morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2007-07-16
From: Bromley Shelter VT

To: Little Rock Pond Shelter VT
Miles today: 17.8
Weather: scattered clouds

I got up at 5 and DQ was alreadt gone! The other guys were still asleep. Early to bed, early to rise... Hepcat and Mellow Yellow said that in 2003 they had rain 139 dys out of the 180 of their hike. And their LT hike they had rain 13 out of 17. So since they were taking a zero today, they predicted good weather, and it was really gorgeous. It was so cool and had that Christmas tree smell (is that spruce?) that it was hard to bellieve it was July. There were really nice views from Bromley Mountain fire tower - supposedly you can see 5 states but I didn't really know what I was looking at. I had lunch at Preu Peak Shelter and dinner at Big Branch Shelter. I passed the Lost Pond shelter site - it burned down in 2001, was rebuilt in 2002, and burned down again in 2006. I stayed at the Little Rock Pond tenting area. It was the first time I set up my tent on a platforn instead of the ground, and since my tent isn't free-standing it was a little tricky.
Date: 2007-07-17
From: Little Rock Pond Shelter VT

To: Clarendon Shelter VT
Miles today: 13.2
Weather: few clouds

It rained really hard during the night, but even though I had set up my tent in a hurry to escape the bugs, it held up ok. I just threw all my stuff in my pack and had breakdast at the shelter that was 0.3 miles away (better than a wet tent platform). I made a hot lunch at Bully Brook because I was out of cold lunch type stuff. I met Leader of the Pack (he has a plush stuffed wolfs head hanging from his pack) when I got water at the Minerva Hinchey Shelter. He is doing the same itinerary as I am - I'm starting to worry about getting done in 6 months. I asked him about it and he started exactly a month before me and thinks he may not get done by Thanksgiving. Oh well, sao if he's not worried about it maybe I shouldn't be either. I had 1 mile left and thought I had a 300 ft elevation gain. It was think horrible rock scramble up - I was glad I wasn't doing it going downhill and that it was dry. The Clarendon Shelter is in a really nice clearing surrounded by pine trees and next to a roaring stream. I set up my tent on a thick bed of pine needles.
Date: 2007-07-18
From: Clarendon Shelter VT

To: Cooper Lodge VT
Miles today: 10.1

I had a small tent disaster - I must have pulled up one of the tent poles in my sleep and it rained during the night. So I woke up with a big puddle that soaked my sleeping bag, my bandanna, and my shorts. It stopped raining long enough for me to pack up. Then it started raining. And raining. It was like Noahs Ark rain. I wanted to get to the Inn at the Long Trail and throughout the day I thought of what I would eat when I got there. The trail was basically a stream and there came a time that my feet were so wet there was no point in avoiding any puddles, allthough I still tried to avoid the mud. I ran into 2 sobos - one told me (in an accent that at first I thought was southern but the guy was English) that some kind soul has left coke and biscuits at the road crossing. The biscuits were the cheese/peanut butter crackers. As I climbed Killington, everything started to soak through - my poncho, my hat, my pack. I was listening to Skin Tight by Carl Hiaasen and the temps were high 50s. I was I was worried I was getting hypothermia but since I wasn't stumbling and could follow the plot of my book, I figured I was OK. Actually, i didnt have any falls that day at all, which is unusual considering how slippery it was. I got to Cooper Lodge Shelter around 5pm and decided to stay. There was a sectiom hiker, Franklin, there who was on his 1st day of a section - what a first day! The shelter is apparently about to be torn down. It is stone and has 4 walls but there are open windows with no glass so its open to the weather. Kilgore came in later - he had just seen a moose - and steam was billowing off of him. Later a nobo, Liter Dick came in. I made dinner which means I have been carrying 8 days of food with me - most people carry 4-5. So I need to work on that, but at least I'm ready for the 100 mile wilderness. Also, i finally got v-cast service so I could update my journal and get my email. Thanks to everyone who signed my guestbook - it really is a mental boost to hear from you1
Date: 2007-07-19
From: Cooper Lodge VT

To: Inn at the Long Trail VT
Miles today: 5.6

The privy at the Cooper Lodge is labeled the Cooper Pooper - cute. I had to put my wet cold clothes back on to hike - yuck. The rain stopped at dinner time and I dont think it rained all night. The shelter looked over the valley - from the trail register it sounded like it was quite a view. We could only see cloud banks but they were impressive. OK, I admit I blue-blazed - i took the old at which is now the called the Sherburne Pass Trail but it leads directly to the Inn. I checked in and spent about an hour hanging my bag, pack, tent, and all my stuff sacks so they would dry. Then laundry and shower. I cranked uo the space heater and put my shoes near there but I wonder if they'll ever dry. Every time I came in the room I could smell them - ugh - worse than wet dog. I went to the pub for lunch. I had a cheeseburger, a couple of ales, and bread pudding. By that time, it was pouring again and I was glad to be dry, warm, and indoors. I napped in the afternoon and went to the pub for dinner. Whereas I had inhaled lunch, I could barely finish a sandwich for dinner. Kilgore and Dick told me to check out the hiker box - I should have checked it when I first got here. Although I am still struggling to try to carry less food, it's hard to pass up free stuff. There was a 4 oz nalgene bottle full of what I think was olive oil - I dumped what was in it but am planning to use the bottle for the olive oil in my maildrop. Also there were packets of olive oil. I also took a whole summer sausage that Dick had put in. Anyway - I ended up with whole shopping bag full of stuff even though I am picking up my mail drop tomorrow. I may live to regret it.
Date: 2007-07-20
From: Inn at the Long Trail VT

To: Stoney Brook Shelter VT
Miles today: 8.1
Weather: scattered clouds

Breakfasr was included with the rrom fee, so I had an excellent omelette. I was talking to Greg and Kilgore for a long time. The breakfast room had a boulder that had the wall built around it and a view of rocks, lichen, and day lilies. It was hard to leave the inn. The skies were alternating between about to rain, sprinkling, and sunny. I picked up my mail drop in Killington. Diesel was in ine behind me at the post office. He had taken the gondola down from the peak and he said the gondola was about 6 miles from the post office (only 0.6 from the trail for me). I kept on puttering on. It finally poured right before I got to the shelter. I met south bounders, Surge and Andy. Surge was telling Andy that he had left his boxers at the last shelter (???) and he had a huge rip in the back. I offered to sew it for him. Andy said he had needle and thread with him but he didn't know how to use them. I said that's ok, that's how I am with bear-bagging. they were really impressed with my lame sewing. They were also really enthusiatic and kind of cocky about getting through Maine and the Whites. It was kind of walcome change from the northbounders who are jaded and maybe a little burned out.
Date: 2007-07-21
From: Velvet Rocks Shelter NH

To: Dana Hill VT
Miles today: 13.9

Finally - a gorgeous day. I ran into a little obstacle - there was a log ldder going down a cliff. There was one rung that had rotted off and was lying in pieces at the bottom. The top 2 rungs were partially rotted. I ended up lowering my pack and then climbing down. I later was passed by 2 Brothers who had stayed at the shelter and I was saying "how about that ladder?", and they said,"yeah, was there a rung missing?" It really helps to be taller. In the afternoon I started feeling really bad - feverish, tummy ache, wheezing going up the hills. I think I succumbed to something that day in the rain. I had already passed the shelter 10 miles from Stony Brook and didn't think I would make it to the shleter 12 miles after that. I went to a farm stand and I got there at 6:10 and it closes at 6:00. The owner told me not to hurry. I got a coke and a small blueberry pie. Itreally made me feel better. She left and let me eat out on the porch. I made it just past the road. I ended up making camp partway up Dana Hill. I had to hang my bag in a tree for the first time - it was not elegant but I got it done. I ended up going to sleep with the mp3 player on the Ricky Gervais Show to drown out all the little noises that would get my imagination going.
Date: 2007-07-22
From: Dana Hill VT

To: Thistle Hill Shelter VT
Miles today: 7.6
Weather: scattered clouds

I usually start hiking between 6 and 6:30 but today I had to force myself up at 7. My sTuff stayed critter free except for my water bottles which had slugs on them. I wanted to make it to the next shelter, but other than the disappointing miles it was a nice day. Again it was gorgeous - green hills and blue skies. There were walks through meadows with lots of flowers - black-eyed susans, queen annes lace, purple clover, and a bunch of others. I would have done my Julie Andrews "The Hills are Alive" imitation but I can.t sing. I met some sobos Yeapot, Rambo, Dreamer, Blue - and leapfrogged with nobo Green Hornet. There were trail magic cokes in 2 streams. I still was feeling feverish and wheezy. There was one stream with a difficult rock hop so I decided to ford it in my crocs. It was really refreshing. I made it to this shelter and decided I didn't have 9 more miles in me so I stopped. Soon Greenman came - first time back on the trail in 2 weeks. As I went to get water, Greenman was playing an irish flute. It was a long way down so by the end the sound of the watwerfall drowned it out. Great sound effects. Pyro and Traveler came in later. They were telling Greenman that they found this great trail magic with coolers of beer and wine. Greenman told them, no, they were this older couple setting up a picnic. Whoops! They brought a bottle of wine with them. Traveler is from Amsterdam and is on his fifth yo-yo of the AT (where you do a round trip). He met a woman while going north who he says is the love of his life. He was in tears telling me about her. It was an amzing story. So all in all - glad I stopped here.
Date: 2007-07-23
From: Thistle Hill Shelter, VT

To: Velvet Rocks Shelter NH
Miles today: 15.8
Weather: overcast clouds

Last nite Lakewood was asking Traveler about his yo-yo. Traveler said the name of the guy who did the first yo-yo in 1982 and also coined the term yo-yo. Then Traveler said that there was a guy in 1988 who did Springer-Katadin-Springer-Katahdin-Springer-Connecticut to do 10,005 miles of the AT consequetively. Lakewood said wow and chewed his food in silence. Then Lakewood said that must have cost a lot. And Traveler said "It cost me $14,000". I got started hiking at 5:54 so off to a good start. The SOBOs said there was a deli/general store that had just opened last week so that gave me the incentive to get moving. I had a huge breakfast along with Walking Cowboy and Mystery Chicken. I asked the store people for DEET in a small bottle and Krazy Glue. They were really apologetic that they didn't have it - they said they would try to stock hiker stuff but they were just getting started. There was a girl whispering to her dad (probably something about what's with that lady) and he said 'She's hiking the Appalachian Trail'. The people were really friendly in the store and waving from cars as we were walking out of town. A man stopped and asked Mystery Chicken if he was hiking the trail. Then he asked if we heard that loud boom around 5 this morning. We answered with puzzled 'no's'. The man said "That was the sound of the world passing you by", laughed, and drove off. Mystery Chicken said "That's Yankee humor". Around noon it started clouding up and began raining as I crossed the Connecticut River. There was no welcome to New Hampshire sign that marked the border - but I'm in New Hampshire. The AT goes right through Hanover so I was able to get my Krazy Glue and DEET. Also got lasagna. When I got to the shelter which is about a mile out of town, Walking Cowboy, Green Hornet, and the Breadless Horseman said they had looked for the spring and didn't find it.I went back to the AT, went north, followed theblue blaze and didn't find it. I walked for about an hour and it was starting to get dark. Should have brought water from town! Will be first priority tomorrow.
Date: 2007-07-24
From: Velvet Rocks Shelter NH

To: Moose Mountain Shelter NH
Miles today: 9.5
Weather: scattered clouds

Really dragging today. Had lunch on 3 mile road and ended up stretched out on my tyvek sheet taking a nap for an hour. When I woke up, I decided to make it a short day and went to the shelter that was a couple miles away. There were only 2 tent spots but since I was the first one there, I got one. Several nobos and sobos showed up, but I crashed out early.
Date: 2007-07-25
From: Moose Mountain Shelter NH

To: Smarts Mountan Tentsite NH
Miles today: 12.3

still felt sluggish after 10 hours of sleep, but there were some morale boosters to the day. First, i was walking near a marsh and startled a great blue heron into flight. Then i was passed by a hiker who said how are you doin and I kind of gave a standard "good" answer. Tehn he said do you remeber me? And I was thinking yeah, like I can't tell you scruffy bearded hikers apart and then i realized it was Widowmaker, who I had met near Port Clinton, PA. I was passed by a couple and their dog - the same people who had passed me southbound the day before. I talked to Habitual Hiker (on his 5th thru hike) who was slackpacking with Umbrella Lady (on her 4th) and their dog Macafee (on its second). When Ii got to the next road, their friend Bear offered to slackpack me the next 2 miles, which was kind of a shot in the arm. I went up Smarts Mountain after that which was a 2500 ft climb. The tent site was almost perfect - it was a clearing on the edge of the mountain but trees obstructed the east and west so no sunset/sunrise views. The moon rose really bright though and it was hard to sleep because of that and the fact that I got really good radio reception. I was psyched to hear Fleetwood Macs Second Hand News.
Date: 2007-07-26
From:  Smarts Mountain Tentsite NH

To: Ore Hill Shelter NH
Miles today: 12.7

Early in the I ran into GG (for great grandma) who was in the last few miles of finishing her AT hike, which had taken her 3 and a half years. How exciting! I ran into Teasip and Javaman shortly after (met them at Smarts Mountain the night before) and Teasip and I were laughing at what an anti-climactic end point. NotKatahdin, not Springer, or even Harpers's Ferry, but Lyme-Dorchester Road. I finished hearing Special Topics in Calamity Physics which i thought would be a light coming-of-age novel. The central event was a murder during a camping trip in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. There really should be a ratings system for books to avoid while hiking the AT. Coming down off of Mt. Cube on this hot day, i stopped at a brook to get water and rest. Teasip and Javaman passed me and then right after I saw them at the Real Bartlett Brook which was pretty wide. We all waded in the stream - it was so refreshing. They decided to camp there for the night. It was a it was a perfect camping spot but I was anxious to get closer to Glencliff so I kept on going. The last 2.5 miles to the shelter were uphill but so incredibly buggy i did it in an hour. Squirrel, Magellan, and Olivier (from France) were in the shelter because they only had tarps. I threw up my tent right away to escape the bugs. I had plans with my sister to meet in Glencliff the next day but hadn't been in touch with her since Monday night. I was worried she would decide not to come since she hadn't heard from me. Almost got a signal at the shelter but not quite.
Date: 2007-07-27
From: Ore Hill Shelter NH

To: Glencliff (Lincoln) NH
Miles today: 7.4
Weather: broken clouds

About 3 or so that morning I heard coyotes yipping near the shelter. Then they started running arouns my tent. On the one hand, a rational part of me was thinking that my food bag was in the shelter and they weren't interested in me, and they were probably chasing squirrels or chipmunks, but on the other handI felt very vulnerable. So I yelled out you guys in the shelter, "there are coyotes out here" so Magellanyelled for me to come to the shelter and made space for me, for which I was very grateful. The shelter wasreally buggy and I lay there wide awake hoping the coyotes weren't tearing thru my tent. Around 4:30 itstarted to rain and I went back to my tent to make sure nothing would get wet and everything was fine.Shortly after, I packed up and got ready to go. The other guys were getting up and complaining how littlesleep they got. (for people who weren't sleeping they sure snored alot). Olivier was asking about whathappened because he didn't understand in the middle of the night but he finally realized what coyote was in French. I got to the topof Mt Mist and got a signal. I got a vague message from my sister but i was encouraged that she might be coming. I called my mom and she said there was a surprise - not only was karen coming but my parents were flying to Manchester, NH and Karen would pick them up on the way. The last few miles to Glencliff were a buggy misery. I went to The Hikers Welcome Hostel and had a few cokes. Hawk and Walking Cowboy were zeroing, and Diesel and Bugbite came in a short time later (plus the guys from the shelter the day before). A bunch went into Warren to resupply, but I stayed behind and took a shower and did laundry. The post office opened at 2pm so I picked up my maildrop. The post office was basically an extension this guy had built onto his house, and other than the PO and the hostel, there wasn't much to Glencliff. I started waiting outside the post office at 4 pm - no phone signal in town to get in touch with anyone. The postmaster came out at 5pm to lowerlower his flag. I was getting worried. So finally around 6 I saw them driving by. I ran across the lawn and saw the car slow down at the hostel, then turn around and come back. We went for dinner in North Woodstock. We first checked out this tavern that was blasting speed metal but ended up having great greek food up the street. Then on to the Econolodge in Lincoln (no bugs!!!).
Date: 2007-07-28
From: Lincoln NH

To: Lincoln NH
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

My family and I vistied the Flume Gorge - very pretty. While I was walking along I heard these 2 guys talking about their friend ahead "I try catch up, but no can." I turned around and one was wearing baord shorts with an aloha print trim and the other had a Hawaii T-shirt - it's been so long since I heard pidgin! When we were driving out of the parking lot, my sister said "Look, hikers!" and it was Mystery Chicken, the Breadless Horseman, the Beav and Widowmaker trying to get a ride into town. So my parents graciously got out of the car so we could give them a ride. I think it would have been a hard hitch. Anyway, my sister's mini-van was soon filled with eau de thru-hiker. I don't think she truly appreciated the full extent of it until that point. The Breadless Horseman was giving directions from Wingfoot and he and my sister figured out that she should turn the opposite direction from the McDonald's. As soon as the word "McDonald's" was mentioned, this hum of excitement went through the car. My sister was explaining that Lincoln was not that nice (strip malls) but shortly after that it was really beautiful. One of the guys said "We've seen beautiful. We want ugly." Our original plan for the weekend was to see a chick flick or two but all that was playing was the Simpsons movies, Transformers, Harry Potter, and "I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry" - very disappointing. As soon as we turned into the shopping center with the grocery store, the guys got really excited about the movie marquee - "The Simpsons!!?" Harry Potter!! AND Transformers!" As we drove back to the Flume Gorge, my sister asked me if I have to sleep next to people that smell like that in the shelters - she didn't seem to understand that in the shelters, I am one of those people.We went to the cog railway that goes up Mt. Washington. It is an AT tradition that thru-hikers moon the railway and then the crew throws coal at them. We asked the crewman which side to sit on to see the thru-hikers - turns out he has thru-hiked (trail name Featherhead) so he tries not to hit them. Nobody mooned us though. The top of Mount Washington was pretty chilly - the average summer time temp is 52 and we read that the temperature has been known to drop a degree a minute for 30 minutes. I read the register to see who passed through - I saw Earl Grey and Riders of the Storm - also I saw that Wildfire had passed on 7/26. I am trying to meet him to say 'hi' from Leigh.After that we had a delicious dinner with local beers and I had lobster.Then back to the hotel to sew my shorts with dental floss and soak my feet in Epsom salts.
Date: 2007-07-29
From: Lincoln NH

To: Jeffers Brook Shelter NH
Miles today: 1.1
Weather: overcast clouds

We drove down the Kangamagus highway to Sabbaday falls. Then it was back to the trail - my folks walked part of the way to the shelter with me. Then they abandoned me in the woods without even leaving me the toblerone. I went up to the shelter. There was no one else there and the register showed that not that many people stayed there what with the hostel being so close. Too bad - nice shelter with a nice privy - the seat had a heart-shaped hole. I set up my tent but since the bugs didnt seem to bad I set myself up in the shelter. Around 8pm, I heard a pack of coyotes doing their pre-hunt yip-a-thon, so I decided to stay put in the shelter. I was anxious about entering the White Mountains, especially after seeing them that weekend.