morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2007-08-19
From: Eliza Brook

To: Kinsman Notch
Miles today: 7.5
Weather: overcast clouds

We wake up to a cloudy overcast day. It sprinkles early on in the morning and Tortuga, Tootles, Kiesha, Tyler and I wait for it to blow by. It's a chilly morning, cold front must be blowing thru. We push out when we think its clear, Kiesha and Tyler stay behind. Tortuga and I are going to push a 12 mile day and climb most of Moosilauke. The first 3 or 4 miles are slow moving and are cold and windy. Tootles is getting off at Kinsman Notch and catching a shuttle back to Chet¢s. My goal is to make that notch and walk the road a half mile to a snack bar to warm up. A few minutes after I have this thought Tortuga says we've been hiking for 3 hrs and it's time for a break. We all break for about 30 minutes, and I make the decision then that I'm going back into town with Tootles. I'm close to having this cold whipped, and there is no need to sleep out in the cold damp if I don¢t have to. I make the next 3 miles quick and I'm down in Kinsman Notch by 3. I sit by the road side and take in the sun. Then the sky turns overcast and it gets cold again. Tootles and Tortuga show up and we discuss how Tootles was planning to get back to town. We end up calling the shuttle service to pick us up and take us to Chets. When we arrive, Grits and Sag Butt are there and we have a little reunion. There are some sobos here as well. I have met my new hero. Shutterbug started this spring Nobo and made it to Damascus then decided to Flip. So seeing him at Chet¢s means he has done 900+ miles of nothing but climbing, all he has left is the flats. That is truly amazing to me. Grits, Tootles and I all decide to go to dinner together. We head back to Chet¢s and settle into hiker conversations. A few hours go by and another group heads out for dinner and I join them for my 2nd supper. On the way back to Chet¢s Shutterbug tells historical facts about Benedict Arnold, and recommends we read the book Arundle. Back at Chet¢s tired, I share a room with Tootles and I'm out as soon as I hit my sleeping bag.
Date: 2007-08-20
From: Kinsman Notch

To: Glencliff
Miles today: 9.5

Wake up around 6:30 and we get a group together to go eat breakfast at the Pancake Place. Grits, Sag Butt, Spock, Betsy and myself all file in for breakfast. Typical hiker conversations are being thrown around the table. We all walk back to Chet¢s and call the shuttle service to take us to our respective Notches. Tortuga and I are headed back to Kinsman to climb Moosilauke for the day. I start the long ascent, bit of a rock scramble. 1 1/2 miles of tough straight up climbing gets me to my 1st break for the day. I walk the blue blaze to the Beaver Brook Shelter, a few nobos are getting their stuff together. I asked if it was a chilly night up here, they said it was. They also told me they had a packed house even the tent sites were full, made me think Chet¢s was a great idea. I push out and find this next stretch to the summit was much easier. Temps are getting cold. When I get above treeline the wind starts gusting, so I stop and put more clothes on. I reach the summit and find it is unbearably cold and windy, so I just scan the horizon and make a run for the treeline. I find a good spot at a trail junction and start to take a break. There is a family also taking a break here and I was able to yogi some chocolate covered peanuts from them. I start to make my way down the mountain and I see a nice sunny clearing to warm up. I join another group and they give me a bagel and cream cheese. I sit and enjoy the vista with my booty. Packing up my stuff I see Tyler stroll by and I hook in right behind him. I asked him what happened to them yesterday. Tyler said they zeroed in the shelter. Kiesha falls in right behind me and we make the long descent together. We hit a road clearing and lose the trail. We spend about 30 minutes to find the right blaze to follow. In our state of confusion Tortuga was able to catch back up. Tortuga and I talked about staying at the shelter right before, but after we pass it and it's only 3:45 it made more sense to hike the mile into Glencliff. We settle in at the Happy Hiker Hostel. We get a ride to the next town, which was a little weird. They had a nuclear war head right in between the town church and the school. We make it to the gas station / grocery store, and Tyler and I decide to split a bunch of food and cook it on the grill back at the Hostel. Back at the Hostel we have our food and sit and watch the movie Blood Diamond. After the movie I go upstairs and call it a night.
Date: 2007-08-21
From: Glencliff

To: Dancing Bones
Miles today: 8.0

Woke up to a chilly morning. I head over to the post office and get some packages that Beck sent. I send my bounce box with my warm weather sleeping bag to Hanover. I push on down the trail. I have a pretty uneventful hike. Ran into a bunch of Nobos telling me about the water being scarce for about a 15 mile stretch. I make it to the Ore Hill Shelter at about 3:30 and get settled in for the night. 30 minutes later Tyler and Kiesha show up and tell me about some commune just about a mile down the trail. So I pack up all my stuff and head off to the Dancing Bone Commune. We head down a dirt road looking for what we think will be a hippy farm. We walk for about 30 minutes and finally come to the drive to the commune. Expectations high, we are hoping for a great story. We walk up a gravel road and see a clabbard house. On the door is a sign that says welcome thru hikers. In the kitchen stands a woman that appears to be making some sort of meal. We tell her we are thru hikers and she invites us in. She gives us a basic run down of the place that makes no sense to any of us. So we decide to sit outside, in the hopes that someone else will come up on us, but nothing. About 20 minutes goes by and a car rolls up and 2 women come out of the car and greet us, while in the background 4 kids have come out of the car and are now running around. All we receive is a simple greeting followed by directions to the tent platforms. They have a community tent all ready set up with a bug net all around the tent. We decide this will be where we stay for the night. I notice that this place only has 2 males and the rest of the commune is females. Another oddity with this place is all the women are pregnant, so all I can conclude is this place is a baby factory. Keisha and Tyler start working on their dinner and I¢m still waiting that someone to come by and suck us into the commune. We finish our dinners and play cards for a few hours then hit the sleeping bag.
Date: 2007-08-22
From: Dancing Bones

To: Hexacuba Shelter
Miles today: 6.7
Weather: broken clouds

A little disappointed with our stay at this commune, we push out pretty early. We walk the mile back to the trail head. Pretty uneventful hike. Tyler starts to have what seemed to me breathing problems, so we were breaking every 30 minutes or so. We make it to the next shelter and Tyler gets in his sleeping bag and rests for the rest of our time there. Keisha has been in touch with the family to see if there is any sort of medical issue that she needs to be aware of, also earlier in the afternoon Tyler had a bit of a melt down and Keisha was trying to get the low down from her dad about what Tyler told him. I sat back and stayed out of the way of all this. At lunch this afternoon Keisha gave me a little history of their trip thus far, and from her stories I find that she is a much stronger person then I. I make a fire, first one since before the Whites. The heat feels great on my skin. I cook my dinner and just hang out by the little fire. I call it an early night.
Date: 2007-08-23
From: Hexacuba Shelter

To: Trapper John Shelter
Miles today: 12.0
Weather: overcast clouds

I roll out of camp before Keisha and Tyler. I make it to the next shelter by 10 and eat a 2nd breakfast and talk with the Nobos that are still there. This shelter is an old fire warden¢s cabin, so now I'm in search for the lookout tower. Jackpot, I climb the stairs up the old steel structure and find there are some slack packing Nobos enjoying the views. We swap names and trade trail information, and I get some trail magic. They are carrying beer. I sit at the top and take in the views while enjoying my beer. By this point my break has turned into an hour and a half affair Keisha and Tyler are just now making it to the tower. So I sit and wait for them to get their experience, and we all hike out together. Now for the rest of the hike today I hike with a different motivation. For the last few days we have hearing about some trail magic that we will hit today. I hike with the kids for a bit, but I start to stretch my stride a bit and I drop them. I come across a meadow, you can see farm houses in the distance. A few steps later a sign says free water, and there is a little side trail that leads to a house about 10 yards away. I walk down the driveway of the house. In the backyard an older gentle man is putting up a crocket set. I drop my pack and walk his way, and I introduce myself. After our short greeting we walk back to his deck where he proceeds to go in the house. He returns with an ice cream sandwich and a clip board. Keisha and Tyler now show up as well. Bill, for the past 12 yrs has been keeping track of all the thru hikers that have stopped by his house, he adds us to his census. He asked some simple questions, trail name, gender, age, and where we were from. He penciled it on his clip board and then asked if we wanted to see how long ago our friends passed thru. I thumb thru and 1st look for Tumbleweed and Timber. I then look for Seth and Contact. It was a very warming feeling. We sat with Bill for an hour just talking away. What a great time. We have only a mile to the next shelter so we leave Bill's house at a slow pace. Hit the shelter and there are 2 nobos there. I claim a spot then start my dinner. I talk with Stone Age for awhile. More nobos are now showing up. Come to find out all of us at the shelter reside in the south. The scene turns to a party like atmosphere. Conversations are flying around the camp fire. Learned a cool trick, you can boil water by throwing a plastic bottle full of water in a fire. The plastic won¢t melt. Pretty cool. One of the nobos, Moon Goat has a German Shepard that we all played with. Funny thing was when we were all settling in for the night all the guys hiking with Moon Goat started putting their food bags around the dog. Mice won¢t bother the food bag while there is a dog around.
Date: 2007-08-24
From: Trapper John Shelter

To: Hanover
Miles today: 16.7
Weather: scattered clouds

Wake up with the crowd. I have 15 miles to make to get to Hanover. I play a game with myself to see how long it will take me to get to Hanover. I crank out the 15 miles in 7 hrs. I'm in town by 3. I make my way to the Dartmouth Outdoor Club, to try and find a place to stay. I've been hearing there is guy in town that hiked the PCT that is putting up thru hikers for free. I find his number on an information board and I call to see what the deal is. He tells me he swings by the DOC around 6 and picks up who ever wants to stay. I also find out from him that Shaman is there. Shaman is a guy from Savannah that I met at Chet¢s back in Lincoln. I have some time to kill so I check my email and get some coffee and food. I have some of the best coffee at the Dirt Cowboy Cafe. I head back over to the DOC to wait for my ride to Ethan¢s. There are about 20 thru hikers hanging out waiting for the same ride. I run into in Matlanta (a guy a met at the REI seminar who is a nobo) Ethan shows up and is flooded with people and I ask him how Shaman is doing and that moves me to the front of the line. The car is loaded with 5 of us, and we are headed to his house. We get to his house where his dog Kosik greets us. We enter the empty house, all he has is a fridge, stove, washer/dryer and shower - all a thru hiker needs. I claim a spot on the floor and shower and do laundry. As the night goes on the group decides to have a chess tournament I watch as the battles go on until mid-night.
Date: 2007-08-25
From: Hanover

To: Happy Hill Shelter
Miles today: 5.8
Weather: scattered clouds

Wake up around 9ish and Ethan drives us back into town. I head straight to the Dirt Cowboy for coffee. I hit the DOC to check emails and then head over to a buffet. Filled up on good food, ate half a french silk pie. I then head over to the P.O. to send my cold weather bag back to Beck. I finally push out of town. A 2 mile road walk to a side street, once I start down the side street there is a cooler that says "thru hikers" there is some of the best ice tea I've ever drank. I leave there and maybe 100 yards up the road is another trail magic stop. Finally into the woods with about a mile and a half to walk to get to the shelter. The time is flying because I keep think of all the trail magic. I come upon a porcupine that is crossing the trail. I stop and say hey buddy, he proceeds to turn and run up the trail at me. I start back pedaling and yelling at it, quills come up then he stops 10 feet from me, looks at me, then runs behind the nearest tree. I walk quickly thru the area and make the shelter where Tyler and Keisha have been for maybe an hour. I ask if they saw the porcupine and of course they did not. We settle in the shelter, still full from lunch, I just snack on some food. I'm getting ready to settle down for the night and a mouse scurries across my sleeping pad. I'm not dealing with these guys tonight so I set my tent up outside the shelter. About an hour goes by and Keisha yells. She yelled because a mouse ran across her face. I hear this several more times thru out the night. A storm blows thru in the middle of the night.
Date: 2007-08-26
From: Happy Hill Shelter

To: Cloudland Road
Miles today: 11.1

Up early to shake the tent off to help dry it out. Push out of camp at 7 and have 4 miles to a breakfast. I reach the general store for breakfast by 8:15 and I'm eating by 8:30. I hang out waiting for Tyler and Keisha. They show up around 45 minutes later. I start thinking I could pack some real food, and before I know it I'm ordering a cheese steak sandwich and a cheese burger. I ask the owner what the weather is supposed to be like and tells me a sunny day but hot, around 90. It's 10:30 and I'm about 5 miles from the next shelter. I decide to hike slower because of the heat. I make the shelter and eat my sandwich and decide to hang out to beat the heat. Tyler and Keisha show and do a quick lunch and push out. The whole day we've been hearing about ice cream and soda at a dairy farm. I check my guide book to see how far away I am. I'm about 2 miles from the farm so I decide to push out in hopes to make the farm by 4:30. The terrain is easy hiking, I hit my schedule. I buy some soda and hang out with some nobos that are there. Within 30 minutes the skies turn to grey and the winds picked up. The sky opened up on us and the farmer told us to get in his barn. I end up staying the night in one of the horse stables. The storm blows thru with some force, knocked out the power. I stand at the barn door opening eating my cheese burger watching the next storm blow in. Early to bed so as not to be rude to the nobos. Another storm hit around 3 in the morning. Glad to be in the barn.
Date: 2007-08-27
From: Cloudland Road

To: Lookout Cabin
Miles today: 10.9

Push out of the barn early, worrying on how the kids faired in the storms. I have a nice hike thru meadows. Every nobo I pass I ask if they have seen them. I'm at a road crossing that leads to a deli, so I push the .5 miles to town. I hit the general store for coffee and a deli sandwich. I hang around town listening to the locals talk about the force of the storms. I push out of the town around 10:30 and hike over some hills and thru some meadows. I make the shelter around 2 and planned to water up, so I can carry it to the look out cabin. When I get to the trail head I see Keisha, Tyler, and Brian hanging out. We talk about the storms and I tell them about the cabin 2 miles away. We all push out to hit the cabin. We get to this cabin in a clearing, on the roof is an observation platform. We settle in and each takes turns sitting on the observation platform. Dinner time, I eat the sandwich I packed out of town. As we finish dinner 2 hikers come in and ask if we are thru hikers. We all say yes, and they open up a pack with a 12 pack of beer. Brian and I partake in the trail magic. We exchange trail stories, then go to bed. I wake up in the middle of the night from Brian¢s snoring.
Date: 2007-08-28
From: Lookout Cabin

To: Gifford Woods State Park
Miles today: 15.1

Tyler, Keisha and I all push out exhausted from the snoring. I have a motivation today. We can hit another deli. Brian and I push for about 2 and half hours and had to stop to figure out where the hell we were. After some figuring we made 7 miles in that time frame. We can't believe that we made those kind of miles. So push another 1/2 mile for lunch, we push out and pretty much step over a mountain and we make a road crossing trying to figure out where we are again. Come to find out we are only 3 miles from our destination. We make the 3 miles in just over an hour and we are now hunting down the deli. When we get to the deli Tyler and Keisha show up and we all feast together. We all walk back to the camp ground together and settle in for the night. They teach me how to play spades, so we end up playing for awhile. Then off to bed.
Date: 2007-08-30
From: Rutland

To: Cooper Lodge
Miles today: 6.2
Weather: clear sky

I sleep in a bit, then go get some coffee at a coffee shop right around the corner from the hostel. I sit and try to get caught up on my journal entries. Brian shows up an hour later. We eat breakfast together then go do our chores. We hit the Post office, grocery store, and library. All chores done and its close to 2:30 to head over to the bus station and head back to the trail.   Back on the trail. We start climbing. I'm having a hard time on this climb because I'm having horrible gas pains. For every 25 feet my stomach has this rumble. We make it to the shelter and it's full. Princeton has a freshman orientation group up here. They clear out of the shelter for me and Brian. We tell them it's not a problem if they stay, but they clear out any ways. I make dinner and crash quickly.
Date: 2007-09-01
From: Vermont 103

To: Stealth Site
Miles today: 11.6

We wake up about 8:30 and head into Rutland so I can get some cash. Ashley calls in sick to Job #1, then we head over to Wallingford for breakfast and to meet the guys. We planned to meet them between 11:30 and 12. We eat a feast for breakfast. I call to see where the guys are and they tell me they are running a little late. We decide to head over to the library and check emails and just kill time. The guys show and we head to the trail. These guys are champs. They drove about 20 hrs straight and now want to hike 6 miles. We start our climb and I hang in the back talking with Geoff and Ashley. We hit this spot were there are tons of Cairns. We see a blue blaze that leads to White rock cliffs. We head down to see the views and they are phenomenal. We spend about 30 minutes there then press on. It's starting to get late in the day so Geoff and I push ahead of the group to maybe make the shelter. We pass some guys that are stealth camping by a stream and we ask how far to the next shelter, they say about 2 miles. We wait for the rest of the group to show up and I suggest we stealth. So we hike for about 30 minutes and find a spot. Geoff and I tent in the same area. I mention this because after dinner Geoff, Ashley, and I settle in for the night. Mike and Peter spend the next 45 minutes constructing a bear tie. The whole time they are making the bear tie Geoff and I are teasing them, and of course they are hanging the bear tie about 10 feet from my tent. Finally we hear a loud snap followed by "I think that might work." I slowly pass out.
Date: 2007-09-02
From: Stealth Site

To: Peru Peak Shelter
Miles today: 10.7
Weather: clear sky

Up and eating break fast with the gang. We all push out and head toward Little Rock Pond. We walk at a gingerly pace. I am still amazed that these guys drove all the way from Atlanta!   What great friends. We make the pond by 9:30 ish and we take the blue blaze around the pond and the views are amazing. We stop for a few minutes at the next shelter so Ashley can call in sick to job #2, and so we can use the privy. Mike and Pete move out to get a head start on us. We catch them pretty quick. We all hike together throwing banter back and forth. Geoff and I stretch our legs for a few miles and make it to Baker Peak and take a nice long break on the rock over looking the valley. We also share this spot with another Sobo named Tits. Come to find out he has hiked with Shutterbug. The rest of the group catches up and we all take in the beautiful vista. We have a pretty uneventful hike to the shelter. Geoff and I set our tents up near the stream, Mike and Pete are staying in the shelter. The caretaker comes by to collect the fee for the site, and offers up blueberries and lettuce. In thruhiker fashion I take her up on the offer. As the night goes on some Nobos show up and we all gather around the camp fire and tell tales of the trail. One of the Nobos made bong/hoohka out of a Nalgene bottle. He calls it the Pink Blazer. I turn in early for the night.
Date: 2007-09-03
From: Peru Peak Shelter

To: Bromley Warming Hut
Miles today: 7.1

Wake up to a cold morning. Ashley, Geoff, and I stay bundled up in our tents for the better part of the morning. Mike and Pete push out at around 9ish, we did get out of the tents until 11. We sat around long enough at the shelter that we decide to eat lunch before pushing out. Finally at 1:30 we roll out to do 7.1 miles. Pace starts a little slow, Ashley was not feeling well, but we still make good time. We made the 1st 4.5 miles in about an hour and a half. We hit Bromley by 4, we killed that hike. The views on Bromley are awesome. We settle in the warming hut, and Pete makes the decision to hike down via the ski slopes and get a real meal for the night. We all climb down the mountain in search for food. The lodge at the base is closed so we try our luck and the hotel next door. No luck. We are told there is a restaurant up the road about 1/4 mile. It was more like .5 miles, but we made it none the less. Smelling like dirty hikers we walk into the establishment that is upscale for us. They seat us, and we order a feast of a meal. The blackberry wheat Long Trail ale was perfect for the evening. Nothing better then capping of a great weekend with great friends, food, and beer.   We head back to the hut with full stomachs. The climb back up was long and tiring. Back up at the hut Geoff, Ashley, and I decide to take in the views from the chair lift. We brew up some coffee and take on the chilly wind at the top of the Mountain. About a half hour goes by and Mike comes to tell me that there is a Nobo I need to see that just rolled into the hut. Low and behold, the infamous Zero is sharing the hut with us. This is monumental. Mike, Peter, and I met Zero at Neels Gap back in January when he first started his hike. Zero and I stayed up and traded trail stories, he had better stories then I did. Then off to bed. Check out Zero's trail journal. www.trailjournals.com amazing stuff.