morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2005-05-03
From: somewhere (I'll fix this soon)

To: somewhere (I'll fix this soon)
Miles today: 0.0

I've got to get better town skills. No, I didn't zero, no I'm notstaying in town tonight, yes, I did make it in and out of town in justa few hours.It's just that I have to learn what to bring OUT of town with me. Itwas 12 miles to the road that goes to Bland, VA. In those 12 mileswere something like 10 or 15 stream crossings. For the first three orfour, I tried hard not to get wet. By the seventh or eighth both feetwere wet and I just walked directly through the streams. Fortunatelyby the road to Bland I was pretty dry. Hitching was going prettyunsuccessfully with me, Leviathon, Colonel Forbin, Spice Rack andCaptain Crunch. But when Swan showed up with Buck and Hike=ku, thefirst truck to pass stopped to pick us up. Safely in Bland, we hitthe Bland Square restaurant. The food was pretty good and the priceswere OK, so I really can't complain. Next stop, resupply at the IGA. I got a little creative with my resupply, but it's only two days toPearisburg, so whatever. Well, after I mailed my Mother's Day cardthat I bought at the grocery store it seemed like a good idea to headout. I hitched back with Buck, Swan, and Hike-ku, who were allplanning on doing big miles. Within an easy hour or so we hit thetrail to the shelter and I parted ways with them. As I killed sometime at the trail intersection I hoped that everyone would be shortlybehind me and on their way to the shelter. Chill Out was the first toshow up, after he headed down the trail I got tired of waiting to seewho else would come so I picked up half a tree for firewood andstarted down the trail for me. The shelter was what is to be expectedin the area, and the privy was kinda nice, but the water source wassomething close to a quarter mile away and downhill, so it tookforever. Finally people started rolling in to the shelter after I hadkilled some more time and that was when I realized I need to improvemy town skills. Knowing that it was only a few miles to this shelter,people had packed out beer, hot dogs, marshmellows, fresh vegetablesand chocolate for fondue, Buttah even carried a homemade cake from thetown bake sale. Me, I decided to gather firewood to distract myselffrom all of the goodies. On the bright side, buttah shared his cake,and Bubbletoes hooked me up with a hot dog, and there was even somefree cole slaw involved, so I did manage to yogi from some hikers,something I'm not too proud of, but hell, if you can get free cake,eat it. Planning on 24 miles tomorrow, so better get some sleep.
Date: 2005-05-04
From: somewhere (I'll fix this soon)

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Last night was the best night of sleep I've had on the trail. I wokeup before everyone else, weird. I was the first one out of camptoday, weirder. No one passed me at all today, really weird.That's kind of the story of the day. 24 miles and pretty much nobody. When the trail crossed a suspension bridge I ran into three locals. Later on I passed Rich, on the way to the shelter. And that was it.Wingfoot's guide lists Wapiti shelter as .8 miles past the last roadand .1 past where the trail crosses Dismal creek. I had been makinggood time all day, knocking out a mile roughly every 20 to 25 minutes. About one hour and 10 stream crossings later, I decided that I musthave passed the trail to the shelter and turned around.   Two minuteslater I ran into Rich again, I hadn't missed the trail, Wingfoot'sguide was wrong again. So by my estimation 3 miles after the road Ifinally hit the shelter and found 6 stringer, a section hiker, waitingthere. Here from last night are the Cpptain, the Colonel, and theDoctor, Cola, Matteo, Tom, and Spice Rack. New tonight are 6-stringerand Box-o-fun and Giggles.This shelter seemed pretty cool, looks pretty well constructed andthere was even a deer so tame as to watch me walk down the trail toget water from 10 feet away and not even flinch. However, thisshelter also has a history. Apparently of the 5 murders on the AT init's 50+ year history, 2 occurred in this shelter. Right where6-stringer and Captain Crunch are sleeping apparently two folks gotkinda cut up. Well, there are 16 miles before town tomorrow and I'dlike to catch the AYCE lunch buffets that end before 2 so withthoughts of sleeping near a traumatic murder, I'm off to bed.
Date: 2005-05-05
From: somewhere (I'll fix this soon)

To: somewhere (I'll fix this soon)
Miles today: 0.0

Cinco De Mayo! So I became aware that my friends were in town or atleast would be by early morning, so I was determined to be there forlunch and hopefully catch them. Cola stirred early in the morningwith the first light of dawn and his stirring woke me. I quietly andpolitely ate my breakfast bars and packed my pack and was the firstone out of the shelter.Then it began, I started cruising. I was hopping from rock to rock ina mad effort to make it to town for lunch, I knew it would kill myfeet, but I considered it "training" for the four state challenge. Iwas at Doc's Knob by 10:10, signed in quickly and flew out of there. By 12:30 I was in Pearisburg. Thoughts of finding everyoneimmediately vanished as I made it to the pizza hut buffet. I musthave eaten two whole pizzas, plus a salad. Stinky, sweaty, dirty andin my kilt I ignored the looks from the locals, it was food, and itwas good.After lunch I headed tot he hostel, which is quite a trip. On my wayI made a wrong turn and ended up walking through a development. Fortunately, and older gentlemen was courteous enough to inform me ashe pulled out of his driveway. He was also courteous enough to offerme a ride. Now, I'm not one to turn down a free ride uphill in town,but I probably should have. This man had great intentions, however,those intentions seemed to be very slow to make it to his hands andfeet. He drifted across lanes, left his turn signal on, and his handsshook the wheel like he was making a martini. However, god bless him,he did give me a ride to the hostel. When I checked the hostel, Ireally began to think about hoteling it for the night. After runninginto haiku at the laundramat, which was almost a mile walk from thehostel, I definitely decided to hotel it.So it's me, Swan and Buck in the hotel room tonight, Hike-ku wantedhis own room for the night. I made some phone calls, charged mydevices (including my camera batteries, finally), and now it's relaxtime with "The first 48" on the discovery channel. God Bless town.
Date: 2005-05-06
From: somewhere (I'll fix this soon)

To: somewhere (I'll fix this soon)
Miles today: 0.0

OK, maybe all those miles that quick yesterday wasn't such a goodidea. My feet throbbed all night, and in the morning I was prettysure I was going to zero. However, after some laundry and a goodmeal, my mind changed. Fortunately the hotel had a late checkout timeof 1:00. Jersey Jones was checking in as we were checking out, so wecaught lunch together, then after a resupply, hit the trail.My feet still throbbed. Every step, my feet throbbed. Fortunately,as the end of the short day (about 7 miles) approached, the throbbingdulled. Now for the good news. Rice field shelter is right by, wellrice field. We're on a mountain with a big grassy area and wonderfulviews, pictures were plenty, fun was plenty, and yes, frisbee was alsoa plenty. I love throwing that disc around.
Date: 2005-05-07
From: somewhere (I'll fix this soon)

To: somewhere (I'll fix this soon)
Miles today: 0.0

I'm really beginning to enjoy these long days. Woke up at somewherearound 8 something this morning. I'm beginning to worry that Iactually am getting used to sleeping outside and that I sleep muchbetter out there than inside. Anyway, woke up at around 8 or so, sodid everyone else in the shelter, and nobody left their sleeping bagsuntil at least 9. Long days are great.When we finally did start hiking, we had some gorgeous weather. Several times this morning Swan, Buck and I commented to each otherabout how perfect the weather was. Well, we should've known better. By early afternoon the sun went bye-bye and rain was beginning to lookinevitable. Fortunately today we only hiked around 16 miles so we hitthe shelter by 4:15. That's not to say we didn't get soaked in a fewone minute downpours, but at least we hit the shelter with a decentamount of time left to dry off in the daylight.Car talk was on earlier today and Hike-ku reminded me that PrairieHome Companion was on NPR tonight. This radio thing is coming in realhandy. We've all been crammed in this shelter for a little over anhour now and everyone is getting sleepy early. I'm feeling the sameway, so we'll count ths one off like a bad 80's TV show, "Good NightSwan, night Buck, night Spice Rack, night Switchback, night Cap'nCrunch, night Colonel Forbin, night Hike-ku, night Doc Chickadee,night Bonecrusher".
Date: 2005-05-08
From: somewhere (I'll fix this soon)

To: somewhere (I'll fix this soon)
Miles today: 0.0

While hiking today, Imagine by John Lennon came on the radio. It'skinda weird while you hike, you're body has all of this blood flowingand your brain's got to do something with it. My brain decided totake the song to heart and compare what Lennon's singing about to athru hike.Really, the similarities are striking. Imagine there's no heaven,imagine there's no countries, imagine no posessions, all three are atleast partially true on the AT. For me as an atheist, I'm oftenreassured in my atheism by the things I see out here, but that's nothow I took the heaven lyric to heart. Everybody out here had to bemotivated by something, and for a lot of people that something was therealization of their own mortatlity. I know it was for me. Sure, I'ma young buck, comparitively at least, but I could keel over from someas-yet-undiagnosed heart issue tomorrow. When I decided to thru-hike,I decided to stop thinking about things and start doing things. Tome, when people made the same decision I did, they did, if just for aminute, think to themselves that this world may be all you get and onemight as well make the best of it. Imagine there's no countries, wellon the AT, there aren't. I leapfrogged with a German hiker namedRhino for a while today. Besides being a great conversationalistdespite thet language barrier, his dog was also awesome. When we metthis guy, there wasn't a second thought given to nationality, nor hasthere ever been on the AT, this place, this culture, is one of themost open-minded and open-hearted things I've ever experienced. Imagine no posessions. OK, this one might be a stretch, but when youthink about it, almost everyone out here is at least temporarily ahomeless person with their entire life on their back. Sure, we've gotthe things we won't part with, sleeping bags, tents, packs, etc. ButI've also seen some of the craziest generosity ever out here. If ahiker no longer has a use for something, it's very common toimmediately give it away. Price is rarely even considered. Whethermotivated by the desire to drop weight or not, people still part withvaluable items, and often truly just to help a brother out.So other than those few minutes, hiking was well, normal today.Instead of doing the roughly 14 to the shelter, we did roughly 18 tocamp in a nice open field right past the Keffer Oak, a giant treethat's reported to be over 300 years old. The sky is crystal clearand you can see tons of stars. The ground is feather soft with alayer of grass underneath us. The only downside is some local yokelis apparently sighting in his gun nearby. Ahh, nature, interrupted byredneck.
Date: 2005-08-18
From: 6 miles south of Hanover, NH

To: Hanover, NH
Miles today: 6.0
Weather: clear sky

OK, so it's been a long while since an entry and this is what's going on.I use my phone and a bluetooth keyboard to journal, several hundred miles ago, Mr. Phone decided to stop working. Since I was with AT&T wireless and they were bought out by Cingular, getting a new phone was tough. Getting a new phone that worked with my keyboard turned out to be impossible.So I'm left with no way to journal save for by hand, and you should know by now that I'm too lazy to do that. I do have a plan, I plan to "photo journal" since I'm carrying this 4 lb brick of a camera anyway, I might as well use it, right?So how about a quick review of what's going on? Still hiking with "Team Group Squad" which now consists of Gypsy Lulu, Touk, Linux (although somewhat begrudgingly), Clearwater, Tink, and myself. We just entered Hanover today. Yes I know we're way behind "schedule" and no, I don't care. We're having a blast taking breaks to chill out and enjoy the experience, which makes the trip oh so much better. Also included in making the trip better was the bridge jump yesterday, a "not to be missed" jump into the White river. I jumped twice, from roughly 25 feet or so, and it was a blast.Looking at the Whites soon which is, well, intimidating to say the least, but hey, so was this whole trip 1700+ miles ago.
Date: 2005-08-21
From: Past Hanover NH

To: Good Question
Miles today: 0.0

OK, so I'm back in Hanover after hiking out for two days. Not that anythings going bad, in fact things are going quite well. Yesterday's weather was pretty bad, it was raining and cold, so when we arrived at the shelter 9.5 miles from our starting location, it was pretty much decided that we'd stay there to try and keep warm.Tons of sleep and warmth later, we woke up early this morning and started to hike. This section of trail has been pretty dry, so unfortunately we were searching for water all morning. At the road crossing to Lyme, the party was pretty hurt for water, so an expedition took off to see if they could find civilization and decent drinking water. I was left guarding the packs, which was OK with me, I got to sit on my ass while someone else grabbed water.The group returned shortly with water from a ski-resort not too far up the road, and just as we were about to break out the Snickers bars for lunch [cue the triumphant horn blowing sound] Blister Sister rolls up to drop off Epistomoligical Megalomaniac (AKA Egotistical Testicle or ET for short). ET had slackpacked yesterday and was headed north today, but we however could use a little more town time. In less than 5 minutes of negotiating, we were on our way back to Hanover for a quick lunch at the Indian place. And a fantastic lunch it was.As it happens, the Indian joint has a Sunday buffet, so with a full belly I sit here satiated and ready to return to my hike. And of all people, Rodeo, who I last saw in the Smokies, is right next to me. Small world it is, small world it is.With all luck, Glencliff the day after tomorrow, so maybe another journal update then.
Date: 2005-09-16
From: Shortly Before Caratunk, ME

To: Shortly Past Caratunk, ME
Miles today: 0.0

Well well well, Maine, what a wonderful lady you are.So here I am in Caratunk, what promises to be the second to last town of the trail. Western Maine turned out to be one of the hardest sections of the trail, but it appears the trail is giving us a break until Katahdin now.Speaking of Katahdin, the 28th is almost etched in stone as a summit date now, that means I need to average something like 12.3 miles per day, not bad, especially when a zero in Monson is factored in.After Pinkham Notch, the weather got better to say the least, but my mood didn't. Something about the Whites with their tourists and 20,000 side trails that were easier/shorter than the AT put me at quite a mental low. But as always, the trail community was there to help out.I'm feeling much better, and although I love the trail, I'm looking forward to finishing. It's funny how life works, in February I was so excited to give up TV, indoor plumbing, and my car for a while, and now I'm so excited to plop down on a couch in a warm heated house watching TV, drive to the grocery store when I need to and not have to worry about how far of a walk it is to the privy.I'm hoping that there are those hikers that are more or less motivated than me to finish and that they'll slow down or speed up. I'm not sure who's close behind me, but I'm within a few days of The Laugh Factory, Skywalker, and Gozar, who I've never met but from his register entries he seems like a cool guy. It'd also be awesome to catch up to Team Hustle, especially since I'm still carrying my four-square ball.Love, Peace, and afro-grease FRO-EVA.Mouth
Date: 2005-04-02
To: Hawk mtn. -> Woodshole Shelter
Miles today: 19.1
Weather: broken clouds

Woke up today to partly cloudy weather with the sun-peaking out here and there. It is cold with slight flurries falling. Ate breakfast (granola cereal and Nutella) and headed out for the next shelter 8 miles down the trail. We went up and down a few nice 1000 foot climbs before the shelter. It was very windy today. I started in my light wind breaker with shorts and a t-shirt. Ended up hiking all day wearing this. We made it to the shelter feeling pretty good. It was about 1 pm when we got to the shelter (Gooch Mtn. Shelter) and the day got progressively worse as time went by. Up at elevation it started snowing and the wind was blowing so hard that the snow was coming in completely horizontal. Sam, who lives in Colorado says she's never seen snow blowing sideways like it did today. It was an absolute death march to the next shelter. We totalled 19.1 miles to Woodshole shelter (so much for starting with low miles). If I stopped to take a break, it was for only a few second before the wind would start making me cold. Therefore it was a constant march to our destination. I was so miserable in the final mile and a half from the cold. I had gloves on and finally had to put my rain jacket on when I stoped to resupply on water. Rolling up towards the shelter, I was thinking it was going to be full and that I was going to have to set up my tent with my hands almost numb. Fortunately, there was barely anyone there and room enough for me to fill the last spot. It was a great feeling to finish on such a note after a completely miserable day. Sam says that was probably the worst day of hiking she's done, and it appears she has lots and lots of hiking experience/know-how.         There was good notes to the day today as well. It was beautifull the way the snow would stick to one side of the trees. The larger trees looked like giant frosted dohnut logs glowing in the otherwise grey surroundings. Smaller underbrush was covered with snow. Twigs and sapplings stuck out from the ground like hundreds of inverted white-hot lightening bolts. However, it was cloudy all day with no veiws at the tops of the mountains, unfortunately, making for very fruitless climbs.
Date: 2005-04-03
From: Hawk mtn. -> Woodshole Shelter

To: Woodshole Shelter -> Neels Gap
Miles today: 3.8
Weather: clear sky

About four miles from the shelter to Neels Gap (about 30 miles so far on the AT). We decided after the long, arduous walk yesterday to stay here for the day. It is not a town only an outfitter and hostel that the trail passes through. We were able to do laundry and shower along with a bunk to sleep for $15 (also internet access allowing me to post today and the previous days). We also had mailed packages here to resupply on because we didn't want to rely on what the out-fitter had (more like didn't have) based on the high traffic early on the trail. The outfitter did have quite a stock of resupply and apparently makes quite a business. Lots and lots of motercyclers pass through. So many I am amazed (all of them crotch-rockets surprisingly)         Statistically speaking, about 1 out of 5 hikers drop off the trail here, only making it 30 miles on the AT. A lot of other hikers mail back half the stuff in there packs after realizing it is rather difficult to lug 50-60 poungs up and down mountains all day. Hmmm, I guess that does make sense. The workers in the outfitter often "shake-down" peoples packs and evaluate what they do and don't need. Between me and Brett, we only mailed back 1.5 pounds of stuff. The weather was extremely windy today coming off the mountain today. Nothing like putting on frozen boots to start your day in an icy wind tunnel. I estimated 30-40 mph, but a few hikers and a ranger said more like 50 mph. It was cold with the top of Blood mountain icy and snow covered granite. A lot of the snow reminded me of cookies and cream ice-cream with small debris scattered on the white surface. Even though it is below freezing wheather, you can get quite warm hiking up a mountain, and ice-cream doesn't seem like that bad an idea.         I am showered and relaxing now with a full belly. Brett is darting around and can't sit still. He turns and says "I feel like I should be hiking right now." It was pretty funny.      A good number of hikers staying here today. I feel pretty good. Nothing wrong with my joints, bones, or tendons; just sore muscles which is perfectly normal/fine. Muscles recover a lot easier than tendons.
Date: 2005-04-03
From: Woodshole Shelter -> Neels Gap

To: Addition to 4/03/05 entry
Miles today: 0.0

***Addition to 4/3/05        Also on the way to neeks gap, we stumbled upon some sorta army training thing for lack of better termanology. some of them looked like weekend warriors cuz they were slightly overweight. It started with just a few hiking uphill towards us, but as we neared teh bottom there were a few humvees and about 20-30 army dudes at the bottom. As soon as this camp was in sight, a cannon shot off a blank round nearly scaring my gaitors off. As I was walking through this camp of sorts (a humbee parked literally on the trail), I heard tons of yelling and look to the left and the army guys (all of them head to toe in camo complete with face paint) are subduing what appeared to be fellow day hikers. The army guys had M-16s or some sorta M-16-like assault rifles pointed on them as others wrestled them to the ground. The would be hikers were wearing civilian clothes and had camelbacks on. What tipped me off as this being just a drill was the orange plugs at the end of their barrels. interesting scene nonetheless.
Date: 2005-04-04
From: neels gap

To: Blue Mtn. Shelter
Miles today: 17.7
Weather: overcast clouds

First day hiking with headphones on. I didn't listen to music until today.I didn't listen on the planeI didn't listen on the train.I didn't listen in the car.I didn't listen hiking this far.But finally I busted out the music and hiked. It really helps the miles cruise by. Today me and Brett had a reverse day. This is not the first time something like this has happened on our hikes. I started off feeling good leading the pace for most of the day while Brett took a while to warm up one knee that wasn't feeling good on an initial down. We also linked up with a fellow hiker we dubbed "Ninja Dave" (from Connecticut) who was following. He has some experience and seems to be able to keep up with us. Brett dubbed him Ninja because he wore a black face mask at night with an all black top and pants. He also acts very ninja-like, speaking very little at a time. So me, Brett, and Ninja Dave set out for an 18 mile day. It was a beautifull sunny day around 60-70 degrees (closer to 70 I reckon). If it wasn't for possible strap chaffing, I would have hiked with my shirt off. I picked up a brimmed hat at neels gap, which was key in the sun today. Without leaves a lot of sun passes through the trees. I think I am going to pick up a cheap pair of sunglasses because as I was saying we had a reverse day. The high mileage was a bit much for all of us, but I ended up overheating in the last mile or two and got a headache. It was a combination of the heat and bright light that made me feel bad. I was well hydrated, but still didn't feel well. No blisters yet though!   Also, I finally have a trail name. It is a little silly/lame, but should be good for comic relief here and there. I used to go by the name of "Inkblot" because one day I sweat an inkblot-like salt stain into a black bodyboarding rash gaurd that I was wearing. I decided to start off as Ken for my thru-hike and maybe get a different hike specific name. Tonight I took the broom from the shelter and swept out the area where I was going to tent. It had a lot of rocks and other debris. I was then dubbed "Mr. Sweeps" by Brett and now I go by the name "Mr. Sweepers."