morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2016-05-26
From: East Mountain Retreat Center

To: north wilcox shelter 
Miles today: 5.0
Weather: overcast clouds

So there is a 3 night maximum stay at the east mountain retreat Stowe knew that no matter what Eli's condition in the morning, we had to leave. Luckily he was feeling good enough to walk and keep small pieces of bread in his stomach. We were able to catch a ride to the trail (Mass has been surprisingly good for hitchhiking). As we set off up the hill it felt good to be walking again after what seemed like such a long break ! About halfway up the hill Eli started to struggle. His stomach wasn't feeling good, but even worse he was so weak because he hadn't eaten or drank anything in over 24 hours. We knew we had to make it at least 5 miles to the next shelter, but the heat and the uphills were definitely going to make that difficult. David and I took turns carrying Eli's pack the remaining distance. I'm not sure how much easier that made it on the poor guy, but he was able to push through to the north Wilcox shelter. Once we arrived we played cards and rested for the whole afternoon. While we were there we met some really nice section hikers Nike and mayday (headed south) and Helen and Mary (aka: beacon and tag along). Special thanks to beacon and tag along for the extra food ! At the end of the night Eli still didn't eat anything, but we are hoping he will wake up and have his appetite back in the morning so we can have another short while he regains his strength. Also hoping it won't be quite as hot tomorrow.
Date: 2016-05-27
From: north wilcox shelter 

To: Upper Goose Pond Cabin
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

We woke up early because we knew today might be a long day. We were trying to do 14 miles, but I was definitely still recovering. We started the day off with mostly downhill. Zack and David went into tryingham and I hiked on trying to hike some miles easy while they went into town. I made it a couple miles before they caught me. After that it was around six miles into Upper Goose Pond Cabin we hiked the miles, and they went by fairly uneventfully, we got to goose pond around 2. We then had one of the best afternoons so far on the trail. Went for a swim in the beautiful pond, which is definitely more of a lake. We then took canoes out on the water and some people grilling out on their boat gave us hamburgers and drinks, it was a good time. We then went back to the cabin and there were fresh veggies brought by the caretakers. To top it all off I'm writing this from a mattress and they're making blackberry pancakes tomorrow for breakfast. Life is good.
Date: 2016-05-28
From: Upper Goose Pond Cabin

To: Cheshire, MA 
Miles today: 30.0
Weather: broken clouds

After such a nice relaxing day, we could tell Eli was feeling much better! His appetite had returned, and his spirits were high once more. We planned to do a big day into Cheshire, MA so we woke up and left the bunk room early. Before we left we grabbed pancakes and hot chocolate that the caretakers had made ! It was such a great way to start the morning !! After eating our full we headed back to the trail to continue north. Mid morning we reached the cookie lady's house. She is known for leaving cookies for hikers coming through. Unfortunately she wasn't there this morning, but we did fill up on water with her hose, it has been crazy hit the last few days. In the next stretch we saw a porcupine climbing up a tree. This was pretty cool considering we had never seen one before. After a few more miles the trail came right down into the streets of Dalton, MA. We stopped at a gas station in town for the customary Coke and ice cream. We finished off the last 8 miles into Cheshire with what seemed like all downhill, which was nice at the end of a long day! We rolled out our sleeping pads at the Catholic Church in town that was nice enough to let us stay for the night. It was great to not have to filter water or hang a bear bag tonight. In the end, not a bad day and it seems like Eli is completely recovered so that is good! We are looking toward to finally being in Vermont tomorrow !
Date: 2016-05-29
From: Cheshire, MA 

To: shelter 1 mile into vermont
Miles today: 0.0

We woke up to the pitter patter of rain drops on the roof. Usually this is a relaxing sound, but today it trapped us indoors. We didn't end up leaving the church until 8. The first 10 miles or so were uphill, the worst part was the heat humidity which had us drenched in sweat in minutes. After a struggle we made it to the top of Mount Greylock. There we were greeted by all the smart people who just drove to the top. The downhill section was steep and long when we got to the bottom we stopped and took a break. There I realized on the way down my pack frame had snapped. Luckily I could still hike with my pack, so I called an osprey rep and they told me an outfitter in Manchester Center VT would replace it. After that we had 7 miles net uphill to the Vermont border and then camp a mile past that. Unfortunately the climb up to the border was brutal. You know it's gonna be a tough climb when they have an alternate route for when it's wet and that was the case today. We summited and took a nice break and then finished out to the mile to the shelter. We got to the shelter and it was more full than even the shelters at springer. There were probably 30 people there. A mixture of long trail thru hikers and summer vacation. Either way it was pandemonium. We had to set up a tent, and Zack and I tried to sleep at our normal 8, but unfortunately the kids in the shelter were very loud. Eventually we nodded off though and all was good.
Date: 2016-05-30
From: shelter 1 mile into vermont

To: kid gore shelter
Miles today: 27.0
Weather: overcast clouds

We were so excited to finally be in Vermont that we woke up super early this morning ! That is not the actual reason we got going at 5, but we were excited to be back in some real mountains nevertheless. We walked downhill in the morning for what emed like forever; this was a nice change. When we got to the creek at the bottom David stopped and attempted to patch his air mattress which has been leaking for him recently. We headed onward and walked up a 10 mile hill. It isn't as bad as it sounds because it was very gradual most of the way up. When we made it to the top we stopped to get water, but we were instantly swarmed by black flies. We have been waned that the bugs are bad up here but this was the first instance where I actually wanted a bug net for my face. We slathered ourselves in 100% deet, but it only seemed to momentarily slow these guys down. We only got a little bit of water and started running down the trail to avoid these guys. We reached the shelter after a long day of walking and set our tent up so it could dry. We socialized and ate before bed. We are planning to wake up early tomorrow to see the sunrise from the shelter, and make the 26 mile trek into Manchester, VT by 6 so Eli can warranty his pack.
Date: 2016-05-31
From: kid gore shelter

To: Mt. Bromley
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: few clouds

Woke up at 5 left camp at 6 we had a big 29 miles with a stop into town today. We started off fast we knocked out twelve miles by ten. The twelve miles put us on top of the mountain that inspired Benton mackaye to advocate for the making of the AT. After that the next fourteen miles flew by and we made it into Manchester Center by 3, there things slowed down a bit. I went to get my pack warrantied, but they didn't have an exact replacement so I had to get a different pack or hike with a broken one for another three days. I went for the different model. At the same time Zack found out that the motel we sent our package to didn't seem to have our package. In the end we all met back up at a Mexican place called "cilantro" and forgot about all our problems by stuffing our faces with burritos... And then going to the gas station and buying more food to eat. After that we did a three mile hike to MT. Bromley in the dark, and stealth camped on top.
Date: 2016-06-01
From: Mt. Bromley

To: minerva hinchi 
Miles today: 27.0
Weather: broken clouds

We woke up this early this morning to the sound of our tent whipping in the wind. All we could do was hope that she could withstand the high gusts. Luckily it stayed up all night, but it made for a stressful night of sleep to say the least. We woke up and headed off the mountain and went downhill for quite sometime ! When we reached the bottom we found a huge parking lot full of cars and wondered what we were walking into. After a long uphill we reached a beautiful pond where everyone was swimming. We contemplated swimming, but decided we needed to move on if we were going to make it to Minerva Hinichi shelter. After the pond we climbed a large mountain and entered a wonderful pine forest. We are glad to be back in mountains over 4,000 feet ! We walked downhill for what seemed like forever, and finally reached the shelter. There were tents everywhere, but we had the shelter all to ourselves so that was awesome. We are all tired after today (27 miles) and the big miles we have been doing, but we are planning to make a big push to killington, VT to get our resupply box! Ps: sorry the blog has been so far behind lately, things have been a little crazy. We are trying our best to get all caught up.
Date: 2016-06-02
From: minerva hinchi 

To: Stony Brook
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Another big day for us left the shelter at 6 in the AM. We got six miles done pretty quickly, but then David's stomach started bothering him right before the big uphill to Killington mountain. Zack and I needed to make it into town before the outfitter with our box closed, so we decide to split up so David could take it slower. The uphill to Killington was steep. We met up with tenderfoot and talked to him for a while, it was pretty nice cause as you get to know someone knew time really flies. So we knocked out some serious miles by 2. Around that time we met a trail maintainer, and talked to him for a bit. While this was going on David came strolling up looking pretty pleased with himself. In typical fashion he made a joke about how slow we were and then we went on into Killington. At this point it was around 3 and we had done 24. In Killington we picked up our resupply and then got dinner. We didn't leave till 5 the last six miles to stony brook shelter were rough. The uphills were steep and plentiful. We ended up finishing around 7 and then immediately crashing.
Date: 2016-06-03
From: Stony Brook

To: happy hill 
Miles today: 30.0
Weather: broken clouds

After a late night of water filtering we decided to treat ourselves to a late wake up time. Unfortunately, we only slept in until 6 am. We had another big 30 mile day planned With some pretty tough terrain. The first 13 miles flew by in the morning ! There was one big uphill, but the majority of it was definitely downhill ! At some point, we met a day hiker that informed us the infamous "pie lady" was at the bottom of the hill. In need of some motivation, Eli and and I walked to the farm and ate a whole pie ! It was blueberry peach flavored, and definitely one of the best pies I had ever had. We were stuffed and jacked up on sugar so spirits were high despite the difficult terrain that we knew was ahead. The next miles were all as hard as we had expected. There 6-7 small but steep climbs and then descents all stacked up. We weren't able to keep our pace and it soon got late. The trail emptied out onto a small residential street for about 0.5 miles before reconnecting with the trail. Tired and demoralized, we trudged down the street. From behind us we heard a bell ringing and someone calling for our attention. They motioned us back toward them, and for a moment we hesitated, unsure of what they wanted. We reluctantly walked back down the block, but we were greeted by really excited people who were grilling on their front porch. They offered us a chair and cold drinks in exchange for stories of our travels. They also gave us all the burgers and hot dogs we wanted, it was AMAZING! it was just what we needed at the end of a day like this. They even offered us a place to camp in their back yard, but we decided to head on to happy hill shelter with our new found energy. We trudged the last 4 miles uphill in the dark, but reached an empty shelter which was nice. We instantly curled up and went to sleep after an extremely long day ( 30 miles ). We are looking forward to being in Hanover, New Hampshire early in the morning tomorrow !
Date: 2016-06-04
From: happy hill 

To: Moose Mountain shelter
Miles today: 0.0

Once again woke up at 5 with the plan of doing 30 miles, but first we had to do 5 into Hanover N.H. And pick up a resupply. Going into Hanover we walked through some neighborhoods where several people had out trail magic coolers on their drive way which was nice. Right after the trail magic is about when the rain started. The town of Hanover seemed nice but we hurried to the woods to avoid the rain. Unfortunately it kept coming down. This led to very very low motivation and eventually our dream of 30 came crashing down and we settled for 18 into Moose Mountain shelter. We ended up being very pleased with our decision. It ended up thunderstorming all afternoon and night. In the shelter we met a few girls from Dartmouth who shared their chocolate and truffle cheese with us. It was probably the nicest food I've had in 3 months.
Date: 2016-06-05
From: Moose Mountain shelter

To: hikers welcome hostel 
Miles today: 32.0
Weather: overcast clouds

After pulling a short day yesterday, we had every intention of finishing off the marathon week with a huge 32 mile to hikers welcome hostel. This was a nice incentive because we would have a shower that night and only an 8 mile day over mount moosilauke the next day. We knew it was going to be long so we woke up early and got walking. This section is what most people call the gateway to the white mountains because you start to reach peaks that are over 4,000 feet with very steeps ascents. It is a good precursor for what is to come. Today we had 2 climbs that would tear our abilities. First was mount smart, a four mile climb. The worst thing about this mountain was that you could see the top of it the whole way up. It was discouraging to know how far we still had to go. The last part of the climb was what seemed to be straight uphill in a creek bed that had a lot of water in it. When we finally reached the top we ate lunch in the fire tower and enjoyed what we had accomplished. The sense of enjoyment didn't last long as we proceeded to hike straight downhill... It was a nice gradual downhill though, so it was very appreciated. When we reached the bottom we stood at the base of mount cube. At this point we were 17 miles into our hike with another 4 mile climb ahead of us, it was a daunting task. We slowly made our way up the rocky mountain. When we made it to the top we threw our packs off and rested for as long as we could. We had a nice view of mount smart across the valley. We felt good, but we knew our day wasn't over because we still had mount mist several miles down the trail. The only thing that got us over the last mountain was the thought of a bed and a shower at the hostel ! We rolled into the hostel around 8 and sat down for a long time. The atmosphere at the hikers welcome hostel was very laid back and the owners (former thru hikers) were glad we had made it, and wanted to hear about our journey. We met several other thru hikers and stayed up late talking around the fire and eating chips. We are sleeping in tomorrow because we have a short 8 mile day, which I definitely think we earned ! Looking back, today was a great day, and I am truly proud of what we accomplished. We can't wait to finally see what the white mountains are like tomorrow !
Date: 2016-06-06
From: hikers welcome hostel 

To: Beaver Brook shelter
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: moderate rain

Today we messed around in the hostel a bit. We only had 8 miles up and over Moosilauke. That morning we stuffed ourselves on pancakes and watched hockey highlights. By the time we left the hostel it was 12 o clock. We took our time up Moosilauke, and didn't summit till around 4. The view from the top was incredible and I really hope it's an indication of what's to come in the whites. On top we met Kid and Pork roll. They were super cool and we hung out and chatted with them for a while. We then got going down trail to beaver brook shelter. On our way down Zack and I started to really worry because we hadn't seen a blaze in over a mile, so much so we actually ended up turning around and hiking south. We did t make it very far though and soon we ran into kid and Pork roll who informed us we were going the right way. When we turned back around we realized we were just 300 feet from the shelter when we decided to turn around. That night we talked to crazy Oreo and went to bed relatively early. Tomorrow is our first real day in the whites so we need our rest.
Date: 2016-06-07
From: Beaver Brook shelter

To: franconia notch (stealth camping) 
Miles today: 17.0
Weather: clear sky

So this morning was exciting because we had a short walk downhill where we would be meeting my girlfriend Courtney for a 5 day stint of hiking in what is supposedly the most beautiful section of trail. Needless to say, we were all really excited to get going this morning. After about 3 miles we found out why the white mountains have the reputation of being so hard. The climb up to south kinsman peak was long and extremely steep. At some points it was best to put away the hiking poles and use your hands to climb. We were rewarded at the top with a nice view from above the treeline. It was nice to see what our hard work had accomplished ! After walking along the ridge line we then headed up north kinsman peak, which was a short climb after what we had just done. From this peak we had a great view of Franconia ridge, a 2 mile alpine ridge walk that we will get to conquer tomorrow. We headed downhill towards Franconia notch. On the way we stopped at lonesome lake hut, and they gave us some leftover bread scraps that customers didn't eat. It was a nice afternoon snack. A ways down the trail we found ourselves at a wide stream crossing. The river was full of water with all the rain we have had recently, which made the traverse even more intense. The crux move was a long jump onto a sloping rock. Luckily we all made it across, but it was enough to get our hearts racing. We made our way downhill and ate dinner and filtered water by a small stream. After that we crossed under a main road and stealth camped right at the base of the climb for Franconia ridge. We are all tired, but super excited to see more of the white mountains tomorrow !
Date: 2016-06-09
From: garfield shelter 

To: white mountain lodge
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

I woke up very uncomfortable today. David and I shared sleeping bags because his was soaked. I was warm last night but definitely missed out on some sleep. Today we are going five miles off trail and then getting a ride into town and zeroing in Gorham NH. That morning was slow. We didn't leave the shelter till around 10, but once we left we booked it to try and generate some heat. David and I made it down the 5 mile trail around 12. We then got a shuttle ride back to white mountain lodge and hostel with golden Waldo. Once we made it to the hostel I took a nice hot shower. Never in my life has a shower felt as good as it did right then. That night we went into town and resupplied at Walmart and got pizza. We then came back to the hostel where Zack and I got more leftover pizza, ate a dozen donuts, a pint of ice cream and leftover nachos. After that everyone went to bed, except for me. I stayed up late watching the social network and enjoying the basic amenities I'd been without.
Date: 2016-06-10
From: white mountain lodge

To: campsite 
Miles today: 16.0
Weather: clear sky

Wow what a great night of sleep ! The white mountain hostel is definitely the nicest hostel we have stayed at along the way. Feeling re-energized and slightly less afraid we headed back to Garfield ridge parking lot where we had left off the day before. Thanks Courtney for driving us to the trailhead. We were shocked to see about 100 cars in the parking lot. The trail back to the AT was 5 miles uphill, which seemed to take forever. The way down the day before had been much easier. On the way up we passed what seemed like thousands of day hikers... When we finally reached the AT we met up with our friends kid and kid and pork roll, who told us more harrowing stories of their trip through the whites. We continued our course through the difficult terrain. Basically straight down a rocky embankment and straight up on the other side, it was exhausting and slow going. We made it up our last climb of the day (south twin peak) around 4:30 and stopped to enjoy the overcast view. We made our way downhill to Zealand hut, where we were able to pick up some left over lunch scraps ! We found a beautiful stealth camping spot right down the trail that we just couldn't pass up. All in all not a bad day of hiking, the terrain out here is definitely as rugged as people say. Tomorrow we are walking the seemingly flat section to Crawford notch, where we will meet back up with Courtney and our friend Derek. From there we will hike to Mizpah hit and set up for our traverse over the presidential peaks. The weather today was not cold and rainy, but we luckily were not above treeline. We are really hoping it clears up soon so we can have good views and safely cross the presidential peaks !
Date: 2016-06-11
From: campsite 

To: Mizpah Hut
Miles today: 0.0

We left our campsite around 9 we had 6 miles to do in around 2 hours. We were meeting Derek and Courtney at 11 at Crawford notch. The first 6 miles were wonderfully flat. A nice change from the Rocky uneven terrain from earlier. We met Derek and Courtney right around 11, and then ate lunch. We only had six miles to Mizpah hut, but those miles contained a tough 3000 foot climb to Webster cliffs. The views along the climb were gorgeous, but the wind was brutal. We made it up the 3 mile climb in two hours. It was tough. We then hiked Mt. Webster and got into the hut around 4. There we found David scrubbing dishes for the hut for his work for stay. Luckily the hut only had four guests that night so they said all four of us could do work for stay. The huts are run by the Appalachian mountain club and are kind of like a backcountry hotel. They give hikers scraps and let them sleep on the floor if they do an hour or so of work. Usually it's pretty easy work like sweeping or doing dishes, and the food is very delicious, so it's totally worth it. That night we ate barbecue chicken and coffee cake. We were especially lucky they didn't force us to camp because it snowed all night long. Unfortunately if the weather doesn't get better we may have to go back down the mountain because the presidentials are all above treeline, and the snow and wind can be deadly up there.