morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2004-10-11
From: Roanoke, VA

To: Warwick, RI
Miles today: 0.0

Zero miles todayMotel 6Warwick, R.I.I really like the Comfort Inn in Roanoke, Va. I think it is probably the best deal on the trail. It's a very nice motel and has internet, coffee makers, hair dryers (no laughing) and a good breakfast in the morning and it's only $30.00. I went down and had breakfast and got packed up and left a little before 8am. I drove up I-81 to I-84 in Pa. and headed East through NY, Ct. and into RI. I really enjoyed the ride and loved looking at the changing leaves, especially in Pa. The ride was pretty much uneventful, just longer than I expected. I didn't get to RI until 8pm.I got to the motel and the night clerk went and got Dr. Dolittle. The security is much tighter up here, but I don't understand why the clerk wouldn't let me in the motel. I don't think I look very dangerous. The Dr. flew out here because she is thinking about moving back East, so I took advantage of the fact that she wasn't too far from where I was driving and I really wanted to see her again. She was one of my best friends from my southbound thru hike last year. We talked for a couple hours and went out for a lite dinner and came back to the room and talked until after midnight before going to sleep. We may do another long distance hike together in a couple of years if everything works out right...maybe the PCT.I can't believe that anyone in their right mind would even think about walking that far!!I'm real close to getting back on the trail at Glencliff, NH now. If I leave RI tomorrow, I should be able to start walking on Wednesday or Thursday...I can't wait!!
Date: 2004-10-12
From: Warwick, RI

To: Motel 6, Warwick, R.I.
Miles today: 0.0

Zero miles todayMotel 6Warwick, R.I. I shared a room with Dr. Dolittle last night and I layed in bed as long as I could being as quiet as I could. At 6:45am, I went to a local breakfast place and let Dr. sleep in. I had a fun time listening to six retired linemen that met there for breakfast. Their conversation was mainly about the guys they know that have had heart attacks, heart by passes, debilitating illnesses or have passed away. When they ran out of dead guys to talk about, they started talking about how the new guys don't climb poles anymore, they use lift trucks. Their views were that REAL men climb poles. The last thing they were all talking about was where their retirement homes in Florida were and how much damage their winter homes sustained in the hurricanes this year. Breakfast and coffee was good and I took my time and caught up on some emails while I was there. I came back to the room and Dr. was still sleeping, so I took a shower. I'm still behind in my sleep, but I'll be back on the trail soon and this time of year, there is 13 hours of night, so it won't take long to catch up. Dr. Dolittle has an interview this morning, so I'm going to stay at least until she gets back from that. I'll probably head on up to Glencliff, NH this afternoon. I got an email from my oldest grandaughter and she got 5 A's and 1 B on her report card...wow!!! Almost as good as I did. (after I doctored mine up) She is in her first year of middle school. The weather is cool up here and the trees are beautiful. I love this time of year. Dr. Dolittle got her job!! It will be great to have her back on the east coast again. She talked me into staying one more day, so it will be Thursday morning when I start walking again. We went out and looked at an apartment for her and then ate dinner. When we got back to the room, we took a short nap before we headed to John Galt's house in Ct. to watch the Yankees and Boston play. We got down there and I met Jay, a friend of Johns. John got back and it was great seeing him again. Eric came over, so there were five of us there watching the game. It got exciting when Boston made a comeback, but it wasn't enough and the Yankees took the first game. Last year when these two teams were playing each other, I was in Pa. I guess I'm behind because I'm still in NH this year.
Date: 2004-10-13
From: Motel 6, Warwick, R.I.

To: Finally! Glencliff, NH
Miles today: 0.0

Zero miles todaySleeping in the back of my truckGlencliff, NHI didn't get to bed until almost 2am after going over to John Galt's and watching a baseball game and then coming back to the motel and talking to Dr. Dolittle until late. I did wake up early, but I decided to stay in bed and didn't get up until 8:30am. I never sleep that late, but I have not been getting enough sleep. I went in and took a shower and talked to the Dr. some more and then left for NH at 10am. It was a pleasant drive through Boston because the rush hour was already over. I got into NH and immediatly noticed more color in the trees...they looked like they were on fire. I got to see one of my favorite mountains, Mt. Moosilauke, just before I got to Glencliff, NH. It was a cloudless, cool day, so I was wishing I was on top of that mountain looking down instead of down here looking up. I got to Hiker's Welcome Hostel and started going through my hiking gear because I didn't see anyone. After a little while, Lion King came up. It was good to see him again. I wasn't sure who would be here now that all the hikers are gone. The last entry in the log book was from 10-2-04. I did see that Heald is back on the trail and a few weeks ahead of me. I talked to Rhea and got her to add 3 more zipper pulls to my tent, so that should be good for another year. I didn't realize that she loved doing custom work with the silnylon fabrics. I knew she sewed alot and made some items, but she said she would love to make me a custom tent. I still have quite a bit of life left in my Nomad 242, but I also have some of my own ideas to make a tent like that, but to my own specs. I love that tent, but there are a few things I would do differently, so maybe, in a year or two... I've got over 400 nights in my Nomad 242 and it's probably going to be good for another few hundred. That's cheap housing!! It will work out to less than 50 cents a night and I've had million dollar views. I got my bounce box ready and a couple of birthday cards for my grandaughters and mailed them. I went through my backpack and made sure I had my winter gear in order. I went back into town and bought a two litre coke and came back and had a few drinks with Lion King and Big John. I brought a half full bottle of Crown Royal that I've had at home for a few years and we finished it off. It just looked good for a change and it was good sharing it. That only allowed me to have three drinks, which was good because if I would have had four drinks, I would have fallen down. I cooked some spagetti and red clam sauce that John Galt gave me. It's strange being the only hiker here at the hostel because this is a busy place in the season. I'm going to sleep in my truck tonight and then I will be hiking out in the morning!!! NO MORE ZERO MILES FOR A WHILE!!!! I'm ready to start walking again. It's been about 3 weeks since the last time I carried my house on my back.
Date: 2004-10-16
From: Tenting

To: Happy Hill Shelter, VT
Miles today: 11.7
Weather: overcast clouds

11.7 miles todayTentingHappy Hill Shelter, Vt.It rained all night last night. It finally let up just before dawn. I didn't make any coffee, but I did eat one breakfast bar before I packed up. It was still fairly dark out when I left, but I knew I wanted to eat breakfast at Lou's in Hanover, so I got a good early start. I had about six miles to get to town. Shortly after I got started, I saw something black in the woods. As I got closer it stood up...it was Turtle Don in a black rain suit. He was getting up early too and was bent over packing up his tent when I saw him. We had met before, but niether one of us could remember where. He said his wife was picking him up in Hanover today. I saw the first whitetail deer that I've seen since I got back on the trail. Shortly after that, I saw some bear scat. I also saw a real nice hornet's nest hanging just above the trail. I hiked on and before long I was in the food co-op getting resupplied. I went ahead and bought my food first so I wouldn't have to backtrack about half a mile. The sun even popped out for a few minutes this morning. The weather is still pretty mild...low 50s. I walked on up to the restaurant, but I wanted to check my email first, so I walked down to tha Dartmouth Outdoor Club and sent in my journal entry and checked my email. I went back to Lou's and had a real good breakfast. They had a vegatable and chedder cheese three egg omelet and homefries and toast on special. It filled me up along with several cups of coffee. I went back to the D.O.C. and replied to some of the emails I got and I repacked my food bag. I was probably there for a couple hours. It's really nice that they open their building up to hikers. I was going to eat again at Lou's before I left town, but they were really busy, so I walked over to the local pizza place, Everything But Anchovies and ordered a spinach, Feta cheese, and garlic pizza. It was very good! That's the first time I've eaten there, but I'll be back. I packed out half of the pizza for dinner and hiked on out of town. I got to say hello to Pamela just before I crossed over into Vermont.Another state!! Yeah!! I am supposed to meet Hippie Longstockings at Happy Hill Shelter tonight, so I only walked about another five miles out of town. I got to spend five hours in town today. I got to the shelter at 4:30 pm and set up my tent to dry just before it started raining again. I ended up eating the rest of the pizza that I packed out. I started getting cold, so I got my sleeping bag out and crawled in. I was at the edge of the shelter because I didn't want to have to get out of my tent when she got here. Hippie never did show up, but I know she doesn't like to hike alone at night, so she will probably show up in the morning. I fell asleep and ended up spending my first night in a shelter this year. Now that there aren't many hikers on the trail, I may spend a few more nights in shelters.Another great day on the A.T.
Date: 2004-10-19
From: Stony Brook Shelter, VT

To: Rutland, VT
Miles today: 13.7

13.7 miles todayRoyal MotelRutland, Vt.Hippie and I got up before 6am and I layed in my tent and made coffee and ate a couple breakfast bars. I could hear Hippie in her tent, but I couldn't see her where she was set up. I started walking at 7:30. It was 32 degrees out and cloudy, but not much wind, so it felt pretty good. Hippie caught up about an hour later. I don't know what's wrong with me, but I just didn't enjoy it out here today. That's only the second time in three thru hikes that I really didn't want to be out here in the woods. It's a beautiful time of year, the air is nice and cool, the leaves are past full color, but there is still plenty of colorful leaves to look at. I just did not want to be in the woods today and I did not want to be walking. We had less than 14 miles to walk to get back to the truck, but it seemed like 40. I stopped by the lookout cabin and took lots of pictures of it because I'm hoping to someday build a little cabin just like it. I've been thinking about that ever since the first time I saw that cabin. We started chilling down, so we hiked on. We still had a little over 6 miles to go and it seemed like it took forever. When we got back to Hippie's truck, we drove back to my truck at Killington and we decided to get a motel and see how I felt tomorrow. The way I feel right now, I don't want to walk anymore. We got the motel room and then went to a steak house and I had a decent meal and we stopped by the store and bought some Long Trail Ale and went back to the motel. I drank four beers...I never drink that much!! It made me feel like crap so I went to sleep. Sorry for talking about how bad I felt today, maybe tomorrow will be better.
Date: 2004-10-23
From: Manchester Center, VT

To: South of Stratton Mtn, VT
Miles today: 17.5

17.5 miles todaySleeping in my truckJust south of Stratton Mtn, Vt.I was parked next to Hippie's truck this morning and at 5am she shined her light over into my truck. I tried ignoring it, but finally got up at 5:15am. I made coffee on my tailgate and got my things ready for today's walk. We left my truck where it was and drove to Arlington Rd just south of Stratton Mtn. We started walking at 7:30am and the first thing we had to do was climb to the top of Stratton Mtn. It wasn't too bad of a climb over the first 3.3 miles. It kept getting colder the higher we got. We started running into some left over snow and then there was some ice on the trail. It was supposed to be sunny today, but it was cloudy and windy. It was below freezing at the summit. I was planning on climbing the firetower, so when I got to the top of the mountain, I headed right up the tower. When I got above tree line, the wind hit me like a brick...it was blowing 30 to 40 mph and very cold. The firetower was all iced over. I made it up until I didn't trust it anymore and got a couple of pictures and got the heck out of there. I still can't believe how cold it was and all the ice up there. I hiked on down the mountain and ran into Hippie talking to a couple that's hiking the Long Trail. We talked a while and then hiked on. We stopped at Stratton Pond Shelter and ate some and talked to a guy that was still there from the night before. He had hiked down from Katahdin and was planning on getting as far as NY before he gets off the trail. I saw more people today than I've seen since I got back on the trail at Glencliff. Hippie and I were having a blast today. When I would get out of sight of her, I would take off running down the trail and open up as much as a quarter mile lead. I would then just walk a fast pace and see how long it would take her to catch me. Before long I would hear her come running up from behind and I'd take off again. I guess we had too much energy today. We also spent the hike catching leaves again and the count is now; 22 leaves for Hippie and 17 for me...she cheats!!! It's harder than you think to catch a falling leaf. Just when you think you've got it, it will flip right away from you. When you go running after one, you can't look down to see whether you're going to step in mud or on a rock and twist your ankle, so it's dangerous work trying to catch those leaves. Hippie was way ahead of me for a while and then she started getting tired, so I made a big comeback on the leaf count. We passed a group of day hikers and I thought the one guy looked familiar. I ask him his name and he said; Samurai. I had hiked around him earlier this year. I remember seeing him at Kincora Hostel. I think I even have a picture of him and a group of other hikers eating dinner there. We talked a while and then Hippie and I took off for the last few miles. We got back to my truck at about 1pm and drove to Bennington to use the library and eat dinner. The sun did come out for about an hour or so today during the hike. Another great day on the A.T.
Date: 2004-10-28
From: Great Barrington, Mass.

To: Great Barrington, Mass.
Miles today: 15.0
Weather: clear sky

15 miles todayMotelGreat Barrington, Mass. There was ice all over this morning when I got up. Dharma was sleeping in his truck next to mine, so I went over and woke him up because there was a diner waiting on us in Great Barrington. We headed in and ate breakfast and talked somemore about the trail and some of the hikers we all knew. Dharma left for home after breakfast. It was great seeing him again and I have to really thank him for coming out and meeting up with Hippie and I. Hippie and I went up to Beartown Mtn Rd and walked back to where her truck was at the Lee trailhead. We decided to do a short mileage day today to give our bodies a chance to recouperate from all the playing on the trail. It was a beautiful day with temps reaching up to the 50s after a cool start. The sun was out and there was very little wind. There are tons of leaves on the trail, but there's still plenty of color to look at. I am now in the lead in the falling leaf count. I have caught 59 and Hippie has 56. I'm done with that stupid game, so I'm the WINNER!!!Hippie doesn't know it yet and may not let me quit yet, but I'm still the WINNER no matter what she says.We walked pretty easy today and stopped a few times for short breaks. We saw no other hikers today. We passed by Upper Goose Pond and I remembered how nice it is to swim in during the summer, but it didn't look too inviting today. I saw the cabin had been reopened until Oct. 23rd this year. We hiked on to the trailhead at Lee and I saw a car parked in front of Hippie's truck. I was thinking that it might be Rainy Jay, but I didn't see anyone in the car until I got closer and it was Rainy Jay!! It was great seeing him again. We talked a while and tried to figure out where we could meet for dinner. We decided on the same diner that Hippie, Dharma and I ate at this morning, but I told Rainy Jay that we wouldn't be there for about an hour. The road we had to drive down to get my truck was under water in three spots and I didn't want to see him drive his car through that. We had to drive about 10 miles down a bumpy road to get to the truck. Hippie followed me and we drove into Great Barrington and met up with Rainy Jay and had a good dinner and great conversation. We sat there for about an hour and a half before I started getting tired. Hippie and I are on hiker time, so when it gets close to 6pm, we start getting tired. Rainy Jay, thanks alot for coming out and seeing us on the trail. It's always great running into old hiking buddies and you looked great for having just undergone re-entry after your thru hike this year. Hippie and I needed to get cleaned up today. After all the running we've done, we both needed a shower and to wash our clothes. We got a local motel in Great Barrington and Hippie talked to Tripod, her borfriend, while I took a shower and then I talked to Goldilocks to let him and Moosie know about when to expect me this weekend.Another great day on the A.T.
Date: 2004-11-02
From: Sleeping at Dr Dolittle's apartment in Cranston, R

To: Salisbury, Ct when I get back on the trail.
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Zero miles todaySleeping at Dr Dolittle'sCranston, RII'm at Salisbury, Ct when I get back on the trail.I woke up a little before 6am and remembered that John Galt had to get ready for work, so I went in the other room and woke him up. He left for Ct and Dr Dolittle went back to sleep and I worked on my journal. I got the Dr up at 7:10am and we went down the street to the local diner. It was a nice little place and right at the end of her street. When we got done eating, it was time to go to work. We had to completely unload all of the Dr's stuff out of a reantal truck. How can one girl have so much stuff??She even got rid of the dirt that she moved last time when Goosebump The Snow Princess helped her move. Nope, I don't know why she moved dirt and I didn't ask. The Dr is a single girl and she owns a 9 horsepower chipper shredder and a large ground tiller. She lives in the city, but owns farm implements!! I just quietly moved everything and when we were done with the truck, Dr said that I was much better and didn't complain as much as Goosebump The Snow Princess. There were three doors to come in through the front and no matter how much we tried bending her sofa, it just would go around the corner. I had even taken a door off the hinges. We hauled it around back and had three more doors to go through, but they were in a straight line. I still had to take two doors off their hinges. We lifted it over a hand rail, through a storm door, through a mud room and then through the kitchen door. We got it into the kitchen, but to get it around the corner and into the living room, we had to turn the sofa around in the small kitchen. We made it and actually got it into the living room and the Dr said that it probably would stay here when she leaves. I rehung all the doors I had taken down. I layed down on the sofa for about 30 minutes to take a break. It's much easier walking 20 miles a day in the woods than helping someone move. We moved some stuff around and decided it was time for a steak dinner, so I took a shower and brought my appetite to the restaurant. We went to Bugaboo's Steakhouse and I had their version of a Bloomin' Onion and a very good steak. John Galt called and wanted us to come over to his parents house in N. Stonington, Ct to watch the results of the election as they came in. We went over and it was good to see his mom and dad again. We watched until I couldn't keep my eyes open anymore. I'm glad the Dr agreed to leave when I asked because I was beat. We said goodbye to all of them and drove the 45 minutes back to Dr's apartment and crashed for the night. I need to get back on the A.T. The leave count cganged a little even though not one of us was out catching leaves today. Rainbow Slick still has 10, Goosebump The Snow Princess has 4, Hippie has 61, I still have 77, but Moosie now has negative 2...he was charged a two leaf demerrit for say bad things about me in my guestbook. Hey, it's MY game and I'll make up the rules!!!
Date: 2004-11-03
From: Salisbury, Ct when I get back on the trail.

To: Salisbury, Ct.
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Zero miles todaySleeping in my truck at the trailheadSalisbury, Ct. I was up late last night at John Galt's parents home to watch election results. I got tired, but didn't get to bed until late, so I slept in until 7am. I updated my journal while I waited on the Dr to wake up. When I got done, I told her I was walking up to the local restaurant to have breakfast and for her to come when she got ready. She did make it while I was eating and we tried to make plans for getting back on the trail. She just moved here from Oregon, so I knew she had things to do, but I needed to get back to the trail. I got back to her apartment and took a shower and told her where to find me on either Saturday or Sunday on the trail and I headed for Western Ct. I stopped to pick up a couple cold weather items and drove the 3 to 3 1/2 hours to get back to where I left the trail about 4 or 5 days ago. I got into Salisbury and resupplied with some food for the next couple of days and then drove to the trailhead. I thought I would see Hippie's truck there, but there was no sign of it. I hope she got in some miles while I was off the trail. I ate dinner in the back of my truck and organized a few things, but I've still got to go through my backpack in the morning to make sure I have all the cold weather stuff I need. I heard on the radio that there should be temps in the teens and 20s tonight. That was a NY radio station, but it will probably be about the same here. I'm all excited about making some miles again on my journey. Five days is too long to be off trail, but at least I got to see the Moosie's and help Dr Dolittle move. Friends are more important than trail miles. My plans are still to try and finish up the last 700 miles of this thru hike by Christmas or the end of the year at the latest. We have a new player in the falling leaf catching game. I'm talking about Jan Liteshoe. She emailed me today and told me that she started catching leaves today and that she caught two, but because of some reason she tried pulling over on me, she thought she deserved a 4 leaf count. So the count now stands at Mailar with 2, Rainbow Slick with 10, Goosebump The Snow Princess at 4, Moosie still has negative 2, Hippie has 61, I have 77 and just to keep Liteshoe happy...we all know how important that is, I'm setting her count just like her journal at 322,000. It's great to be back by the A.T. and to be able to start walking again on Thursday morning...yeah!!!