morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2005-06-25
From: Bivouac on Mt. Bushnell

To: MA 41
Miles today: 3.2

start: Bivouac on Mt. Bushnellfinish: MA 41 (New Milford) (hostel)miles: 3.2day: 110At 4:00am I groggily packed up and started hiking to escape the bugs.  It was light enough to turn off the headlamp just before 5:00.  I sat at Jug's End and watched the pre-dawn sky develop into gorgeous red hues.  There were fewer bugs here, it seemed.  I walked down off the ridge and over to Rt. 41.  I left a note for Tea Break at the road and walked the 1.2 miles in to a restaurant, as there was no traffic on the road this early.  We had originally planned to go into Great Barrington this morning, but I didn't feel like walking on no sleep.I called my wife to come and get us, as we had heard it was going to be 100 degrees today, plus I needed to correct the netting problem on my tarp.  Then I ordered the "Hungry Man" breakfast special and ate it.  Tea Break walked in, and we proceeded to tell our mosquito horror stories, drink tea, and wait for our ride.When Mrs. Moosie arrived she suggested we go up to Dalton to see if Goldilocks wanted to spend a night at home, as she had heard he was at the Bird Cage.  We drove through some very pretty countryside, hitting the Tyringham post office on the way to pick up Tea Break's tent.  When we arrived Goldilocks was out, so we ate some lunch and talked with Traction, Daytripper, Whitee, and Marion.  I hadn't met Daytripper before, and it was nice to see Traction, who I hadn't seen since the Shenandoah. Finally Rob returned with Goldilocks and Kodak.  Goldilocks wasn't interested in coming home - he was taking one, maybe two zeroes at the Bird Cage.Mrs. Moosie, Tea Break and I went back to the Moosie Hostel, where I seam sealed our old Golite Cave, which we had already sewed netting onto.  I'll use this for the remainder of the hike.Tea Break and I had been planning since yesterday what we wanted for dinner: steak, Louie's herbed potatoes, and zucchini sauteed in olive oil.  We were pretty sure we were talking about the same thing, as Tea Break calls zucchini courgettes.  We also had corn on the cob and ice cream for dessert.  I think my appetite, which died during all those zeroes, is back.  For instance yesterday, in Salisbury, I bought some salami and cheese to last for two days.  Without realizing it I had eaten it all within 4 hours.Stewart sure was happy to see me come back.  He really liked playing with Tea Break, too.Tea Break is no longer shelterless.  He's got a brand new MSR Zoid, and he set it up in the back yard, laid down in it and promptly fell asleep.  He didn't get any sleep last night either.Speaking of sleep, I'm going on two days now and falling asleep writing this, so catch y'all tomorrow.
Date: 2005-06-26
From: MA 41

To: MA 23
Miles today: 12.0

start: MA 41 (New Milford, CT)finish: MA 23 (East Mountain Retreat) (hostel)miles: 12.0day: 111We did not get an early start today.  Anyone surprised?  But we did get stuff done.  Tea Break discovered that he left his new Antigravity Gear stove behind when he ran out of the last shelter to escape the mosquitoes.  So we poked around on the internet and made a can stove (google: fuzzy's alcohol stove).  This is probably the simplest design, and we made two of them in a few minutes.  I test fired mine in the garage using 1 pint of tap water. It came to a boil in 4 minutes!  That's as good as my venerable CAT stove, even easier to make, and it needs no pot stand.  It's also lighter, weighing in at 0.3 oz.  So, yes, I left my CAT stove at home.Tea Break recomputed the math and realized that even with the parts of his new tent that I would let him carry his base weight using my homemade pack is only 13.5 lbs.  So he's switched again, leaving his beast of a pack in our garage at home.We started hiking around 1:00, saying perhaps(?) our final goodbyes to Mrs. Moosie and Stewie until Katahdin.  The heat was scary.  We got out of the car and it hit like a sledgehammer.  We hiked into the most mosquitoes I've ever seen!  It was hard to keep a pace with all the swatting.  In a few miles we got to a road (rt. 7) and went 0.1 mile to The Corncrib, a farm market with sodas and ice cream that was very hiker friendly, offering us a gazebo to sit in.  We drank soda, ate fruit, and just sat there like slugs for a couple of hours, waiting for things to cool a bit.It was during this interlude that we hatched a plan.  Avoid the heat and satisfy our need to play by waking each day very early and hiking 10 miles from 5 to 9 am.  Then take a very long siesta until 4:30 and do another 10 by dark.  We're geniuses!We finally got up and hiked on, swatting all the way.  We ended up at this hostel because we could get a cheap shower and get out of the bugs.  We talked with a section hiker named Pacha for a while and then went to sleep.  Early day tomorrow!
Date: 2005-06-28
From: Upper Goose Pond Cabin

To: Dalton
Miles today: 20.6
Weather: moderate rain

start: Upper Goose Pond Cabinfinish: Dalton (Bird Cage) miles: 20.6day: 113We didn't start hiking until around 7:00 today.  We waited to eat the pancake breakfast, and they were good, but there weren't nearly enough of them.We walked a couple of miles to the road into Lee, where Tea Break, Snail and I proceeded to get a ride into Joe's Diner for breakfast.  As we were finishing up, a nice young woman and her mother started asking us questions about our hike, and she eventually offered us a ride back to the trail.  Way out of her way.  Nice lady.The rest of today's hike was pretty uneventful, except that it rained for most of the day, and the forest was beautiful.  The rain cooled things off a bit and kept the bugs down somewhat.We hooked up with Rescue (aka Michael, aka Leprecorn) near the end of the day and talked him into going to the Bird Cage with us.  Once in town we walked by Tom Levardi's house and said hello (but he didn't offer us any ice cream...).  Then on to Rob's place.Rob is a very cool fellow.  This is one of the very few, very best hostels on the whole AT.  I really felt at home here.  He offered me a bed, but I opted to camp in the yard, as I haven't slept outside in too long.  We watched a movie after dinner and made plans for shuttle hiking back to here tomorrow.Surprise! Goldilocks stayed here two days, then went to visit a friend, I guess, and was back here this very afternoon before hiking out.  I'm only a day behind.  Perhaps I'll catch up with him after all.
Date: 2005-06-30
From: Summit Mt. Greylock

To: Stealth camp north of Seth Warner Shelter
Miles today: 13.3
Weather: light rain

start: Summit Mt. Greylockfinish: Stealth camp north of Seth Warner Shelter miles: 13.3day: 115Well, I'm sitting here in my tarp at dusk with the rain pouring down -- in Vermont!  Bye, bye Massachussetts!  Only 3 states to go.  Only 589.3 miles to Katahdin, according to my 2005 Wingfoot guide.I was at the Bird Cage again last night and this time I slept inside on a pretty good bed.  I even had a private room all to myself.  I was really considering zeroing there today.  It's such a wonderful, relaxing place, and Rob is so nice to be around.  Also, even though I recently had a near zero, it wasn't all that relaxing.  Most of the day was spent driving around.  I feel the need to put my feet up for a day.  But I started out today only 6 miles behind Goldilocks and I didn't want to unnecessarily widen the gap.  I had intended to hike 20 miles today, but we didn't get started until late, and then Tea Break and I ate a chinese buffet 6 miles in at North Adams.  We were going to hike a couple more miles, but decided on the spur of the moment to make camp when the rain started and we saw 2 good, leafy flat spots.  We were going to meet Goldilocks in Bennington tomorrow for breakfast, but we're 11.4 miles away, so it'll probably be lunch and he may be gone by then.  Ultimately the plan is to take a near zero in Manchester Center, VT, staying in a motel on Sunday night.  I need to make up some miles so I am very close to town Saturday night.Aside from the problem I have with the netting velcro, I sure like my homemade tarp better than my old Golite Cave, which I'm using now.  When it rains hard I feel a light spray coming through, and I don't think that happens with the newer tarp.  I like the light yellow green color better, too.  It's brighter inside.I'm trying to decide if I want my 30 degree down bag back for the Whites.  I may just keep the quilt and wear long johns and a sweater.I'm sitting here munching on lots of fresh fruit.  I resupplied today with just enough food to get me to Bennington tomorrow.  I had no other food besides 4 crackers.  Walking out of North Adams I was carrying at least 5 lbs. of fruit: Ranier cherries, black grapes, a ripe plum, 2 ripe peaches, and a pint of blueberries.  And some cookies.  I sent my stove and cookpot up the line, as I haven't used it much with all the town food available.  The only drawback is that I used the pot for a pillow...Well time to read a bit and sleep.  Perhaps we'll start early tomorrow.
Date: 2005-07-01
From: Stealth camp north of Seth Warner Shelter

To: VT 9 
Miles today: 11.4

start: Stealth camp north of Seth Warner Shelterfinish: VT 9 (Bennington) miles: 11.4day: 116NOTE: I recommend avoiding The Autumn Inn motel in Bennington. I was not fairly treated! See below...After the big storm last evening it rained lightly most of the night. I woke about 1:00 with ball-of-foot pain like I had before I took all those zeroes at home. Time to cut back the mileage. I was kind of hurrying to get to Manchester where I could rest, but decided to stay in Bennington tonight instead.It was an easy hike into town. I was in the motel by 1:00pm. Tea Break said he would be down a bit later. I thought he was packing up, but he went back to sleep and didn't show up until dinner time.Goldilocks came by - he only did 5 miles into town and hung out here all day. The three of us had a good dinner together at The Madison Brewery. Search and Rescue and their father Mark joined us at the next table. We worked hard to make Mark feel welcome - at one point he said to Tea Break (with a smile), "do you always insult people you don't even know?" Only those we like. Mark got the full thru-hiker experience, where hiking is often the lowest priority. After dinner we all piled into the back of his open pickup and drove to the movies a few away to see War of the Worlds. It poured rain the whole way. We had our packs staying dry in the cab. It seems funny now - it was horribly wet, windy and cold. We were all screaming the whole way. I wrung buckets of water out of my Frogg Togg when we got inside the theater.Now Tea Break and I are staying in the motel room, and Goldilocks and the others are at the trail, probably camping just inside the woods somewhere, as it was raining when they left.Goldilocks was interested in staying in the room, but the motel owner wanted more money for the third person than it would cost to rent a whole new room! Ridiculous. And he'd been harassing me all day whenever another hiker would come by to visit, saying they needed to pay ... to visit? Finally he threatened to call the police and have me thrown out into the night and the pouring rain without refunding my money. I called the police myself and they came out and spoke to the owner on my behalf. The owner didn't want to come out of the back room to talk with them, but they persisted. If I had paid by credit card I'd have left and disputed the charge, but alas, I paid cash. So please, do yourself a favor and don't stay here, and pass the word along. Definitely not hiker friendly.
Date: 2005-07-04
From: Summit Stratton Mountain

To: VT 11/30
Miles today: 13.7

start: Stealth camp on summit of Stratton Mtn.finish: VT 11/30 (Manchester Center) miles: 13.7day: 119I'm becoming "motel moosie", huh?  Not only do I hit every town, I stay in every motel...  Not really, but it IS nice to feel clean more often.  I figured I had to wait until Tuesday for the post office to open, so what the heck.I just found out via email that Goldilocks spent the night not just on Stratton summit, but actually up in the firetower, right under the caretaker's nose.  Sweet.  And this was the same night that I was sleeping in the nearby firetower on Glastenbury Mountain.  Cool, eh?I slept well last night stealth camped in the woods near the summit.  I missed the sunrise, as I felt like sleeping in a bit.  I went up the tower for a look at the morning before I left.  Gorgeous.I ran into Tea Break, then Search, his dad Cripple, and weekend friends shortly after Stratton Pond.  Tea Break had said he was doing a 30 into town, but only did 19.  Much more reasonable.  We hiked to the town road together and had an easy hitch into Manchester Center.I got out at the Avalanche Motel, while Tea Break continued into town.  The motel was very hiker friendly, and the room was clean and cool.  I showered, rinsed my clothes, and took a nap while pretending to watch TV.  After a bit my stomach forced me into town hunting a meal.  I was also looking for Goldilocks, but wasn't sure he'd be here.  He wasn't.  Later I heard that he had gone to Hanover for fireworks.After eating a not too good veal parmesan, several of us went to Friendly's for ice cream.  I decided to skip the fireworks, as it was several hours before they'd start and I wanted to lay in the cool of my room.  So I resupplied minimally (only needed a day of food), and returned to the room.Now I'm just hanging out in here watching TV and reading a new paperback I bought.  I figure I'll have more time to read with my reduced mileage.
Date: 2005-07-05
From: VT 11/30

To: Stealth camp 1 mile south of Baker Peak
Miles today: 11.2

start: VT 11/30 (Manchester Center)finish: Stealth camp 1 mile south of Baker Peak miles: 11.2day: 120I really enjoyed my stay at the Avalanche Motel.  I slept well, watched some TV, read, and made some plans for the coming 200 miles.  No distractions.  I showered again this morning, and walked next door to Bob's Diner.  I ordered a cup of tea, and amazingly they had none, so I left.  Back in the room, I packed up and talked to my wife on the phone for a while, catching up on things.Around 11:00 I hitched into town, getting a ride from the mother of a 2004 thru-hiker named Bilbo.  I ate breakfast, then went to the bookstore to use the internet, but there were no open terminals.  Never mind.  I went into the Mountain Goat outfitter to buy some fuel, but the woman there studiously ignored me for 10 minutes while talking on the phone, so I left there too.  I'll spend my cash elsewhere.  On to the post office.  On the way I ran into Cripple, who has his pickup truck back.  I mentioned he looked more in his element and he gave me the finger!  Guess I deserved that one  He told me all about Search and Rescue's plans.  Hopefully I'll see him again on the trail.Senator and OPa are zeroing today, and they told me Tea Break hiked out last night.  That was a good move on his part, I think.  He might have gotten stuck here.  He seemed to be having trouble enjoying his hike recently.  I hope things work out for him.After the post office, where I picked up 3 home-dried dinners, my stove/pot, and resupplied small items from my bounce box, I bought some fuel at EMS, ate at Friendly's, and prepared to hitch out of town.  Just as I stepped out the door of the restaurant it began to pour rain in buckets.  Guess I dawdled too long in town.  I wonder if anyone will give a ride to a drowned rat...  I waited under a small roof overhang until the worst momentarily passed, and got a ride pretty quickly.  The fellow took me to the trailhead, and by that time it was pouring again.  I just looked at him and whined "I don't wanna get out."  Well, I got out anyway, and was instantly soaked to the skin with a cold rain.  Ugh.Perhaps it was because I was kind of cold, but I was feeling strong and hiked fast.  Within a couple hours I had crested Bromley, Styles, and Peru peaks.  I talked to Snail for a bit at a shelter and learned that his mom had to get off due to a foot problem.  She had been hiking with him since Bennington.  I also saw that Tea Break signed the register, and was sounding in better spirits.I was planning to hike until dark, covering perhaps 15 miles, but I found a good, leafy stealth site around 7:15, and set up camp early.  It turned out to have tons of mosquitoes, but then perhaps it's the same everywhere.  I'm still having trouble with my tarp netting.  I switched tarps to one that has the netting sewn on, not velcroed, and I carefully close the corner where the netting panels meet, and heavily overlap netting on the ground, and put stuff on it to seal, and the buggers are still getting in.  I may sew up a Nomad clone for future hikes.  I'm tired of bugs.
Date: 2005-07-06
From: Stealth camp 1 mile south of Baker Peak

To: VT 140
Miles today: 14.9

start: Stealth camp 1 mile south of Baker Peakfinish: VT 140 (Rutland)miles: 14.9day: 121I had a good stealth site last night, and somewhere around 11:00pm it started to pour rain.  It rained for a long time, so hard that it kept me awake, sort of.  I kept drifting off.  Very nice.  But somehow mosquitoes keep getting in.  Not too many, but by morning there were about 20, all looking fat and happy.  Next I think I'll try getting some bug dope to put at crucial places on the netting.  I know, you thought I was going to say I'll fix it by staying in motels every night.  Very funny.I got an early start, moving quickly to get to a restaurant 15 miles away that closes at 2pm.  I made it with time to spare.  On the way I met my first real SOBO, a young guy named Mark.  He started late May, and didn't climb Katahdin because there was 3 feet of snow up there.  Wow.After feeding my face I checked my email at a payphone and discovered that Goldilocks had hitched from this very spot into Rutland yesterday and is zeroing today.  No need to get ahead of him, so I went into town to hang out with him.It was great to see him.  We caught up on news, showered, and went to Friendly's for dinner.  He's trying to decide what to do: on the one hand he'd like to be able to slow down his daily average, on the other he needs to do bigger miles to complete before school.  He's also been hiking in a void and was getting lonely.  He was thinking of skipping to Glencliff and hiking from there, saving Vermont for his fall break, but his cold weather gear won't be at the Glencliff post office for a few more days.  One possibility is just keeping on hiking, doing 15s, and finishing Maine on his break, but it's questionable whether he'll get to summit Katahdin after October 15th.  Another option is to accept that he may not quite finish this year, but has had a wonderful journey along the way - definitely a quality hike.I think we'll try to hike together for a bit, but he'll probably leave me in the dust if he decides to push and go for it.  Whatever he chooses is fine with me.I just now realize I've screwed myself a bit by doing a short day today.  I won't be able to get my food drop at Woodstock, VT Saturday morning unless I push two 20s.  Hmm.  I guess I'll play it one day at a time and see what happens.
Date: 2005-07-08
From: Stealth camp just south of Gov. Clement Shelter

To: VT 100 
Miles today: 14.2

start: Stealth camp just south of Gov. Clement Shelterfinish: VT 100 (Mrs. Gorp's) miles: 14.2day: 123Such a hard life this is, "hiking" the AT.  I'm sitting in a comfortable leather recliner in Mrs. Gorp's house waiting for Goldilocks to finish in the shower.Our day began with very cool (cold!), breezy weather, which turned to rain as we climbed Killington.  We skipped the summit trail because we were in a cloud with no views.  Our plan was to do a big day today, both to make up some for yesterday's short day, and to be within striking distance of the Woodstock post office tomorrow morning before they close for the weekend.We were hiking along fairly well, although the miles weren't seeming to accumulate very quickly.  Then we ran into a trail work crew.  I spotted Mrs. Gorp, who I had met at Trail Days.  She asked if we needed help of any kind.  It didn't seem that we did until I thought how unlikely it was for me to make the post office tomorrow.  She offered to meet us later today and drive us to the post office and back to the trail.  Well, to make a long story shorter, on the way back from Woodstock it was cold and raining, and Mrs. Gorp mentioned that we didn't really want to go back to the trail, did we?  So she kidnapped us and brought us home.  Her husband Larry had just returned home from a 4 day motorcycle trip.  I'm sure he was thrilled to see what she dragged home with her.We all showered up, put a load of clothes in the laundry, and went to dinner at a great steakhouse in Rutland.  Afterward, we came back to the house, and I sleepily played with Iris the cat for a bit before deciding it was hiker bedtime.
Date: 2005-07-09
From: VT 100 

To: VT 12
Miles today: 20.4

start: VT 100 (Mrs. Gorp's)finish: VT 12 miles: 20.4day: 124I slept great - I always sleep great in comfortable beds with comforters. It poured rain for a while around dawn - later we noticed 2 inches of water in a dish outside. I decided it was time to get up when I smelled breakfast cooking downstairs.Mrs. Gorp and her husband Larry had already eaten, and she had the table set for us hikers: juice, tea, bacon (very good bacon!), french toast, eggs and fruit. This is a wonderful place with fantastic hosts. I can't understand why it isn't mentioned in the Thru-hiker's Companion.Finally we got ready to hit the road back to the trail. Mrs. Gorp has a sadistic streak - she asked if we wanted to zero at the house, perhaps even go see a movie, since it was looking rainy. Someone must have told her how weak we are in the face of such temptations. I still can't believe we actually got in the car and went hiking today.The hiking was pleasant today, even with rain all afternoon. It was cool with very few bugs, and we mostly walked through nice, mature hardwood forests. There was a fair amount of climbing, as we've split from the Long Trail and are heading east towards New Hampshire, against the grain of the north-south running ridges.We're staying the night in a barn near the trail on VT 12. It's a free hiker hostel, and there are a few section hikers here with us. Our plan is to go into Woodstock early for breakfast, then hike to Hanover. We may just eat dinner in Hanover and walk out of town to camp, or I may zero there, meaning we'll have a motel to stay in tomorrow night. I realized today I haven't taken a full zero since northern NY when I was home. I'd like to keep hiking with Goldilocks, but it depends on how my feet feel tomorrow. Today was my first 20 since Dalton.I hope it pours outside tonight, as I'm dry in this barn.