morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2023-06-20
From: Riga Shelter

To: Sheffield-Egremont Road at 1527.2
Miles today: 15.7

Hiking Day 95, Elevation 681 feetBrian thought we had a couple of mountains to climb today, we actually had three; and that was only the ones that went up then down, there were others that were already up and just went higher. First, we climb Bear Mountain (2,312 feet); the climb was fairly gentle compared to the next 2 mountains, but the climb down the North side was steep and difficult. The second mountain, Mount Race (2316 feet) was steep going up and steep and rocky going down but we walked a long the ledges at the top for wonderful eastward looking views. The third mountain, Mount Everett, the tallest of the three at 2602 feet, just about did us in coming down. Going up on all these mountains was manageable but coming down was scary. It took us 10 hours to walk these 13 miles, about the slowest walking we¢ve ever done. At the end of it were exhausted!On a happy note, the Mountain Laurel Symphony continued, and just as we thought it couldn¢t get any better it did: even more spectacular today! The dominant color was a deep pink and the blooming trees and shrubs surrounded us and ran deep into the forest understory as far as we could see. We saw more in bud today and less of the flowers ¢snowing¢ to the ground, so it seems we may have some time yet to enjoy it in its glory.We are also seeing more conifers since Connecticut. We love walking on the pine needles, it¢s such a welcome change to twisted ankles and knees on the rocks.Our last three miles today were through forest and pasture and full of mosquitoes, our first day to apply deet, but not before they drew blood! At least the rocky mountains have subsided for now.Tomorrow we look forward to the summer solstice at 10:58 a.m.!
Date: 2023-06-21
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Beginning a break¢¦Kerry got up this morning with the pain in his foot and toes worse. We walked down to MacDonald¢s for breakfast and it was clear he needed to address it. I called the two podiatrists in the area only to be told they couldn¢t see him¢¦.one said until January! The only alternative seemed to be to go back to urgent care. Hank took us to Pittsfield, a bigger town, where he works and to an urgent care facility there. This time Kerry actually got treated: he had a slightly in grown toenail clipped, puss drained and dead skin from a corn removed. I normally wouldn¢t include all that, but he has been in increasing pain for a couple of months now and it was a relief to finally get some resolution. The PA who treated him advised him to soak it in Epsom salts and stay off it for 3 days. He also sent the infected material to be tested to make sure he¢s on the right antibiotic.Marooned in an expensive tourist town for the weekend was a little daunting. Geographically speaking, we have no idea where we are. We looked for affordable motels only to be told they won¢t take dogs (service dogs included) and or their rates double starting tomorrow, ahead of the weekend. Just because I had Dave¢s phone number (the trail maintainer we met with Brian last week), I called him to see if he knew anyone in the area who might be able to help us figure out the best place to go. He didn¢t, but he did volunteer again to help us once I explained what we needed to do. This was a real low point for us. We had been moving along so well and we were in a groove. Having the rug pulled out from under us, so to speak, was discouraging. Two good things came out of it: the first was that we have a way forward, specifically, take a rest before moving on; and secondly, we got to reconnect with Dave and meet his wife Charlotte. Since this was National Hike Naked Day, we were also spared the possibility of seeing naked hikers¢¦.I have nothing against naked hikers, I just don¢t want to look at them!Hank took us back to Great Barrington and we went to an ice cream shop, to console ourselves with milkshakes and wait for Dave. He came all the way from Poughquag to get us. We drove back with him through much of the country we have been walking through recently. It made me feel sad and tired. There was not much more we could do. Kerry needs to get his toes back working. So here we are back in New York. Resting.
Date: 2023-06-22
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

A day of forced inactivity. I¢m trying to keep my spirits up whilst Kerry soaks his foot.I was thinking about the saying, ¢hike your dog¢s hike.¢ It comes from always putting your dog first on a hike, a concept that I have consistently promoted. However, recently I have come to the realization that we stopped hiking for Felix early on in this hike. I¢m not sure when exactly, but from the beginning, Felix has been a very strong hiker and the three of us have became a solid unit. We walk together, we eat together and we sleep together. In fact, the one concern we have is that Felix has become very protective and when we take a break or stop to camp, he will growl and make noises at people passing by. He doesn¢t mean anything by it, I think he is just warning us that trouble may be approaching and to please take care of it.Anyway, he seems to be in his element. Today, when I suggested we go for a walk, he jumped up, tail wagging ready to go. And yet, he¢s very happy to take a rest and sleep. On the trail when we stop he lies down and takes a ¢power nap.¢He¢s definitely found his ¢inner dog.¢
Date: 2023-06-25
From: Barrington Chapel at MA Route 23

To: Upper Goose Pond Cabin
Miles today: 19.3

Hiking Day 97, Elevation 1546 feetA little bit of a slow start this morning, we got spread out in the chapel and we had to pull everything back together. It was nice to sit in a chair whilst we ate our breakfast. And we were able to charge our phones as well.We were slow hiking especially before noon; Kerry is experiencing quite a bit of pain when he walks on his injured toes. Concerned about the rain, I had hoped to get to Upper Goose Pond Cabin by late afternoon to stay dry. This was not possible given our slowed pace. However we did arrive here eventually, tired and wet and found no bunks available so Kerry is sleeping on the floor and I¢m sleeping on an elevated platform with a piece of foam on it that passes for a couch. None the less, we¢re grateful to be out of the rain!,I was discouraged today at our slowness and feel badly that I can¢t do more for Kerry. The rain is not helping matters either.We had more of Frost¢s woods to walk through and lots of marshy land covered in simple boards for us to walk on. We saw a lot of tiny (baby?) Eastern Newts and had to be careful not to step on them. The rain came a little after 5, no gentle soak today, but two great deluges that pretty much soaked us. I¢m still wearing my wet clothes in an effort to dry them out. It¢s dark now at 9 p.m. well past my bed time!
Date: 2023-06-26
From: Upper Goose Pond Cabin

To: The Cookie Lady on West Branch Road
Miles today: 11.0

Hiking Day 98, Elevation 2001 feetThe alarm went off at 4:45 a.m. but I could hear Kerry snoring so I turned it off and went back to sleep for a little while. Other hikers were stirring and we got up, dressed in our still damp clothes, gathered ourselves together and finally left about 6:45 a,m, A half mile back to the trail and we were walking under cloudy skies by 7 a.m. Today was a bit more threatening than yesterday and we really didn¢t want to get caught in a downpour again but our options weren¢t good. Our first goal was to get to the Cookie Lady, 11 miles away and have one of the much vaunted cookies and lemonade. Much of the water that fell yesterday had absorbed into the ground but not all of it, lots of standing water on parts of the trail and I had a new appreciation for all those rocks, the only way to navigate in places: rock to rock.We arrived at October Mountain Shelter a little after noon and ate our lunch there, then waited out another downpour before moving on to the Cookie Lady 2.2 miles down trail. There, we met 4 hikers: Tango and Low-G (low gear), a retired vet who told me Bravecto might be more effective/is faster acting than Frontline and could be administered with it as it works very differently. Other hikers; YOLO and Cookie, the latter a southbound section hiker. Unfortunately, there were no cookies or lemonade, so we all sat and awaited for another downpour to pass and then the North-bounders hiked on to the next shelter 6.6 miles ahead. Kerry and I decided not to. We thought the shelter would be full and we really don¢t hiking in a crowd.That decided, we looked for a motel in Dalton and a shuttle ride. It turned out the motel was full and the shuttle very expensive. Just as we were trying to figure out what to do, out comes a young man with 2 cookies each for us and offered for us to stay in ¢the hanger¢¢¦the farm, it turns out, has a grass landing field¢¦.read that, ¢under a dry roof.¢ This we accepted and I think we¢ll be ok, definitely dry here and we can walk on early tomorrow and see how far we get¢¦hopefully to another dry spot. Whilst walking, we can hear the rain coming; it sounds like water running in a creek, first dribbling drops and soon we are in the middle of a torrent. Kerry says it sounds like an approaching army, one can hear the gentle thrum of distant feet and pretty soon the sound rises to a crescendo, and those feet are walking right on top of us! And we are soaked in short order.I¢m worried about Kerry¢s infected toe. They warned him to keep it dry, which is currently not possible in the rain. He got a call back from the clinic that the antibiotic they gave him should work, but his toe is still inflamed and he takes his last pill tomorrow. We¢ll just have to take it one day at a time. Since we¢ve been sitting in the hangar, Staircase showed up and then Bambi, Reset, Lawsuit and two other young people. All of them were at the Cabin last night. Outside the rain is pounding down on the hangar¢s metal roof. It¢s deafening and I¢m grateful not to be in it!
Date: 2023-06-27
From: The Cookie Lady on West Branch Road

To: Zero Day Hostel near Dalton
Miles today: 9.7

Hiking Day 99, Elevation 1145 feetShort sodden day today. Rain threatens tomorrow afternoon and into the night so we made a reservation at the Zero Day Hostel near Dalton. I was hoping that we can dry Kerry¢s feet out some more and stay dry. The rain will begin to dissipate over the next couple of days and it should be better hiking for us. In the meantime I¢m working on my attitude toward it and looking forward to a dry spell a bit la Wendell Berry:¢After the long weeks when the heat curled the leaves and the air thirsted, comes a morning after rain, cool and bright. The leaves uncurl, the pastures begin again to grow, the animals and the birds rejoice. If tonight the world ends, we'll have had this day.¢From A sabbath poemAt the next road crossing trail angel, Mike (Werthers¢¦because he hands the candies out) offered us coffee. I think perhaps he had not intended it as trail magic, but he took one look at our faces and it was the first thing out of his mouth. It was wonderful¢¦although it wasn¢t cold, we had wet feet and we were damp everywhere else¢¦it was perfect! He also plied us with pound cake and cookies, which we happily accepted.The trail continued deep in water frequently, and it was impossible to keep our feet dry. At Cady Brook, the stones one would normally cross on were under water higher than our ankles in places and the rushing water made it the most exciting crossing in 1500 miles. I removed Felix¢s pack and leash to allow him (and me) to cross as safely as possible. After that there was very little point to trying to stay dry. Later, I would fall in the mud and walk into Dalton wet from the waste down and a proper mess in general¢¦.but at least I wasn¢t cold.From there we moved on through more water and mud, I¢m pretty certain that Felix loved it. Eventually, we reached Dalton, where we ate a huge lunch of sub sandwiches and copious amounts of drinks. Even I can¢t figure our where all the food goes!We got a shuttle to Walmart where we topped up our resupply and bought Kerry some light cheap sandals so he can get them out of his wet shoes as much as possible. Then back to Sweet Pea Ice Cream for milk shakes and more ice cream.There were seven of us going to the hostel: Raven and Sandman, Karen and Larry (section hikers from New Jersey) and Yolo; all ¢grownups,¢ which was kind of unusual. We¢re all in the same room, we spent a couple of fun hours talking, going to the store, buying food and beer for dinner before settling down to sleep.Lights out now, so time for me to go.
Date: 2023-06-28
From: Zero Day Hostel near Dalton

To: Mark Noepel Shelter mile 1591
Miles today: 13.6

Hiking Day 100 Elevation 2766 feetThe shuttle left the hostel at 8:30 a.m. headed for Dalton with the 7 of us on board. In Dalton, all of us except Sandman, who is waiting out a few days to heal his ankle, headed North out of town. Since we started late, we knew we wouldn¢t go too far and we thought we¢d be doing well to get to this shelter ahead of the rain.We had plenty of mud and quite a few puddles but thankfully, the ground had absorbed most of the water. Streams, including the seasonal ones, seemed to have gotten a second life with the rain, and good water was plentiful so we didn¢t need to worry about finding it for drinking.I did not sleep well last night, so I was feeling a little tired but we kept up a pretty good pace and Kerry said his bad toes felt marginally better.After about 8 miles we came to the town of Cheshire. Our first encounter there was with 3 kids who had a table near the street to sell lemonade; there was no way we could refuse them, so we each bought a lemonade, $2. The kids were very cute!Moving on into Cheshire proper, we came to a small ice cream shop that also served sandwiches. Kerry and I each ordered tuna melts and a hotdog on a bun with mayo for Felix, The lady who took the order got the entire thing confused¢¦most importantly, the hot dog for the dog, which came without mayo on a dry bun! Eventually, I got the mayo for Felix and then Kerry and I had two of the worst milkshakes we¢ve ever had (too thin, not enough ice cream). Even with all this confusion and food that left much to be desired, we were happy to have ¢real¢ food for lunch. We sat on the porch and ate while the predicted afternoon rain fell around us!After lunch, when the rain stopped, we continued on our way, and noted a monument for a 1,235 lb wheel of cheese, called, ¢the mammoth cheese,¢ that was presented to Thomas Jefferson in 1802. After we walked through the town, we started our ascent toward Mt Greylock. We had quite a steep climb but we arrived at the shelter before the rain. It¢s not clear if it will rain tonight but we¢re in the shelter just in case. Everyone from the hostel is here too, except Sandman. There is one other young man, Whom we have passed several times in the last few days. His name is ¢Roadrunner¢ and he gave up the bottom (double) bunk for us without even being asked. I think I will sleep ok tonight and the weather should be better tomorrow. I hope so, because in 3 miles we reach Greylock Summit the highest point on the AT In Massachusetts and I am looking forward to views!
Date: 2023-06-29
From: Mark Noepel Shelter mile 1591

To: Old Seth Warner Shelter campsite 1607.5
Miles today: 16.5

Hiking Day 101, Elevation 2203 feetToday, we crossed the 1,600 mile mark and left Massachusetts behind a few miles later. We are now in Vermud¢¦oh, I mean Vermont! We¢ve been walking in mud, puddles and on slippery rocks and roots for days in Massachusetts so I did not think Vermont would be any different. Of course, as usual, I was wrong. In Massachusetts, New York and Connecticut there were a lot of boardwalks; some were over marshy areas but many of them appeared to be over dry trail. Now I know why; when it¢s starts raining, one can keep one¢s feet dry by walking on the boards. As soon as we entered Vermont, there were plenty of deep muddy puddles but no boardwalks. To be fair, some of the trail did have large rocks placed like stepping stones and that was helpful! I should note that Vermont begins the AT¢s 100 mile overlap with the Long Trail.This morning, from the shelter we had a 3 mile hike up to the summit of Greylock Mountain at 3,491 feet, the highest point anywhere in Massachusetts. Unfortunately, we climbed up in a solid fog that was so thick at the Summit we only saw a little way up the overlook tower and definitely nothing beyond it. At the top of the mountain we saw the war memorial, or rather a vague outline of it through the fog. The inside was very thoughtfully laid out to the memory of those killed in war, one of the nicest memorials I have seen.Having to give up on any hope of seeing anything that wasn¢t a few feet away, we repaired to Bascom Lodge where we had heard, correctly, that we could get breakfast. This almost made up for the fog. $12 pris fixe for: a lovely pile (and I don¢t use that term lightly) of scrambled eggs, a pile of fried potatoes; a pile of bacon; a toasted bread roll with butter and jam; and last, but not least, a 4 oz glass of strawberries, blueberries and some kind of whipped yogurt. The best meal I had in Massachusetts for sure. We also had really good coffee, which was the frosting on the cake, so to speak.After breakfast, we headed down from Greylock Mountain and then up Mount Williams (2,953 feet), then down to Williamstown and up again to where we are now. A familiar theme!The weather seems to be improving; the fog lifted or we came down from the cloud. The sun came out for awhile and though it looked like it might cloud up for rain it never did and who knows about tonight? We have mosquitoes, and I¢m guessing there will be a bumper crop of them when the sun comes out and heats everything up: something to look forward to!We decided to stop at this site of the old Seth Warner Shelter (they¢ve built a new one 2.5 miles farther on). It was after 6 and not crowded¢¦one young woman by the name of Joelle came in and is in a tent nearby. She is hiking the Long Trail, 283 miles to Canada. I can hear her crunching around on one of those blow up mattresses that Kerry hates so much, it will drive him nuts tonight, I¢m sure.
Date: 2023-06-30
From: Old Seth Warner Shelter campsite 1607.5

To: Little Pond Lookout 1624.8
Miles today: 17.3

Hiking Day 102, Elevation 3044 feetLots of mud, puddles and rocks, and more mud. We had a few boardwalks but mostly we had to weave our way on the obstacle course that was the trail. It seemed that this section has not been maintained in some time. People have significantly widened the trail by making walk arounds for the mud, then others have widened the trail even further when those walk arounds go under water with the rest of the trail. Whole rivers were coming down the trail in places, even cascading water falls. It seems like a few side run offs would help that situation. It was really awful to navigate and walk on and slowed us down quite a bit.We saw Yolo and Stairmaster today, the latter planned to go into Bennington tonight, I think he¢s tired of the mud. At Route 9, Woodford Hollow, three men were providing Trail Magic. They were: Gary/Dark Cloud, Blair/Short Trips and Broken Branch. While we were sitting there a young man walked up with a swollen ankle. At first we thought he had fallen but he said it was tick bite and he had Lyme disease symptoms. Gary was going to take him in to urgent care, so I hope he is ok.Speaking of ticks, Kerry found none on Felix last night and only one tonight. So I am wondering, where do ticks go when it rains, what happens to them?The climb down to Route 9 was extremely steep and included a lot of stone stairs, which given the condition of the rest of the trail was a surprise. Since we are now walking on the section that overlaps the Long Trail, we wondered who was taking care of the trail.We saw many young people hiking the Long Trail today and this has caused some crowding at the shelters and elsewhere. We had trouble finding a place to camp tonight. There aren¢t a lot of places to stealth camp as the vegetation is thick everywhere. We felt fortunate to have found this spot near the Little Pond Overlook.We are both exhausted from fighting the mud, I¢m hoping it will be better tomorrow.
Date: 2023-07-02
From: IP Road at 1643

To: Pinnacles Lodge near Manchester Center mile 1659.1
Miles today: 16.1

Hiking Day 104, Elevation 734 feetFor once the rain came exactly when the weather forecast predicted it would: 3 a.m. we stayed dry in the tent but getting packed up in our little space was tricky and took us a little longer to get moving. The sky basically cried all day and kept us nice and soaked. Had we been flowers we would have grown an inch and judging by the amount of mud our feet accumulated it wasn¢t out of the realm of possibility. All the water that had been absorbed in the last few days returned with a vengeance today; we didn¢t even bother to try to keep our feet dry, the rain kept them soaked and stepping in a puddle or two didn¢t make any difference. We had planned to meet a couple who are connected to the CDTC (Continental Divide Trail Coalition), Robert and Jessica at the Trailhead on Route 11/30 and we made good time getting there. We went out for dinner and then they took us shopping before leaving us at Pinnacles Lodge where Kerry had made a reservation. It was fun meeting them and talking to people who live locally¢¦.it seems like such a different kind of life to the West Coast: from the weather and vegetation to small rural towns and the extra time it takes to go places on some of the winding roads.A lot more rain is predicted for tomorrow so we¢ll stay here near Manchester another day to dry out. This may be futile but a rest day is always nice!
Date: 2023-07-03
To: Zero Day at Pinnacles Lodge and Manchester Center, VT
Miles today: 0.0

It did not pour today¢¦we had a little sun and a little drizzle, perhaps it will rain tonight. We¢ve had a nice rest day complete with milkshakes ($20.35, not including tip!) and another pint of ice cream each (for later) and sitting around doing nothing was nice too! This morning we were trying to figure out how we were going to eat today: we¢re 6 miles from Manchester Center, near the trailhead but there are no stores or restaurants nearby and not much in options for transportation. About noon, the lodge owner, John stopped by our room and offered to take us into Manchester, a godsend! We spent 2 hours this afternoon getting our milkshakes at Ben and Jerry¢s, lunch, and at a grocery store for food for dinner and tomorrow¢s breakfast.In Manchester, yesterday, we saw Strawberry Shortcake and Poncho, whom we last saw at Le Chambord Hotel (at the Curry Estate, Hopewell Junction, NY) a couple of weeks ago. Poncho is being picked up by her husband¢¦she is getting off the trail, not planning to return, and going home happy with her decision, saying she was glad she had hiked this far, but she¢d, ¢had enough.¢ Strawberry Shortcake, her hiking partner, will continue on her own. Today, we ran into Yolo, taking a zero day tomorrow at the Green Mountain Hostel (where Strawberry Shortcake is also staying). Later, we ran into Sandman who will continue to stay off the trail in an effort to heal his right leg/ankle. He was waiting for Raven and they are staying at the Econo Lodge, closer in to town. Our hiking world continues to revolve around the people we meet from time to time¢¦they come into our lives and float out again and we never know who will turn up next! It¢s comforting, like having an expanded family.John, Pinnacles Lodge owner, had mentioned that he had broken his ankle playing softball, which Kerry had also done almost 40 years ago. Kerry¢s ankle has been bothering him and John told him about an over the counter support he was using that had actually helped him and so Kerry bought one. I¢m hoping this will help. As my aunt used to say, ¢Getting old ain¢t for sissies.¢Yesterday, I forgot to mention that we crossed over 3/4s of the way to Katahdin. We have about 540 miles to go¢¦the hardest 540 miles through the Whites and other rocky mountains. There was no sign so i didn¢t note it, but today I¢m amazed we¢ve come this far!