morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2012-06-16
From: NYC

To: Bear Mountain
Miles today: 14.0
Weather: few clouds

16 June.  14 miles to Bear Mountain.6/16/12   " Today we hiked 14 miles. We got a late start but we were still able to make good time.  Before the zoo(the AT goes through a zoo) we saw a snake that was at least 6 feet long. When we got to the zoo we looked at a lot of snakes to identify what kinds we have seen over our trip.   Yesterday we went to the statue of liberty!!!! We also went to Time Square, Ellis Island, and we went to Central Park! It was A LOT of fun!!!!!!!!!!! We had so much fun with Cowbear and the Punisher!                  ¢Sunshine:-)  We squeezed out another day of slack packing.  But seriously, we have to get our head back in the game.  We need some wilderness time.  NYC was a blast and so good for Sunshine.  NYC was the last of our planed zeros, however, Sunshine and I are both considering a Boston stop to round off our history lessons with some Revolutionary War studies.  I don't know how well I could navigate there though. We probably won't go.  We didn't see any Thru's today, but lots of weekend and day hikers.  There were a lot of families!  Good for them, we love seeing that.  Teaching our children about the outdoors and wilderness is the best way to protect it.  The weather was perfect today, and the trail was fairly gentle. My feet that were raw from all the wet days earlier, have healed pretty well.  Walking through the zoo this afternoon on the AT was fun.  Sunshine took a picture of every animal there.  She was able to identify everything except some birds because they were all local animals that we have seen along the trail.
Date: 2012-06-17
From: Bear Mountain

To: Hwy 301 state park
Miles today: 20.0

17 June.  20 miles to Hwy 301, Clarence Fahnestock State Park.6/17/12   "Today we hiked 20 miles. It was VERY easy. We even got here at 3:40!!!!! We hurried all day to get to the lake and swim. Once we Got there we went to a mini mart and saw there was a lake and beach!! We took off our shoes(always feels nice) and walked on the sand, in the water!!! It felt great!! One thing that was cool was that the fish were nipping our feet. Some child almost caught one."                    ¢Sunshine:-) You are never going to believe what we did tonight.  Did you guess?  That's right, we set up our tents!  I think that might be about our 6th time the whole trip.  We were going to bust out 25's for awhile, much to Sunshine and Beacon's silent protest, but that would have put us to a mail drop late afternoon on a Saturday.  I agreed, much to my displeasure, to slow to 20's and hit the PO early on a Monday morning.  So we hit camp nice and early tonight at a State park  with showers and free camping for Thru-hikers.  Thank you New York!  They have a great little sandy beach on the lake, so Sunshine and I took a little dip just as the sun made it's appearance for the day.  We had a blast watching at least 100 sunfish (some big ones too) nipping at our legs if we stood still long enough.  The hot sand felt especially soothing to our sore feet on the way back to camp.  The trail itself wasn't bad, still a little rocky.  We are noticing that we have to really pay attention to the blazes now because the trail is becoming more of a route than a foot path.  Because of the rocks, people must spread out more hopping from rock to rock, not leaving one particular path behind.  You more or less walk from blaze to blaze through the forest.  Be careful because there are several other side trails to veer onto if not paying attention.  It was mostly overcast but not humid.  Just right really.    Here's a hot tip if you plan to hike the AT in the future:  We were told that the ticks, mosquitos, and biting flies would be horrendous from day one, so we put Deet in every supply package.  In fact, over $100 worth of it. However, today is the first we've even needed it.  We have tried to carry it forward until we needed to send something else home, but mostly tossed it in the hiker boxes.  (For our new readers, a hiker box is often placed in PO's, motels, and stores.  If you have something extra or unneeded you leave it in the box.  If there is something you need, you can take it.)  I realize the bug situation will very from year to year or even day to day, but it would be less wasteful to buy it along the way.  There are so many town stops and good outfitters along the trail that you could easily find Deet as needed.
Date: 2012-06-20
From: Mt Algo Shelter

To: Falls Village
Miles today: 26.0

20 June.  26 miles to Falls Village. This was by far the hottest/most Humid day yet this season.  It was only in the high 80's but Beacon said the heat index was over 100.  Tomorrow is supposed to be 6-8 degrees warmer.  We knocked out the first 12 miles to Cornwall Bridge before noon.  It was already scorching so we rested and hydrated in town while resupplying.  After a nice 3 hour break, we hit the trail cautiously.  There was a water source about every 3 miles, so we stopped at everyone of them to rest, turn the remainder of our water into Nuun (electrolyte tablets) and then refilled our bottles.  It was refreshing to wet down our clothes and sweaty bodies in the creeks.      Teresa will be joining us soon but has a new deadline to return for work.  This bumps our finish date forward to July 25th.  Because of this, we had to say good bye to our friend Beacon today who has no real deadlines as he is a retired Air Force officer. We will miss his company.  Sunshine was very sad about this, but is also anxious to see her mother and sister.   We took advantage of the cooler (still sweltering hot) evening and rolled into town just after dark.  The flickering of fireflies guided us into town along the river.  It was beautiful.  The Toy Maker Cafe allows hikers to camp in the lawn for free.  Thank you!  We will be leaving by 5:00am to beat the heat.
Date: 2012-06-21
From: Falls Village

To: Mt Everett 
Miles today: 22.0

7/21/12  "Today was very very hot and humid. Luckily not as humid as yesterday. We slept in (till 6:00)and hurried down the trail, we knew it was going to be mucky and miserable. We hurried and as it got to be hot we saw a road to a town. So we went to town and had a sandwich. After that we searched for wifi. Dad read an email from Kay saying we could spend the night at her house AND she had a POOL we could swim in!!!!! So we called her up and she said we could also slack pack, and spend the night TONIGHT!!!!!! So we met her and went to her house were her Granddaughter, Layla AKA Frosty, and her babysitter. Gracie, who is 15. So she gave me babysitting(my new challenge this coming year) tips and stories.  Another friend, Megan was there too. We spent a lot time in the pool. It was great being with other girls."                     ¢Sunshine:-)Hiker tip: We were looking at the sanwiches in a deli today, but didn't know what we wanted. Instead, some good cheese seemed to be what I was craving. I ordered a 1/4 pound of Peper/Colby. Then Sunshine pointed out the raspberry glazed ham which of course we ordered a 1/4 pound of. On the way to the register Sunshine pointed out fresh bagels. Bam! With out even trying, we pieced together two beautiful sanwiches for the price of one. We really are thinking alike now. While we hike, we both automatically react to a situation as a team without even verbalizing it. I have my responsibilities and she has her's in particular situations. For instance when she is leading on rocks, but drops behind me, I know they are too high or steep for her. I pass, climb down the rocks, stop, and she braces aginst me to climb down. This is done without words when we are listening to our iPods. The trail in CT was so smooth and soft, kind of like little butterfly kisses on our feet with each step. It was a welcome change from the rocks of PA, NJ, and NY. However, Mass. Has began like a lion! Those first 8 miles were very steep and on huge rocky slabs. I wouldn't try this section in the rain if you plan to hike it. It reminded me of the NJ/NY border. The last 3 miles of the day were on huge rocks in direct sunlight. It was over 90 degrees, but much less humid than yesterday. There wad even a gentle breeze at times. Don't shed any tears for us though. One of our readers, Kay picked us up, and we spent the afternoon in the pool. Well worth the walk! Thanks Kay!
Date: 2012-06-22
From: Mt Everett 

To: Lake Buel Rd
Miles today: 16.0

22 June.  16 miles to Lake Buel Rd.                "Today we slept in and later took a two hour nap. It felt great, we have not been getting enough sleep lately, so we figured we should catch up. We did not do a lot of walking because we were so tired. We are now in Mass in a Comfort inn. It has an indoor pool, and hot tub. We have been swimming, eating, and sleeping since 3:00. Layla and Kay met us at the road with goodies and drove us to a motel."                    ¢Sunshine:-)  Kay slack packed us today.  We slept well last night, but stayed up too late for the second night in a row.  We sometimes forget in town how much sleep we really need.  It began to rain with thunder when we reached the road.  We planned to hike another 4 miles, but Kay insisted on putting us up in a room to get out of the weather.  We were exhausted and hate hiking in the rain just before bed, so we took her up on her generous offer.  Thanks Kay, you're wonderful!    Mother Teresa and Butterfly are on their way across country to meet us.  It might take a while as they are making multiple stops on the way here.  Before anyone gets any crazy ideas, we do have a house sitter.  Ha, ha just kidding.  No, really we do have a house sitter though.   Today was humid and the bugs are defiantly becoming more of a force.  We met a great Ridge Runner today named Ember.  Sunshine loved chatting with him for about 3 miles to the next road. This was a beautiful section of trail through lively wetlands and lush pine forests.  There were so many varieties of colorful birds.  We even saw a lot of ferns today, pretty rare out here as far as we've experienced. It reminded us of home. Oh, I forgot to tell you about an amazing section of trail yesterday.  Yes, it was mostly up hill and very rocky, but we dropped into this enchanting little gorge for about two miles. It's called Sage's Ravine.  It was between the Bear Mountain and Mt Everett climbs and the scorching ridge walk on Mt Race, so it's natural air-conditioning affect was so welcoming on our hottest day to date.  The beautiful copper colored water lined in ferns and pines rushed down the ravine cascading over logs and rocks.  Tomorrow is a 29 miler to make up for our loafing around today.
Date: 2012-06-23
From: Lake Buel Rd

To: October Mt Shelter
Miles today: 29.0

23 June.  29 miles to October Mt Shelter.           6/23/12  ¢Today we hiked 29 miles. We ate breakfast then hurried to the trail. It was easy hiking. WE SAW BEACON!!!!!! We talked for a bit then we had to leave him. We hurried and had meatball sandwiches for dinner!!!!!!!! We had 2 bad dog encounters. We also met a family who are out for the weekend. We enjoyed them. We also saw a bear.¢                    ¢Sunshine:-) Interesting day it was.  Kay picked us up at 6:00am after what may have been our best night of sleep yet.  We hit the hotel breakfast at 5:50 and loaded our plates to go.  We were on the trail by 6:30 excitedly enjoying to cool morning after the rain.  We both really enjoyed hiking through the diverse fern covered forest mixed with pines and deciduous trees. The duff left behind leaves such a pleasantly soft tread.  While basking in this wonder, I see we are closing in on another north bond hiker.  Recognizing the gate, I said: "Hey look, he looks like Beacon".  Sunshine exclaims: "that is Beacon"!  Sure enough, it was our friend we left behind 3 days ago because we had to "speed up". Of course if you've been watching our mile clicker you know that just hasn't happened yet.  Hey, it's been hot and humid.  That and we still can't leave Cheshire until the PO opens Monday morning.  Turns out he stayed in the same motel as us last night and we even missed him at the pool by 15 minutes. He left before breakfast at 4:30am trying to beat the heat.  We enjoyed some more wetlands with long winding boardwalks. They also mill down logs taken from the area in 6 inch thick planks and nail them to blocks to keep you off the muddy areas.  These slabs turn left and right with the shape of the tree as they don't cut the sides square.  Sometimes these walk ways stretch for large portions of a mile. They remind me of torn lengths of string cheese lined up loosely end to end.  Yum, I said string cheese!  We also enjoyed the bitter taste of fresh crab apples along the trail.  Our lunch was a hodge podge left overs from the wonderful meal Kay left with us the night before.  Mid-day, we were about to cross a road when Sunshine says "look Dad"! There was a brown bag labeled "Balls and Sunshine" with two bottles of coke in it!  We aren't certain who did that yet.  Thank you secret admirer!  Kay actually lugged in our gear .8 from the road to our shelter tonight.  I told her that wasn't necessary, but she insisted.  She has a heart of gold!  Speaking of which, after settling into our shelter, a weekend hiker tells us that Kay also left us meatball sandwiches and donuts in the bear box!  Thanks Kay!  There hasn't been much organized trail magic up north, but as you can see, there has been no shortage of it for us personally.  We always try to share it with the other hikers around us.  Like Beacon says: "it's good to hike around Balls and Sunshine".  Thank you to everyone for your kindness and generosity.
Date: 2012-06-24
From: October Mt Shelter

To: Cheshire Mass
Miles today: 21.0

24 June.  21 miles to Cheshire Mass.6/24/12  "Today we hiked 21 miles. It was fun! Half way we took a break at a town! I had an incredible meatball sandwich. We went to cookie lady's house! She gave us AWESOME cookies(thank you cookie lady!!!). We are now at ST. Mary's church because there is a hostel there(thank you!!!) The Forth Graders made trail magic packets! They are very good(thank you!!!) we are now on our way to Laundry and PIZZA!!!!!!"                   ¢Sunshine:-)  What a glorious Sunday morning.  The storm that had just missed us really cut the humidity and heat.  It was nice and cool all the way into town, with a slight breeze.  Perfect hiking weather.  The trail was mostly flat with some gentle hills.  Again the tread was nice soft forest duff.  No rocks!  The only unpleasant factor was the wet vegetation.  Our feet got soaked.  When we reached Dalton at mile 12, we took off our shows and socks to let the sun dry them a bit while we ate some snacks.    We have been very fortunate with not having to deal with much riff raff in the shelters near roads.  I have expected some of the closer ones to turn into party huts for the local youth on the weekends, but haven't seen that yet.  Even the local weekenders have been pretty courteous as we pass through.  Last night two adults and two small children showed up just at last light.  We heard them approaching for 5 minutes before they emerged from the forest.  In fact this commotion woke me up from my sleep just minutes after it began.  We heard the woman say " Ladies and Gentlemen, Welcome to our cabin in the woods".  Then she became excited  because she mistook our being in bed for an empty shelter.  The little boy starts shouting " hello! Anyone in here"? Several times. Once he was at the foot of my bed shouting this, I said "yes, could you be quiet now, you woke us up".  The mother clearly disappointed that she didn't have exclusive use of a public shelter .8 from a road, on the most famous trail in the world, on a weekend, offered an excuse instead of an apology.  They then noisily disputed what to do, shining lights all around.  They had a camp fire till 11:30pm then began the noisy setting up process all over as if they had just arrived again.  The boy woke up every hour or so with nightmares.  So much for a solid 8 hours of sleep.  We quietly and respectfully woke up at 5:00am, but I'm sure they were bewildered why people would be up so early.  One night like this out of 85, not a bad average at all.
Date: 2012-06-25
From: Cheshire Mass

To: Seth Warner Shelter
Miles today: 21.0
Weather: thunderstorm

25 June.  21 miles to Seth Werner Shelter.                      6/25/12  "Today we hiked 21 miles. It was easy. We went to the post office and they did not have our package. So we diched it. We ate lunch with Layla and Kay. We sadly had to say goodbye. Then we hurried and met two men who founded Warrior Hike! There cause is cool. We want to help with it next year. They give prosthetic limbs to disabled Vetrens. We luckily didn't get too wet today. But tomorrow¢¦we will."                                   ¢Sunshine:-)  Rain, rain go away!  So there was a 90% chance of rain for the morning, which never happened.  Then there was  a 20% chance in the afternoon which it took full advantage of with a vengeance.   We had to say good bye to our angels Kay and Leyla today, but not before they performed more magnificent magic.  Our resupply package was not at the PO so we asked Kay to drive us north to Mt Greylock and we walked 8 miles south back to the PO hopping it would be found in the morning sorting.  We enjoyed walking down hill all morning, but alas no box was found.  This was particularly disappointing since all our AT Guide pages for the rest of the trail were in this box.  Kay had an extra book with her and let me tare the pages out that we needed.  We throw away the pages as we finish using them one at a time.  Then we drove back to Greylock in the rain.  We decided to sit out the rain for a while and had a long lunch.  Sure enough, the rain stopped so  we packed up, said good bye to our friends, and hit the trail for reals.  Thanks again Kay and Leyla, you are too kind!  It did rain again, but not too badly until we arrived to the shelter where it began to dump.  We are grateful for these shelters on such nights.  Oh, good news!  We are now in Vermont!  It's hard to believe that we have walked through 11 states already.  We are excited to see New England, and hopefully some moose.
Date: 2012-06-26
From: Seth Warner Shelter

To: Kid Gore Shelter
Miles today: 26.0
Weather: light rain

26 June.  26 miles to Kid Gore Shelter.   "Today was unpleasant.  It rained and was freezing. We only stopped for lunch and a few brakes. When we took a lunch brake, we layered up and waited out the hard rain. God is taking good care of us:-D. We stayed warm but we had to stay in our rain coats and gloves/glocks on.  Glocks are socks used as gloves."                   ¢Sunshine:-)  Rain rain go away!  It rained all day. Not too badly, in fact other than our feet we stayed pretty dry with rain gear.  It was quite cool, but that's nice for hiking, we just couldn't stop for long with out getting cold.  Strange, last week was the hottest thus far and this week is colder than most of our days on this trail.  I can see my breath right now.  I wont be surprised if we wake to snow, but I'm sure it's unlikely.   It's nice having a variety of conditions.  We are now on the section of the AT shared with Vermont's Long Trail for 105ish miles.  We met several LT hikers today and passed several more AT thru's.  Oh, we caught up with Biscuits tonight in the shelter.  He's been 5-10 miles ahead of us for the last several days now.  We might be hiking more with him since his eta is close to ours on Kataden.  Oh, one last bit of news, we are in Moose territory!  We've seen sign of them today!
Date: 2012-06-27
From: Kid Gore Shelter

To: Hwy 11/30
Miles today: 26.0

We woke up at 5:00 am to get an early start because Mother Teresa and Butterfly were meeting us Manchester VT. It was cool and windy today, but with some layers and Sunshine drafting behind Biscuits at a brisk 4.5 mph, we stayed comfortable as long as we continued moving. Our feet stayed wet all morning, but by lunch, the trail was dry enough to change into dry socks, and they stayed dry. At one point Biscuits was 5 minutes ahead of us and Sunshine (very observant girl she is) noticed that there were new moose tracks on top of his! We never did see that moose however. We saw our very first true-Thru Sobo (south bound) hiker today! Miles Davis started at Kataden, ME on May 22nd and has traveled 538 miles south. FYI that happens to be our remaining miles!! Yep over 3/4 done!
Date: 2012-06-28
From: Hwy 11/30

To: Hwy 140
Miles today: 26.0

28 June.  26 miles to Hwy 140.                      6/28/12  "Today was awesome!!! We hiked 26 miles and it was easy.  We then met Fun Hog at the end of the day. She gave us an APPLE PIE!!!!!! We spent time with Mom(Mother Teresa) and Annika(Butterfly). Biscuits hiked with us. It has been a lot of fun. We LOVE Mom and Annika visiting!!!"                                   ¢Sunshine:-)We are back to Gentlemen hiking.  Mother Teresa and Butterfly met us last night and will be with us most of this hike's duration.  We stayed at a motel in Manchester last night and stayed up late exchanging stories and enjoying being together as a family again.  It had been almost 3 months since we left Oregon.  Certainly the longest we've ever been apart.  They were able to drive down to Cali several times to visit us last year.  We dropped Biscuits off at the hostel and picked him up this morning on the way back to the trail.  Today's 26 miles went by fast.  We slept in a hour, took a long lunch, and even had a nice afternoon swim at a lake along the trail.  Our PCT angel friend from Oregon, Fun Hog, was at the road waiting to visit with us when we arrived!  She was on a business trip in the area and made the time to see us!  She passed out magic to other hikers passing thru while waiting for us.  It was great seeing a friend from home.  The weather is dry and warming back up, with a gentle breeze.  The trail ungulated through out the day but nothing difficult.  It is becoming rocky again.  I fell hard today, striking my leg against a rock and jamming my pinky.  It was painful and feared the worst as I gingerly tested it out.  I limped badly for a while as I worked through the pain, but eventually regained my normal stride.  My pinky, however may be broke.  The leg is throbbing at this moment.  Eh, what do you do?  It's all part of the fun we call thru-hiking. Sunshine's been doing great on the rocks despite only using one trekking pole due to her casted arm.  She is very excited to have it removed on the 4th of July.  The cast that is, not her arm, ha, ha.   We found a campground with showers 25 miles north of tomorrow's start.  This way we can drive back to the same location 3 times before moving.  Biscuits is staying with us as well.  While finishing up his large piece of Apple pie (Fun Hog gave Sunshine a whole pie to share), he said: "Beacon said it best, good things happen when you hike with Balls and Sunshine".  We are happy to have him along and he hikes a similar pace (he's actually faster than us),  and distance as us.  We are happy to help all the hikers we can as we work our way up the trail as a family.