morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2017-06-23
From: Laurel Ridge Campsite 

To: Beartown Mountain Road
Miles today: 23.2
Weather: light rain

It' s a very hot and humid day it is about 90 Fahrenheit it also looks severe weather came in. The situation has become more difficult, we tried twice to find a hotel in a town one was in the nowhere without laundry, wifi and restaurant and on the other town everything was sold out.Today was a very long day.
Date: 2017-06-25
From: Becket Mountain 

To: Kay Wood Shelter 
Miles today: 14.7
Weather: broken clouds

I know I repeat myself but it rained again during the night, today it was nice and not to hot.We went to the Cookie Lady's house she backed cookie's for the hikers but you can buy also broiled eggs sodas or ice cream. Unfortunately everything was close perhaps because it was Sunday. Later we met 2 mens from Rhode Island perhaps the corrupt State as one of the two said.They knew about Luxembourg because of the Schleck Brothers.thats what we frequently heard. That the two were very popular here in the States. Thats all for today.
Date: 2017-06-26
From: Kay Wood Shelter 

To: Dalton
Miles today: 3.0
Weather: scattered clouds

After our 3 miles walk to Dalton we checked in at the Shamrock Village Inn then we had breakfast. And then we went to the post Office to pick up our 2 boxes but couldn't find them. After a while they could find 1 box and unfortunately the other box were send back to Harpers Ferry. But the man at thr Post office is very helpful he drove us to Wallmart for ressuply and drove us back to our Motel. In the afternoon he came to us and said they gonna send our Box to Hanover NH. We are so happy there was our Wintergear inside.
Date: 2017-06-28
From: Mark Noepel Shelter

To: Seth Warner Shelter
Miles today: 16.5
Weather: mist

We had an early start today the weather was good until we got a Little higher it started to get Foggy. This is a pity so we could not enjoy the view from the highest peak Mt Greylock in MA. When we came to the border MA - VT we saw 2 men and 2 woman we thought they were hiking together we talked a bit one of the ladies took a picture from us in front of the sign. The 2 female hikers are from ME and they are doing a section and also the 2 mens are section hikers but they don't know each other. We all went to the same campsite.
Date: 2017-06-29
From: Seth Warner Shelter

To: VT 9 Bennington
Miles today: 11.5
Weather: broken clouds

I spoked to the 2 mens last night they stay at the Shelter all alone all the other hikers are in the tents they are going to Bennington. At that time I didn't know that there will be the same for us, our plan was going to Kid Gore Shelter. But when we came down to VT 9 we went down stone stairs it was damp and slippery I slipped and fell and hurt my ribs. It hurt so much that I couldn't breathe properly, we took a break when we had cross the street. As we were ready to go again I wanted to close my backpack but it hurts to much so I left it open. But can't go on like this, we tried to call someone to give us a ride to Bennington but we had no signal. So we walked down the street as a Lady stopped and asked if she could help us. We explained her that we want to go to Bennington for 1 or 2 days and she drove us, she was a triple crowner she has made all the 3 big trails the AT,PCT and CDT congratulations and thank you for the ride. We went to a Restaurant in town for lunch and later we tried to find a Hotel, as we came to the Visitor Center we went in and they helped us finding a Hotel and gave us a ride .
Date: 2017-05-12
To: Home
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

¢Own It, Scout¢I¢m sorry. It¢s my fault the universe is askew. ¢You hike one long trail or three.¢ In the long distance hiking world the ¢Big Three¢ are the Appalachian Trail, the Pacific Crest Trail and the Continental Divide Trail. And here¢s gospel: ¢No one just hikes two.¢ I have hiked two. The universe lies cock-eyed on its axis. "When are you doing the AT.¢ If I had a nickel for every time I¢ve heard it, they'd make a line nearly as long as Maine's 100-mile Wilderness. I finished the Continental Divide Trail 18 months ago and almost every day I'd hear the same refrain. ¢What¢s next, Scout?¢ or more bluntly, ¢When are you doing the AT?¢ A year ago or so, I began pointing people to my wife. ¢Talk to Frodo,¢ I¢d say.¢ She was telling folks, ¢Scout is hiking the AT in 2017.¢ The thing is, I don¢t think she talked to me first. That¢s how it can be in long term relationships¢she knew what I really wanted to do before I did. ¢Scout¢s hiking the AT in 2017.¢ And now it¢s two weeks away. Oh my gosh!It¢s time to put my Big Boy Pants. It's time to put the universe back on the right course.Meanwhile, ... here in San Diego, it¢s a slow night. We only have 12 starting PCT hikers in the house. ¢¦ More on that topic later.
Date: 2017-05-14
To: Home
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

¢What are you doing, Scout?¢What am I doing? I am setting out in 13 days. I¢m southbounding the Appalachian Trail. But when I mention starting in Maine in late May, it¢s as if I set out a honey pot for AT horror stories. ¢Scout, please rethink hiking Maine in June. It¢s black fly hell.¢ Another: ¢We pull out nearly 80% of the southbounders after 50 miles hiking.¢ ¢The stream crossings are dangerous, it¢s so cold at night and the black flies are maddening.¢ There again, it¢s those black flies. It¢s like poking a monster under the bed. One more: ¢I was covered in bites and blood from the black flies. We spent the early summer scrubbing blood and scabs off my neck and face!¢ Sigh. And then they start with how hard the hiking is. ¢The hardest on the AT is right at the start.¢ So, why does going southbound excite me? I like the number 200 more than 2500. There are 2500 northbound and only 200 southbounders. My way is a small village. The other is a small town. And I do like a challenge. I know, I know, beware of hubris. I¢m sure discouraging words will be heard when I tackle Katahdin. And when black flies swarm. And ¢¦. I can tackle most anything if my Frodo is there. But Frodo will not be right there. Where¢s Frodo?Small village:small town:
Date: 2017-05-20
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Where¢s Frodo? Back in the day there was a popular bumper sticker, ¢Frodo Lives.¢ Sandy "Frodo" Mann is my wife.On the PCT in 2007, I followed her for 2,650 miles. Four days before we crossed the Canadian border I have photos of her postholing in thigh-deep snow. She's strong and indomitable. She still takes my breath away. On the PCT she became "Frodo." How? That's a story for another day. On the CDT, she says, "I only hiked 600 miles with Scout." Boy, don't we use the word "only" in strange ways. The rest of those five months she did support for me and many other CDT hikers. Frodo put 14,000 miles on a mini-motorhome helping me and the rest. For the AT, here¢s what she¢s doing. Waving goodbye. On June 19, it will be our 40th wedding anniversary. How is that possible? Frodo: "And where will he be?" I will have run away from home.In forty years we the most we have been apart is for two weeks. Twice. Each time was hard. This summer two weeks and longer will be the norm. They tell me, "Watch out for black flies, the hard climbs and stream crossings." But the larger question for me is how we will cope without each other.Stay tuned.
Date: 2017-05-21
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Where are they? Did they survive.? All I know is this: We share the same blood. I don¢t mean just the same blood type, B+. I literally mean the same blood. ¢Good morning, Mr. Mann, Can I see your identification.¢ I handed over my driver¢s license. The receptionist¢s voice was flat. Her look was that of being early into a dreary eight-hour shift. I was one more random face. But then she sat up straight up. Her eyes glowed as if a sunrise had burst onto her computer screen. ¢Congratulations.¢ She smiled wide. ¢You¢ve given six gallons.¢Of blood. One pint at a time. Forty-eight visits to pump out six gallons. Forty-eight times I reclined back in a sterile couch. ¢Which arm do you prefer?¢ Forty-eight times there was a sharp needle prick and I hoped this time I won¢t bruise badly. I am a blood donor.What place does this have in a trail journal? Well, recent studies validate the ¢cell memory¢ theory. Transplant patients wake up and find they have traits of their deceased donor. A middle-aged woman dancer wakes up with a new heart from an 18-year-old boy who died in motorcycle crash. She craves beer and chicken nuggets. Foods she never liked before. In a ten-patient study, researchers found each patient had two to five new parallels with their donor, changes in food, music, art and recreational preferences.So, here¢s what I wonder about those recipients of my blood. Do they suddenly have a strong desire to walk?I think they should label donor blood. ¢Danger: Thru-Hiker blood.¢
Date: 2017-05-23
To: Home
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

On the Pacific Crest Trail, we observed our 30th wedding anniversary at the PCT high point, Forester Pass. We didn¢t plan it that way. It was pure happenstance. And by the same happy coincidence our son was hiking with us. I turned to  Sean about a half hour before reaching that sharp edged saddle. ¢Would you do a re-marriage ceremony for us?¢ He was 25 and after shaking off the deer the headlights look, he did. To our original promises I added one. I promised to ¢Amuse her.¢  On the Continental Divide Trail, we had come off trail for a weekend and flown to Ketchikan, Alaska. The day after our anniversary, the two of us officiated at a wedding of our ¢trail daughter¢ Blazer. ¢With the full power of the State of Alaska, we pronounce you husband and wife.¢This time on the Appalachian Trail, I will have run away from home. The only one I will be sleeping near with be Rolling Thunder. He's 54 years old, will likely be bearded and he's a a New Zealand journalist. Not my type. Frodo will be 2,600 miles away.So sad. But we are not crying over milk that's soon to be spilt. Instead, let¢s throw a party. That¢s what we did last Saturday night. We had over 50, someone else cooked and someone else played records from the 60s and 70s. We moved all the furniture out from the family and dining room and danced up a storm. What¢s the difference between a dance party 40 years ago and one now? Back then we had a beer bar, not a wine bar. And back then we would not have been hoping for one more bar¢stocking a fine selection of Bengay, Icy Hot, apirin and ibuprofen.Here we are 40 years ago in 1977:And here we are one week ago--She's wearing her wedding dress and I'm wearing the shirt she sewed and embroidered:
Date: 2017-05-25
From: Home

To: Portland, Maine
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

Usually we walk out the doorway of our home with nary a thought. We¢re going to the post office, the supermarket, or out for a dinner-and-a-movie date. The bolt latches. No particular significant attaches to the sound of metal seating home again metal. But what if you are leaving for five months?I like our home. It¢s our third house in the same San Diego neighborhood. It¢s all the house Frodo and I ever wanted.  I thank her again for pressing for us to make an offer on the house at least six months before I was ready. We were meant to live here. There's the Swiss-Family-Robinson spreading tree in this back yard was meant to have the tree house I built with one of our daughters. A few dozen hikers slept in its queen-size-bed loft these past nine weeks. There was the once-ugly back room that was meant for the floor-to-ceiling--book wall I built with our elder two kids. This was meant to be the house in which we would host starting PCT hikers for 12 years. This hiker season we had 898 hikers stay one to three nights--in three big catering tents in the back yard, in the extra bedrooms inside, in the tent trailer and on the night we had 49, bodies were also strewn in the living room and in the carpeted garage. I love this house.So why am I leaving.The trail calls.
Date: 2017-05-26
To: Portland, Maine
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Step into my shoes. Put on those size-12 Brooks Cascadia trail runners and come scurry with me over the last 48 hours. Wednesday, I was up at the crack of dawn, putting the finishing touches on my first 16 days of trail food. Those ¢touches¢ took two hours. How is everything going to fit into the Prius? Rolling Thunder and I each have a fat boy duffle crammed with our packs, gear, days of food, and town clothes. Frodo has her camping gear for the ten days she¢s with us doing support and for her sightseeing in Acadia National Park. There¢s seven cases of books too. Books? Yes, I have a book talk this afternoon, a two-hour drive away, and they say over 300 have reserved spots. It¢s like a 3000-piece jigsaw puzzle; it¢s like a clown car bursting with luggage. Somehow, we manage to drive off by 1:00 pm. Over 350 attended my book talk. I prowled a stage as big as the ones you see in Ted Talks. The audience was amazing. Either I was spot on, they were high, or my mother had called each one and said, ¢Make my son look good.¢ Then we drove two more hours and dropped my car off at Mom and Dad¢s. They live near the Los Angeles airport. Dad will be 93 soon and Mom is 87. Sorry, my eyes suddenly got misty. How do you say good bye to your parents for five months? ¢I love you,¢ I said looking each one in the eye. ¢You are the best of parents.¢ They both are still sharp, still in their own home after 55 years and dad still drives. Dad still calls out, ¢Happy Sunday,¢ or whatever day it is. He means it. Why is it so hard? It¢s because I  am aware each time--Make sure I left nothing unsaid. Then we rush off to to catch a red-eye to Boston. I can¢t sleep on planes. Thursday: I know my iPhone says, ¢Thursday,¢ but driving to Portland, Maine in the rent-a-car, it feels like a straight shot, with no interruptions since Wednesday dawn. We get in a blessed, blessed three-hour nap looking quite dead on the futon at our Maine trail angel¢s apartment. Seth Levy you¢re great! Then errands. Unpacking. Trail journals. Last minute letters. We weave through salt-box homes on winding Portland streets to dinner at an old lighthouse establishment. I raise my first-ever Lobster Roll up to my lips. Ambrosia, who would know thy home lies in Maine.And for dessert, there's a Maine specialty, Whoopie Pie.Friday, it¢s 6:30 am and I¢m finishing up another trail journal entry. We¢re meeting the Father of the International Appalachian Trail at 9:00 this morning. Then at noon I¢m meeting a local PCT trail hero, 94-year-old Marcus Moschetto. At 4:00 pm I have a book talk here at the Oxbow Brewery to share his story for the first time in his home town. And, there's this little hike I start in the morning.It¢s raining outside right now, I hear my hiking companion Rolling Thunder snoring in the next room and I hear the regular breathing of the love of my life as she sleeps a few feet away.I am a lucky, lucky guy.       Rolling Thunder facing off a Whoopie Pie
Date: 2017-05-30
From: Brookside Inn

To: Turn-off from Town Line Rd
Miles today: 13.0
Weather: overcast clouds

How many times did I give that advice to hopeful PCT thru-hikers this year? ¢Always start out slow on a thru-hike. Don¢t get injured early.¢ So what did Rolling Thunder and I do? Three days of 19, 21, and yesterday 23 miles. My left ankle and the balls of both feet finally drive some sense into me. Today we will hike only 13 miles. We will go light on ourselves. We start late, 9:00 am instead of 6:30. We finish at 2:00. Bankers work longer hours.We get our first long look at Mt. Katahdin. ¢Scout, this is your DESTINY.¢ This is wet country. Trees wet, thick, green, with hanging mosses. Roadside fresh-cut lawns soft as pillows. The most water I¢ve carried so far is just over 2 liters, and that¢s only because I don¢t want to fuss with the many opportunities to refill. It is so, so different than the PCT or CDT.If it¢s so wet, then why did the waitress last night say, ¢This is a dry county?¢ Oh, right, that kind of ¢dry.¢ Can¢t buy beer, wine, or spirits. Part of todays¢ ¢trail¢ was a country lane and it was quite evident this is Amish country. Today¢s truly strange roadside sight was not this ¢pet¢ rock, it was a herd of buffalo. What are buffalo doing in Maine? (Frodo: actually bison, not buffalo.) I kept looking for Guy On A Buffalo, my often CDT companion. Only if you are really bored and don¢t have food in your mouth should you watch the four 2-minute ¢Guy on a Buffalo¢ videos. (Warning: they are not PC.)Finally, a shout-out to the Princesses. Yes, any of you readers of the female persuasion may consider yourself a princess, but I am talking about my three Princesses from the CDT. A family who are good friends and who include three daughters read an entry from my CDT journal each night out loud. The Princesses were then 10, 8, and 6 ¢ C, S, and J. So when I used words like ¢vulva,¢ I¢d write ¢princess alert¢ just before. In that case I had ¢mosquito bite,¢ ¢vulva,¢ and ¢Hike Naked Day¢ in the same sentence. Here it would be black flies and we are simply not going there.On the roughest nights as I journaled in my tent, it warmed me to know that they would gather soon and read out loud what I was writing. Princesses, your wandering knight has journeyed far once again. Ride along with me.
Date: 2017-05-31
From: Turn-off from Town Line Rd

To: Shin Pond
Miles today: 16.2
Weather: scattered clouds

All day we hiked on a backcountry ATV trail; such a change from yesterday¢s roadwalk. A big thanks to IAT Maine Vice-President Cheryl and her husband Kirk, who mapped out this new route and arranged for it to be part of the IAT. Otherwise we would have spent another day pounding pavement in Maine. Our first moose sighting! It was as we drove back to the spot where Frodo picked us up yesterday afternoon. We¢ve seen plenty of moose scat and even bear scat. Today¢s bear scat looked fresh. Today was a classic green tunnel. We had fine mist this morning and gray overcast all day, but that¢s way better than hiking in rain. And the blackflies weren¢t TOO bad.I don¢t check the weather ahead much at all, but Rolling Thunder has been checking often. The 5-day and 10-day forecasts change more often than a newborn¢s diapers. One moment, 4 of the next 6 days say rain and the next moment it¢s the opposite. Drives me a bit batty. All of this is leading up to¢¦ What is the best day (which really means just something decent, not storming) to climb Mt. Katahdin? To quote Doris Day, ¢Que sera, sera¢¦¢I think my backside is going to be famous. RT has his camera out again, using me as the hiker prop in his photo. Again. And again. ¢Just keep on walking,¢ he says.At hike¢s end at 3:00 pm, in the Shin Pond store, we ask about hiking season, i.e. when will we have to worry about the woods being filled with guns. We hear it won¢t be till fall. ¢Except for coyotes. You can shoot them anytime. Except Sundays. It¢s illegal on Sundays.¢ Coyotes must like Sundays here.I am going to post a foot photo of old friends ¢ my blisters on my second and third toes. They come out to play during the first week of every long hike. Sure, they sting, but I greet them like long-lost cousins. They will callus over soon enough. And ¢ whispered ¢ my left ankle feels better and the balls of my feet have toned down to a dull roar. I¢ll try to keep my foot photos to a minimum.
Date: 2017-06-01
From: Shin Pond

To: Four Miles beyond Matagamon camp
Miles today: 21.1
Weather: clear sky

Today we are roadwalking from Shin Pond to Matagamon, we¢ll cross our 100-mile mark, and we¢ll enter the new Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument, adjacent to Baxter State Park. It may be roadwalking, but the cars are scarce, maybe 4 or 5 came by in an hour. In 16 miles we saw no houses or buildings, only woods. Except for Rolling Thunder who¢s a half-mile ahead of me ¢ trying to generate a 3-mile-per-hour breeze to stay ahead of the bugs ¢ there is no one around. We two may be the only human beings in a five or more mile radius. Maybe that¢s why the blackflies and mosquitos are so focused on us.We passed a classic beaver pond and lodge. It could have been a movie set. the only thing missing was the slap of a beaver tail as I walked by. I have to give a shout-out to Mt. Chase Lodge in Shin Pond. It is run by two AT thru-hikers, Lindsay and Mike. A warm rustic lodge with Michelin-Star food prepared by Mike. This is us eating breakfast this morning. On my CDT hike I was losing weight and Marcia Powers challenged me to equal her 8-meals-in-a-single-town-day record. Don¢t worry, I¢m not going to try that 10,000-calorie marathon again. But she wrote a guestbook entry already ¢ ¢Eat more, Scout, eat more!¢ I¢m trying, as you can see.Frodo says I shouldn¢t get too sappy (Frodo: I believe the word I used was ¢maudlin¢), but this may be our last night together for weeks. IMF already.
Date: 2017-06-03
From: Deasey Mountain Lookout

To: Roaring Brook Campground
Miles today: 16.7

For the first four miles from Deasey Mountain, we needed our Continental Divide Trail navigation skills. On the CDT there was often ill-defined or non-existent trail. One guidebook says, ¢Plan on getting lost at least once a day.¢ Here on the IAT we weaved and danced through dense forest, with the winter¢s blowdowns an extra wildcard thrown in for us First-on-the-IAT Guys. A half-dozen times today we stopped, looked at each other, looked at the woods, and backtracked, looking for the elusive but wonderful IAT markers. On the Appalachian Trail, they tell us, navigation will be a non-issue, a white blaze every hundred feet or so. Speaking of skills, take a look at the Wassataquoik River crossing. This ¢ford¢ has been at the back and then the forefront of our minds since day 1. ¢The rocky bottom is like greased bowling balls.¢ For you PCT aficionados, it¢s three times as wide as Evolution Creek and deeper. I went across in my underwear, as in only my underwear. My first deep steps in I lost my footing, my body and pack went half under. R-E-S-P-E-C-T. Thinking about each plant of the foot, each lock of the trekking pole time to the streambed, I slowly made my way across.HIGH FIVE, ROLLING THUNDER!Soon after the river crossing we were on old, grown-over roads, and grateful for them. We had lunch in a lean-to 1.7 miles before finishing the IAT and the trail gods smiled on us ¢ it started and stopped raining while we ate lunch. How civilized.Forty minutes later we reached the Southern Terminus of the IAT. Another High Five.Less than 7 miles later, after passing Katahdin Lake, we pulled into Roaring Brook Campground and heard the good news. The weather prediction for tomorrow on Mt. Katahdin is good. It¢s a GO for us to take off bright and early for the summit. We intend to climb up the east side from here, cross the Knife Edge to the summit with the famous Appalachian Trail Northern Terminus sign, and then descend down the west side, finally on the Appalachian Trail.A mile before our hike ended today, I spotted a little rock and pine cone sculpture in the middle of the trail. When I got close I noticed that someone had left a handwritten note on a piece of birchbark. ¢RT, it¢s from Frodo!¢ It¢s fitting today to end with a photo of her note.