morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2013-08-08
From: hexacuba shelter

To: glenncliff hiker hostel
Miles today: 14.7

Rain!Woke up this morning about 4:15 to heavy downpours and instantly knew I was in for a great day! It was nice to not have to put a wet tent in my pack thanks to the hexacuba shelter. I climbed up my cube which in some areas had sixty to eighty foot long sheets of smooth rock with sheets of rapid water flowing down at me. You know you're on a steep assent when the ground is 2ft. from your face. Thank God I only had to go diagonally across this slippery surface about thirty feet. I saw a lot more moose sign on the trail also with intermittent hoof prints and fresh poop. I made it to the hiker hostel in Glencliff and its a cool place. Full of thru hikers and no bunks, but I was offered a place on the floor and gladly accepted. I was able to take a shower in the outside building which is literally outside! It was cool showering in a downpour under a tarp but the water was awesome. Did my laundry as well and leg me tell you after four days, I stunk! The hostel made a pasta dinner for everyone staying and didn't have to eat my last meal of dehydrated potatoes. I decided to put my tent up tonight because the weather broke and its nice to have privacy in your sanctuary without people stepping over you all night. I had to see the seam on the back of my right shoe that I just purchased before I came out ont the 29th because it was going to blow out and I really like these shoes. I've pretty much decided, although propped shoe fit is important, the fact is after walking 15to20 miles per day, your feet are gonna hurt!Army ant and the Aussies are one day ahead of me and mother Teresa just got into New Hampshire today one day behind so I see a reunion about to occur and potentially will finish around the same time which would be cool. Still, I have o get there first!
Date: 2013-08-10
From: north woodstock, nh. 

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Today I took another zero day and hung out with Jet Lag, a fellow hiker who got off trail recently and came up from Maryland to provide great trail magic by slack packing myself, mother Teresa and peaches through the white mountains starting with a slack pack of about 16miles from kinsman notch to Franconia notch. This section of trail is no easy task and well try to start before eight o'clock in order to get it in before the sun sets. I'm excited to be hiking with my friends through the whites and will be climbing mt. Washington within two days hiking. Today I received an email from a person who has heard about my success in overcoming diabetes and feel compelled to share with you; Mr. Lane,I am the wife of a 30-year AT section hiker, and he told me about your journal entry of July 24th where you discuss your diabetes. I am also a type 2 diabetic with high blood pressure. I am also obese (I finally started using the word ¢obese¢¢¦.used to just call myself ¢overweight¢¢¦but the first step in overcoming something is owning it). I was much encouraged by your reference to getting off your meds. My doctor tells me that I can defeat diabetes and high blood pressure by exercising and losing weight. I am beginning to walk for the purpose of weight loss. Please continue to report your progress in your journal entries¢¦it is a real encouragement. Thanks, JerryIt is always a challenge for me to attempt to control my eating and activities that aren't always consistent with a healthy lifestyle. Since I've retired from a long career in one of the most stressful jobs a person can have, I am seriously trying to correct some of the issues I've accumulated over time by throwing myself into this adventure. I never knew the importance of caloric intake and what happens to the food I eat once it's in my body until I started this trek. Now I look at everything I eat and because I'm burning between 5000 and 7000 calories per day and am only eating about 1800 to 2000 per day, mathematically, I can't help but lose weight. Remember that fat is nothing more than stored energy so if you don't exercise, you are converting calories into fat storage. Now, I look at protein because I don't want to lose muscle mass while trying to lose more fat and so protein is now an important piece of my body puzzle. If you are serious about losing weight and ridding yourself of diabetes and high blood pressure, you need to make a serious lifestyle change that lasts a life time and not just for awhile. Jerry, I thank you for your encouragement and hope you make a lifestyle change that will help you achieve your goals as I have.
Date: 2013-08-12
From: crawford notch

To: lake of the clouds hut 
Miles today: 11.2

Resting easy at a motel in Gorham , nh. Got cleaned up and did laundry while we had wood fired pizza. Tomorrow we'll leave at 6:30am as we must drive about 40 minutes to get to the trail head. It's only 12.5 miles to the summit of Washington but, this stretch is gonna be a challenge. Jet lag is gonna half pack us again so my pack will weigh about 24 lbs which I'm really excited about. We'll probably stay at the lake of the clouds hut and summit in the am, not sure yet. The seat of my pants will determine that!Resting this evening at the Lake of the Clouds Hut about 1.5 miles from the summit of mt. Washington. Arrived at 4:45pm and was able to stay do work for stay which means ill have to do dishes or sweep the floor or the oven , something along those lines. People are paying up to 140 dollars for the service provided by "Da Croo" of about six caretakers who have made a wonderful meal that we'll get the leftovers from but, more importantly, we have a place to sleep. Underneath the hut is a place called "the dungeon"'where I'll bunk and at least it's out of the weather so I don't have to tent in this brisk mountain air. As I walked into the hut I hear this voice say Darryl! I turn around and recognize a child hood friend I went to school with since kindergarten in 1968, Chris Howe. I felt like I was in my own town instantly and gave him and his wife a big hug. I really feel like I'm in my back yard because I've spent so much time hiking up here and I know a lot about the mountains I'm on and going over, but also to see someone from my childhood is awesome! I twisted my ankle again and real good this time! After I picked myself up, it hurt for a while but I am not gonna let this mountain kick my ass. I walked it off because I was still 3 miles from the hut and was not sleeping in the elements. I hope when I wake up in the morning I can walk ok as I need to make 14.8 miles to get to Pinkham notch on the north side of the presidentials and into Gorham where the motel is located. I should be three days to Maine then and into last last leg of this New England trek. Only 335 miles to go!!
Date: 2013-08-14
From: route 2 gorham

To: pinkham notch
Miles today: 20.7

Holy moly! What a crazy long day today. We started off at 7:50am from Pinkham notch visitor center and hiked up wildcat mountain, actually, all five peaks over 4000feet. Went over carter dome, up overly hight, south carter, middle carter, north carter and finished with mt. Moriah, all over the 4000foot mark and hiked for a total of 20.7 miles in 11.5 hours. I got back to the inn by 8:00pm and had a nice dinner before soaking in the hot tub and heated pool. What a nice reward after a long day of hiking. My boots did great and I really am excited to hike with comfort. My feet are humming however due to the huge amount of miles today and can't blame footwear for that. Tomorrow I will resupply, do laundry and do a short distance, maybe 11 miles or so and by Thursday will be in Maine for the last state in New England with 281.8 miles to go. Chilling out right now in bed, watching the Red Sox play the giants. GO SOX!!!!!
Date: 2013-08-15
From: route 2 Gorham

To: trident col campsites
Miles today: 6.8

Another glorious day in the white mountains of New Hampshire. Did our re supply and some laundry, ate breakfast and early lunch and headed for the woods. We hiked about 6.8 miles and are staying at trident col campsites and are about 10 miles from Maine. Tomorrow we say good bye to NH. and hello to ME. with a 14.8 or so mile day we'll be in position to hike the Mahoosuc notch, the famed hardest mile on the AT. With steep inclined solid granite trails that never end and bouldering over, under and around rock structure the size of buses, CRAZY COOL!! Hopefully the rain will cooperate as it will be dangerous even in dry weather. Some areas are literally 60 degree climb up slabs of granite for hundreds of feet where I'll be using hands and feet as I as end to Mahoosuc arm near the top of the notch. People are nervous but you have to slow down and think about the technicality in front of you, not the whole trail. I'll take my time and enjoy it because its there for me and I can't finish if I don't get through. Just remember, if you think about all the excuses you can come up with about why you can't, you won't!!I like to think about the Nike commercial, JUST DO IT!!
Date: 2013-08-16
From: trident col campsites

To: grafton nothch 
Miles today: 24.2

Welcome to Maine ! Only 281.4 miles to Katahdin and the weather has been great. We hiked about 6.8 miles and stayed at trident col shelter. We spoiled ourselves for to days at the town and country inn with their spa like accomodations with steam room, sauna , hot tub and pool, all of which made our 21.3 miles slack pack worth the 12 hour day. Thursday we hiked 14.8 miles to full goose shelter which is just south of Mahoosuc notch, the hardest mile on the AT. I really thought the trail getting there was the toughest to date so I can only imagine how the notch will be. We started at 7:30 this morning with a short hike to the notch trail. The trail is made up of huge boulders, some as big as a bus. We had to climb up over, under and around these monster rocks and crazy trail for 1.2 miles and top that off with a 1500 foot climb up the arm which was at some parts made up of granite sheets of trail at an incline Greater than 50degrees from horizontal, unbelievable! It took us over two hours to get through just the bouldering part of the trail and by the time we hiked 5.2 miles, it was 1:45pm. We stopped at Speck pond for spectacular views of this huge pond 3500 ft high on the mountain. This is where we came up with the idea to call " The Cabin". We hiked another 4.6 miles to grafton notch state park where Earl from the cabin hostel picked us up and brought to his home where we had a great sit down dinner prepared by his wife. Web ad chicken, corn on the cob, two kinds of salads and brownies and carrot cake for desert. The shower felt good and clean clothes always feel good. Right now I'm sitting in the hostel with eleven other hikers watching" stand by me", waiting for my clothes to dry so I can crash. The miles are starting to get to me and so I'm gonna slack pack a couple of ten miles days over the weekend and enjoy this beautiful Maine back country. 267.2 miles to Katahdin !!!
Date: 2013-08-17
From: grafton nothch 

To: south arm rd. 
Miles today: 8.6

Today is the third straight day of slack packing and also consistent 10 mile hikes are helping to relax us a little after doing high mileage days thru the whites. Yesterday we climbed the baldpates in beautiful weather and summited over a round hump of solid granite. We hiked up sheets of rock that layered and at times laid like bent stacks of lumber the lumberyard. I was glad not to drop my trekking poles as they would have fallen hundreds of feet and it would have been tough to retrieve. Today we hiked another 10 miles or so over wyman mountain and thru sawyer notch and finished early enough to enjoy an excellent meal at the hostel and relax. Tonight we when to spot moose at a local area we found by talking to the locals. We saw three moose, (meese, mise, mooses?!) They weren't to bothered by us watching them in the bog as people shined their lights and made a racket. Tomorrow looks like rain and we might zero and stay dry as our streak of perfect weather comes to an end. I can't remember when we've had this length of consistently good weather for hiking. We hit the toughest parts of the trail and have gotten thru to this point with little negative effect   and are excited about the next section of trail. I see we have our first fording coming as we are only 26 miles from rangley, me. and must cross Bemis Stream in order to get there. I guess I'll just wear my boots and hope they dry out as I am acutely aware of the effects of hours of hiking with wet feet. I have made a correction on mileage for some reason I don't line up with the book and haven't skipped any blazes, excepting the two middle sections of the AT I have to make up by march 21st of next year in order to achieve thru hiker status and have not ruled this possibility out. Have to plan on winter hiking in order to gitrdun!
Date: 2013-08-28
From: south arm rd. 

To: rangeley, me. 
Miles today: 16.1

Today is the third straight day of slack packing and also consistent 10 mile hikes are helping to relax us a little after doing high mileage days thru the whites. Yesterday we climbed the baldpates in beautiful weather and summited over a round hump of solid granite. We hiked up sheets of rock that layered and at times laid like bent stacks of lumber the lumberyard. I was glad not to drop my trekking poles as they would have fallen hundreds of feet and it would have been tough to retrieve. Today we hiked another 10 miles or so over wyman mountain and thru sawyer notch and finished early enough to enjoy an excellent meal at the hostel and relax. Tonight we when to spot moose at a local area we found by talking to the locals. We saw three moose, (meese, mise, mooses?!) They weren't to bothered by us watching them in the bog as people shined their lights and made a racket. Tomorrow looks like rain and we might zero and stay dry as our streak of perfect weather comes to an end. I can't remember when we've had this length of consistently good weather for hiking. We hit the toughest parts of the trail and have gotten thru to this point with little negative effect   and are excited about the next section of trail. I se we have out first fording coming as we are only 26 miles from rangley, me. and must cross Bemis Stream in order to get there. I guess I'll just wear my boots and hope they dry out as I am acutely aware of the effects of hours of hiking with wet feet.As it turns out the ford of Bemis stream was not an issue and we hiked about 14.4 miles ending at rt 4 near rangeley, me. We hiked passed several lakes including sabbath day pond which had a sandy beach and crystal clear water. I could buy some land here and call this place home! As the day went on, the thunder clouds formed and after several claps of thunder, I decided to stow my lightening rod trek poles in my pack to lessen the chance of getting zapped , struck down by natures wrath! We made rt 4 by 3:00 and right in the parking lot we got a shuttle into the town of Rangeley. Resting easy at a local motel on the lake. Had pizza for dinner and am settling in for a RedSox/orioles ball game, GO SOX!!
Date: 2013-09-02
From: Abol bridge

To: Katahdin
Miles today: 14.8

It's 8:10pm on the eve of my final push for completion of the New England section of the Appalachian trail and im staying in shelter number two at katahdin stream camp ground , watching as the thunder storm clouds move in over Katahdin. The sound and echo of thunder gives me a great sense of awe as I sit at its base, feeling a bit on edge , hoping fora break in the weather for a safer summit. Just 5.1 miles to the top of Maine at 5,267ft. I'm trying to throw a little optimism out there but, if the weather man says theirs a 70 percent chance of rain, doesn't that mean theirs also a 30 percent chance it's not going to rain? The only thing that would stop me from summiting in the morning is a thunder storm. If I get wet it doesn't matter because I'll be wet from sweat anyway so let's party!! Ok, temperature can be kind of a party pooper at times. If the temps fall near freezing I could be dealing with ice, freezing rain or snow conditions. I think it will continue to be warm tomorrow still from the warm front that's caused some of this wonderful, wetness. I am happy to say that I have conquered the greatest mountain this day and am elated to have finished the New England section of the AT. I've hikes a total of 1203.9 miles and, although it rained, am very satisfied with today's hike as I started out at 6:50am and was able to summit before 11:00. I was privileged to summit with " why not" , a wonderful woman who has just completed the triple crown. She hiked over 7000 miles and covered 22 states and has completed the Pacific Crest Trail, the Continental Divide and the Appalachian Trail. It's amazing the physical and mental ability we can achieve if we apply ourselves.I'm in he town of millinocket, me. With my beautiful wife and just enjoying the festivities of end of trails festival taking place and am looking forward to talking with the venders.I am honored to have hiked with and summited with the Warrior hikers; mama goose, Rob, Jobba and Rosie. Thank you for your commitment to our country and its been a true honor to know and share this adventure along the way with you. Congratulations on completion of your thru hike. This is probably the last entry to my journal as I return home to be with Alison and although I only hiked 1200 miles of the Appalachian trail, I have done a great job in a positive direction in terms of health and fitness. I weighed in at 198 lbs and after drinking several of the local beers, have filled in nicely at 200 lbs. Now if I can cut sugar and flour out of my diet and continue to walk at home, I'm hoping to maintain my weight and overall health. Remember, it's not a race, it's just a simple pace!Hey, take a hike!! :-D
Date: 2012-02-20
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

¢Why don¢t you act your age?¢¢Why should I start now, I never have before.¢The first statement was made in a phone conversation by my pal, you can probably guess who, in frustration over not being able to talk me out of heading out on a nearly 2200 mile backpacking walk.I made the comeback with a huge grin on my face because I could visualize how his face reflected his lost hope of talking sense into me.On March 20th my grandson Pat and I will start walking on the Appalachian Trail (AT) at the southern end of the trail on the top of Springer Mt. in Georgia with every intention of six or seven months later finishing at the northern terminus on the summit of Mt. Katahdin in northern Maine. According to the AT GUIDE, which we hope will keep us from getting too lost, the distance this year is 2185.9 miles. My pal has resigned himself since the above phone call and has resumed his position as one of my most avid cheerleaders.Access to the account of my abbreviated hike on the Florida Trail several years ago is on the left sidebar to this journal. On another entry I will discuss lessons learned from that effort and how I applied those lessons to preparing for this trip. Also in the sidebar is the Guestbook feature. There are separate buttons for reading and for adding comments to the guestbook. I really came to appreciate the comments people left on my last journal and checking the entries became the most anticipated part of my days. I will try to answer your questions and will probably do that in the body of the journal rather than by a separate email.My son Butch, Pat¢s dad, will be this expeditions Logistics Chief. He will be sending us supplies as needed, replacing equipment for us, handling my snail mail that will be forwarded to his home and acting as transcriber for entries to this journal. I will try, pending connectivity, to send him an entry daily that I will draft on my phone. He will copy and paste to the journal page and correct spelling and any grammar problems and especially be looking for auto-fill mistakes. Any of those that get by him are my fault; I had first crack at fixing auto-fill if I had been aware enough.This site is a wonderful asset to the hiking community. One thing they ask of users is to post three entries to the site before the site starts posting on line. So, one down.Gonna be a beautiful hike. Sleep well.Ole Slo
Date: 2012-02-21
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

What a week. We went into the weekend with a decent snowfall, the likes of which have been few and far between this winter. In order to chase the last of the powder my friend Linda and I decided to take to the woods. This is the latest time in the past several years that there has been a enough snow depth to minimally cover the underbrush and dead-fall. Well, you know, sometimes ¢minimally¢ isn¢t enough.Running below the snow surface my ski tip caught something that wasn¢t buried enough. I was spun around so my back was downhill and the entrapped ski binding released, my back impacted a tree (which brought immediate pain and caused me to yell), I fell between it and it¢s adjacent partner, my other ski which was still attached to it¢s boot came to rest spanning the two trees and effectively suspended me upside down on the downhill side of the trees with my head buried in the powder. I was able to turn my head enough to see the release leaver on the binding, which was holding me in place. It was resting against the tree. I jerked my leg and ski boot away from the ski, the binding popped, I dropped about a foot ( it seemed like two feet) and executed a half summersault so that my boots were now facing downhill.Meanwhile Linda was dealing with a similar entrapment of her own about a hundred yards down the steep hill. She managed to free herself about the same time I got to a seated position facing downhill. Assessing the damage I told her I was unable to get down on my own. Linda called the Ski Patrol and made her way to a trail to direct them in to me. Three Patrol members showed up and after a herculean effort got me out of the woods. They then saw me on my way via other patrollers to the Medical Base Station.X-rays showed at least one broken rib (A later CT scan showed four broken ribs.) and a collapsed lung. My choice was to go to the local hospital or to the University of Utah Level 1 Trauma center in Salt Lake City. After discussing it with Linda I decided to have the Park City Fire District Medics bring me to the Trauma Center. I was released on Wednesday.All of this is the lead in to saying that only days after posting that I would be starting my Thru Hike on March 20, I now need to postpone that start date. I¢ll continue walking without carrying a pack until the injuries have healed and then spend a couple weeks building back up to full pack weight. Stay tuned for updates.Two lessons learned. Well, reinforced. Never ski the woods or backcountry alone. God has ways of getting us to see our mortality and our reliance on others, friends and strangers, for our well being.Until that moment it was a beautiful day for skiing the woods. Sleep well. Ole Slo