morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2005-07-15
From: RPH Shelter

To: McConaghy Home in Sherman, CT
Miles today: 19.7

Hopeful:   We left the shelter this AM at 7 o'clock! I may have kind of draggd Red Wing along on that one, but the others were up too, and I was eager to get started. We had almost 20 miles to hike with lots of "extras" planned.   The first stop was to Moutnain Top Deli, well worth the 4/10 mile walk off the trail to get there. Delis seem to be a popular thing in the mid Atlantic states and northeast, and I really like the idea! We each had a huge sub, even though it was only 9:30 in the morning. Thunder ate with us. I guess a thru hiker's appetite doesn't follow many rules. The extra calories, and especially the protein positively affected our energy supply for the rest of the day.    Our big end of the day goal was to get to the NY 55 highway crossing, where we would meet the McConaghy family. Who are the McConaghys? We weren't really sure. We knew from an email they sent last month that they had read some of our online journal, had a friend hiking the Trail this year, and wanted to offer their house as a place to clean up and rest when we were in the area. That may have seemed odd, anywhere but on the AT! We called them a couple of days ahead and set up the meeting time and place. We still had no idea what good things we were in for. It turns out that the McConaghy family of 3 is Rob and Kate, along with their 13 year old daughter Charlotte and little dog named Moxie. They have a beautiful home in Sherman, CT, and they not only brought us there, but also Colonel Mustard and Thunder, who we happened to be hiking with this week. Red Wing and I actually had our own room and a real bed. Kate picked us up at about 7 PM and we showered and had a nice dinner.   We have really enjoyed talking about all sorts of things with this great family. They even have trail names! Mr. and Mrs. Mac, and Cheese (Charlotte). We miss our teenage friends back hom, and hanging out with Charlotte was a treat. She is a special young lady. There was no time for the pool tonight, but our clothes are clearn, we had some time to catch up on the internet, and maybe we'll swim in the morning. We are so thankful to be here! It is a huge relief during a hot, muggy week. And we're thankful to meet some new friends, as well as to get to know Thunder and Colonel Mustard even better. We will surely sleep well tonight!
Date: 2005-07-16
From: McConaghy Home in Sherman, CT

To: NY/CT border & McConaghy Home
Miles today: 7.1

Red Wing:   It has been another one of those amazing days on the AT. I've been wondering all day how to put into words the appreciation that we feel towards Rob, Kate and Charlotte for opening their home, family and lives to us. I'm not one who is good with words, so I'll simply do my best at explaining the day, and hopefully to the degree that you're blown away by their generosity, you'll understand our feelings of gratitude.    To begin with, we slept until 8 AM. We haven't had many chances to do that yet, so it was greaT! Coffee was already made by the time we got us and Rob offered all of us the opportunity to slackpack (day hike with all but the bare essentials left out of the pack) for the day, and return to their house in the evening to stay another night. It seemed like an opportunity that we couldn't pass up. So, following more coffee, PILES of blueberry pancakes, and bacon, we filled our water bottles and hiked our seven miles for the day. I've been bothered by a heat rash that is on my shoulder, and it gets worse with my pack strap rubbing on it. So I went without my pack altogether.   Before Rob dropped us off on the trail for the day's hike, we went to a grocery store and bought food for a barbecue. When we got back from the hike, we took a swim in the pool along with the McConaghys, and then began preparing dinner. It was a group effort to come up with burritos, porkchops, apple sauce, corn on the cob, chips and fresh guacamole, salad from their garden and banana splits. Consuming this summer feast kept us at the table for a long time while we enjoyed one another's company. The night ended with a long discussion with Rob that I really enjoyed. I'll remember this day for a long time.
Date: 2005-07-17
From: NY/CT border & McConaghy Home

To: Kent, CT & 4-Winds' place in New Milford
Miles today: 11.5

Red Wing:   Today was another border crossing day. With the first few steps we took, we crossed from New York to Connecticut. By the end of the day's hike,w e had officially completed 2/3 of the entire AT. It's beginning to feel like we've been out here a ver long time, so the thought of another third to go can seem daunting. At the same time, the end feels like it almost in sight. We've also been talking about how it will be hard to see the hike end, and the last third includes some of the very best hiking.   The Trail is not all about hiking, however. While we're blessed to be hiking each day, to us, the Trail is also about people and the community we become a part of, and the experiences that come with freeing yourself to live a simplified life apart from schedules. We have found that when we are free enough to follow opportunities as they present themselves, we are much better off.   This morning, shortly after waking up, Rob offered to drive us to a church service (it's Sunday) before heading out. We haven't been to a worship service in weeks and we gladly made plans to attend. Colonel Mustard also decided to go and the three of us were thankful to be there. The congregation was warm and welcoming, and the service focused on Christian community, something I've thought a lot about since being out here.    The McConaghy's again fed us lunch before we left, and Hopeful called 4 Winds on the outside chance that we could get ahold of him. Some of you may remember us mentioning how we met a group of 2004 southbounders last fall,a dn that we ran into them again this year, just north of Grayson Highlands State Park, and also at Trail Days. Well, when we met them again this year, they were hiking with other SOBO friends, including 4 Winds. Since he lives near the Trail in CT, he gave us his phone number and said he'd love to get together when we were in the area. So, we called him at the last minute this morning, and we're so glad that we did. He was excited to hear from us, and made arrangements to meet us tonight. We hiked our miles for the day, and when we got to Kent, he picked us up and drove us to his apartment in New Milford. Once here, we showered, did our laundry (not that much was dirty yet), made some phone calls and had a lot of awesome food (root beer floats, chicken fajitas-- in that order!), and we were able to see his pictures from his thru hike. It's really good to hang out with a thru hiker who has so much enthusiasm and understanding of what we're doing. 4 Winds is another example of what this community is like. He hiked south, we're hiking north. He hiked last year, we're hiking this year. We really only know each other through us meeting his friends for one night, almost a year ago. Considering all this, he greets us with hugs, gives us his own bed to sleep in, and even has altered his work schedule to make time for us. It's quite a family out here along the Trail. It was definately another great day. Thanks, 4 Winds & the McConaghys!
Date: 2005-07-18
From: Kent, CT (at 4-Winds' place in Milford)

To: Pine Swamp Brook Lean-To
Miles today: 17.0

Hopeful:   I think that I had subconsciously hoped that the Trail would get easier as time went on. Today has reassured me that it really doesn't. Every day has its challenges, and this one seemed especially full of them. Nothing catastrophic occurred, it was just a hard day. Already, as we're settled in our tent, head lamps on, writing and reading, the frustrations seem less and less. When I look back on our journal, however, I think it will be a more honest review of the Trail experience if I, without complaining, include some of the emotions I felt today.   It began really well. We woke up late (if 8 AM is late) in 4 Winds' air conditioned apartment. He was cooking breakfast for us already, a delicious FIVE egg omlet for each of us. 4 Winds-- you are an amazing chef! We hated to say goodbye an really wished that he could have hopped on the Trail with us when he dropped us off at the trail head about 10 AM. He's the kind of guy that we're sure we'll see again someday.    The tough parts of the day won't take long to describe. It was probably the muggiest day yet. The moisture in the air was heavy. With any sort of ascent, we would stop for a break and watch the persperation drip from our elbows. With the salty sweat comes the issue of clothes chaffing, which is high uncomfortable. Our pack by now have been soaked, and really stink. They are more difficult to wash than our clothing. And finally, the mosquitoes were ravenous, particularly as we tried to cook dinner at a shelter with the word "swamp" in its name.   All these challenges are self imposed as we choose to be out here. Recording them every so often will help to avoid any romanticized notion about the day in and day out reality of the AT.    The middle of our hike provided some small relief since we followed the shore of the Housatonic River for several miles. We also really began to feel like we're in the Northeast as the forest changes to more hills, rocks, streams and evergreens. It's beautiful. We only saw two other thru hikers today, Thunder and Colonel Mustard. Since we plan to take a couple of very short days this week, in order to enjoy almost an entire day and night stay in Salisbury, CT, we may lose sight of these guys for a time. We have heard that there might be quite a group of hikers behind us. In Salisbury we will have our best shot at celebrating our 2nd wedding anniversary, which actually isn't until July 26th.    So, tonight we gloat because the mosquitoes buzz outside the tent with no hope of getting inside. We have won! (for now)
Date: 2005-07-19
From: Pine Swamp Brook Lean To

To: Limestone Spring Lean-To
Miles today: 12.3

Red Wing:   Well, the bugs didn't carry us away or suck us dry last night so we got us and hiked again. Bugs tend to make us irritable, so it was a rough morning. The humidity remained high as well, so within a few minutes we were worn out. Thankfully, the beauty of the woods rescued us from our self-pity. In particular, the birds singing and the rocky, hemlock-filled forest have been a welcome change from the past few weeks of nice, but rather unchanging environment. AFter 8 miles this morning, we arrived a road crossing with a hydro-electric plant. At the plant we were able to clean up at an outdoor shower that they have made available for hikers. With the muggy day that it had been we were thankful to be able to feel clean, even if we would smell again within the next mile. From there we took the road into the small town of Falls Village, CT, where we had a mail drop waiting for us. We arrived in town, just in time for the Post Office lunch hour. Just about then, a lady named Ann saw us and invited us to join her at a luncheon at the Senior Center. What a way to spend an hour while waiting for mail! Fried chicken, crackers and cheese, salads of all kinds, cookies, air conditioning, and a lady named Trudy, who knew all about the Trail and had tons of questions. After all the Trail Magic of the past few days, it almost wouldn't be right to tell others about today's feast. Connecticut has spoiled us, I just hope we're not ruined as hikers. Like the dog that has grown accustomed to eating people food, I fear that a normal week of trail food and big miles may be rough. Eventually, we got our maildrop, returned to the trail and three miles later arrived at the shelter. Tonight we share the shelter with "Padre", an 18 year old from Massachusetts. He's the only thru-hiker we've seen all day, and as we look ahead of us in the shelter registers, we see that the Trail traffic really thins out. Hopefully, we'll be back in a larger group of hikers soon. For now, we're really happy that Padre is here and we've enjoyed his company. We also really enjoyed the 0.5 walk down to this shelter. It was steep, but worthwhile.
Date: 2005-07-20
From: Limestone Spring Lean-To

To: White Hart Inn, Salisbury, CT
Miles today: 3.4
Weather: clear sky

Red Wing:   Our 2nd wedding anniversary will be July 26th. This year, with us being on the Trail, we figured that it would be best to treat ourselved to a nice nights stay at a B & B or Inn along the way. Other types of gifts don't make much sense, since we don't want to carry anything extra. Our guidebook calls Salisbury, "the quintessential New Enlgand town", so we thought we'd give it a try. I didn't know what quintessential meant but I'm now guessing it has something to do with wealthy New Yorkers. Anyway, we found a room at the White Hart Inn, which is a beautiful old building that has all the little touches to make it a really nice place to stay. We hope to relax here for the night, get some good food, and hike out tomorrow.
Date: 2005-07-22
From: The Hemlocks Lean-To

To: South Wilcox Lean-To
Miles today: 19.7

Red Wing:   We woke up at 5:15 this morning. Hopeful got up, I went back to sleep. An hour later, seh got me up again, this time for breakfast. I ate, then while trying to pack up, I got distracted and fell back asleep. Finally, by 7:30, I was up for good and we eventually got on the Trail. Each day seems to have its challenges. Blisters, heat, humidity, and now today, the mosquitoes. Coming from nortern Michigan, I'd like to think that we know a thing or two about bugs, but these Massachuetts mosquitoes are a breed like I've never seen. They're huge, have large, shiny teeth, and they fly in formations to maximize the effectiveness of their attack. Never before have I come so close to losing my mind. At one particularly trying point, just before we crossed US 7, I was swatting with both hands for minutes as we hiked. Hopeful turned to say soemthing to me and when she saw me, she laughed. I had bug parts stuck to me. Wings, legs and the little things they suck with were all pastered to my arms, shoulders and side of my face. Some of my better kills were marked with patches of blood. At the time, I didn't think it was as funny as she did. Thankfully, at the road crossing we found a store called the Corn Crib, with fruit, vegtables and ice cream. We often say that ice cream can make everything better.       I hear the hike was as beautiful as yesterday's, but I'll have to come to do it again when its not buggy to verify that. After going all day yesterday without seeing another thru hiker, we almost made it the whole day today without seeing any hikers. The first people we saw were after 6 PM when we cuaght up to the "Warren Doyle Expedition". We met Warren (who has been on the trail 13 different years), and his wife a few days ago. They are leading a group of 5 other hikers on an ambitious 113 day trip made up of long day hikes with a support van. ABout a half hour later, we were at the shelter, alone once again. We had little hopes that anyone else would be joining us. We set up the tent so we could sleep without the bugs, and began cooking dinner. Then we heard a storm approaching, so we moved the tent into the shelter to keep it out of the weather. Just as the storm hit, four other hikers showed up. It never occurred to us that there might be other hikers coming. Quickly, we took down our tent, and made room for Beam, Hemlock and Birdy (who call themselves the Muppets) and also Thumper. It's nice to have more people around, my fair share of bug bits just went from 1/2 to 1/3.
Date: 2005-07-24
From: Upper Goose Pond Cabin

To: Dalton, MA, 83 Depot St
Miles today: 20.6
Weather: clear sky

Red Wing:   When starting a 20 mile day, especially one when days are getting shorter, or when it's hot and humid, it's important to start early. We were reminded of this lesson the hard way, today. We slept until after 6:30 AM and took the morning slow. Carrie, the caretaker at the cabin for the week, cooked pancakes and made coffee for all the twenty-something of us staying there. On top of the pancakes, we ate our usual helping of oatmeal and because of the large crowd, we found ourselves drawn to conversations. By the time we ate, packed up, and hiked the 1/2 miles back to the AT, it was 9 AM-- a late start for us. As hiking goes, it was a relatively comfortable day with cooler temps, a little breeze, our only big climb was the 200 feet in the first 2 miltes. This was a nice surprise considering the past week has been consistently more up and down and difficult. At the 11 miles mark, we came to a road crossing where 0.1 miles away lives "The Cookie Lady", who is famous for giving cookies to the hikers who come by. Unfortunately, she was not to be found, but her husband was. His expertise is blueberries. Luckily for Hopeful, it was the first day of U-Pick berry season, and she got to pick and eat blueberries, two of her favorite things.    An hour later, we were back on the Trail, a little more sluggish and with 9 miles left to go. Although conditions were great, we struggled and decided that Dalton had all we needed in our next town stop and that we might take a zero day there tomorrow to catch up on neglected errands and rest. Eventually, we pulled into town and passed Tom's house, where Grey Walrus was on the porch talking on his cell phone. We pulled over to say hello, and are now spending the night. For 27 years Tom has allowed hikers to camp on his lawn. He has a large porch with chairs that invite one to sit, relax and stay awhile. Once Tom met us, he offered us ice cream and pie (as he does to all hikers, whether they stay on his lawn or not), which we couldn't turn down. The ice cream sundaes stood 6 inches high and the pie was cherry, which reminded us of Traverse City. I stayed at Tom's house in '99, but never really got to talk to him because he was hosting 20+ hikers. Tonight, there are just 3 of us and we've been able to talk to him much more. Tom is a very quiet, soft spoken man with a huge heart. He has that "What's mine is Yours" mentality and it continually leave us feeling touched and honored. By the time this journey is over, we are in great debt to the generosity of those around us. With nothing to give back (Tom won't accept money for what he gives), we can only be humbled by receiving what we cannot repay. We showered at Tom's, grabbed a sub at "Angelina's" with Grey Walrus, and are settling in for the night.
Date: 2005-07-25
From: Dalton, MA, 83 Depot St

To: Dalton, MA 83 Depot St
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Red Wing:    We haven't taken a full and complete zero day, since Delaware Water Gap, 5 states ago. We've had a 3.5 miles day and a very easy 7 miles day in that time, wbut we haven't totally stopped in what seems like far too long. The laundry had become an issue and our journals needed to be updated. We have plans of slowing down in another few days when friends from home visit, but we don't want to do chores while they're here with us. So, here we are, pretty much living on Tom's front porch for a day. We woke up at 6 AM to Grey Walrus, with a grin on his face, doing jumping jacks outside our tent, asking, "Are you ready for breakfast?" We knew he was hiking out today, so he could meet up with family, and that we might lose track of him for a little while, so we really did want to get up and hang out. We went to a cafe just down the street called Duff's and Del's (which we highly recommend to other hikers). We joked that it was the kind of local place where we probably sitting in the seats of some regular customers. After a very affordable and very filling breakfast, we said goodbye to Grey Walrus, and while finishing my coffee, and older couple came and sat right down with us. It turns out that we were in their seats. They didn't mind us being there, it's just that they would expect to be joining us.    Going through our usual town day checklist, we did our laundry, ordered meals with quanity as the primary conern (not necessarily quality), and we are now at the library where Hopeful types and I typically read the newspapers to catch up on world events. We'll need to make some more phone calls, and hopefully get a ride with Tom when he gets home from work to the local Eastern Mountain Sports store.   Later:   We hadn't finished our journal entries before the library ladies, to the minute, let us know that our internet time limit was up. So, we'll have to finish posting them another time. Leaving the air conditioned library to walk back across town was not very appealing, but we found slurpees on the way which helped us to stay cool. Back at Tom's we were happy to see that Origami would be spending the night there with us. He's feeling discouraged, so we're glad to be able to hang out with him right now, it's been since our last zero day that we've seen him. Tom did give us a ride to the mall. We spent a couple of hours wandering around, mostly in the EMS store. They take pictures of all the thru hikers who stop in there, usually with a creative pose. We labeled our polaroid photo "hiker trash" since we took a couple of big cans from the display and sat inside of them for our pose. It was fun to see the shots of other hiker friends posted on the board.   We called Tom for a ride back, and realized that in addition to Origami, we would also be reunited with Patch and Handyman for the night. We stayed up far too late, chatting on the porch, but it's really good to talk and laugh with friends.