morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2017-07-27
From: West Cornwall Rd.

To: CT 41, Undermountain Rd.
Miles today: 16.6

We got a bit of a late start this morning, but we all left together at 6:30: Arlene, Bill, Terri, Lizzie, and me. There was a long gradual uphill at the beginning.  The first viewpoint we came to was Hang Glider View, from which we saw - and heard - a speedway.  Cars, maybe formula 1 cars, were racing around a curvy track.  It was very loud.  We heard it a long time before we could see it and continued to hear it long after it was out of sight.  For much of the morning we were on rolling ups and downs atop a ridge.  Then we descended to hike several flat miles through the town of Falls Village.  The welcome sign said it was incorporated in 1737.  This part of the country was settled long ago, and the woods are full of rock walls, which the New Englanders call stone fences.  The sheer number of these fences reminds us that these mountains have been settled for a very long time.  We crossed the Housatonic River, passed Housatonic Valley Regional High School, walked along a road with lots of wildflowers in bloom (chicory, goldenrod, bergamot, Queen Anne's lace, red clover), and reentered the woods.  When we emerged again we hiked across an iron bridge and on a road that took us to a large waterfall. There was a small building at the top of the falls, giving me the impression that these falls must have been used to generate power in earlier eras. Much of the rest of the hike was through a hemlock forest on soft pine-needle-covered dirt.  Eventually we hiked through pastures full of bergamot and goldenrod and road walked to the endpoint.  It sprinkled on us off and on all afternoon, but we never got totally wet.  Tonight we're camped right off the trail at the 1500-mile mark.  Tomorrow we leave Connecticut and enter Massachusetts.
Date: 2017-07-28
From: CT 41, Undermountain Rd.

To: Jug End Rd.
Miles today: 16.9
Weather: light rain

Connecticut sent us off on a high point, and Massachusetts welcomed us on  a high point as well.  It was a hard day but a good one.  We started a bit after 6:30.  It was a cool bright day.  Our first landmark of the day was the rock observation tower at the top of Bear Mountain.  This was a carefully constructed four-sided pyramid made of piled up stones.  It was the highest point in Connecticut.  We sat on top of it for a few minutes and talked to several hikers.  Then Pipes and Ringo played a jig on bagpipe and improvised drum.  From there we started a steep descent, the first of several today.  This was the kind of place that requires any and all techniques - scooting down on my bottom, swinging down from trees, carefully moving down backwards in places.  It took a long time to get to the bottom, Sages Ravine.  Here the trail entered a conifer forest and followed a fast-running stream for about half a mile.  We sat down beside it, ate lunch, and filtered some water.  Terri went ahead then to make better time.  (Lizzie, who was hiking south, had texted, warning us not to dilly dally because the last four miles were very difficult.)  Just before we crossed the stream a sign facing the opposite direction welcomed us to the Connecticut section of the AT; right after we crossed, a sign welcomed us to Massachusetts.   We headed up Mount Race.  At the top there were beautiful views of a valley, farmland, more woods, and a few houses.  On top of Mount Everett we met a local couple out hiking to prepare for backpacking in the Grand Canyon.  There was another very steep descent, which we approached with caution.  We reached the third difficult descent late in the day.  Despite great care I slipped about five times.  I'm cultivating maintaining a very low center of gravity so that the falls are not too hard.  We didn't get to the endpoint till 7:00.It was a very pretty and peaceful hike today, especially along the stream and at the top of Mount Race. There the trail ran for more than half a mile along rocks that overlooked a beautiful valley.  The vegetation on top was different from any we've seen so far.  There were no tall trees, just varieties of pine and oak that are short and dwarf-like.  We saw many types of mushrooms, all fresh after yesterday's rain.  It made me think I should go back to learning about them.  Lizzie has now been back hiking two days and appears to be doing very well.  She's taking very good care of her wound and seems like her old (but young) self.  It's good to have her back.Tomorrow we have a short day (12.9 miles).  I hope this will allow me to get to bed earlier to catch up on sleep.
Date: 2017-07-29
From: Jug End Rd.

To: MA 23
Miles today: 12.9
Weather: light rain

Massachusetts continues to be lovely.  We started the day going through several fields bordered by lots of bergamot in bloom.  One fence had bluebird boxes at every other fence post.  Beyond that cows were lying down.  We passed several fields of corn - so symmetrical and only about 30 inches high.   From there the trail passed into a wetland on bog bridges.  The first bridge was constructed of crooked trees, making a path that wandered this way and that.  There were many road crossings.  On one of them we came upon a stone monument commemorating the last battle of Shay's Rebellion.  The second half of the hike was through evergreen woods that were quiet and carpeted with pine needles. We did go up some rocky hillside, but there was relatively little rock scrambling.  Coming down the last hill we came upon Ice Gulch, a deep gorge where snow and ice sometimes last through the summer.  (There didn't appear to be any today.). Lizzie got down on her belly to lean over and take a panoramic picture.  Her picture turned out to look like a tree.  We finished early, as the hike was short.  For the past several days we've seen many varieties of mushrooms, and today was no exception.  We saw large clusters of red russulas, lots of small purple mushrooms (purple cortinarius), lots of small coral fungi in many colors, lots of boletes, and my all-time favorite, lactarius indigo.  Tonight we're camping free at a community center in Great Barrington, Massachusetts.  There is a community garden nearby.  I'm sitting on a marble memorial bench near an apple tree as the sun gets lower in the sky.  I thought the bench would be cold, but it has absorbed the heat of the sun and is pleasantly warm.  The past several days have been quite cool.  I wore a light-weight fleece for most of the hike today, and the temperature had not reached 70 by the time we finished hiking at 1:30.  The forecast for tonight is for lows in the 50s again.  It's ideal hiking weather, but I'm yearning wistfully for some real summer weather.  I love the heat.  Grossest animal encounters of the hike: For the past week or so, beginning with the first night it rained, I've been finding slugs on my tent and ground cloth.  My first encounter occurred several weeks ago.  I picked up the stuff sack holding my sleeping bag and squashed one on the handle.  Yuck!  I knew it would be slimy, but it was also sticky and left a yellow stain on my hand.  Since then I've found quite a few inside and outside my tent.  When I set it up tonight one had slimed the inside mosquito netting layer right where I unzip the tent to get in.  Disgusting.  If anyone knows how to clean this please let me know.  Although I'm good with snakes, amphibians, and bugs, I'm totally grossed out by these creatures.
Date: 2017-07-31
From: Tyringham Main Rd.

To: Pittsfield Rd.
Miles today: 18.0
Weather: broken clouds

Today was a long hike, 18 miles through the woods.  The day began unseasonably cold again, probably in the high 40s. Terri headed out first; Arlene, Bill, and I followed. The day began with a long climb, so we were soon warmed up.  There was not much variation in the terrain today.  The highlight of the hike was passing two pretty ponds and swimming in one of them.  About seven miles into the hike we came to a historical marker for a large chimney.  The plaque memorialized the Mohhekennuck Club, which was incorporated in 1909 and had a lodge on the site for the next 72 years.  In 1982 the club conveyed the land to the National Park Service to be used as part of the Appalachian Trail.  Just past the chimney a short trail led down to the shore of Upper Goose Pond.  The pond was shallow there and had a sandy bottom.  Several feet out there were some large boulders and a sudden drop off.  It was still morning when we arrived and not particularly hot, but the sandy bottom looked good.  Bill and I decided to swim.The water felt cold when I first got in, but I got used to it quickly.  I swam out to the middle of the pond and yelled back to Arlene on shore, "I'm clean."  And I did feel clean for the first time in many days.  (Out here the term clean is relative.  It actually means less dirty, as opposed to more dirty.). It's been a long time since I swam in a clear New England lake or pond.  It felt wonderful.  If we hadn't had so many more miles to go I would have stayed longer.  After we swam the three of us ate lunch, each sitting on a separate rock.  It was 11 o'clock when we resumed hiking. Not long after lunch we came to an elaborate pedestrian bridge that took us across the Massachusetts turnpike. Peeking through the chain link fence, we could just see a sign on the overpass identifying the bridge as the Appalachian Trail.  The rest of the day was uneventful.  For the past few days we've been seeing different plants, trees, and flowers.  We've been seeing teaberry plants with their white berries, bunchberry plants with their red berries, and purple vetch.  We've also started seeing birches and aspens.  It feels like a prelude to reaching Vermont.Tomorrow we hike 18.9 miles.  At the midpoint the AT goes right through the downtown of Dalton.  We plan to stop for lunch there before doing the second half of the hike.  It's amazing how having a belly full of real food makes the hike go easier.
Date: 2017-08-04
From: City Stream, VT 9

To: USFS 71
Miles today: 20.7
Weather: clear sky

The highlight of today's hike was  climbing the Glastonbury Fire Tower to get views of the surrounding mountains.  The morning's hike was a bit more than 10 miles, most of it uphill.  The afternoon's hike was a bit more than 10 miles predominantly downhill, but with some uphills thrown in for fun.  In between we got to see views from the tower.  We were surrounded on all sides by ranges of mountains.  Looking down, I saw the conifers' delicately shaded ends of the branches.  Arlene, Bill, and I stopped for lunch.  Shortly after that Lizzie and Patti arrived headed southbound.  Much of the day I had a headache and was desperate for sleep.  I planned to take a short nap at the tower, but we heard thunder and decided it was better to move on.      Vermont has a reputation for being muddy, and today it lived up to its name.  We slogged all day through large patches of deep mud and also dealt with a lot of rocks.  It was very hard work, and I didn't finish till 8:30, when it was already dark.  Tomorrow is another long day.
Date: 2017-08-08
From: VT 103

To: VT 100, Killington
Miles today: 20.7
Weather: overcast clouds

Note to readers: one of the expedition members, Pilgrim Billbones/Bill, is hiking to raise money for autism services.  He's today's guest journalist.Hi, Bill, Pilgrim Billbones, blogging for Charli's Sturdy Peasant entry today.We had a long day and finished our 20 mile day with the last hour in the woods with headlamps. Got PTO disease, plumb tuckered out, or to quote a nice line from Pink Floyd's A Momentary Lapse of Reason..."Tongue-Tied and Twisted, just an earthbound Misfit, I". In other words tired and blogging at 12:30 when I have a perfectly reasonable tent and sleeping bag 30 feet away. Now that I have elicited sympathy (worth a shot) (enter the soft violins stage left), please consider donating time or money to your local autistic center or family.  Pilgrim Billbones is hiking in a Hike-a-Thon 2017 to benefit autistic learning centers. Check out www.mountainwalkerfriends.org and give a few bucks or hours of time for each 500 miles we've hiked. But wait!!! There is more! I've taken roughly 3000 pictures on the trail, and will pick out the top 12 and sell prints of each for $75.00. Proceeds to benefit autistic support networks. I will post the 12 pics in October for the public to peruse. And to pique your imagination, one of the prints is a spectacular sunrise in the Shenandoahs. Please send me an email if you would like to see a sample of the pics in October. Billbonesnote@gmail.com, Gee whiz. I don' t know how Sturdy Peasant finds time to post each night. We have our last 20-mile day tomorrow and will mark that with a small celebration. Harder miles coming, but fewer per day.RTP  remember the poetry, CSV celebrate the small victories, Rock and Roll, and God Bless,Pilgrim Billbones
Date: 2017-08-09
From: VT 100, Killington

To: VT 12, Woodstock 
Miles today: 20.4
Weather: few clouds

Yesterday was a very hard day.  We started out slow because I was nauseated and tired.  By noon I felt better, but we'd already lost a lot of time.  We spent a lot of time talking to southbounders, and we spent time at lunch getting to know Carmen San Diego and Waterboy, two NOBOs we've been seeing for several days. Soon we were very behind schedule to get in before dark.  We ended up finishing at 9:30, having hiked the last hour in the dark.  It was a very long day, lots of climbing - no views.  It was scary hiking in the dark.  Today was another very long day.  We had resolved not to spend time socializing since we had 20 miles to hike.  Even so, we took a break almost right away.  Warren said there were no views, but he was wrong. Not long into the hike we arrived at Thundering Falls, a very high set of cascades with streaks of water flowing down many different places (see photos).  Then there was a nice boardwalk through an area full of Joe Pye weed, goldenrod, and other late summer flowers (see photo above).  From there we headed up Quimby Mountain, where we found some trail magic.  Someone had left a bag of big juicy oranges. Bill, Arlene, and I sat down and each ate one.  Farther up the mountain we came around a corner and saw the top of an extension ladder sticking up above the top of a rock promontory (see photo).  The thought of having to descend backwards down a ladder leaned against a rock wall prompted me to use some very bad language.  This made Arlene laugh because this is quite uncharacteristic for me.  Much of the rest of the day was just hard slogging up hills .  In late afternoon we reached a side trail for a place called the Lookout.  Just as we started up toward it rain came up suddenly.  We put on our ponchos and continued toward the top.  There we were surprised to find a completely enclosed cabin, with a ladder to a platform high on the rooftop.  We sat inside with several other hikers and waited out the storm.  It's the first time we've ever been at a place where we could take shelter when a storm came up.  We felt really lucky. After the storm had subsided we went up on the roof platform to see the view.  There were clear views in all directions - well worth the extra effort to get there.We left there about 5:15 with 6.8 miles left to go.  We hiked fast.  Even though the ground was wet, the terrain wasn't difficult.  We got in around 8:15.  Warren had bought pizza, and Terri had bought a blueberry pie to celebrate our last 20-mile day.  Tonight we are camped in a cow pasture adjoining the trail.  I tried to set up where I'd avoid the cow manure, but as there's plenty of it elsewhere in the field my tent is still smelly.  Tomorrow we have a short day, just 12 miles. I hope to finish early enough to get some extra sleep.
Date: 2017-08-11
From: VT 14, West Hartford, VT

To: NH 120, Hanover, NH
Miles today: 10.5
Weather: broken clouds

Today was a short hiking day but a long working day.  We hiked from West Hartford, Vermont to Hanover, New Hampshire - a distance of 10.5 miles.  We camped in Hanover last night, so Warren shuttled us to the starting point.  We stopped en route to get coffee and take-out breakfast, so we were well-fed when we started hiking at 6:45.  There was a road walk of about a mile at the beginning and a road walk of about two miles at the end. In between the trail wandered up and down over pine-needle-covered paths.  My college roommate Meg was to meet me in Hanover.  She parked at the Food Coop and hiked south to meet me.  The two of us got to the end point at 12:10 PM.  Bill and Arlene arrived somewhat later, having been lured away from the trail by the aroma of coffee wafting from a business downtown.  Bill has a tooth with a filling that is coming out and was able to get a dentist to make him a temporary filling.  Warren had told us in the morning that he wanted to meet to discuss the Whites as soon as everyone got in but no later than 3:00.  When we arrived, people had scattered to do their errands, and Warren was very angry.  The meeting at 3:00 was mostly about the logistics of who was staying in the huts in the Whites, how people are getting home from Katahdin, etc.  He surveyed us as to who were planning to ford the Kennebec River and who was planning to take the canoe ferry (the official white-blazed part of the trail).  He criticized those who planned not to ford as being fearful.  I'm not tied to any macho goal of taking unnecessary risks.  I have fallen enough on rocks, wet and dry, on land without having to ford a river whose bottom is covered with slimy river rocks.  The reason the official trail was changed to include the ferry is that the Kennebec is dammed upriver, and the dam is opened at irregular and unannounced times.  If you are fording when the gates are opened you may be drowned by the rising water.  Warren claims that you can time your crossing to take place when the risk is low and views any other approach as cowardly.  After the meeting there was a flurry of activity to pick up mail, do laundry, shop for groceries, etc.  There is no laundromat in Hanover.  The senior center has a single washer and dryer, which makes laundry a drawn-out affair.  Fortunately, Meg had lived in West Lebanon, the next town, some years ago and knew her way around.  She took Arlene and me there to do laundry and run our other errands.  While our laundry was washing Arlene was able to get a haircut, something she has been wanting to do for weeks now.  I got a new dry sack at LL Bean.  We both got groceries.  And the three of us had dinner at a nice local pub in Lebanon.  Many thanks to Alan S for the bag of ginger lemon cashew bars.  I shared them with the group after the meeting was over.  Tomorrow we hike 18.9 miles, our first full day in New Hampshire.
Date: 2017-08-12
From: NH 120, Hanover, NH

To: Lyme-Dorchester Rd.
Miles today: 18.9
Weather: overcast clouds

It rained overnight, but it was not raining when we set out at 6:10.  We walked through mist/cloud for much of the day.  The woods were quiet for long periods of time.  It was a lot of miles with not many views expected or seen.At Moose Mountain South Peak, about the halfway point, Arlene and I sat down to eat lunch.  Fog was moving up the mountain to where we were and dissipating.  Pretty soon Bobby Joe arrived, headed south; Lizzie and Patti arrived also headed south; and Bill arrived from behind us.  We all ate snacks or lunch, then headed back out.  It was a rare occasion when most of us were in one place on the trail.Later in the afternoon we came out to a road crossing and discovered trail magic.  Marsha and Dennis, sweethearts and hikers, were in a parking lot serving hotdogs, potato chips, and cold soft drinks.  Terri was sitting in a folding chair talking to them.  Arlene and I joined her and fixed ourselves hotdogs.  By then the sun had come out, and it had turned into a pleasant day.  It was nice sitting in a chair and getting to relax with local folks.  Marsha and Dennis both had strong New Hampshire accents.  Arlene has been eagerly anticipating hearing real Maine accents, so she enjoyed hearing the New Hampshire version of a New England accent.  We asked what the likelihood was of seeing a moose.  They were not encouraging.  The moose population in New Hampshire has declined by 60 % in recent years because of an infestation of ticks.  The ticks attach to the moose young and take so much blood from them that they become too weak to escape predation from black bears.We got into camp shortly before 7:00. I made it through today's hike with just one minor fall, but on the way to setting up my tent I tripped over the stones to a diversion ditch and fell hard on my left hand and right knee.  The two middle fingers on my left hand were bent back the wrong way and are now very sore.  My knee was scraped up.  My legs are a catalog of scrapes, cuts, and scratches.  Sometimes I look at the younger women hikers and marvel at their flawless uninjured legs.  Tomorrow is another long hike, 18.8 miles.  I'm finished with my chores at 9:00 PM, so I may actually get to bed early tonight.  That would be heavenly.
Date: 2017-08-14
From: NH 25 C

To: NH 12, Kinsman Notch
Miles today: 14.4

Today was our first day in the White Mountains.  First we hiked about 5 miles northbound.  Then we shuttled north and climbed up and down Mount Moosilauke southbound.  This was 9.3 miles and took us 8 hours and 45 minutes- barely one mile an hour.  We hiked south so as to do the steepest part going uphill.  Most of the ascent was masses of boulders and was very steep.  For much of the ascent we were beside a very long set of cascades (see photo).  Before we started up, we saw a sign warning inexperienced hikers that this part of the trail is too dangerous and telling them turn around.  In some of the steepest places there were aids such as wooden block steps and rebar.  There were many places where the trail was beside a steep drop off to the cascades.  We spent about 45 minutes at the summit of Moosilauke and took a 10-minute (timed) lunch break.  Other than that we hiked continuously.  We saw Blue Smurf  at the summit and were surprised that he's not far ahead of us.It was all worth it when we got to the top.  It was a bright, clear day.  We could see many ranges of mountains in all directions, and we got our first look at Mount Washington.  The summit of Moosilauke is above tree line and is a gently rounded hill.  So it felt like we were standing in a big field at the top of the world.    It felt like we were seeing the curvature of the earth.  A plaque there commemorated the gift of the summit land to Dartmouth College in 1920.  This blew my mind - the thought that this magnificent place could be the private property of two individuals.  When we got to the bottom Bobby Joe took us to get dinner and ice cream on the way back to where we'll resume tomorrow.  Patti took me aside to tell me that I, and everyone else, need to eat more.  I'm doing the best I can.  One of the best things about getting to the end of this hike is that I'll be able to stop force feeding myself.We passed the 1800 mile mark today.  Tomorrow is another long day with more difficult terrain.