morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2016-05-31
From: Tarrytown, NY, via US 9 

To: RPH Shelter
Miles today: 19.4
Weather: few clouds

Slept alright last night, but you can only do so much when you went to bed at 11 after staying up all evening telling jokes with each other. My dad and I woke up around 6, I packed up and tried not to make too much noise around the creaky house. It was incredibly nice to get to see Ali and my family, and truly was amazing of them to make it happen! My dad and I headed back up the Hudson, pausing at the Stop and Shop for groceries, then at a place called DD's diner for breakfast. Always nice to have a big breakfast to keep yyou going. I got going from the gas station on Rt. 9 again at about 8:45, and let my dad try to get home for his 10 o'clock meeting. Thanks so much dad! This was fun. The day was significantly more pleasant than the last few, with much lower humidity and lower temperatures. The terrain relaxed a little bit as well, and I found myself walking along creeks and on old woods roads just as much as clambering over rocky ridges (which is all New York has been so far). At around 11, I came to a road crossing leading to Clarence Fahnestock state park, and a hiker from across the way yelled out "Portage!" at me. It was Frost and Rain Man! Along with them were their fathers, with whom the two have been having a relaxed couple of days ( I believe this was day 3 out from bear mtn). I think the fathers are getting off at the Taconic parkway tomorrow, so hopefully the two youngins can catch up with me! Even in the few minutes I spent with them, I enjoyed their company a great deal. The day had one disappointment when I went about 15 minutes out of my way to use a restroom at the state park headquarters and found the whole place locked up. Ugh. I hate extra hiking. Not hiking. Just EXTRA hiking. The rest of the day passed in relative quiet though, and the weather and trail were downright pleasant! I rolled into the RPH cabin at just before 5, and was met there by Onesie, a recent Columbia grad school (art history) graduate, and Rock Dawg, who just started what should be his second-to-last section of the AT. I didn't even know it, but this is one of the shelters at which you can order food! I quickly added a chicken Parm sub to our order, and soon enough we were chowing down. A little later a hiker from Springer named Heath Bar arrived! Turns out he is from Montreal and grew up not five blocks from my father! Small world. Heath Bar began March 7th and seems to have been right on my tail for quite some time! He knows everyone I know, basically! Onesie, Heath Bar and I talked for most of the evening before turning in. Tomorrow I'll make my way to Pawling, NY, where, if all goes right, my dad will meet me again, and I'll go home to start a few days of slack packing through the great state of Connecticut. Lucky me!
Date: 2016-06-02
From: Woodbridge CT via Hurds Corner Rd. 

To: Woodbridge CT via Kent
Miles today: 18.1
Weather: overcast clouds

I woke up early and headed back home from Ali's, where I'd spent the night, and hopped in the car with my mom, who kindly brought me back to Pawling, where I'd left off. I've been feeling a little off lately. The trail is empty, mostly devoid of thru hikers, and most of the people I know are at least a few days ahead of me. Plus, all these chances to see my family have just made me question what I'm doing out here, or at least made me miss civilization that much more - to get a taste of it and then come back home. All this has contributed to making my motivation to hike pretty low these last couple days. Pretty sure I'm going to take tomorrow off and then make a clean break of it and head back out to the trail on Saturday. But for today, a slack pack. The trail passed through the Pawling Nature Preserve, where I passed wings. She seems like a good soul. I also had noticed at a trail register that both Heath Bar and Magic had just signed in this morning! Soon enough, I found magic hiking along the trail! We caught up; he's just gotten back after a week off with family in New York City - his first time there - and he told me about his time at Trail Days with Spidey and Puzzles. We walked together to Wiley Shelter where he stuck around to filter water. I told him he'd catch up with me at my lunch break. I was raring to go because just a little further on, at Hoyt Road, was a huge landmark for me: the Connecticut Border. I've been seeing the maps along the way and just been astounded at the idea that I've actually walked from Georgia to X Place, but now, I would officially have walked home. I couldn't keep the smile off my face as I passed the green sign and entered my home state. I climbed Ten Mile Hill and took a lunch break at Ten Mile River Shelter, where Magic found me. We walked together most of the rest of the day, perhaps most notably over the 2/3 mark, which found itself on a public gravel road (so I did not stop to make a sign as I had for 1/3). With my lightened pack, I pulled ahead of magic on the last couple climbs before Kent, and dropped down to route 341, where my father was waiting with a cooler full of cokes and beers! We sat on the stile there and talked and waited about ten minutes for Magic for whom my father had gotten the cokes upon request. Dad dubbed him "a good kid," and we all talked before magic moved on and we went home. Tomorrow I will take a zero to do some errands and decompress before heading back out for the final leg of my journey. I don't think I'll be home again after tonight.
Date: 2016-06-04
From: Woodbridge CT via Kent

To: Toymakers Cafe, Falls Village CT
Miles today: 25.1
Weather: light rain

It's hard leaving home. Yesterday was spent with Ali, which was very nice, but I always want more time. I hope I can find a way to see her again before the trip is over, otherwise this section will be as long and painful as the Atkins-jersey section. My mom and I headed out around 8 and made it to Kent at about 9:30. I barely remembered to hand her back the cooler of trail magic that dad and I had left here two days ago. It seems to have been well-loved. Today fluctuated between crazy steep climbs and descents and extremely flat road walks and river walks along the Housatonic. I felt good though, and decided to upgrade my plan from a 17 mile day to a 25, despite the late start. I also had another motivating factor: Frost and Rain Man had just pulled into Falls Village for two days off with Rain Man's Connecticut cousins, so that was my destination. Felt good all day, and it was pretty nice, still hot and sticky though. I finally made my arrival to Falls Village just before 7 in the evening. I immediately made my way to the Falls Village Inn, which was a far more posh establishment than I was expecting. I asked for a table for "three sweaty hikers," and they offered me inside or on the porch. Enjoying the air conditioning, I asked for inside, and they sat me down near the bar. However, I could see the hostess and another server mumbling something about "opening a door or a window," and then the hostess came back and informed me that I had to move outside. I smiled. Yes. I smell bad. I'm used to it. Other people have noses. So I sat on the porch, feeling out of place in my sweaty wool shirt among very well-dressed old folks. Rain Man and Frost showed up momentarily, and along with them came Gourmet, a flip flopper whom was known simply as James when I had met him at James Fry Shelter. We all had a lovely meal, and I felt less out of place with my friends here with me. After dinner we made our way to the Toymaker's Caf©, a little breakfast spot and coffeeshop that allows hikers to tent in their yard. I set up my tent in the fading light, then Gourmet and Frost and I stayed up too late watching silly YouTube videos. It was a good first day back.
Date: 2016-06-07
From: Mt. Wilcox South Shelter 

To: Upper Goose Pond Cabin
Miles today: 15.8
Weather: overcast clouds

Defying all forecasts, it poured last night. I heard and saw Chris get up in the middle of the night realizing that he had left his shirt and pants out to dry. He was less than pleased about it. Morning broke foggy, but without rain. I moved quickly this morning and was on the trail by 7:25. I wanted to get going and cruise in to Upper Goose Pond Cabin early. Massachusetts is surprisingly wild-looking, with huge hemlock and cedar trees, rocks, roots and mud. It is sort of how I imagined Maine would look on the AT, but better taken care of. The descent off of Mt. Wilcox was very beautiful, a lovely dirt trail cascading through meadows of ferns while the sunlight streamed through the trees, burning off the fog. At the bottom of the descent I met Ibu and Pak, two flip floppers whose entries I've been following for some time. The trail headed through a number of pastures and shaky boardwalks (less confidence-inspiring than the New Jersey ones) and jumped up a little peak called Tyringham Cobble before heading back up into the mountains. I stopped for a while at a lovely spring on the trail with wonderfully fresh, cold water. The trail was mostly flat from there to the cabin, and the recent rain had turned the trail to soup in a number of places. Reminds me of the Long Trail. Vermud is on the horizon. I made it to the turnoff for the half mile trail to the cabin at about 1:15. The place is very impressive, a large bunkhouse with two stories, a big fireplace and kitchen, and a wonderful front porch where I hung out with Bambi and Karen, who are this week's caretakers (they rotate during the summer). I ate lunch on the porch and played with Arya, a beautiful white pit bull pup, and Falcor, an old and giant Irish Wolfhound. The day had turned lovely, and after setting up my bunk, I decided to go for a paddle in one of the canoes that are up for grabs down at the cabin's lakeshore. I actually portaged a canoe today, albeit from the racks to the water, BUT STILL! I paddled around a little island and to the other side of the lake where I went for a swim and cleaned myself off. I dried off on some rocks before paddling back, because it looked like a storm was rolling in. The storm didn't hit all evening. When I got back from the swim, Melted Soul was here, along with a Nobo from Georgia named P-Stout, who began hiking on March 8th. Chris showed up in a bit, too. He's a very charismatic guy, and the caretakers took a shine to him. I napped for a bit after being out in the sun, and then we all made dinner out back at a covered picnic table. I enjoy Melted Soul's company quite a bit. I should get to know him better. Also here tented out are Keebler and Velcro, as well as a mother and daughter whom I didn't get to talk to. This place is an absolute treat, and a wonderful place to spend my afternoon. Tomorrow is into Dalton, where I'll head to the grocery and hopefully find some place to stay... There are no hostels, which is too bad... If anyone knows of someone/somewhere I can stay, I'd love to know!
Date: 2016-06-11
From: Congdon Shelter

To: Kid Gore Shelter 
Miles today: 18.7
Weather: clear sky

Most folks were out just earlier than me, and planning to go into Bennington, despite being in town just yesterday. I stuck around and gave Pickle advice about different place on the long trail because she asked. Then I moved along. I went along up Harmon Hill, which was as nice as I remembered, a meadowy peak reminiscent of Harriman State Park in New York. Then was the brutal descent into Route 9, which I had built up kind of as a bugaboo in my head. It wasn't as bad as last year. I found Gadget and Magic trying to hitch into town and Nascar and Spidey in the trees waiting to hitch themselves. I moved on up the hill. Just around Melville Nauheim shelter, I checked on the weather and realized it was about to rain for the rest of the day. Which it did. It was not easy going along up to Glastenbury Mountain, but I didn't really stop because of the rain. Today was hard. Goddard Shelter was somehow already packed, with about six section hikers from Springfield Mass. They were already setting up at about 2 pm. They did kindly give me a whoopie pie, though, which brightened my day! I hadn't stopped for lunch, but a protein bar and the pie sufficed. I didn't stop at the fire tower because I knew there wouldn't be a view. The rain slackened off and the 4.3 miles to Kid Gore shelter was actually rather pleasant. I got there and stared at the AWOL guide and decided to just stay, planning to do an easy day and then a nearo into Manchester just like last year. A guy named LewisLark showed up and then moved on and I made a reservation at Green Mountain House in Manchester. I ate quite a bit, having not really stopped to eat all day in the rain. Then P-Stout showed up, after a long day in from Seth Warner, as did Hair Bear, a Nobo I hadn't met before. They both do quite long days. Popeye and Olive Oyl weren't far behind. Tomorrow will be over Stratton!
Date: 2016-06-16
From: Stony Brook Shelter 

To: Thistle Hill shelter 
Miles today: 21.5
Weather: clear sky

Sun was shining this morning as I woke up, alone for the first time on any morning on the trail. As I've said, I think I have my morning routine down pat. I hit the trail just past 7, having slept til 6:40 or so. The day was filled with climbing, up and down over the little hills between the green mountain ridge and Hanover. It got pretty exhausting, but I felt good all day long and made good time. The highlight of the morning was 7.3 miles in, where a side trail leads to the Lookout, a cabin perched on top of a hill with astounding views. The cabin has a widow's walk accessed by a long wooden ladder. They were very similar to the views from Killington, with Mansfield in the distance to the north and Washington away in the east. To the south, though, was Killington, its fire tower marking its top. The descent down to route 12 was the chillest part of the day. At the road I turned off and walked .2 up to a place called On the Edge Farm. The place had pies and cheeses and meat, but nothing really /prepared/. I bought a small pie and a few sodas from the qu©b©cois lady working the place, then sat outside and ate my tuna and cheese then my pie. It was ok. Another hiker named Booty showed up and got a pie, too. The lady said she would take my empty bottles back, but when I went inside, I called around and couldn't find her. I saw where the empty bottles were behind the counter so I just stepped over and placed them there. As I turned to leave, she walked in and I said I put the bottles in the crate. She told me I wasn't supposed to be behind the counter and then ushered me out and slammed the door closed behind me. Ok. I powered through the climbs for the rest of the day, enjoying the views from the tops and the glorious sunshine. There were many walks through fields of long grass. I was the first into the shelter at about 4:30, and was soon joined by a young qu©b©cois couple, and a number of Boy Scouts and their leaders, who are camped up on the hill. Nimbus and Brookie, two section hikers just older than me, are in the shelter tonight too.
Date: 2016-06-22
From: The Notch Hostel via Franconia Notch

To: The Notch Hostel via Franconia Notch
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: few clouds

I woke up to the sound of cold rain on the rooftop. Nope. Not hiking today.i slept in for a while in my bunk, which is part of a large, open attic room in the hostel. There are many private rooms downstairs, but this place is great, as far as hostels go. Would come back here anytime, even for skiing. I headed downstairs, and Serena told us that she would be leading a group for work-for-stay gardening in about fifteen minutes. But when we got to the porch to do some word, the rain had worsened, and Serena said "screw it," no work to be done. I don't believe anybody got out hiking today. Around lunchtime, Serena drove a number of us into the much larger center of Lincoln New Hampshire. We did a little bit of shopping at the grocery store, then headed for burgers. I tried to explain to Booty that "Poutine" is not pronounce "pooteeny," to no avail. They also had a hard-to-find beer I very much like called Kentucky Breakfast Stout at this restaurant, so I had two. Serena picked us up, and was driving us back when I realized I forgot my tuna (basically the only thing I'd picke up at the store) at the restaurant. So we drove back. Then back to the hostel. I had heard news that a bunch of people I knew were headed to the hostel tonight, so I was extremely excited! Blues had gotten all the ingredients for chicken jambalaya, and cooked us all up a wonderful meal. Later on in the evening, people began to show up: Roller, Rob and Claire, the Berenstain Bears, NOWA, White Rabbit, and, giving me a big old bear hug, Large! It was incredibly good to see them! Large and White Rabbit had taken a day off at the Glencliff hostel, and were sure that they would see me at least pop in! I was sorry to have missed them, but glad to see them now! The night was filled with happiness and reunion. This has been my longest stay in a single location on the trail. It was so incredibly refreshing, and the perfection break. The weather looks great for tomorrow's assault!
Date: 2016-07-30
To: Plans Made...Countdown Begins!
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

Plans have been made for my 2016 trek on the AT. I will be hopefully hiking from the NOC (where I got off the trail at the end of last years section hike) through Great Smoky Mountain National Park all the way to Davenport Gap. I will be hiking again with Blister. We hit the trail at the end of October and are hoping to have good views and weather. I have been jogging and walking a lot again to get a little fitness going prior to the hike. Some changes I am going to try (maybe a mistake due to GSMNP camping regulations) will be using a hammock on this trip. That will be new for me.   I am hoping to have the shelters fill up in the park so I can hang near the shelters. If not, I will have my thermarest to sleep on in the shelter.This trip should be around 100 miles. I am counting down the days until I get to head to the ATL to hike on the AT again!TURK
Date: 2016-09-29
To: Lining the Ducks in a Row
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

I have jumped the last hurdle (other than the hike itself) for my 2016 AT section hike going from the NOC to Standing Bear Farm at the end of the Smokies.Having been through the registration process in the west for back country permits at places like Yosemite and Grand Canyon, I was a bit concerned about getting my shelter permits for the Smokies. When you watch youtube videos of thru hikers, etc., it is not a big deal because they get thru hiker permits for the Smokies, essentially allowing them to stay at any shelter they want. If you are not a thru hiker, it is not so liberal. When you make your permit reservations, you have to select a specific shelter for specific nights. That requires guessing how far you can hike without ever seeing the terrain. I made my best guesses using AWOL's guide book and plan on making it through the Smokies in 6 nights. I hope I picked the right terrain for short days and longer days, but at this point it doesn't matter, because I have no choice but to stick with my selections. I stayed up until midnight of the 30th day before my first day in the Smokies to get on the website and register. I wanted to make sure I got a permit and as luck would have it, I was successful. I have been taking one or two day hikes on the weekends to get my hiking muscles firing again. I have carried my 2 year old a couple times for weight, which in all honesty, will weigh more than all my backpacking gear to include food and water. That is some good training for the muscles.I have received all of my food in the mail (mainly dinners) consisting of some Wise Emergency Preparation meals (cheap Mountain house basically) and some Mountain house meals. I will be adding some protein to the Wise meals via some tuna packets. I will have to pack and send a resupply box to the Fontana Lodge, and probably will do so within a week of leaving. I have been weighing out my gear and have been making adjustments. My mother made me a silnylon rain kilt which I will replace my rain pants with. I have not decided whether to take my Marmot rain coat or stick with another Frogg Togg rain top. My old one ripped during my last trip, but honestly, it lasted for several trips so I am considering replacing it since it is so light and cheap. I will be using a new ULA Circuit pack in lieu of my Catalyst. I want to try that out since it is a little lighter. I am contemplating some other luxury items, but have yet to pull the trigger on bringing them or not. I try to make something lighter, or not use it before adding another luxury item. This keeps my base weight around 19 lbs for the most part.I will probably do one updated gear list with my final items and weights if anyone is interested in the game "What's in my Pack." Well, I have been counting down the days until I leave and can not wait to be back on the AT. It is really a shame that I live so far from that wonderful trail and can only hike on it once or twice a year.I will probably post one more prep journal from the NOC to let you know if I had any snags in my travel plans. Until then, Happy Hiking.
Date: 2016-10-20
To: Here's a new wrinkle
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: few clouds

So far, in all of the miles of backpacking that I have done, I have experienced many things, to include scorching temperature, bad mosquitoes, high humidity, cold, wet and cold and wet. Through all of it, I rarely have had to hike without the basic essentials, food, shelter and water.That being said, it appears this trip will add a new wrinkle in my hiking; lack of water. I have hiked out of the Grand Canyon with 5 liters of water, knowing there was no water on the way out, or from Red's Meadow to Deer Creek (I think it is Deer or Duck creek prior to Purple Lake) without water, but that was for one day, knowing there was water at the end of the day. What I have not done, however is had to hike for two solid days without water, to include camping, eating, and climbing over 3500 feet. The beginning of the Smokey's is not supposed to have any water until Derek Knob shelter.I am hoping the rains they are supposed to get today will replenish the ground water somehow. As suggested I will try to find water a little further down the hill than the listed springs, however, I have to balance the likelihood of finding water with the energy and water wasted in sweat looking for it.Wish me luck and pray for rain in the Smokeys. I fly out Saturday! Through hell or low water, I will be on the AT pretty soon.