morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2010-07-05
From: Stewart Hollow Lean-to

To: Belters Campsite
Miles today: 15.2
Weather: clear sky

I decided to back off some today because of the hard, hot day yesterday. Therefore, I got up 1 h later (at 6 am) and was hiking at 7:15 am. It was very hot and the going was slow due to the heat. I stopped at the Pine Swamp Lean-to at 2:30 pm to cook my dinner only to discover that the stream water source had become just a stagnant part of the swamp. I used some of my precious treated (drinking) water to cook my meal. This stop took 1.5 h and then I was off again. It had not cooled down at all. At 8:05 pm I reached the Belters Campsite where I pitched my tent, ate two cinnamon-raisin bagels with peanut butter and a 3.5 oz package of Peanut M&Ms as my dinner. Then I shut off the headlamp and almost immediately went to sleep. ¢ Just Trogging Along, GA to ME.
Date: 2010-07-06
From: Belters Campsite

To: US44
Miles today: 10.4

I hope this heat wave stops soon. I was up at 5:05 am and hiking at 6:05 am on my way to Salisbury, CT to Maria¢s house where I would stay the night. First I had to get enough water for the 10-mile hike so I back-tracked 0.1 mi on the Trail to the spring for the campsite and filled and treated all 4 of my water bottles which amounted to over 7 lbs of water. Of course this made my pack that much heavier but you have to have water and this is the only way to make sure since most of the water sources have dried up. I got back on the Trail at 6:35 am and made reasonable time considering the heat. The temperature started at 70 °F at 6:30 am, was 78 °F at 8:00 am, 84 °F at 9:30 am, and close to 90 °F when I reached CT44 at 11:50 am. I called Maria and she picked me up within 5 min. She is a very nice 80-year-old lady that takes in thru-hikers. She says, ¢It keeps me young!¢ I have an A/C room in her house. She shuttled me to the laundromat and pizza house for dinner. Fredo and Mason are also staying here. I turned my A/C to 75 °F and shut off the light at hiker midnight (9 pm). ¢ Just Trogging Along, GA to ME.
Date: 2010-07-07
From: US44

To: CT41
Miles today: 0.8

Last night I slept in air-conditioned comfort. I set the A/C temperature to 75 °F; the air was dry and heavenly. I decided to stay another day at Maria¢s. I slept in until 7:15 am and then fixed breakfast for myself. Maria is not allowed to cook for the hikers because she is not ¢certified.¢ I had coffee, OJ, 3 eggs over-easy, 4 hash brown patties, a banana, and 4 slices of toast with a lot of butter and grape jelly. It was an excellent breakfast. There was a short hike to do, however, and at 9:30 am Maria took me back to the AT where she picked me up yesterday. I hiked 0.8 miles over the section of Trail in town. This sets me up for a shorter hike back to the Trail tomorrow morning. Actually it is a good thing I did this because I missed a turn on the AT and had to go back and find it. Now I can avoid the frustration tomorrow morning. At 10 am it was 90 °F in the woods under the tree canopy and 95 °F in the open fields. It is proving to be as hot as yesterday and my decision to take a Nero (nearly zero) day here is looking pretty good. After the short hike I had a relaxing day: I showered, went to the library, had lunch at the Bistro, got groceries, watched some of the Germany-Spain World Cup soccer final and wrote in my Journal. My Journal needs to get to the Post Office. ¢ Just Trogging Along, ME to GA.
Date: 2010-07-08
From: CT41

To: Stealth camp past Jug End Rd
Miles today: 17.1

Goodbye CT, hello MA! I also passed the 1500-mile mark today. I am home (in MA) but will only pass through. Today I was up early ¢ 4:30 am. I cooked my breakfast and ate with Flayman. I ate 3 eggs (over easy), 4 hash brown patties, a bunch of saut©ed onions and mushrooms, 2 slices of toast with butter and grape jelly, 3 glasses of OJ, and 2 cups of coffee. Flayman then took me to the Trail. Thanks for the ride, Flayman. I started hiking at 6:20 am. The temperature started out at 72 °F and did not go above 78 °F until the sun came out around 2 pm ¢ then the temperature shot up to 90 °F just when I had to climb Race Mountain and Mount Everett. The going was slow because of multiple ascents and descents combined with the heat. I reached Jug End Road at 7:45 pm and spent 30 min trying to find the spring. I managed to get water then hiked for another 15 min and found a camping spot where the mosquitoes are horrendous. I just spent 15 min killing more than 10 that got into my tent when I entered it. I will stay inside as much as possible tonight. There is still one in the tent that I will have to track down before I turn out my headlamp. I can hear and see them outside my tent, buzzing like around a beehive trying to get in for a snack (me). ¢ Just Trogging Along, GA to ME.
Date: 2010-07-09
From: Stealth camp past Jug End Rd

To: Mt. Wilcox North Lean-to
Miles today: 17.8

This morning I was up at 5 am and hiking by 6. I couldn¢t get away from all the mosquitoes fast enough. I met Listener on the Trail at 7 am and we hiked the rest of the day together. At 8 pm we reached US7 and got a ride into Great Barrington, MA for a second breakfast at the bagel shop. We filled up our water bottles and headed back out to the Trail. That took about 1 hour but was worth it for the good food. I had tuna salad on hamburger buns and peanut butter on bread for lunch at the Tom Leonard Lean-to and filled up water than hiked onward. At 4 pm we stopped at Benedict Pond and took a swim to wash off. This also rinsed my shorts and shirt. It was worth the 1 h of non-hiking time for the refreshment value. We reached the Mt Wilcox Lean-to at 7:30 pm where I am tenting. The water source, a stream behind the shelter, is all dried up. Good thing I stopped at an earlier spring and got water, enough for cooking dinner, drinking for tonight and to get me to the next water source tomorrow. Highlander II is doing a training trail run to meet me as I hike tomorrow. I am looking forward to seeing my hiking mentor. ¢ Just Trogging Along, GA to ME.
Date: 2010-07-10
From: Mt. Wilcox North Lean-to

To: Stealth camp after Walling Mountain
Miles today: 18.3

Today was a special day on the AT ¢ I got a visit from my hiking mentor, a.k.a. Highlander II, a.k.a. my son Craig. I was up at 5 am and hiking at 6 in 70 °F temperatures and under cloudy skies. At 8:30 am I met Highlander II trail running south. He stopped and gave me an egg and sausage biscuit sandwich that he picked up on his way there. It was still warm and tasted great. He continued trail running south and I continued hiking north. I reached Goose Pond Road where he had parked at 12:50 pm. It rained for a good part of the time. At Highlander¢s truck I had 2 cold sodas waiting for me. H2 got there at 1:30 pm after deciding to turn around at Mt. Wilcox South Lean-to that gave him a total distance of 26.2 mi. Yes, that is a marathon distance. We went into Lee and got a large pizza, together eating 34 of it. I took the last 2 pieces, put them in my backpack and had them for my dinner later. I was back hiking at 3:30 pm, bypassing the Upper Goose Pond Cabin and crossing the Mass Pike on the AT bridge. Then it was an 800 ft climb up to and over Becket Mountain and Walling Mountain where the trails were overgrown with raspberry plants. It was a pain getting through. I am stealth camping on the other side tonight. ¢ Just Trogging Along, GA to ME.
Date: 2010-07-11
From: Stealth camp after Walling Mountain

To: Dalton, MA
Miles today: 16.3
Weather: few clouds

Today I was up at 5 am and hiking by 6 am. The temperature was cooler and in the low 70s. The trails have been good. At 10 am, I stopped for an hour at a U-pick blueberry patch run by Cookie Lady and Roy the Cookie Man. They have a water spicket for hikers and offer soda and hard-boiled eggs for sale. In addition they give thru-hikers three cookies each. In total, I had 2 12-oz Cokes, 2 hard-boiled eggs and 3 cookies. Roy has 1200 blueberry bushes and during a good season they pick until Columbus Day. At 11 am I hiked on. At 12:30 pm I had lunch, finishing my last 3 crumbly organic wheat hamburger buns with some peanut putter. Regular buns just squish but are fine for PB sandwiches, but this kind ended up not only squishing but also turning into breadcrumbs. Cornpath was working there and suggested I stay at Tom¢s place in Dalton. I reached Dalton at 4:50 pm, met Tom, and stayed. He is retired and offers his house for hikers to stay and shower, He also does your laundry ¢ and he won¢t even take a donation. Popeye, Saint, and Whoopie Pie were also there. ¢ Just Trogging Along, GA to ME.
Date: 2010-07-12
From: Dalton, MA

To: Stealth camp past Mt Greylock
Miles today: 18.5

It is a lumpy ¢bed¢ tonight. I was up at 6 am, finished packing, went to breakfast with Popeye, Saint and Tom, and was hiking at 7:45 am. The trails were friendly today but started out with a 1000 ft ascent. The temperature was initially in the low 70s but by noon had climbed to 79 °F in the woods and 85 °F in the open fields. At 12:30 pm I stopped for an hour at the Shell station on MA8 in Cheshire and had lunch ¢ 2 hot dogs, 2 16-oz Cokes, potato salad and a bag of chips. I also purchased a ham salad sandwich for dinner tonight. After the lunch stop, I resumed hiking, starting the 2000 ft climb to the summit of Mount Greylock. I reached the summit at 6:15 pm, purchased 2 12-oz Cokes and spent the next hour searching for the AT north. Once I finally found it, there were no while blazes for 7 minutes. I hiked for another hour, searching for a tent site. (The 60 min on Greylock doomed my goal of reaching the next shelter before dark). I dropped my pack at 8:15 pm and took what I could get for a tent site. I rate it a C-. It is lumpy with rocks under a leaf cover. We will see how well I sleep tonight. ¢ Just Trogging Along, GA to ME.
Date: 2010-07-13
From: Stealth camp past Mt Greylock

To: Congdon Shelter
Miles today: 18.9
Weather: broken clouds

Goodbye MA, hello Vermont. 11 states done and only 3 remain¢¦ and there are less than 600 miles to go. My lumpy bed worked out fine last night. I was up at 5 am to the sound of light rain on the leaves above ¢ a very strong incentive to move quickly. Fortunately it did not rain hard and I packed an only slightly wet tent. Not too bad. I was hiking by 6 am and it sprinkled a little off-and-on but not enough to make me put on my rain jacket until 5 pm. Then it started raining harder for about an hour, so I donned my rain jacket and wore it until I arrived at the Congdon Shelter at 8 pm. It was a 14-hour day, but that included a 2 h 20 min resupply stop at Stop & Shop on Rt 2 in North Adams in the morning. While there, I enjoyed a bacon & egg sandwich, a 20 oz Coke, a banana, two donuts, and a cup of coffee that served as my lunch because I did not stop the rest of the day. I purchased an additional sub for dinner. Early in the afternoon I left Massachusetts and entered Vermont. Vermont has a new welcome sign. It is 9:30 pm, 70 °F, and past hiker midnight. ¢ Just Trogging Along, GA to ME.
Date: 2010-07-14
From: Congdon Shelter

To: Kid Gore Shelter
Miles today: 18.7
Weather: light rain

I passed the 1600-mile mark today. It rained last night, but had stopped by the time I got up at 5 am. I packed up my wet tent and all the other stuff and was hiking at 6:30 am. The skies were very threatening ¢ heavy and overcast. The threat had merit; shortly after I started hiking the rain began, lightly at first but eventually hard enough for me to put on my rain jacket to keep from getting cold. At 8:30 am I started the steep 800 ft downhill into the VT9 notch (to Bennington). The climb down would be treacherous even in dry conditions so with the wet rocks it required special care, especially because I had injured my right elbow in recovery from a potential fall and was hiking with only my left pole to give my right elbow some time to recoup. The 0.8 mile downhill took me nearly an hour and I was glad when it was over. At that point, it really started to pour. I hiked up the other side of the notch in heavy rain and facing water cascading down over the jumble of rock steps. Once I reached the top, I hiked on to the Melville Neuheim Shelter where I got out of the rain to eat lunch (tuna salad on hamburger buns). It stopped raining and I hiked on, walking around huge puddles in the Trail when I could and through them when I couldn¢t. The sun actually came out for a time in the afternoon. I reached the Kid Gore Shelter after 18.7 miles at 7:30 pm and was happy to have made it that far. They said the shelter was full so I hung my tent to dry and went for water. Guess what? The sky opened up in a downpour. I hurried back to the tent but it was too late ¢ it had acted like a water collector. I set it up anyway (in the pouring rain) and sponged out the water. I went to eat dinner at the shelter where I noticed an open space. I asked if I could sleep there and they said OK. I finished my dinner, went back to look at the tent and found it still wet inside so I took my back pack back to the shelter and slept there for the night. ¢ Just Trogging Along, GA to ME.
Date: 2010-07-15
From: Kid Gore Shelter

To: Stealth camp past Stratton Pond Shelter
Miles today: 19.1
Weather: broken clouds

Today was a day of avoiding muck when I could and walking through it when I couldn¢t¢¦ It rained again last night but by 3 am the stars were out with Jupiter shining brightly. I slept well and was up at 5:30 am. Hosey got up to walk her dog, still trying to mentally deal with the very wet tent issue. I got up, gathered my stuff from the shelter and took it to the tent site where I dried and cleaned as much of the tent as possible. The inside floor of the tent was actually dry from where I had sponged out all the water the previous night. The tent was a mess, not only wet with water but also coated with sand and gravel that had splashed on it. I cleaned it as best I could, packed it up, put it in a trash bag, stuffed it in my backpack and headed out at 7 am. There was heavy fog but I was confident that the sun would shine and was glad to be hiking again. The hiking was fairly trying. Where yesterday there were puddles of water, today the Trail had muck (like in a swamp). I tried to avoid stepping in the muck as much as I could. Once where I thought there was a stepping-stone, it was just muck and I went in up to my ankle. Good thing I was wearing gaiters, otherwise the muck would have gone over the tops of my shoes. As it was, the gaiters kept the muck outside. I stopped 30 min for lunch at the Black Brook footbridge and ate tuna salad on hamburger buns and peanut butter. It was a picturesque site and a relaxing break. The afternoon was a repeat of the morning ¢ muck, muck and more muck, and attempting to avoid slippery rocks. I wanted to make it to the William B. Douglas shelter but it was clearly out of the question so I stealth camped after Stratton Pond. I started looking for a campsite around 7:30 pm and finally dropped my pack at 7:45 pm. I hung my tent to dry (again) and cooked dinner ¢ ramen noodles augmented with minute rice, sardines in mustard sauce, and butter. I also used up the last hamburger bun with the remaining peanut butter and butter. I will go into town tomorrow. I have almost no food remaining, as it should be. ¢ Just Trogging Along, GA to ME.
Date: 2010-07-16
From: Stealth camp past Stratton Pond Shelter

To: VT11/30/Manchester Center, VT
Miles today: 6.6
Weather: broken clouds

Today I was up at 5:10 am but packing took longer than usual because I still had to deal with a wet tent. I started hiking at 6:40 am but it took a little while to find my way back to the AT - I was 100 feet into the woods and didn¢t remember the direction of the Trail. Fortunately the sun was shining so I headed for it, reasoning if I went east I should bump into a trail going north. Of course, the trail can go in any direction so my plan was to go 200 steps east; if I didn¢t cross the trail then I would go back 200 steps and try going 200 steps north, etc. Fortunately my first attempt worked. The morning hike was unremarkable on my way to VT11/30 - some smooth parts, a few muck puddles, and areas with rocks and roots, including some wet ones. I reached VT11/30 at 10:30 am and started to hitch into Manchester Center. It took only 5 min to get picked up ¢ I consider that very good. Once in town I stopped for a second breakfast at Friendly¢s ¢ 3 eggs, bacon, 3 pieces of French toast, a large OJ and 3 cups of coffee. There I purchased supplies at Price Chopper and had lunch (an eggplant parmesan sandwich) at Manchester Pizza where I am now writing this. Then I will call Jeff and he will shuttle me to his hostel for a shower, laundry, internet access and a night stay. ¢ Just Trogging Along, GA to ME.
Date: 2010-07-17
From: VT11/30/Manchester Center, VT

To: Little Rock Pond
Miles today: 19.8
Weather: light rain

The stay at the Green Mountain House was very nice and Jeff was a gracious and accommodating host. I was up at 5:30 am, ate two bowls of cereal and milk for breakfast, assembled my journals and photo card for mailing, and was ready for Jeff to take Popeye and me back to the AT at 6:30 am. There was a low fog which lifted during the morning. It did not rain all day but the rocks and roots were wet and slippery in places and required a slower pace. The temperature was in the high 70s and the hiking was comfortable. I stopped at the Peru Peak Shelter at 1:00 pm and took 30 min break for lunch comprising two tuna salad and one PB/butter sandwiches on hamburger buns. I hiked on and found that the Big Branch Bridge was being replaced because of ice damage. I decided to hike the original AT and ford the Big Branch Stream rather than follow the detour provided by the trail maintainers. The ford was a series of 7 easy rock hops on big stable rocks. I reached the Little Rock Pond tent site at 7:30 pm after a total of 13 hours and 19.8 miles of hiking. There I met Popeye, Fredo, and Boundless who had already arrived. I set up my tent and went to take a dip in the Pond. I swam some (which now I know was a mistake) but it felt good at the time and got the salt and sweat off my body. Popeye rinsed off and Fredo paddled around the idyllic Little Rock Pond in a kayak he borrowed from the caretaker. After my swim, I cooked a chicken teriyaki Mountain House dinner on a tent platform. Then it started to rain... I put all my cooking things away and ate dinner in my tent (this is really a no-no but I was careful not to spill any food in the tent) out of the rain. I was extremely tired and it was 10:00 pm by the time I turned off my headlamp. (I am writing this Journal entry several days later.) The ascent was 3730 ft, the descent was 3620 ft, and there were 5 laps today. It was a long day.
Date: 2010-07-18
From: Little Rock Pond

To: Stealth camp past Clarendon Shelter
Miles today: 15.0
Weather: broken clouds

It rained heavily at times last night but stopped by morning and the tent was partially dried out. I was up at 5:15 am and hiking at 6:30 am. Both Popeye and Boundless left before me but Fredo slept in longer. The Trail was wet and both the rocks and roots were slippery making my progress quite slow. In addition I was sore from my hike and evening swim the previous day. The hiking was hard for me today and missing the Bully Brook turn did not help, costing me an extra 30 min (approximately one mile). My mid-day goal was to reach VT103 and the Whistle Stop Restaurant (0.5 mi off the Trail) to have lunch. This is 12.6 mi from Little Rock Pond but I did not reach there until 3:45 pm. Unfortunately, the restaurant closed at 3:00 pm on Sundays. Fredo was there to give me the bad news. But the ice cream stand was open and I settled for a banana split w/o banana and two cans of classic Coke. After that I hiked on to Clarendon Shelter, reaching there at 5:45 pm where I cooked dinner and enjoyed a can of Trail Magic soda that a Trail Angel had left in the stream by the shelter. At 7:15 pm I packed up and hiked on to get a little closer to my next day¢s destination, the Long Trail Inn. I found a barely acceptable tent site in a very rocky area as it was getting dark, dropped my pack at 8:30 pm, and set up my tent. I was very tired and sore. My actual hiking time was 11 12 hours. The ascent was 3920 ft, the descent was 4060 ft, and there were 5 laps today. It was a long day. I put off writing my Journal again and had lights out at 9:15 pm. Just Trogging Along GA ---> ME
Date: 2010-07-19
From: Stealth camp past Clarendon Shelter

To: Long Trail Inn
Miles today: 16.9

I now have less than 500 miles to go. It did not rain last night and even though the tent site was in a rocky area, I slept well cuddled up with the rocks. I got up at 6:00 am, packed up, and was hiking at 6:50 am. The Trail was wet and slippery and I reached the Governor Clement Shelter at 10:00 am where Fredo had spent the night. We swapped notes and I hiked on up the 2000 ft Killington Mountain where I stopped at 1:00 pm for my lunch of PB & butter sandwiches on hamburger buns. 30 min later I hiked down the other side of Killington that had enough rocks and roots to make the going quite slow. I reached US4 at 5:50 pm. At about that time the sky opened up and I hiked on in a heavy downpour, passing the LT/AT junction at 6:30 pm and reaching the Sherborn Pass Trail at 7:00 pm. I hiked 0.5 mile on this side trail to get to the Long Trail Inn where I am sharing a room with Popeye. The last 1.5 hours of my hike today featured trails turned into little ponds, running streams, and slippery mud. I was glad to have a dry room with a roof over my head. I am very tired and my back is bothering me more than it was yesterday (not a good sign). I am considering taking a zero day tomorrow but will see how my back feels in the morning and decide then.   My actual hiking time was 11:40. The ascent was 4010 ft, the descent was 3600 ft, and there were 5 laps today. It was another long day. I put off writing my Journal again and had lights out at 10:00 pm. Just Trogging Along GA ---> ME
Date: 2010-07-20
From: Long Trail Inn

To: Long Trail Inn
Miles today: 0.0

I was up at 7:00 am and joined Popeye downstairs for the Long Trail Inn hiker¢s breakfast that was included in the price of the room. I had the chef omelet, bacon, home fries, toast, OJ, and coffee. My back still hurt so I decided to stay another day, taking a zero, and re-evaluate again later in the day. I wished Popeye good luck and he hiked out at 9:00 am. It is hard to believe we have been hiking buddies since Pine Grove Furnace in PA on June 14th ¢ 600 miles ago. But that is the way of the Trail. I did my laundry, sharing the washer/dryer with Nobody. He had some good comments on injuries encountered on the AT and the best ways to recover. After the laundry was done we got the Rutland/Killington bus into Rutland where I had lunch and then went to the library to get info on how to get home from there if I should decide to rest my back some more. My thought process had evolved during the day and I concluded that the best thing for my back was rest. And since I had already been planning on taking a hiatus from the Trail at the end of July (to schedule fall soccer matches for a 400 team youth soccer league) and then return to the AT to complete my thru hike it made sense to leave the Trail a little early in order to give my back that extra time to rest. That decision made, I got rental car and bus schedule info at the library; I had to call both the bus and rental companies to figure out how to get from Rutland, VT to home in Massachusetts. After much time on the phone it became clear: you can¢t get there from here with either public or commercial transportation. Buses don¢t connect and rental cars do not allow one-way drop off. Fortunately, my friend Stan in Norwich, VT had a trip planned to MA the next day and offered to take me there on his way. Thank you Stan.   Just Trogging Along GA ---> ME