morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2008-11-02
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

We had no intention of posting this many entries all at once, but the magic number is 3 to get the journal started and to show up on the annual index. I had a slow, inside day today recovering from a horrific cold, but I hope to get back out tomorrow for at least 4 miles in the zeroish temps in our neighborhood.Progress on our prep? I found some great hiking quotes, so on the next entry, we'll have a signature. We decided on a picture to post on the "about" section of the journals, enjoying a memory trip about our Chilkoot Trail hike last year. We also did some gear research and started some experimenting with a sling or undercover for the hammock. Right now, we're deciding whether to make one from locally available materials or to buy an "undercover" from Hennesey. When it shows up on the gear list, we've made the decision. We are also starting a list for the resupply box. Our children, in an attempt to keep us from becoming a burden on them too soon, were unwilling or unable to be our pit crew. Fortunately, one of our children is married, so our current favorite child, Ron, has agreed to be on the end of the phone when we call for resupply. We'll be sending him stuff starting in January so that when we launch from Chicago to Atlanta, we'll have stuff there to go over with him. Because neither of us have spent much time in any of the states along the Trail, we're not sure about the availability of our favorite supplies, so we're studying up by reading journals, the Companion and forums. It wouldn't kill us to do without some favorites, but a treat every now and then would be very welcome after hiking a few days.
Date: 2008-11-12
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

We've been working on prepping for the hike. The temps have been hovering around 0, sometimes higher, sometimes lower, but we're walking about 4 miles/day. Today, we're going up to the University to begin walking stairs on the tallest building in Fairbanks- about 8 stories.The most important break-through has been determining our sleeping system. We knew our hammock wouldn't be warm enough, so we've been experimenting. We're the ultimate recyclers (and we're thrifty besides) so we didn't want to spend a lot of money on unnecessary gear for one or two months. We know the key to having fun in winter is sleeping warm. We found "Coghlan's Thermal Blanket" claiming "Warmth and Protection with Space Age Technology" for $12. Hey, we're in favor of space age technology! It weighs 10.5 oz with all the grommets and trim, so with those cut off, we're at about 8 oz. I put up the hammock in the front yard and laid the trimmed blanket on the bottom, followed by our Thermarest pad, and my 15 degree sleeping bag. I put on my usual camping sleep garb and tested it out. Ummm-mmm good. I was comfortable enough to lay out there and read for quite awhile. Of course the neighbor dog wouldn't stop barking and at one point a squirrel knocked a big chunk of snow down on me, but I felt like we'll have a system. Especially when we add our silk liner that has proved warmer in other sleepouts. I am, of course, assuming our down jacket, long johns, hat and wool socks. That probably goes without saying.We've borrowed a dehydrator so we'll be working on some food for our food drops. We've decided just to have about 6 of them, in places where we'll need to resupply but where grocery stores are sparse. We can still change our minds, but we're enjoying our selecting and sampling. So far, the couscous with mango chipotle salmon is right up there on our favorites.I found my old Sony radio to take for our weather radio links- it only weighs 3 oz. and I already have it. We're buying extra pairs of shoes to break in and have available to be sent out to us. Everything is still all out on towels in the basement and carefully weighed out. I think we'll be able to pack it up and check it out in about 2 more weeks. Our next decisions are: steripen or our trusty Katahdin water filter or tablets, water bags/bottles, resupply supplies, socks.We're getting the AT strip maps for friends and family for Christmas. That way, when they're reading our journal, they will have a point of reference. Well, we'll probably get them more than that, also.We're especially enjoying the journals from other hikers that are also prepping. It will be a very different experience for us to see others when we hike. In Alaska, it is not unusual to hike for several days and not see anyone else.If you want to know more about us or Alaska, check out my blog at http://alaskamentorpat.blogspot.com.
Date: 2008-11-13
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

I've been reading trail journals, magazines, white blaze forums and blogs. Here are the 5 best ideas I've gleaned and plan to implement.* Hike uphill using the rest step. Use the back foot to "kick off", by hesitating without putting weight on your front foot for a split second when you're moving up.* Paint your tent stakes with florescent paint.* Use trash compactor bags for waterproof covers or a pack liner.* Duct tape the words "To Trail"on one side and "To Town"on the other side of something flat, like your pack cover or a tarp for putting on the outside of your pack to help get rides when you are on a resupply mission.* Buy 2 trail guides, choose the one you like the best to carry (in sections of course), but compare the 2 and write any additional info into your working guide.There are lots of conflicting opinions on gear selection, times to leave, pace of hike, food planning, weather predictions, trail difficulty, and relative risks, but a corollary to "hike your own hike" might be, "plan your own hike, or not". There is an interesting White Blaze forum going on planning. Some say that overplanning ruins a hike, but for us, it is helping us wait until we can go and still be thoughtful about our choices. It seems like underplanning might result in costing lots more than carefully choosing what we'll take. Once we fly 3,000 miles, there are no more trips to the camping boxes.Hiking in Alaska might be different than elsewhere, besides fewer people. All of Alaska is grizzly bear country, a thought that can never leave your conscious thought, for better or worse. Even though we have many well marked trails, in many places you hike "routes", only loosely marked to protect delicate tundra. Most of the well traveled trails are above treeline. Also, very few places in Alaska have cell phone coverage- only in the main towns. Even the GPS maps don't cover all of Alaska. It is difficult to get to and from trailheads as they are often 100 miles or more from a town or city. We are looking forward to a different hiking experience on the AT. Not better- different. And farther than we've ever hiked.
Date: 2008-11-14
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

So, we've been getting a lot of advice about mail drops vs. supplying along the way. There are positives for both. We don't want to be so locked into a town trip that we can't be flexible, but we also know that the food we prepare now is lighter (maybe) and more nutritious (maybe) than we can get on the trail. Balancing those pros and cons, we've decided to prepare 24 days worth of food drops (6 drops) and we'll call our pit crew from the trail with details about where and when to send it. Another reason we're planning and prepping food is so that we can learn about relative weights, nutritional info and serving sizes for the range of our usual backpacking foods. It is also helping us wait more patiently :-) We're inventorying the breakfast, lunches and dinners so that we can tell Ron- send 4 days of oatmeal and choose 2 different bags of dried fruit, etc. Our breakfast items include dried fruit, hot cereal, hot chocolate, instant milk, tea for each of the 4 days. Assuming 2 lbs/person/day, our breakfasts are light and nutritious. The fruit is home dried and the cereal is whole grain. We're still working on lunches and dinners. Our lunches will not be cooked. One supper (dinner to some) is spaghetti. We have 1/4 cup of dried mushrooms, 2 oz. of home-dehydrated spaghetti sauce (directions on You Tube), 4 oz. of noodles and a sprinkling of parmesan cheese. We fixed it at home, but on our alcohol cat stove. We put 1 3/4 cup of water in the pan, brought it to a boil, added the noodles, covered it and left it on the stove until the fuel ran out. Then we added the sauce leather and the mushroom and put the whole thing in a cozy. 12 minutes later, voila! dinner is served.Hah!, some of you say! You are overplanning say some. You're taking all the spontaneity out of the adventure that will unfold. Nay....if we never call for a mail drop, that will also be okay. After all, this is not going to be our last hike we hope, so our meals can be used for the Kesugi Ridge hike that we might take when we return to Alaska. But if we need it, we won't have to ask Ron to make difficult choices and to spend his limited time figuring out what to send.The air is a crisp, cold -21 right now. I'm glad I'm not sleeping outside tonight. If it gets that cold on the trail, we'll be heading for an overnight in town. Our daily walk was slow in the dark and quiet, but it always feels good to be outside.
Date: 2008-12-28
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Our children left for their homes after spending a fast, fun and furious holiday together so we're continuing our trail prep.We'll be finishing our food boxes this week. We made our gorp (good old raisins and peanuts) for the mail drops. We know we'll be able to get the same stuff when we go to grocery stores, but we will be using our mail drops to avoid a trip to the grocery store or in places where the stores are too far from the road. The rest of our on-the-trail lunches will consist of power bars and peanut butter and tortillas. That's worked well for us in the past on hikes taken with lots of water.For Christmas gifts, we received some new gear, including a 1.3 liter titanium cookpot, a Steripen, a large MSR towel, a compass/thermometer zipper pull, and, the gift that always fits, gift certificates to REI and a local outfitter. In turn, we gave out some AT strip maps with gifts so that our family and friends can track our journal progress. It's currently about -33 which drastically reduces our outside activities so we must be content to update this journal, try recipes and make decisions about the life we'll leave behind during our trek. We can hardly wait. If you want to meet us in cyberspace, check out my blog at http://alaskamentorpat.blogspot.com. Otherwise, we'll see you on the trail.
Date: 2008-12-29
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

We've been using the -45 degree temps this week to work on our mail drops. Our boxes contain generous food for 4 days, hand sanitizer, vitamins, and a trash compactor bag. Ron, our favorite child (right now), has access to other food choices and backup camping gear to put into a mail drop for us if we request it. We've inventoried the bags of supplies on our iPhone so we can make choices when we email or call for a drop.Our 4 days of food weighed about 11# for both of us. The food was measured and repacked into Ziploc baggies or FoodSaver bags, labeled with contents and water needed. Fruits, veggies and spaghetti sauce are home dehydrated.Here is what we haveBreakfast- whole grain cereal with dried fruit and dried milkcocoa and teaLunch (not cooked): peanut butter and tortillas, powerbars, Emergen-C mixDinner- a mashed potato meal, spaghetti, rice/tuna or salmon dinner and something fun and different with one pudding/4 dayEnrichments- dried milk, olive oil, parmesan cheese, some Velveeta, some summer sausageSnacks- Gorp, Werthers Originals, Slim Jims, popcornWe'll be sending Ron six of these drops and a variety of other food options as well as prepaid priority postal boxes. True, it's only 28 days of our hike (counting our initial pack), but we had a great time trying our recipes and combinations as well having a discussion about nutrition and portion sizes vs. weight.We can hardly wait to get down to where it's warm, har, har. In the meantime, back to walking up and down our stairs.
Date: 2009-01-18
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

As you probably know, many people take long hikes to raise money for various charities. Right now, there is a 2009 AT journal by Dennis Quinn, whose brother was shot in a senseless act of violence. He's collecting money under the title, "Miles for Kyle" to fund a scholarship at a local high school in his brother's name (email him at leo.dennis.quinn@gmail.com).Anyway, Paul had this idea that we might as well be walking for a cause greater than our own personal enrichment. Here's how our PC Pledge (Personal Charity Pledge) works: 1) choose a charity for a cause you strongly support and decide on a pledge amount, 2) label a jar, a checking account, an envelope or some other $$$ repository 3) tell someone about it to formalize your commitment- email us if you want 4) add money to your stash as we hike along, 5) send it in when we finish our hike (tentatively August 3) or if we get off the trail for some reason.The trail is 2,170 miles, soooooo if you pledge $1/mile that's lots of money, but 10 cents a mile is $217 which is generous but not outrageous. For a more modest amount, you could donate 1 cent/mile or a set amount. Another alternative is to donate for the highest mountain we climb, or for each journal entry.We personally donate to FDA (Fairbanks Drama Association), Rett Syndrome Foundation, breast cancer research, Hospice, Special Olympics and to various schools for individual student school supplies or Christmas gifts and other smaller local causes. We haven't decided the recipient of our own personal pledge yet, but it would be great to list yours with ours alongside this journal.Not only would this encourage us to complete our hike, but in a manner of speaking, you'll be hiking with us.
Date: 2009-01-30
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

We'll be leaving in less than 2 weeks. We packed up our food bags and spare gear and mailed them to Ron in Chicago. We had an "ah-ha" moment, paying to send food to Chicago. Next time we'll go early and buy and pack all the food there. This time though, we really needed to be mindful of our choices- taking items out- putting them back in and so on, so it would have difficult to do in just 2 days.We mailed our full packs to the Hiker Hostel so we can just step on the plane with day packs to leave in Chicago. My pack was 24# and Paul's was 25# with everything but water. The flight to Chicago from Fairbanks will take most of the day, plus there's a 4 hour time difference so we'll be relaxing on Friday. As of today, it is be only household issues- paying taxes, introducing the house to the housesitters, etc. We can hardly wait! The -31 temps are forcing us to be creative about getting in shape.Our next entry will be after we leave for the South.If you want to find out more about us, feel free to read our blog at http://alaskamentorpat.blogspot.com.
Date: 2009-02-15
From: Springer Mountain 

To: Hawk Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 7.8
Weather: broken clouds

Did you wonder where we were? We spent Saturday night, Feb 14 at the Hiker Hostel. What a great place! Leigh and Josh were wonderful hosts and built the log hostel themselves. They picked us up at the end of the Marta line and drove us for an hour to the Walmart for Subway sandwiches for dinner and then to the hostel for a good night sleep.The weather was fantastic today. You could smell the thick leafy layer on the floor. There were lots of local hikers on the trail- maybe 25 since it was gorgeous. We crossed lots of streams and the sun was out all day.We arrived at the Hawk Mtn. Shelter by 3:30 (started about 10:30) and hung our hammocks near the shelter. Also there were OM River, Stryker, Flatman, Catalyst and Bubbles and Wobbles (section hikers from Nova Scotia- shout out to you!).We're finally started! It feels great after all the planning.
Date: 2009-02-16
From: Hawk Mountain Shelter

To: Gooch Mtn Shelter
Miles today: 7.3
Weather: overcast clouds

We froze in our hammocks. We were too cheap to buy the (expensive) underquilts and the temperature dropped to 20 overnight. The liners that we used became water collectors so that by morning, our bags were soaked with condensation. Our water bottles were frozen, but not solid and we'd stored them upside down, so we had slushies to drink. We had chewy 10 grain cereal for breakfast. The walking (uphill) warmed us up after Ron let us know he would send our tent ahead to meet us at Neel's Gap. It means that we are committed to hiking in shelters in spite of the mice.Another beautiful day! We saw 3 hawks riding the thermals and during our myriad breaks, we always heard little songbirds- in the chickadee variety I'm guessing. We loved the bright green holly bushes tucked in amongst the conifers and hibernating deciduous. The trail is well used by locals and is truly mountainous- lots of ups and downs.Significant learnings of the day:When you pull down your headlamp, grasp the HEAVY part to pull down, otherwise the elastic sides become slingshots with your nose the target. Don't try this at home. My nose is proof!Sleep with lots of stuff in your bag- your water bottles, your fuel, your hat, gloves and clothes, and your shoes. I had so many other things in my bag I thought there was another person in my bag.
Date: 2009-02-17
From: Gooch Mtn Shelter

To: Woods Hole Shelter
Miles today: 11.9
Weather: broken clouds

We slept in the shelter last night- I heard the mice, but since I only had a little breathing hole, they didn't even bother me. The temperature dropped again to about 20, but we were much warmer without the 30 mph winds coming up under us.We met a fast hiker named Dave Wills who makes his own lightweight gear and hikes fast. He breezed past us. He'll be at Katahdin before we get out of Virginia, I'm sure of it. We also picked up Flatlander in our usual group and lost OM River. The ebb and flow is part of the sociology of the hike. We hike alone during the day and meet again at night. There is lots of sharing- stories, food specialities, water, laughs, etc.We met someone who spoke "Southern". I really had to listen, but he was the friendly sort and we conversed until he got tired of repeating. We also met a hiking club- seniors who hike these mountains three times a week.Not too much wildlife today, although we were awakened by an owl. I saw a squirrel and signs of a mole.Wobbles and Bubbles shared some of their fantastic food. My favorite was the dried yogurt- dropped on parchment paper and dehydrated. This was a long tough day- in length (11.9 mi) and in terms of ups and downs. We worked hard and commiserated with our sheltermates. The WH Shelter is .4 miles from the road, so we trudged that last piece. To add insult to injury, we didn't see the blue W that indicated the location of the spring, so had to walk back to get water.My favorite gear right now are my trekking poles, my Prismatic hat and my Mountain Hardwear down jacket that I put on immediately upon reaching camp.
Date: 2009-02-18
From: Woods Hole Shelter

To: Neels Gap
Miles today: 3.7
Weather: light rain

It was a short day today. The rain and wind howled all night and caused a late sleep in and a quick pack up. I'm entering these postings from the Mountain Crossings Hostel where we resupplied (limited selection), took showers, did laundry, ate pizza (frozen- cooked onsite) and had use of the computer. Blood Mountain was spooky in the driving rain and fog so we lingered. The steep descent had slippery rocks, so beware. It was a different sort of day- rather mystical.We're here tonight- our next opportunity to post (hopefully with pictures) will be in 5 days.
Date: 2009-02-19
From: Neels Gap

To: Low Gap Shelter
Miles today: 10.9
Weather: scattered clouds

We left the hostel at Mountain Crossing by 7:30 am in the cold wind. It was about 30 with high winds. The warm hat came off and on many times. The people at the hostel were great- Pirate served popcorn at night and pancakes with strawberries for breakfast. YumI know what GAP stands for- gigantic ascent probable. My legs are really getting sturdy. If you can't do up and down, don't leave town.All day long the wind threw our body heat over it's shoulder to the west. The sun kept us happy though. We sat on logs or rocks every so often to catch our breath and drink water and gobble gorp. For lunch we had totillas with peanut butter and Werther's for dessert.We got to the shelter early accompanied by Hot Chocolate (formerly Stryker) and Catalyst who has a bad knee. Gung Ho and Rockstsr made a full shelter and we crawled into our bags early in the freezing wind. The guys hung a tarp over the opening kinda like spitting in the ocean. My favorite gear today: Precip raincoat/windbreakerMy favorite food today: cheese bitten off like an apple
Date: 2009-02-20
From: Low Gap Shelter

To: Unicoi Gap- Helen, GA
Miles today: 9.4
Weather: broken clouds

Not a fit night out for man nor beast! We woke up cold and hungry to 5 degrees and a crescent moon. The midnight forays into the bushes showed a brillant display of constellations.No mice visits inspite of the nest and Gung Ho's Cocacola lipstick. It was way too cold. We spent about 12 hours in our sleeping bags, chatting it up. When morning finally came, Paul's bag was drenched from a leak in the water bottle he was sleeping with. After a hasty cup of cocoa, we walked briskly away to get warm. Understandably, we headed the 9 miles to Unicoi Gap so we can dry our down.In spite of being very cold, we ate along the trail with fabulous views. We saw a tree that I thought was scratched by these elusive Georgia bears. There was also a first pine cone after days of hickory nuts and acorns. The songbirds we love are juncos I think.Hot Chocolate yogi-ed a ride for us to the Super 8 in Helen. The room is $39 for the 4 of us, (including Catalyst). We have a warm dry sleep tonight and long hike tomorrow.
Date: 2009-02-21
From: Unicoi Gap- Helen, GA

To: Steeltrap Gap
Miles today: 8.0

Another cold beautiful day. First I want to thank all of you who have been reading and signing our guest book. It's fun to get mail. I also want to give a shout out to Mirka, John and Maria, family of Hot Chocolate and Catalyst, who have been excellent trail companions.Today was all about the Georgians we met on the trail. There was a crew of trail volunteers who upgrade trails including the AT on the third Saturday every month. There was a father/son partnership from Macon out for a long day hike. There were 3 tough bloody guys holding 12 pitbulls (also bloody) with shock collars. They'd been wold boar hunting. Yep, they got one but turned it loose. Oh, great! An angry boar.We heard a grouse flapping and saw some vultures before succombing to fatigue and pitched our tent to stealth camp in our tents. We made our last homemade dinner- spaghetti and broccoli with cheese, olive oil and sausage added. Snickers bars for dessert.Gear thrown out so far: broken water bottle, gloves that hurt, gloves with holes.Favorite gear of the day: PreCip raincoat
Date: 2009-02-22
From: Steeltrap Gap

To: Hiawasee
Miles today: 9.6
Weather: scattered clouds

When we woke up this morning, the tent was dark with about an inch of snow, 40 mph winds and 10 degree temps. It was a long cold journey uphill in both directions to Dick's Creek Gap. We're overnighting at the Blueberry Patch where Lennie did our laundry and loaned us a car. We ate at Daniel's all you can eat buffet- fatty, fried and filling- just the way we like it and GM and I got the senior discount.It was a rough day- the cold wind battered us all day and we are windburned and exhausted. Nontheless, the fresh snow showed the prints of grouse, fox, bobcat and raccoon across the trail. The 4400 foot mountains and subsequent gaps and saddles make Georgia a challenging hike. Tomorrow we'll be in NC where the sun always shines, the hills are manageable, and the trails lead North.