morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2012-08-07
From: Hanover, NH

To: Moose Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 10.2
Weather: clear sky

We got up and had coffee with Toni this morning and Warren offered to give us a ride back down to the trail as he was going in to Hanover anyway this morning. We ran into several hikers this morning, including Connect 4 who we hadn¢t seen since Shenandoah! We left town around 11 am after a serious lack of motivation and since Nokey was feeling under the weather still. We walked the road for a bit before turning back into the woods and climbing up to Velvet Rocks Shelter. The trail here was poorly blazed, if at all, and incredibly eroded and had many footpaths everywhere! We went up to the shelter and had read in the book there was another loop off the north end. Once again, it was not blazed and had many paths. It was a total waste of time and a pain. We found the AT again and then had a hell of a time finding our way for several hours as the same lack of maintenance and multiple footpath problem continued. We passed a cemetery and some empty trail magic before begin another climb where we decided to take a break. We sat for an hour in the calm pine forest and chatted with a local for a bit before heading on to the base of Moose Moutain. We filled up our water in the brook and talked with Zorro and Cheddah for a while before heading up the hill. New Hampshire doesn¢t do switchbacks, so all our climbs have seemed so steep today. This one was no different! When we got to the south peak we saw some old plane wreckage from the 1940s and then had a slight downhill followed by yet another steep hill to Moose Mountain shelter. It was a rough walk with six extra pounds of water, but I was glad to have carried it up for cooking. Great Lakes and Tall Grass also made it in for the night. Tomorrow is full of steep climbs, but they promise views! I didn¢t take any photos tofay as there weren¢t any views.
Date: 2012-08-08
From: Moose Mountain Shelter

To: Tent site at South Jacob's Brook
Miles today: 17.3

We woke up a little earlier this morning than usual and Nokey was feeling better than when he went to bed, so it had the makings to be good! We knew if we wanted to do big miles today it would be due to taking lots of breaks since we had tough terrain ahead though. We began our descent of Moose Mountain and it had a lot of little uphills to be going down! We reached the 3 mile mark pretty quickly and now the trail turned into Holts Ledge Trail. All of the trail in New Hampshire has another name due to the trail system already being used before the AT was developed. We walked straight up the mountain for about 50 minutes before coming to the ledges. There were pretty views in several spots, but we had a destination in mind: Bill Ackerly¢s house for free ice cream and our lunches! We made the downhill quickly and arrived at Bill¢s to find no one home. We had our lunch on the big porch and I bought the last soda in the cooler. Great Lakes and Tall Grass showed up with the section hikers from last night and a SOBO. We moved on for the next climb - Smarts Mountain. The trail going up was tough and we sweat like we¢d never sweat before! When we reached the last half mile, it was a 600-foot climb up slick rocks with ladders and rebar drilled into the rock to climb! Thankfully, we reached the ridge a little quicker than I anticipated and we were treated to the nicest fire tower we¢d seen in a long time. You could climb all the way up, so we did and checked out the views, including looking north to the whites! We unfortunately still needed to do four more miles from here to keep ourselves on a good pace, so we began the long downhill (which again had a suspicious amount of uphill). We were pretty beat when we reached the brook where we decided to stealth camp, so we grabbed a ton of water, cooked dinner, and were in bed by 8 pm. The photo today is looking south from the fire tower on Smarts Mountain. There were five lakes visible from the top (3800 feet up).
Date: 2012-08-09
From: Tent site

To: Jeffers Brook Shelter
Miles today: 17.1
Weather: broken clouds

It was so nice to sleep next to the brook last night that it was tough to leave it this morning! The sky was overcast and almost too dark for my sunglasses, but we had some climbing to do! The climb up Mt Cube promised to be rough and man was it! It seemed like we just went up and up! We stopped to take in the view before realizing that we still had almost one more mile to climb - sneaky hidden peaks and false summits! When we got to the top we had an amazing view below us as we were actually up above the clouds. We now had a long 3.3-mile downhill to the next road. Before we even left the summit it started to drizzle and man was it cold! It really felt like late fall up there. We worked our way down and, at the road, we ran into Mom (Tank¢s mom who we hadn¢t seen since Pawling, Ny). She gave us an orange soda and we talked to her for a bit before staring our next section of trail up to the Ore Hill campsite. This part had some unexpected steep climbs, but all in all wasn¢t too bad. The sky cleared up and the sun came out which normally would be great, but we did a lot of walking through bogs and the mosquitoes were out in full force. We had one final gentle uphill before coming down to the next crossing. We passed a group of nearly 40 kids dayhiking Mt. Mist, so we should have known how easy the climb was going to be! When we first started the trail seemed steep, but when I saw Nokey standing and waiting for me about 40 minutes later he informed me we were at the top. I was waiting for the hill to get steep and had no idea we were so close! We then had a quick downhill to the next road. We got lost here several times as once again the DOC doesn¢t know how to blaze trails - we couldn¢t find the AT and then we had to cross a fast and deeper brook. We lost about 15 minutes screwing around thanks to The lack of blazes. Finally, we began the climb to the Jeffers Brook shelter. The guidebook said this nasty, dirty creek was the water source, but we found a better one nearly in front of the shelter. We were surprised to have the place all to ourselves and were there less than 40 minutes before a killer thunderstorm rolled through! The lightening and thunder were crazy and the rain kept up for a while, so we were happy to have the place to ourselves and it be dry.! Tomorrow we start The Whites by climbing Mt. Moosilauke and I¢d be lying if I said I wasn¢t a little scared! The photo today is from Mt. Cube.
Date: 2012-08-10
From: Jeffers Brook Shelter

To: Lincoln, NH
Miles today: 8.4
Weather: light rain

We planned to get up early today, but mother nature had other plans! At 6 a.m. another wicked thunderstorm blew through with lightening so close it made your hair stand up. It continued raining until 7:30 and we had our breakfast and waited for the skies to clear. We didn¢t leave until 9:30, when we thought the skies were clear enough, for Mt. Moosilauke. I was nervous as we began the climb as the Whites have always been so intimidating to me. We began initially too fast and immediately slowed our pace so we didn¢t burn out. We took a 5-minute break twice on the way up, the trail never getting any less steep, and the rocks being slick the entire time. We made it to the top at noon on the dot and took our photos of th sign. We had no view due to the storms and cloud cover. As soon as we started ¢down¢ it began raining - a mist at first followed by heavier rain. We had to walk 1.9 miles to the shelter and in the rain on the rocks it took an entire hour. The trail was muddy and slick. We noticed a sign telling us to seek an alternate route in the rain, but we are experienced thru hikers and ignored it. We got to the shelter in time for the rain to stop. We put on dry clothes as it was about 50 degrees. I cooked a hot lunch and we sat until 2:45 before we decided to go down and go to Chet¢s Place in Lincoln for warm showers and dry sleeping conditions. The next 1.6 miles were NO JOKE! We literally came straight down the side of the mountain next to a roaring cascade on wet wooden steps drilled into the side of the rocks. It took us two hours to traverse the trail, which at this point was a river in the downpour. Several people were actually still going up the mountain in the rain and told us we were insane for coming down. We had to cross two raging brooks, both of which were knee-deep, near the bottom. When we finally reached the bottom at 5 pm, we saw a sign warning us of the dangerous nature of the trail and we laughed as that¢s all you can do. We finally hitched a ride in after about 40 minutes of waiting in the men¢s room as to avoid hypothermia! We got to Chet¢s with hot coffee in hand and immediately took showers. We got to see Secrets, Shenanigans, and Dirty Girl along with Trekking Pole when we showed up. We ran down to the laundromat and resupplied before getting back at 8:45 and crashing on the floor as there was no more bunk space. The photo today is me in the pouring rain at the ¢dangerous trail¢ sign at the bottom of Moosilauke.
Date: 2012-08-12
From: Lincoln, NH

To: Lincoln, NH
Miles today: 16.3
Weather: light rain

We decided that slackpacking sounded like a good idea since we wanted to make up miles from yesterday. We got up early and were on the trail at 8 am to hike up Kinsman Notch. The beginning of the trail wasn¢t to hard and we immediately started our hike with Kindle Ninja. We had an uphill, but it seemed more gentle than yesterday so we were feeling good. Turns out we were making not as good of time as we felt like we were! It felt like we did 3 mph and it was really just under 2. We made it to Wolf Peak and saw only one partial view on the way up. We crossed through a lot of mud an boggy areas, which was surprising given the elevation. We passed a pond and the climbed up another mountain - South Kinsman. The mountain was incredible steep and there was quite a bit of hand-over-hand climbing and it went on a little too long for me! We got to the top and had no view, climbed the North peak, and then had to come down steeply. After getting down, we had to cross a brook that was raging! It was thigh-high, but our feet were already wet so it was no big deal. From here, it was a longer walk than I needed to the trailhead. We then had a 1-mile walk on a bike path that was paved. We got a shuttle back to Lincoln and devoured entire pizzas after a long 17-mile day in The Whites.We zeroed the next day after a long, hot night at the hostel. Nearly 30 people were crammed into this place and there were bodies everywhere. I woke up feeling like I¢d been hit by a car so we grabbed breakfast with Lighthouse and then made the call to stay another night. We did some work-for-stay at the hostel and got some amazing trail magic - a man let us go to his condo and use the hot tub and saunas. It was a relaxing thing to do and really helped our sore muscles. The photo on the blog is from the lake by Lonesome Lake Hut.
Date: 2012-08-30
From: Lincoln, NH

To: Monson, Maine
Miles today: 368.1
Weather: clear sky

Sorry for the lack of updates guys! The cell signal in Maine is so spotty that it¢s hard for me to post anything, even in towns! I have a ton of videos and photos to post, as well as some blogs that will be updated after I get home. Our plan at this point is to summit on 9-11, Nokey¢s birthday. We are taking our time and enter the 100-mile wilderness this afternoon. Thanks to everyone for their support and I¢ll see you all very soon!((on my blog I did several video updates, check them out at jenhikes.tumblr.com))
Date: 2012-02-21
To: Sandia shakedown
Miles today: 0.0

While it's been nice that Lauren's been able to get some more work in the few months before we leave, it hasn't left us much time to do many overnight hikes for training or preparation. I was fortunate to have gotten paid to backpack in the Gila Wilderness for my work for much of last fall, but a lot of our gear is new since then due to lessons learned in the Gila. We were able get out for a quick overnight in the Sandia Mountain Wilderness, just outside Albuquerque. It wasn't a long hike, around 7 or 8 miles, but I think the conditions might have been similar to what we expect to see in Georgia in March. The trail started in the high desert, climbing up to about 8,000 ft. into stands of Douglas-fir and deep snow. We hiked a little over a mile on North-facing slopes where snow could reach your thighs when you broke through. Snowshoes probably would have been in order but it gave our gaiters the best test I could imagine and we're happy with how they worked. We were both very impressed with our ULA Circuit packs and how comfortable and functional they were. Before we left both our packs weighed in around 22 lbs. including food and water. I don't expect them to get much heavier than 30 lbs. with 4 days of provisions. There was an issue with the homemade heat reflector I made for the stove out of an aluminum pie pan. While extremely light, it proved too thin to take the heat of cooking a full meal and tore through its thinnest point. I've made a new one with more reinforcements of foil tape and making it to sit further away from the flame. At night the temperature got down to the low 20's so we were able to keep plenty warm. We got a chance to test our sleeping gear in the teens a few weeks ago when we went on a river trip down the Rio Grande. There were a few cold spots but we slept. I'm sure a longer trip would reveal more kinks but I don't think there's anything keeping us from getting started. The rest of the lessons will have to be learned on the AT.Eric
Date: 2012-03-04
To: Ohio
Miles today: 0.0

Last week Eric and I officially left Albuquerque (for good?) on a leisurely 3 day drive across the U.S., with my Subaru packed to the brim. We're now coming to you from our new home base in Ashland, OH. It was neat to see the landscape change so much ¢ from dry rocky mountains with cactus and juniper, to the flatlands of Texas, to the wetlands of Missouri and then the great deciduous forests of Ohio! Putting all of our belongings in storage was a bit of a wake-up call. This is really happening. We're hanging out with Eric's parents getting the last of our food and gear together until we take a plane to Atlanta. It's only 9 days away now!I want to give a shout out to Eric's parents Bruce and especially Bea for taking us in during this last week and feeding us great meals! Bea's going to be our support system while Eric and I are hiking by sending us food along the way in drop boxes at designated locations. Hopefully we can get it together this week so things can run smoothly at home for her. We're planning on 11 drop boxes, filled with anywhere from 2-5 day's worth of meals and any extra gear we may need. The rest of the time Eric and I will be buying food in towns that we'll pass through (or near).Today, Eric, Bea and I took a break from planning to visit a maple syrup festival at Malabar Farms. We got a hay ride and some free samples - a real Ohio treat. It was delicious!Back to the trail, though. We have quite a to-do list this week that includes: solidifying shuttle plans to the Springer Mountain trailhead, preparing my car for storage, buying and packing the rest of our food for drop boxes, doing my taxes, waterproofing gear, making GORP, and probably fattening up for the start of our journey (unintentionally).In a last word, THANK YOU to those who have signed our guestbook! We really appreciate all the support from friends, family and those just passing through. It'll also really help to read everyone's encouraging words when we're finally out there.Lauren
Date: 2012-03-14
From: Ohio

To: Springer Mountain
Miles today: 0.2
Weather: few clouds

Yesterday evening we enjoyed our last meal in Ashland and drove Lauren's car down to Columbus where my Aunt Cindy was kind enough to let us store it there in her driveway. The next morning she gave us a lift to the airport for our 9:50 am flight to Atlanta. After only about an hour we were landing and hopping on Atlanta's train system to meet up with our shuttle to the trail. Lauren's former boss Erik and his wife Joann are from Georgia and they put us in contact with Joann's brother-in-law, Milt who offered to give us a ride up.We walked up to the train station parking lot to find Milt, his friend John (who just came to see us off), and Milt's tiny Nissan pick-up. The three of us had to squeeze into the front seat for the 2-hour ride North. Our first stop was REI to grab some stove fuel that we couldn't take on the plane. After multiple stops for directions we got wise and stopped at Amicalola Falls State Park and they gave us the best route. While there we signed in as official thru-hikers in the registry. On top we bid farewell to Milt as he left us in the parking lot, on our own. The Springer summit and southern terminus was about a mile from there. Again we signed the register and took in the view. I've thought about being there many times before, it seemed unreal. It was too late in the day to get any real hiking in so we had to set up camp at the Springer Mountain shelter. There were lots of folks at the camp but we didn't meet anyone before it was bedtime. Hopefully we can both get to sleep early for what's to come.Big thanks to everyone who has helped us get to Springer.
Date: 2012-03-15
From: Springer Mountain

To: Hawk Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 7.9
Weather: scattered clouds

Beautiful start to our hike today, sunny (and even hot) at times. It's apparently been 25 degrees warmer than normal, which means our sleeping bags (15 and 20 degree bags) were way too warm. We aren't used to the humidity here, but it's the price we pay for the beautiful surroundings - it's seemingly tropical at times. At 1pm we took our shoes off and called it a day. We didn't feel too tired, but we also didn't want to push it on our first real hiking day! We hiked with a section hiker from Virginia for a bit (real nice guy) and met our first thru-hikers at Hawk Mountain. Jesse, James, Rick, and Susan with her chihuahua Chiquita. This young guy who went by the name "Two Cents" last year (when he hiked 700 miles of the AT) had a lot of information about the trail and what was to come. I learned that I don't want to know. Supposedly tomorrow is supposed to be a killer day. Eric and I tented behind the shelter, and for bear hangs, they had these bear cables, which were really easy to use. First day down and lots to go.Lauren
Date: 2012-03-16
From: Hawk Mountain

To: Lance Creek Campsite
Miles today: 16.2
Weather: clear sky

Last night we hit our first lightening storms. It was quite a show, but our tent worked so well! We're really happy with it, although it's pretty small for two people and it's nice to have some room sometimes. We had an early start this morning, just before the sun got up. We were planning on a long day, so we hiked 7 miles before we took a break for lunch at Gooch Mountain Shelter. We met some more nice thru-hikers there - Peter from Nova Scotia, and Ryan and Kenny from Phoenix. Eric and I got out all our stuff from our packs (sleeping bags and tent) and dried them in the sun. I didn't want to be caught in the rain and have to pitch a wet tent. We said goodbye and moved on to Lance Creek camp. It was really crowded there, we created a little tent city with everyone's tents huddled together. At 6pm, just as our tent was pitched, it began raining again. We cooked our food under our awning, and it was DELICIOUS. Our homemade meals have been really good. Because of our long day (and me ignoring a hot spot on my foot) I created a blister on my left toe. Not too bad, though. Tomorrow we will stop into Neels gap, complete with a hostel, shower, and hot meal. We're feeling pretty good still, but definitely tired!Lauren
Date: 2012-03-17
From: Lance Creek Campsite

To: Mountain Crossings Hostel
Miles today: 7.4
Weather: overcast clouds

We made it to Neels Gap! Eric and I are staying at a great hostel tonight (Mountain Crossings). The AT basically goes right through the building.This morning it had been raining for a few hours before we got up. We hiked in the mist and rain all morning, which wasn't actually as bad as it sounds. I was hiking in my running skirt and short-sleeved shirt because it was pretty warm out. Maybe us knowing we would arrive here for a shower helped...We passed a group of hikers that had all their food stolen by a bear last night. They were in an area that required bear canisters, though, and they didn't have one (tsk, tsk, tsk). We climbed Blood Mountain this morning around 10am (elev. 3200 feet) and it was totally worth the view - the best views thus far and the coolest looking shelter at the top (made of stone). Each shelter has a notebook called a register, that anyone can sign and make notes, draw something, write a poem or just give helpful tips. Eric signed it and we moved on after taking a few pictures. We've already gotten a shower and dried our gear, done laundry, and are feeling pretty happy! We're making good time and really enjoying our hiking during the day so far. I think having lighter packs (about 25 lbs fully loaded) really helps. I'll make some phone calls and then we have to think about our next move. Thanks for checking in! I can't post pictures right now, but I will when I can.Lauren
Date: 2012-03-18
From: Mountain Crossings Hostel

To: Low Gap Shelter
Miles today: 11.5
Weather: scattered clouds

After our hostel host, Pirate, made a fabulous blueberry pancake breakfast for everyone and I got in another shower, Eric and I took off for the day. No rain today, like everyone thought. We had a big climb out of Hogpen Gap this morning, but we're feeling pretty good.A big group of hikers are arriving at Low Gap Shelter tonight, some new faces and some familiar ones. I'm finally starting to feel like a part of this mass migration north. We're running into the same hikers and we catch up with how we're feeling and what our plans are for the next few days. Everyone is kind of keeping track of each other, like a small community.As far as my blisters are concerned, they have grown to 3, and in addition, 4 of my toenails look like they might fall off. yuck. It doesn't hurt - it just looks funny and I didn't exactly expect it. Eric's heels are rubbing on his boots a bit, but he's really doing fine. We stayed up tonight to talk with Mithcell, Crackle, James, and a young guy from Germany. Good times. All for now, looking forward to a good night's sleep.
Date: 2012-03-19
From: Low Gap Shelter

To: Rocky Mountain Campsite
Miles today: 11.1
Weather: broken clouds

We got a later start today, 9AM. I patched up my feet and Mitchell showed me a way to lace up my boots so my heel was snug. Perhaps that will prevent fy feet from hitting the front of my boot and my toenails from falling off. Good hiking today, flat before lunch, then we climbed Rocky Mountain. It was pretty steep going up, but before we started someone left a banana at the bottom, which Eric and I split. I think it helped us as we powered up to 4,000 feet. It was pretty steep, but we were rewarded with a small waterfall and an oasis. We're camping up high tonight with 360 degree views with Crackle and two young couples, Kelly & Devyn and Sam & Drew. It looked like rain for a bit, but the clouds just circled around and left, pretty cool! We had a huge fire ring and a great fire tonight (first one of the trip, actually) - life is good.