morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2006-07-12
From: Upper Goose Pond Cabin

To: Tom Levardi's Home Dalton, MA
Miles today: 20.6
Weather: haze

What a treat it was to wake up to the smell of breakfast. Grampy, the shelter caretaker, had blueberry pancakes for all the hikers. The pancakes would be just the beginning of a day full of trail magic.Jumpstart and I took a slight detour down a road to the "Cookie Lady's" house. This is the spot on the A.T. where hikers can pick berries from a blueberry farm. Unfortunately the berries were not ripe, but we were able to get water and sit under the cover of the porch and eat lunch as the rain started to fall. Roy, the Cookie Man, lived up to his name as he offered us homemade cookies and talked with us for awhile.After lunch, it was time to continue making miles north and head toward my goal for the day which was a camping sight about 5 miles outside Dalton. Not long after getting to hiking the rain started to pick up. The rest of the afternoon it poured and I had a hard time seeing where I was going with my glasses steaming up. The trail became slick and started to pool up with water. The thought of tenting in this weather was not a pleasant one. Finally, the trail exited the woods into the town of Dalton. My original plan was to eat dinner in town and continue on but The pouring rain had me wishing I had a dry, warm place to sleep. As I followed the trail down Depot Street into town I heard a familiar voice from the porch of a home. It was Jumpstart who was about ten minutes ahead of me. He was sitting on the porch at Tom Levardi's house. Tom invited me onto his porch and out of the rain. Before I had my wet shoes off, Tom had a ice cream sundae for me that was the size of my head. Tom then invited us into his home to shower and stay for the night. Pathches showed up shortly after and we all went to the Old Country Buffet. Now we are all hanging out watching The Big Lobowski. This trail is amazing, not only for the miles I have traveled by foot but the amazing people along the way that make the miles worth it all.
Date: 2006-07-13
From: Tom Levardi's Home Dalton, MA

To: Wilbur Clearing Lean-to
Miles today: 20.3

After an awesome night of sleep, Tom, Patches, Jumpstart and I went to a local diner for breakfast in Dalton. The rain looked like it was going to pass for the day so the three of us headed off for Chesire. The miles went by pretty quickly and as we got close to the town then rain started coming down. So we stopped off at an ice cream shop for sandwiches and ice cream. After stuffing myself, it was time for the biggest climb since Virginia. The rain continued to come down as I worked my way up over 3,000 feet. Finally I reached the summit of Mt. Greylock and the weather was not looking good. This is where I finished off my day of eating all town food with a sandwich at the Bascom Lodge. After eating dinner I looked out the window and saw the clouds blow by and the War Memorial on the highest peak in Massachusetts was finally visible. This was the first great Mountain View since the south. I finished my day by hiking down 3 miles to the shelter and called it a day. There are a number of 2005 thru-hikers at the shelter and they have been sharing lots of useful information with us. I also met the first 2 southbound thru-hikers that have a long way to go.
Date: 2006-07-14
From: Wilbur Clearing Lean-to

To: Congdon Shelter
Miles today: 17.1
Weather: clear sky

The absolute least favorite part of this trip has been hitch hiking into towns. After three miles I came to MA 2 and had to decide, Do I walk 2.8 miles or do I hitch? I decided to try my luck with hitching. I stood and watched as car after car sped by as if I wasn't there. Finally, a car pulled up and offered me a ride into town. Joe and Debbie live in Adams and have been doing some hiking on the A.T. Joe dropped his wife off at work an then we were off to the P.O. (Thanks Carrie for the candy and words of encouragement). Getting a ride was great. But the best part came when Joe asked me if I would like to come back to his home for some food and a shower. This is like 2 days after Tom has offered up his home. My opinions of human kindness have been altered greatly in the last few days. Joe's sons, James and Ben, catered to my every need and made me feel at home. James made me eggs while Ben got my laundry going. I hung out with the family and talked about my hike until it was time for lunch. James was at it again making everyone sandwiches. I finally headed back to the trail around 1pm clean from head to toe including my shoes. I thank the Irvine's for their unbelievable trail magic and making my morning one I will never forget.The hiking went by slow in the afternoon heat. I wanted to hike a little further today, but I spent most of the day hiking with Swiss Miss and Patches. We had some interesting conversation and we all ended up at the Congdon Shelter. This shelter has been invaded with people. The shelter is full and there are probably 30 people tenting.And by the way I am now in Vermont. That's 11 down and 3 to go.
Date: 2006-07-15
From: Congdon Shelter

To: Story Spring Shelter
Miles today: 23.3
Weather: overcast clouds

The hot sunny weather they were calling for seems to have gone somewhere else. It was in the low 70's all day and rained all evening. This might have been the most physically demanding day of hiking since the south. Steep climbs and decants combined with hoping around mud puddles made for an exhausting day. So far Vermont has been nice but nothing to impressive. The A.T. in Vermont is also the southern end of the Long Trail. There are a lot of shelters and there have been lots of people, in fact this has probably been the most populated section of the trail. I hiked with Patches for the majority of the day. The shelter is full of thru-hikers. I think I counted 11. Jumpstart caught up after a late stay in Williamstown. Swiss Miss also made it here before dark.
Date: 2006-07-16
From: Story Spring Shelter

To: Manchester Center, VT (Carriage Place Motel)
Miles today: 21.1
Weather: few clouds

Today was a well rounded day on the A.T. It started with some sweet trail magic in the morning. After the Mountain Dew and Twix bar I was ready to climb Stratton Mountain which put me just slightly under 4,000 feet. The views from the fire tower were awesome and I started feeling much better about Vermont. I was hiking with Patches and the plan was to go into Manchester Center and try to accomplish all of the things that need to happen in a town. We ran into Deedaless and Skunk and the four of us made it to VT11 about 4pm. It took a few minutes but eventually we hitched a ride into town.My first stop was at the large EMS outfitter. I needed a few things and I wanted to spoil myself with a new camp shirt. I am so tired of wearing hiker close so I got myself a nice button up shirt to replace my previous camp shirt. The four of us then walked about a mile to the Sutton House where we planned to stay. I hadn't originally intended on staying in town, but it is Sunday and some things are closed until tomorrow. Unfortunately the Sutton House was full but the owner was kind enough to give us a ride to this motel. There are a crazy number of northbound thru-hikers in town. Before I knew it, our room became the meeting place for the group. Many of them were having mini reunions and getting caught up with those that they had hiked with. For me it was the same old song of meeting many new hikers for the first time. There was one face in the crowd that didn't seem all that new to me. After trying to remember where on the trail I came across this person, I realized it wasn't the trail where I had known him. I actually ran into Greg Baltus (Masterplan on the A.T.) who graduated from Dallastown one year before me. Everyone was amazed at the fact that we had gone to the same high school and were running into each other during our thru-hikes. Eventually we all made it to a nice Mexican Grill for some good food and a couple of drinks to celebrate reaching the 3/4 mark of the trail. So my day was full of good hiking, good fellowship, and a few interesting surprises. After such a rewarding day on the trail, its time for some sleep so I can get an early start on errands and still try to hike about 20 miles tomorrow.Happy Birthday Stacy!
Date: 2006-07-17
From: Manchester Center VT

To: Lula Tye Shelter
Miles today: 19.5

7:00 AM came way to fast this morning. But I got myself up and moving, ready to start marking things off my to do list. Everyone in Manchester Center must like to sleep in because all of the stores I needed to go to did not open until 9:00 or 9:30. I had some breakfast at a little coffee shop and then took care of laundry, going to the post office, and groceries. Because the town is so spread out, I probably had about 2 miles in before even heading back to the trail. Getting back to the trail worked out nicely. Just as I was packing everything up and getting ready to head to the road to hitch, a women with her grandson asked if I was a thru-hiker and after talking a bit she offered me a ride back to the A.T.Starting at noon on a day in the 90's is not fun. The heat was intense all day and I drank lots of water. I got to the shelter just before dark and as I changed and started settling in I was bombarded by mosquitos. I thought after I got my bug spray on things would be better, they only got worse. I tried to ignore it. After cooking dinner, I thought sitting and eating in the shelter might help. They followed me there and were driving me insane. There are no flat spots at the shelter for tenting and it is to hot to get completely into my sleeping bag. I am the only one at the shelter so I decided to set my tent up in the shelter. I had all of my stuff out and it seemed to make more sense then packing everything up and heading back out in the dark to find a flat spot. As I sit here in my tent, the mosquitos are swarming outside and it sounds as if there is a motocross race going on miles away. Hopefully no one night hikes and shows up at the shelter. Most of the big crowd in town must be behind because I didn't see any of them today on the trail. It was a cool group to hang out with and hopefully some of them will catch up.
Date: 2006-07-18
From: Lula Tye Shelter

To: Cooper Lodge (tent)
Miles today: 24.1

The first part of my day was a struggle. I woke up and the last thing I felt like doing was hiking. I felt like a zombie and just put one foot in front of the other pressing north. The only excitement came when I saw all of the interesting rock cairnes at White Rock Cliffs (these are rock piles created by other hikers, sometimes used to indicate a turn or other times just for fun). The entire morning was like this until my day was broken up by lunch. I walked 1/2 mile down VT103 to the Whistle Stop Restaurant, and boy was I glad I did. I had an amazing lunch with ice cream and cake for desert.It was back out into the heat and some tough climbs after lunch. Not long after being back on the A.T. there was some trail magic to stop and enjoy. Former hikers had left some sodas in a cold mountain stream. Shortly after this the skies started to darken and before I knew it I was in the middle of an intense thunder storm. It didn't last long but it was definitely the worst storm I have hiked in. The storm passed and I came across another former hiker who had left some trail magic. Between the ice cream and the sodas I was having a sugar overload. The day ended with a long hard climb to the shelter. The place was swarming with black flies when I arrived so I set my tent up. Now it is getting really chilly sending the flies on their way and I wish I would have stayed in the shelter.
Date: 2006-07-19
From: Cooper Lodge (tent)

To: Lookout Cabin
Miles today: 23.7

I slept well in my tent, but when I woke up I found everything wet from dew. It was such a cool damp night it made it seem as if it rained. I ate breakfast and realized I was just about out of food. Luckily I had several options to re supply today. Rather than mess with a hitch into Rutland, I chose to walk about a mile to a deli/farm market in Killington. The timing worked out great for lunch. So like yesterday I had a nice lunch followed by ice cream.The weather was awesome today. It was warm in the sun but with no humidity it felt nice. While eating lunch, I got my tent and sleeping bag out in the sun and they dried in minutes. I bought a few things to get me to Hanover, NH and then called Danielle. I also left a message for my Dad wishing him a happy birthday. I spent almost three hours messing around before heading back to the trail.I didn't really have a destination for today. Most days, I decide what shelter I am headed for and typically end up there. But today the first shelter after Killington would have made for a short day and the second shelter would have made it a long day. I really don't need to do big miles; if I do I will have to hang out in Glencliff, NH waiting for a mail drop. So I figured I would try and find a stealth tent sight somewhere between the shelters. When I reached the first shelter, I stopped for a break and looked over my guide book. This is when I noticed a side trail labeled lookout cabin that sat right between the shelter I was at and the next one. So I decided it would be worth checking out.After a few more rugged miles up to the top of the mountain, I made it to the Lookout Trail. The cabin is large and plain, but what makes it neat is the observation platform on the roof. From the platform, you can see for miles in all directions. There was a sign inside which indicated that if the cabin is not in use hikers may stay. So I decided this would be a perfect spot to call it a day. I am the only one here, so to make it even sweeter, I decided to cowboy camp up on top of the observation deck. It has been an awesome night sitting here eating dinner watching the sun set and realizing I will wake up to the sunrise. It's as if I were sleeping on the top of Vermont.
Date: 2006-07-20
From: Lookout Cabin

To: Happy Hill Shelter (Tent)
Miles today: 22.8
Weather: clear sky

My sleeping under the stars idea was going well until about 11pm when I was flipping from one side to the other and a gust of wind blew my inflatable pillow away. I used my headlamp as a search light and finally spotted my pillow in a tree. After rescuing my pillow, I revaluated my idea and changed my sleeping direction. I slept better but the wind was strong all night and I struggled to stay warm. It was all worth it when the sun woke me about 5:30 as it rose up out of the mountains.Today's hiking was a pain in the butt. It was the worst maintained section of the trail I have seen since Georgia. It is suppose to be maintained by the Dartmouth Outdoor Club, but it seems as if it has been years since anyone has done a thing. The trail passed through many overgrown fields of grass and weeds and when it went through the town of West Hartford there were no blazes to be found. I did have another pint of ice cream today around lunch time. The trail passed through a farm that was selling homemade Maple flavored ice cream. It was really good, although it got to be almost disgustingly sweet. Eventually I made my way to the shelter. The mosquitos were out for blood so I found a nice spot behind the shelter for my tent. Tomorrow I will be going into Hanover, NH so I cleaned up in the ice cold stream. Hanover is only 5 miles from here. My plan is to spend most of the day there relaxing and then hike out 2 miles to a shelter. My feet and body could use a nice short day.
Date: 2006-07-21
From: Happy Hill Shelter (Tent)

To: Psi Epsilon Frat House (Hanover, NH) 
Miles today: 6.2
Weather: light rain

After an awesome night of sleep, I was up and on my way into the 13th state of the trail. I crossed the Connecticut River at which point I was in New Hampshire. My first stop in Hanover was on the campus of Dartmouth at the DOC. They offer a lounge area for thru-hikers with a computer and some info about the town of Hanover. After calling Danielle, I was on the internet getting caught up with some email, checking my guest book, and trying to find out where some of my trail friends were. While sitting at the computer, I was approached by a newspaper reporter that interviewed me and said he was writing a story about thru-hikers stopping in Hanover. Answering some of his questions really made me reflect on my trip.I think the one thing that has been lacking the most is the social aspect. To finish in less than 4 months I have been very focused on miles. I have met many awesome people, but had to hike on to finish by August 14th. I am now in a great position to slow down a bit and have some fun. I am hopping that the crew I hung out with in Manchester Center catches up, although most of them planned on a late august finish. Jumpstart is actually ahead of me now and I will probably not see him again.Anyway, after speaking with the reporter I was wishing there was somewhere to take a shower and leave my stuff while I ran errands in town. That's when Cleatus (a southbounder) showed up and told me about the Psi Epsilon frat house where he stayed the night before. It was behind the building I was in so I thought it was worth checking out. Dartmouth runs on a 4 term semester schedule, which means the campus is a happening place. It was about 11am on a Friday, so it was quiet in the house. I eventually found Wes who said it was cool if I showered and hung out. So I got cleaned up and headed into town for food and some other supplies.The first road crossing I came to I ran into Masterplan. If you remember this is Greg from Dallastown. He was just getting to town. We needed to go to the same places so we navigated our way through this college town together. We ran into 2 other SOBOs (southbounders) and they told us to stop into Brick and Brew for some free pizza. Masterplan and I weren't about to pass that up so it was pizza for lunch.As rude as it may be, I invited Masterplan to the frat house and made the decision to stay here for the night rather than hike out 1 mile or so. I may be in for more socializing then I expected as it sounds as if there is a party here tonight. But you just kind of follow where the trail takes you.Life's good on the A.T.
Date: 2006-07-22
From: Psi Epsilon Frat House (Hanover, NH) 

To: Firewarden's Cabin
Miles today: 23.4
Weather: light rain

Before talking about today's soggy mess, I need to recap last night's events. After writing my journal yesterday, I went back to Brick and Brew for more of their delicious pizza. As I made my way back to the frat house, I hear "Mr.K" called out from across the street. I look to see almost the entire crew from Manchester Center (Patches, Swiss Miss, Nifty, Boogeyman, and Bison). They had already heard rumors from some SOBOs about the possibility of staying at the frat house so I didn't feel so bad about giving them the rest of the info. Swiss, Nifty and Patches went to the frat to shower and Boogeyman, Bison, Masterplan and I went to a small little bar for a few drinks. We had some great conversations about why we were drawn to the trail and what motivates us to keep going. And of course at this point there is always lots of talk about Katahdin and the finish. The rest of the group joined us and we all hung out until close to 11pm.We then decided to go check on our things and see how the party was going. Most of the excitement was down in the basement where the beer pong tables were located. Darmouth is known for this game which they actually use ping pong paddles to play. It didn't take long for us to feel way out of place amongst the young college crowd. We decided it would be a good idea to go eat. So I was off on my third trip to the pizza shop, although this time I tried a new place. The party was still kicking when we got back to the house. We were all beat and scattered out all over the couches to try and sleep. The music and noise from the basement was going to make this a challenge. Swiss Miss made a comment about how glad she was for having ear plugs and I remembered that I also was carrying ear plugs. I had carried them over 1700 miles and never once thought of using them, but this was the perfect time.I slept well and didn't get up until almost 8:30. Then it was off to breakfast and a phone call to Danielle before getting back on the trail around 11am. Within an hour the rain started to fall and it continued all day. At times it was a downpour and the trail turned into a river. The miles went by fast in the morning but the afternoon was more of a challenge with some intense climbs. The shelter is a 4 walled building that is ready to fall apart. I didn't get here until after 7pm and the five people here were all in their sleeping bags. There wasn't much room for me so I am sleeping over a spot on the floor where a board is missing. I am tired so I should sleep well.
Date: 2006-07-23
From: Firewarden's Cabin

To: Happy Hikers Hostel (Glencliff, NH)
Miles today: 20.0

It was another rainy day in New Hampshire. I knew I was headed for a hostel so I just kept my eyes on the wet rocks and kept my legs moving. There were a couple of big climbs but I still made it to the hostel before 4pm. Just as I got to the hostel the sun actually tried to shine through the clouds.This hostel is pretty sweet. It is set up much like the Standing Bear back in Tennessee, kind of a self-serve honor system. I got a nice warm shower which felt good after being wet all day. I also got all of my laundry done. Many times in towns when you¢re at an actual laundry mat, you have to wear some of your clothes so you can't wash them all, but here I was able to wash everything while I sat around in a towel.Just as my wash finished up the caretaker was shuttling hikers into town. I got some food and brought it back to the hostel where I hung out with Red hoya and many other new faces. I have recently been experiencing a lot of excitement/anxiety about entering the Whites. I have many decisions to make about what gear changes I may make and how much food to carry in. I also worry about my knees as I will be hitting the toughest climbs of the trip. More than anything I am just excited and hoping for good weather so I get to see the views.