morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2009-07-23
From: Upper Goose Pond Shelter

To: Kay Woods Lean-To
Miles today: 17.6

Weather:Overcast and breezy all day. Late evening thunderstorms.Today's Hike:Upper Goose Pond Cabin to Kay Woods Lean-To - 17.6 milesToday was a day of trail magic. We started off our morning with pancakes and french pressed coffee thanks to Hal; the cabins caretaker. By 8:45am were headed north.After a mile we came across trail magic bucket #1; soda's and little debbies thanks to Gimpy (thru-hiker 2003). We sat for a quick snack, then tackled our biggest climb for the day; 600 feet. Not to shabby.Trail magic #2 occurred shortly after our late lunch when we arrived at the "cookie lady's" house. The cookie lady, Marilyn Wiley, bakes cookies for hikers during thru-hiker season and you can buy farm fresh hard boiled eggs for $2.50/dozen. We must have eaten a dozen cookies and a dozen hard boiled eggs between the five of us. By this time the overcast skies were being joined by ugly dark rain clouds so we took their arrival as our queue to finish off our last 6.6 miles.Three miles into our final stretch we reached trail magic #3, also sodas, Gatorade, and snacks. This time it was from Birch, a section hiker from this year who was paying it forward. By this time rain was starting to roll in so we all took one for the road and raced the last 3.7 miles to the shelter.We made it to camp by 7pm, got the tent up, and ate dinner before the rain came. Right now it's 9pm, and the wind is howling, but no rain yet. I know it's coming, a front like this passing over without dumping on us would be the best trail magic to ever occur, and we don't think we'll be that lucky. Hope we're not taking down the tent in the rain in the morning.
Date: 2009-07-24
From: Kay Wood Lean-To

To: Chesire, MA/St. Marys Church
Miles today: 11.9

Weather:Overcast all day. Rain all night.Today's Hike:Kay Wood Lean-To to Chesire, MA - 11.9 milesThe rain started at 9:20pm last night and continued until 5:30am this morning, which means we didn't have to setup are take down camp in the rain. Not to shabby.We hiked three miles into Dalton, MA, this morning where we ate breakfast and resupplied. From there we hiked 9 miles to Chesire, MA. It started sprinkling around 3:30pm and the skies were black. I realized we could stay at St. Mary's church for free and pitched the idea to Muster. She accepted and pitched the idea to the Divas. They accepted, so we cut our day short. So tonight it's just the five of us and McBride. Tomorrow we're climbing Mt. Greylock, the highest point on MA. For us that means nearly a 2,000 foot climb over nearly six miles. Good times. The weather is suppose to be good tomorrow so hopefully we can pull the 18 miles to Vermont.
Date: 2009-07-25
From: Chesire, MC/St. Mary's Church

To: Hoosic River, MA
Miles today: 14.0

Weather:Sunny and humid. No rain.Today's Hike:Chesire, MA to Hoosic River - 14.0 milesThere are days when I climb many mountains, and there are days when I will only climb one. Today was a one mountain day, but it was a big one. Starting at 9am the five of us and McBride were at 988 ft., as we hiked toward the summit of Mt. Greylock, the highest point on the trail in MA reaching 3,491 ft. The hike was 8 miles uphill, not hard just long. Very, very long.We reached the summit around 12:30pm and as luck would have it the lodge was open and it was serving lunch. We all inhaled a plate of food then sat outside for about an hour to enjoy the fruits of our labor. By 2:15pm we started the 6.5 mile decent of Mt. Greylock of which the last 3.0 miles were down right awful. The trail was so steep that I actually asked Grommet if we had missed a turn and gotten off the trail. To top it off the trail was nothing but mud. In Storm's words, it was like trying to walk on butter. Slick as snot. It sucked. We wouldn't want to do that part again.When we finally reached the bottom we had to go into Williamsburg to resupply for the next 3.5 days. By the time we were done it was 8pm, we were all sore and tired, and we didn't want to hike anymore. So we walked to the first flat spot on the trail and set up camp. We're about four miles short of the VT border. Tomorrow will be a new day in a new state.
Date: 2009-07-26
From: Hoosic River

To: Congdon Shelter
Miles today: 14.0
Weather: light rain

Weather:Overcast. Late night thunderstorms.Today's Hike:Hoosic River to Congdon Shelter - 14.0 milesWe walked into Vermont today, 11 states down and 3 more to go. It is still too surreal to conceptualize that I have walked almost 1600 miles. Insane. We're tenting at Congdon shelter tonight, and Billy Hoot and Nutmeg are with us again. Yippie! Hopefully we'll stick together for a few days.I¢m exhausted and turning in early tonight. It's 8:45pm; lights out.
Date: 2009-07-27
From: Congdon Shelter

To: Goddard Shelter
Miles today: 14.4
Weather: light rain

Weather:Partly cloudy and humid all morning. Thunderstorms afternoon and evening.Today's Hike:Congdon Shelter to Goddard Shelter - 14.4 milesWell, Vermont is welcoming us with mosquito's, biting flies, rain, rain, and more rain. Oh, and did I mention the muddy trail that feels like we're walking on butter? Ugh. Not the best hiking. I hear that VT is beautiful, but considering that we spend so much time running from the rain and slapping the flies that are buzzing around our heads it's been to hard to notice.For example, it started thundering after lunch today, and we took off, racing the thunderstorm for 8 miles to Goddard Shelter. During my eight mile race I had at least four flies follow and torment me the entire way. I lost the race. A mile and a half before reaching the shelter Muster and I got dumped on. Soaking wet.....and there goes another pair of dry socks. Between the mud and the rain my feet haven't been dry in like three days. My socks are tearing my feet up and my toes look like they belong on a corpse. Yuck!The Packadiva's and ourselves tenting at Goddard Shelter tonight. If the skies clear up it looks like we'll have a beautiful view of an evergreen forest.
Date: 2009-07-28
From: Goddard

To: Stratton Pond Shelter
Miles today: 13.0
Weather: few clouds

Weather:Beautiful; sunny and cool. No humidity. Today's Hike:Goddard Shelter to Stratton Pond Shelter - 13.0 milesToday's was an absolutely beautiful day. The trail was fairly dry and my shoes are actually beginning to dry out. This morning we climbed to the top of Glastenbury Mountain, which is known as the Bermuda triangle of the Green Mountains. In the 60's and 70's there are a dozen documented cases of people who have mysteriously disappeared. Despite it's reputation, the observation tower had spectacular views of the Green Mountains. Tonight, we are tenting at Stratton Pond Shelter with the Packadiva's, Billy Hoot, and Nutmeg. The pond is known for moose and loon citings. I can hear the loons which sound cool and a little creepy, but no moose yet. We have to cross the pond in morning to head back north on the trail, so hopefully we'll see one then.
Date: 2009-07-29
From: Stratton Pond Shelter

To: Manchester Center, VT
Miles today: 10.5
Weather: overcast clouds

Weather:Humid. Rain all afternoon and evening.Today's Hike:Stratton Pond Shelter to Manchester Center, VT - 10.5 milesToday was a town day, which means we were all up and out early, and hauling butt to town. Today was the first time we got to shower or do laundry in 8 days, and we were well past ripe. We were so ripe that when people sat next to us at the cafe we were eating lunch at they immediately got up and moved to the other side. Nice.After finishing all our town chores Jeff Taussing, owner of the Green Mountain House hiker hostel, picked us up and brought us back to begin the best hostel experience ever. The hostel only takes 10 hikers which means it's quite, and for 15 dollars we get our own room, a shower, laundry, Internet, free long distance phone calls, ice cream, and a ride back to the trailhead. Amazing. In addition, there's a kitchen in the hiker house so the Packadivas made all of us wonderful pasta dinner, chicken n' dumplings (for the meat eaters), and brownies. Yummy!So we're spending the night catching up on some communication, and getting repacked for tomorrow. It's been raining since 2pm...... Hope it's done by tomorrow.
Date: 2009-07-30
From: Manchester Center, VT

To: Manchester Center, VT
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Weather:Rain.Today's Hike:Green Mountain House Hostel - 0.0 milesThis hostel is so incredible we had to stay another day. The five of us feel like we're at home. We started this wonderful day off with an egg, cheese, and potato scramble made by our own Ms. Muster. Afterwards we spent the morning relaxing and listening to Rocket go completely school girl in love with Richard Gere in "An Officer and a Gentleman".When the movie was over it was time to tackle the chore of planning out the rest of our hike. The five of us put our heads together to come up with a draft timeline to reach our desired summit date of September 10th. Once the draft was done and we tossed around some ideas Muster took the lead in developing a final plan. All we need to do is hike 90 miles/week to make it; completely feasible. We even scheduled in target dates for resupply.Once business was over it was back to an entire afternoon of relaxing; reading and watching movies.For dinner, Muster and I are making the crew bean and cheese quesadilla's. Can't wait, I'm starving!
Date: 2009-07-31
From: Manchester Center, VT

To: Manchester Center, VT
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: heavy intensity rain

Weather:Rain all dayToday's Hike:Green Mountain House Hostel - 0.0 milesIt is hard to find the words to describe what it feels like to sit still for two days when your body is use to walking 10 - 12 hours a day. By the end of day one your nerves twitch and you can't keep your legs still. It's what I image the very definition of restless leg syndrome to feel like. By day two not only are you restless, but you become stir crazy. Insanity. So why take more then a day off? Rain, rain, and more rain. We have started a pattern we can not seem to break. Take a day off, our day off is nice, then our departure date is rain and severe thunderstorms. Maybe we shouldn't take anymore days off???!!?? (giggle)Yeah right.We had all intentions on leaving today. The forecast said it would rain until early evening, so we hung around the hostel all morning and were ready to leave after lunch. By then, Jeff (the hostel owner) was dealing with some plumbing issues so we patiently waited around for another hour or so. By 2pm the plumbers left and Storm asked Jeff when it would be a good time to leave, then Jeff replied "why not stay another night?" Are you kidding? So we did some quick planning, and came up with a schedule that would still permit us to hike into Rutland by August 3rd. They'll be long days, but doable.So here were are, another night in luxury. Tomorrow's forecast is sunny; a good forecast for hiking twenty-miles.
Date: 2009-08-03
From: Mill Bridge

To: Rutland, VT
Miles today: 18.0

Weather:Sunny and humid. No rain.Today's Hike:Mill Bridge to Rutland, VT - 18.0 milesToday was sunny but my feet were still wet; all freakin' day. The trail is nothing but a mudslide. I¢m gonna get trench foot. It sucks. We climbed Killington Mountain today the highest point on the trail in Vermont. From the summit I could see five states, VT, NH, MA, NY, ME. Very cool, I was at eye level with the clouds. After spending a few minutes enjoying the view I began the 6.3 mile descent to US4 alone. The Divas were somewhere behind us, and Muster said that they wanted her to stay with them. Since I¢m slower and I hate night hiking I went ahead. Muster finally caught up to me about a mile before the road. The Divas were still about a mile behind her. By 9:00pm we were all back together and were headed to the Inn at Long Trail for burgers/veggie burgers and beer. What a wonderful way to end a hard day. By 10:30pm we were full and setting up camp across the street.
Date: 2009-08-04
From: Rutland, VT

To: Rutland, VT
Miles today: 0.0

Weather:Sunny, no rainToday's Hike:Inn at Long Trail - 0.0 milesWe spent the day in Rutland, VT doing town chores; resupplying, laundry, etc. Despite getting up and out early, the haul into and out of Rutland took more time then expected. By the time we got back to the Inn and repacked our bags it was 4:30pm. By this time Lil¢ Dipper and Early Bear had made it to the Inn, and Muster went to the bar with Lil¢ Dipper to have ¢a¢ Margarita. After awhile, Muster came back out and pitched the four of us an idea of splitting a room so that we could shower. It appeared to me that none of us were thrilled with the idea, but told her to look into it. About 30 minutes later Muster came back out and pulled me aside and told me that she got a room¢¦..for $150. I about shit myself. How could she not ask anyone before she did that? My response¢¦¢¦whatever. She was paying for and no one else should be obligated to pitch in given that no one was consulted. She told the rest of the girls that she got a room, and we all moved our stuff in while Muster went back to the bar. We were pissed. I took a hot shower and tried to calm down. When I got out the four of us walked over to the bar for dinner. While waiting to order I overheard Muster talking to Lil¢ Dipper about soul mates, declaring that its best NOT to spend your life with your soul mate. In fact her ¢soul mate¢ WAS NOT her life partner, rather it was someone else. WTF kind of philosophy is that ¢ the one that you tell yourself when you¢ve settled for your second best and try to tell yourself that you didn¢t. What am I doing and why have I never followed my own instincts on this one? Stupid. I have some serious thinking to do.
Date: 2009-08-05
From: Rutland, VT

To: Kent Pond
Miles today: 4.0

Weather:Rain.Today¢s Hike:Inn at Long Trail to Kent Pond - 4.0 miles After another fabulous breakfast at the Inn, we headed out. The skies were looking grey, and the hike was slow going. Muster took off ahead of us and we expected not to see her until lunch. However, we stumbled upon her at Kent pond behind Mountain Meadows Lodge. A rainstorm was headed in our direction so we decided to go up and take shelter. Here we met Alice, the resident potbelly pig. We chowed down on Ben and Jerries and waited for the rain to pass. When the clouds broke, we headed outside and got sucked into playing with the rest of the farm animals. As we started to get ready to leave Muster started talking about staying on a working farm that we had been seeing flyers for. The truth was she was hung over from her margarita binge and she didn¢t want to hike the 15 miles that we needed to. The working farm wasn¢t an option because of price, however, the discussion inevitably turned to staying at Mountain Meadows. After a heavy debate we all decided to stay the night at the lodge. The consequence; we must hike to Hanover, NH in the next 2 days to get back on the schedule we made ourselves back at Manchester Center, VT. This meant that we had to hike 42 miles through the rest of VT in 2 days, not an easy proposition. I had never hiked more then 19 miles in a single day, and the Divas had never hiked more then 20. Still, we decided to stay. Part of me is looking forward to the challenge while another part is a bit overwhelmed. I guess we¢ll see what the next 2 days brings. At least the long days will leave me plenty of time to maul over my life and think about what I really want to go back to after the trail; a topic heavy on my mind lately.
Date: 2009-08-08
From: Campsite

To: Moose Mtn. Shelter
Miles today: 13.0
Weather: few clouds

Weather:Sunny, no rain.Today¢s Hike: Campsite to Moose Mountain Shelter - 13.0 miles We made it. We walked into Hanover, NH this at 7:30 this morning. It¢s been a long two days. I¢ve spent much of my time thinking about what¢s important and evaluating my own self worth. On the way into Hanover I vented to Grommet about much of what was on my mind and received exactly the words of advice that I needed to hear, ¢You already know what you need to do, you just need to do it.¢ She was right. I¢ve known for a while what I needed, but somehow I always talked myself out of it. I took a deep breath and headed to breakfast. After breakfast I headed over to the local outfitter and got a new pair of hiking shoes. My Keens are KILLING my feet. This time I went with Montrail Hardrocks. We have about 500 miles to go so these should get me to Katadhin (fingers crossed). Next stop was the local grocery store¢¦.one of the best resupplies on the trail ? By 11am we were headed toward our next stop of the day; Tigger¢s Tree House for showers and laundry. We were done with laundry and showers sometime late afternoon and made it back to the trail with enough daylight to make it to the shelter for the night. Two town stops and we still made our intended destination. BIG pat on the back! It was a tough 2 days, but it was worth it.
Date: 2009-08-10
From: Fire Wardens Cabin

To: Dancing Bones Commune
Miles today: 12.0

Weather:No RainToday¢s Hike:Fire Wardens Cabin to Dancing Bones Commune - 12.0 miles Tonight we are staying at a place called Dancing Bones, a hippie commune in the middle of no-where. Way to much fun!!!!! One of the guests here is teaching the girls circle dances, and Grommet and I watched from a distance laughing our butts off. I'm sure I would have enjoyed the dancing, but being a spectator was way to entertaining.Glencliff, NH tomorrow then off to the White Mountains!
Date: 2009-08-11
From: Dancing Bones Commune

To: Glencliff, NH
Miles today: 8.1

Weather:RainToday¢s Hike:Dancing Bones Commune to Glencliff, NH - 8.1 miles Today we walked into Glencliff, NH by 2pm in the midst of a thunderstorm. I¢m currently prepping to start the100 mile trek through the White Mountains. This section of trail has the reputation of being the toughest part on the AT, where much of the trail will be above treeline meaning we'll be at the mercy of the weather. Hope to be through the Whites and into Maine within the next nine days, then its on the home stretch. I¢ll see what the weather brings.
Date: 2009-08-12
From: Glencliff, NH

To: Glencliff, NH
Miles today: 0.0

Weather:Rain on and off throughout the day.Today¢s Hike:Glencliff, NH/Hikers Welcome Hostel - 0.0 miles The past several weeks have been a whirl-wind if events. When I set out to thru-hike the AT, I knew it would be a life changing experience. I had hopes and goals of whom I would evolve into, and what I would discover about myself and the world around me. I also had hopes of reconnecting old relationships and forming new ones. Little did I understand how these hopes and goals would form into a reality that would forever alter the course if my life.Living out here brings on a sense of inner stillness that invites you to listen if you let yourself be aware enough. The babble of your everyday thoughts slowly fades away and you begin to become aware of that inner voice you've silenced. That voice that is your sixth sense but that you've skillfully learned to rationalize with and instead have let yourself live with the idea of how life should be. It becomes a rude and painful awakening when all at once you choose to stop rationalizing with that voice, and rather choose to get real and listen. No one ever wants to see the faults of their ways and how not only those faults have affected themselves, but how those faults have affected others as well.Once the truth of your life is recognized it cannot be ignored. So it was at this point, the point of true self-honesty that I found myself admitting that I no longer wanted to go back to the life I was living. I no longer wanted to rationalize with that inner voice. I no longer wanted to coexist within a life partnership with someone I had spent the last nine years building my entire life around. I wanted to know who I was and wanted to rediscover what I had let myself lose.And so it was. This realization has not only altered my life but my thru-hike as well. Muster and I have split and began separate hikes; I am hiking with the Packadivas and she is hiking with Billy Hoot and Nutmeg. I will continue on to Katadhin and will return to a new life when I'm done. I know it won't be easy, but I'm ready to see what the future has to offer.
Date: 2009-08-18
From: Crawford Notch

To: Mizpah Hut
Miles today: 6.4
Weather: few clouds

Weather: Sunny, no rain.Today¢s Hike:Crawford Notch to Mizpah Hut - 6.4 miles This morning I left Crawford Notch with the Packadivas and we started our hard climb up the Presidential range in the White Mountains. The skies were clear, the sun was beating down, and the views were incredible. We were also on a water shortage and somehow had to ration our 2 liters of water per person over the next six miles. Not easy. By the time we reached Mizpah most of us were out of water and utterly exhausted. We decided to cut our day short and do our first work for stay at the hut.After a wonderful hot lasagna dinner we did our chores (I had to clean the freezer) and relaxed for the night. I spent my time in front of the hut with Grommet, stargazing for the first night in a long time. It was beautiful. After almost falling asleep on a rock outside, I made my way upstairs and turned in for the night.
Date: 2009-08-19
From: Mizpah Hut

To: Edmands Col
Miles today: 9.6

Weather: Afternoon RainToday¢s Hike:Mizpah Hut to Edmands Col - 9.6 miles This morning Rocket and Storm left early and I hiked out with Grommet. Our climb up to Mt. Washington was incredible; the sky was clear, the sun was shining and it was just windy enough to help keep me cool. As we approached the summit of Washington the clouds rolled in and the wind picked up. Typical Mt. Washington weather.After dealing with some unnecessary high school drama Grommet and I separated ourselves to grab lunch from the snack bar. An egg salad sandwich has never tasted so good.Our hike down Washington was a cold, rainy, windy one. When the rain broke we found a sweet campsite at Edmands Col, and took shelter from rainstorms that were still rolling in.
Date: 2009-08-20
From: Edmands Col

To: Pinkham Notch
Miles today: 10.0
Weather: fog

This mornings hike was tough over Madison. We climbed up and down boulder fields for about 3 miles which felt like a lifetime. At least the weather was good.The last five miles for the day were pretty decent, and we were able to get through them in about 2.5 hours which was a nice surprise. Tonight we went into Gorham, NH and are staying at the White Birches campground. They offer a 21 mile slackpack from Pinkham Notch back to here. The thought of hiking 21 miles in the Whites is a little intimidating, but I'm up for the challenge. So tomorrow morning Grommet and I will be heading out early for a long, tough day.
Date: 2009-08-21
From: Pinkham Notch

To: Gorham, NH
Miles today: 21.1
Weather: fog

Today we slackpacked the last 21 miles in the White Mountains. It was a hard day, but a fun one. We climbed over Wildcat Mountain in the morning and I was thankful to be doing it without a full pack. The rain held off till lunch time where we dipped into Carter Hut for some hot potato dill soup and crackers.After filling our bellies (maybe a little to full?) we headed out to tackle the Carter Range. If the climb wasn't hard enough we had the added challenge of making it through it in a thunderstorm. Good times. As we neared dinner time we were summitting Mt. Morhiah, the last mountain in the Whites. We finished around 10:30pm , tired, wet, and exhausted but feeling like a total bad- ass.
Date: 2009-08-22
From: Gorham, NH

To: Gorham, NH
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light intensity shower rain

Grommet and I both slept in late this morning, and got a late start on our town chores. After showering and starting laundry we headed into town for resupply and breakfast. We ate breakfast/lunch at Welches that served up the best omelet's on the trail. Next, we headed to Walmart on the other side of town to resupply. By the time we were done and back at the campground it was nearly 5pm. So much for hiking out today. Instead, we set our tents up again and turned in early for the night. Hopefully tomorrow we'll have the energy to make up the miles.