 14.7

Had a cold and wet hike into the Welcome Hikers Hostel in Glencliff, where we were a little disappointed to find no heat, and no bunks. But we were allowed to spend the night in a big tent in the yard, and were grateful for a hot shower. The forest is quite lovely in the rain and fog, but I'm tired of it. Hoping for a sunny day tomorrow -- it's going to be a short one, over Mount Moosilauke.
Date: 2006-08-28
From: Glencliff, NH (Welcome Hikers Hostel)

To: Beaver Brook Shelter
Miles today: 7.9
Weather: overcast clouds

Moosilauke begins the White Mountains, officially. It's a long climb (4 miles), and we enjoyed it to its fullest on our 8 mile day. We arrived above treeline for the first time today, and saw a great new world of little white alpine flowers. Plants with little thick leaves, all close to the ground. The tall grasses add a little strawberry blond-accent to the gray granite and green plants. Too foggy up there for a "view", but the fog itself, drifting over a treeless summit and infiltrating our clothes, was a spectacle in itself. The climb up Moosilauke is invigorating, but the climb down is treacherous -- I've already fallen once. But I love these forests, love the smell, the spiky spruces, the fog, the birds, the mountains...
Date: 2006-08-29
From: Beaver Brook Shelter

To: Eliza Brook Shelter
Miles today: 9.1
Weather: overcast clouds

From Beaver Brook this morning we could see all the way to Franconia Ridge. It's a great feeling to know you're going to walk to a place that looks so far away -- in just a few days. Well, it might take longer if the trail ahead is anything like today's. The going was slow, first because of the steep side of Moosilauke, and then because of the huge boulders we had to climb over in the "flat" portion of the trail. We didn't make it as far as we intended, but I really felt I had to bail on today's plan, if only to preserve my sanity.
Date: 2006-09-01
From: Lincoln, NH (Comfort Inn)

To: Liberty Trail Campsite
Miles today: 2.9

The rules for camping in the White Mountains are a little strange: you may pay 8$/person to stay at one of the caretaker campsites; you may go begging at a hut to "work for stay" which you may or may not get; or you can "stealth" camp. There are ways to do this legally -- as long as you are 200 feet off the trail and away from streams, and .25 miles from any lodge or established campsite. So that's where we are, camped "legally" off the trail near Liberty Mountain. I think it would have been better to stay at the Liberty Springs Campsite, which is already established and wouldn't have required tramping off into the woods by the trail. Unfortunately, we've come down with a common thru-hiker mental disease: extreme frugality. It seems rather silly to us to pay for camping at this stage of the game, though on a shorter trip I would never have a problem paying the AMC $8 a night for trail upkeep and campsite maintenance. Even f you'd asked me a month or two ago, I probably would have said I didn't mind paying to camp here. But when it comes down to it? Yeah, for some reason, I mind.
Date: 2006-09-02
From: Liberty Trail Campsite

To: Galehead Campsite
Miles today: 14.7

Last night we had a wonderful dinner on top of Mount Liberty, watching the sun go down. The views here are, as we've been warned, incredible. Today we walked over Franconia Ridge, an above-tree-line row of high mountians: Liberty, Lincoln, Layfayette. The wind is outrageous up there and the climbing is steep, but it's certainly worth it. We were lucky to have a clear day up there. I love alpine plants, so tiny and efficient. The ground above tree-line is like a patchwork quilt of red lichen, yellow grass, sea-green lichen, and darker greens of the little plants and balsam firs. Tonight we trekked to Galehead Hut to look for "work for stay" only to be informed that they were full -- so back out into the chilly evening to look for a campsite. The hut "croo" told us of a spot right up the trail where we could put our tents. It is not, in fact, a legal spot at all (too close to the hut), but here we are anyway. At least we don't have to work for scraps, which is what "work for stay" should be called -- sometimes you get lucky and they have lots of leftovers, but other times you just hang around hoping... and just get a little sliver of dinner! At least that's what I hear...
Date: 2006-09-03
From: Galehead Campsite

To: Crawford Notch (Highland Center)
Miles today: 14.7
Weather: fog

Every year when the air begins to crisp I find myself feeling a little melancholy to see the leaves fade and fall, and to feel the summer breeze turn to wind. But this year is quite different. Instead of having missed the summer spending too much time indoors, I've experienced it entirely. I've seen the spring flowers emerge, and watched them die out. I watched daily for the buds on the trees to pop open and spray out their new leaves. I heard the birds overhead as they flew north, and I know I'll hear them again as they head south. So, for once, I can be happy to see the seasons change again, and not resent the coming of autumn!We've been seeing tons of spruce grouse. I hear they're also called "fool-hens" because they aren't afraid of anything -- they'll sit right by the trail and let you get pretty close before they fly off, making tons of noise. Sometimes they even strut around on the trail ahead of you, as if waiting for you to follow them somewhere, then take off impatiently as though you were just too slow.Tonight we're in an AMC hostel in Crawford Notch, enjoying some real sheets and blankets (it's a little expensive, but all that money we saved not staying at the pay-campsites still ends up going to the AMC, right?). Got a real shower, and I have had the best ribs ever at this restaurant down the road. Luckily one of the other guests was willing to drive us down there to eat, as we couldn't afford dinner at the hostel. Monologue, Goldfish, and the two of us had a fantastic dinner, with beer, and a nice respite from the brutal hiking of the famous White Mountains.
Date: 2006-09-04
From: Crawford Notch (Highland Center)

To: Lakes of the Clouds Hut
Miles today: 11.2
Weather: fog

We have finally achieved the elusive "Work-for-Stay"! Tonight we scrubbed out a bunkroom with Social and Dandelion for the privilege of dinner at the hut and a bed on one of the unused tables. Actually, in this case, not a bad deal. Lakes of the Clouds is up above tree-line in the wind and fog, and it's drizzling a bit out there. I'm happy to be indoors. The croo also made us pizza, of which we ate all we wanted. There's no heat in the hut, but it's still more comfortable than the outdoors tonight. Today we saw the most bestest rainbow ever, on Webster Cliffs. It looked solid somehow, like it might actually have had a pot of gold at the end of it. Each color was a distinctive stripe, like an emergency broadcast system test on TV. R-O-Y-G-B-I-V: yup, all there. Okay, I admit it doesn't sound as exciting as it was. I guess you just had to see it.It was foggy and windy today, and we'll be above tree-line for 12.7 miles (4 of which we did today). At Mitzpah Spring Hut, about eight of us were hanging around, unwilling to tackle the last 4.8 miles to Lakes of the Clouds. It wasn't as bad as we all feared, and in fact was rather exciting -- the long alpine grasses dancing in the swirling mist while the wind howled around us. The fact that we couldn't see more than 50 feet in front of us really just made it more exotic and beautiful. Honestly, we couldn't tell (without a map) what would happen if we turned left or right: would we step off a cliff or smack into a mountain? These mountains are tough: lots of bouldering and slippery, steep slopes. Today we walked from 8:45 to 5:45, taking a 1-hour break, and only made it 11 miles. But it's really challenging and fun -- I'd never trade it for a flat, easy trail.
Date: 2006-09-05
From: Lakes of the Clouds Hut

To: Osgood Campsite
Miles today: 10.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Interestingly, the White Mountains turned out to be both more fun and more difficult than anticipated. After 1850 miles, I don't know how both are possible, but here we are.This morning we were on top of famous Mount Washington by nine -- it was peaceful and fun. Then the tourists showed up, the cog railway began belching coal smoke all over the mountain, and we all got just a little let down. Amazingly, we had a clear day up there (above the clouds, actually), and it was wonderful to see our surroundings once again -- something we hadn't done since Franconia Ridge, despite being often above treeline. We could look back (albeit through a screen of disgusting coal smoke) and see what we'd accomplished -- the Presidentials -- and be glad they were done.It is supposedly a venerable thru-hiker tradition to moon the tourists in the cog railway as they go up (or down) Mount Washington. Now, I may have been out in the woods a long time, and certainly some of my society manners have destabilized; however, I would still never show my bare ass to strangers. Marc and some others (who I will not incriminate here) chose to become a part of that tradition, and I'll admit I cheered them on. Seriously, I have no earthly idea why that beastly thing is still allowed to run.The climb down, which is mostly down Mt. Madison, not Washington, was only three miles long and took over three hours. It was rocky, bare, and brutal. We thought we had taken a wrong turn and descended into some hiker purgatory, but eventually the descent ended, and we rejoiced.
Date: 2006-09-06
From: Osgood Campsite

To: South Carter Mountain
Miles today: 14.4

Alright, alright. We're really, really, officially NOT thru-hikers anymore. We took this chairlift up Wildcat Mountain, which (I hear) is a climb not only steep and rocky but actually frightening in its gaps and crevices. I guess it's the quintessential climb of the trail, the one that truly tests the mettle of those "thru-hikers" (not us, remember) who choose to attempt it. That's what it sounded like anyway. But oh, what an awesomely fun way to cheat! It was about a 10-minute ride, but it felt so good to get so quickly and effortlessly up a mountain. Like magic. We were actually quite giddy on the way up. I don't regret that I'll never be able to fill out that 2,000 miler paper. I was being a little sarcastic above -- we'll still consider ourselves thru-hikers, for doing the other couple thousand miles from GA to ME. And one day, we'll be able to go back to Wildcat and complete our hike for real.Views were spectacular today, especially from Hight Mountain. We were treated to a vista of innumerable craggy peaks for a minute before they became totally enshrouded in clouds coming in from both sides -- a natural fade-out.Finally, coming down into Carter Notch, we had the first close-up of a mixed-forest we've had in a long time. The birch leaves have already begun to turn in earnest here to mottled sunshine and rust, evoking the colors of a rotting banana. They fall in showers as the breeze blows through them, rustling softly as they tumble. Carter Hut was full of kids. So we stealth yet again on the mountain, devouring ramen and watching the pines and moss sit like statues while ferns tremble in the subtle breeze.
Date: 2006-09-07
From: South Carter Mountain

To: NH Rt. 2 (Gorham, NH)
Miles today: 11.5
Weather: mist

I fell five times today -- a new record. Tough descents? Gee, maybe a little. I was frustrated and happy to head into Gorham, though I couldn't be tired -- we slept 12 hours last night. We did have great views, back to Washington and the Presidentials (again, a feeling of relief that they're over!) Those moments of just standing up on a rocky outcrop and gazing at all those sublime peaks in the distance... those moments are the reason for this whole trip, and you just want them to extend forever. I wish I knew what's so special about these views. The climbs are grand, too. When your legs feel like steel pistons, your lungs feel like gigantic invincible balloons, and your heart pumps strong and even going up a tough climb: then you feel really healthy. But the falls, the tricky footing, the mudpuddle jumping can still just kick you to bits, no matter how strong and practiced you might be.
Date: 2006-09-08
From: NH Rt. 2 (Gorham, NH)

To: Gentian Pond Shelter
Miles today: 11.8
Weather: clear sky

Things sure started off easy out of Gorham with a little nothing-climb up Hayes Mountain. But the terrain quickly degenerated into the rocky, rooty, steep, full-of-slippery-wet-rock-faces trail that characterizes Maine, the most rugged state on the AT. No, we're not officially there yet -- it just feels like it. Thus, (I hear) begins the "30 toughest miles on the AT".No moose, still, though we look carefully at every pond. Lately ponds have been peppering our days with an interesting, flat and glassy change of scenery. We opted tonight to leave Mt. Success for tomorrow and instead sit by the tranquil pond as darkness skulked in. We waited on moose that never came, and hoped for one of the little abundant frogs to defy physics and capture one of the colossal dragonflies that buzzed along the lake's surface. We watched the night fog gather, first in one corner, then another, soon shrouding the three feet above the water's surface in pea soup. It may have been a moose-less evening, but it wasn't wasted.We ought to be savoring every moment of these last few weeks in this beautiful country -- the prettiest, I think, on the whole AT. It is so peaceful out on that pond, so conducive to quiet observation and reflection. I could have sat there interminably, watching the frogs and the flies, the water and the fog, under the firs and boulders, all nestled in between high distant peaks and covered by a sky so bland as to be almost inconsequential.Well, these are my half-dreaming thoughts as I lie here in the shelter. I'll keep one eye on the fading, dusky mountains outside, not wanting to drift off until the last light drifts off of their slopes.
Date: 2006-09-09
From: Gentian Pond Shelter

To: Mahoosuc Notch Trail 
Miles today: 11.1

MAINE! We're too tired by all this mud-bogging and bouldering to rejoice all that boisterously, but there's definately a feeling of accomplishment hiding underneath our drenched clothes somewhere. It started out hazy today, and we watched our familiar distant peaks becoming more and more ghostly as the miles between us increased. We met some day-hikers who are checking off the "100 Highest Peaks in New England" one by one. They offered us their "extra food": two candy bars, five cookies, a power bar and an apple. It boggles the thru-hiker mind that anyone could have that much extra food on a day-hike (or any "extra" food at all, really), but I suppose I've been there before. And I'll probably be there again! Anyway, God bless 'em, they fueled us up for the trying afternoon ahead.Thunderstorms were in the forecast, but being the brave, rugged, outdoors-people that we are (and disliking the prospect of sharing a shelter with a bunch of Outward Bound kids), we soldiered on to Mahoosuc Notch. It's THE TOUGHEST MILE ON THE AT, by reputation. Then the storm exploded with all the subtlety of cannon-fire, we were immediately drenched, and we just poked our way carefully down a steep hill to camp right before the Notch. I know I'll dread this thing all night, and probably enjoy it tomorrow.