morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2012-03-05
To: Part 6: How the Whites Kicked our Butts 
Miles today: 0.0

How the Whites Kicked our Butts in 2009:From Garfield Ridge to Liberty Spring TentsiteAs for daily mileage for seasoned thru hikers entering the White Mountains, they say 15 is the new 20. And I was nowhere close to being fit or seasoned¢¦ This would be my toughest day, and I only needed to cover 7.4 miles between the reliable water sources listed in my guide. But, boy, what miles!I was out of camp at dawn, with an immediate 600¢ climb up and then back down Mt. Garfield. After that, a short reprieve before beginning the 1,300¢ ascent of Mt. Lafayette. I had not passed a soul all morning when I got my first glimpse of the summit, which seemed to be as high up as heaven, with a few moving figures in view, who could well have been angels. In my isolation, as I inched towards the top, I began to hear the most heavenly music. But just as I was deciding I must be hallucinating, I came over the ridge to discover a group of nuns from Baltimore who had hiked up to conduct a worship service, and were providing that angelic sound, while at least a hundred other folks were milling around!After being alone all morning, I found a crowd of day hikers had taken advantage of the perfect weather to climb Lafayette from the sides. I found myself in a sea of humanity.The 360o panorama was a great distraction to the careful attention to safe footing the rough trail demanded as I made my way over to Mt. Lincoln and then along the Franconia Ridge. In the cold fog back on Mt. Washington I felt like I had earned today¢s great visibility. My only regret was X was not there to enjoy it as well¢¦There was more climb than hike as I started downhill towards the Liberty Springs Campsite, and it was a relief to replenish empty water bottles at the camp. After fixing dinner, I tied down my tent to the platform as best I could, and was glad I did when a very windy rainstorm blew through in the middle of the night¢¦-N
Date: 2012-03-06
To: Part 7: How the Whites Kicked our Butts 
Miles today: 0.0

How the Whites Kicked our Butts in 2009:Liberty Spring ¢ Franconia Notch (North Woodstock)I packed up a wet tent and got an early start on the 25-hundred foot descent from Liberty Spring Campsite to Franconia Notch. When I reached the level road to the Flume, I felt like getting down on my hands and knees, and kissing the pavement. My faint hope is that before I return, hiking in the opposite direction, someone will introduce the concept of ¢switchbacks¢ to the White Mountains. My understanding is that 75 years ago when the A.T. was constructed, all of the available switchbacks were used up in GA, NC, and TN; and there were none left for the New England sections of the trail. I will hate to see this climb up to Franconia Ridge again if this oversight has not been corrected¢¦I got up on U.S. 3 and caught a ride into North Woodstock. I stayed at the Carriage Motel, and by the afternoon, the rain had stopped, and I was able to air out my tent and gear to dry. I walked down to the Woodstock Inn for an excellent dinner.The next day, X arrived back after finishing her meeting. We drove over to the site of the now collapsed ¢Old Man of the Mountain¢ for some sightseeing, arriving only six years too late to view the iconic formation. Back in the day, New Hampshire native Daniel Webster wrote: "Men hang out their signs indicative of their respective trades; shoe makers hang out a gigantic shoe; jewelers a monster watch, and the dentist hangs out a gold tooth; but up in the Mountains of New Hampshire, God Almighty has hung out a sign to show that there He makes men." No doubt today, hiking the White Mountains can build character, but on this first encounter, rather than build character, I would have to say the Whites kicked my butt. We¢ll have to see what Round Two in 2012 brings¢¦-N
Date: 2012-03-07
To: Into Africa
Miles today: 0.0

A friend in church, who claims she has read not only ours, but several other journals on this site, recently commented about our February 12th entry, asking if the Lake Magadi we had talked about was the scene in ¢The Constant Gardener¢ with all the flamingoes. When I replied in the affirmative, she said if that was the case, she thought we had missed a great opportunity by not posting such a photo, as in all the A.T. journals she had read, she had never seen one with a picture of flamingoes; and we could be the first.Never being one to miss an opportunity, I went digging back through our files to see if I could locate such a photo. Today seems an auspicious day to post that picture as it was exactly six years ago that we drove on a rough causeway across the mostly soda-filled lake. (I should point out that for many of our adventures, we can observe anniversaries in March, because for ten years I worked for a local community college, and building a long trip around spring break was one of the year¢s best options¢¦)We had borrowed my brother¢s vehicle, hired a Kenyan driver, and headed south from Nairobi to the Kenya Rift Valley in search of 2o S. 36oE., which N had coveted visiting ever since he discovered it was an imaginary point no one had previously documented on the Degree Confluence Project website. The nearest hotel was a very posh $500/night resort (which would have been bad enough, except they also required a three-night stay). However, we found a contact at a field station for an NGO that supported environmental research, and offered A.T. hostel-like facilities at A.T. hostel-like prices. Mosquito nets included. Recalling that trip brought back some very pleasant memories for us, and N said lately he had been thinking about several things from our time in Africa that he was going to miss while we were out on the Appalachian Trail. Over the next few days, I¢ll let him share a couple of those with you¢¦N does the back and forth GPS dance in search of ten zeroes:The international team that conquered 2o S. 36oE.-X
Date: 2012-03-08
To: Things About Africa I Will Miss While on the A.T.
Miles today: 0.0

The #1 Thing About Africa I Will Miss While on the Appalachian Trail:Take a close look at this Park Ranger with the Kenya Wildlife Service. Yep, that¢s an AK-47 he¢s carrying. I tell you, there is nothing more comforting to the hiker than being in the company of a ranger armed with a dependable automatic weapon. It just takes a little worry out of the equation, when you¢re out in the wild.Here we are walking along the shore of Lake Jipe, an area frequented by many hippopotami. And let me tell you, if there¢s one thing you don¢t want to do, it is startle a hippo when you¢re between him and the nearest body of water.The hippo's poor temperament is even worse than his poor eyesight, and there¢s a good chance you can wind up trampled as he hotfoots it back to a safer environment. Why, it can be enough to ruin your whole week. Maybe the rest of your month.That¢s why the #1 Thing about Africa I will miss while on the Appalachian Trail is Park Rangers leading hikes with AK-47¢s.-N
Date: 2012-03-09
To: Famous Mts. beginning with the letter K (IV)
Miles today: 0.0

¢The Spring of Dahlonega¢ vs. ¢The Fall of Atlanta¢?While others flock to Springer Mountain, a final business trip to Atlanta for N before we begin our thru hike gives our BCM (Base Camp Manager) a chance to post a prep entry all by herself from back home, and gives N the chance to get in more rocky hill work (on the site of a major Civil War battle, no less!) than he can do anywhere within 100 miles back home in MS: But getting a late start, going into E.S.T., and typical Atlanta traffic got me to the parking area for the Kennesaw Mountain Visitor Center after they'd closed the gate, and I had to settle for Little Kennesaw Mt., with only 45 minutes of daylight still remaining. Saw quite a crowd of people using the trail, some putting me to shame by carrying a full backpack (at least five of them, I think). Practicing "Ultimate Slack Packing" principles, I finally caught all of the full-load backpackers I saw, but it took my full effort... As pleasant an afternoon as you can have in the Atlanta area, but reinforced I need to pick up the conditioning pace in the final month.Which brought me back one day later to hike from the Visitor Center (along with, it seemed, half the population of Atlanta!) up the slopes of both Kennesaw and Little Kennesaw. Again, full backpacks were in evidence, and several people I talked with said they were training for some kind of future AT hike¢¦ -N
Date: 2012-03-10
To: The #2 Thing (and Another Big GPS Anniversary)
Miles today: 0.0

Kenya: Six Years Ago Today!Three days after our eventful journey to the Rift Valley, we were off again, this time to Tsavo West National Park with X¢s brother Bob, his wife, and two of their co-workers. By happenstance, we had lunch very close to another whole integer latitude ¢ longitude crossing, this time 3S 38E. Although a German family had already ¢bagged¢ this point for the Degree Confluence Project four years earlier, since we were so close¢¦The walk to this spot from the road could have been one thorny bush after another, but we found many connecting open areas which made the walk a piece of cake. At 3S 38E, we found any number of elephant droppings that indicated who we had to thank for clearing out the brush.So, a second thing in Africa I will miss while on the Appalachian Trail is enough elephant traffic to keep the path open even after major wind storms would otherwise drop trees to block the trail. Don't laugh: While we were in Aberdare National Park, at 6,000' elevation in the Aberdare Mountains of Central Kenya, I saw plenty of proof that environmentally some big eared pachyderms would do just fine on the Appalachian Trail. And I can¢t imagine many AT black bears would want to pick a fight with a resident tusker¢¦-N
Date: 2012-03-11
To: Welcome Back, DST!
Miles today: 0.0

Unless you live in Hawaii or Arizona, today marks the return of Daylight Saving Time for U.S. residents. DST will end on Sunday, November 4th. Living seven degrees west of the center of a time zone, the Fall end of DST always plays havoc with my training schedule, as with the gradually shortening days it gets harder and harder to squeeze an afternoon run in, and then ¢ bam! ¢ it¢s dark at 5pm. And who wants to tackle the gym when you¢re already depressed by the lack of sunlight??? (If I wanted a winter like that, I¢d move to Alaska¢¦)Then the next thing I know, it¢s Christmas and I¢m ten pounds heavier, and having to re-start my exercise program all over again. This year is even worse, as I subconsciously succumbed to the strategy of using empty calories to load for the upcoming hike and its attendant weight loss.So, here we are, about at the end of the winter of 2012, and even with the Big Hike only a month away, I¢m in worse shape than usual for this date. OK, time to grab hold of this extra hour of daylight (just like the good Lord intended it to be!), and crank up the running and speed walking. After all, body weight is just as heavy as pack weight.Well, in any case, I guess in one more month, looking at the watch becomes much less important, as we go on ¢Hiker Time¢...-N
Date: 2012-03-12
To: ÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂSeen ÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂEm All!ÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂ Club - 2007
Miles today: 0.0

This is another big anniversary date, for it was exactly five years ago I was cleared to attempt a thru hike of the Appalachian Trail. Before that, my #1 travel priority had been to set foot in every unit of the National Park System. This has been an almost 60 year quest, which only got serious about 1987, when in a discussion with some other fellow travelers, I said I was sure I had been to ¢almost all of them.¢ Later, I did a careful count and discovered my ¢Life List of Parks¢ currently stood at only 126! I had a lot of work still to do¢¦Just before the turn of the century, we made a big loop all the way from home to Custer Battlefield and back, which took in about two dozen. Then another vacation swing around the Great Lakes knocked out a handful more. In 2000, a lot of island hopping got us to all seven national parks in Hawaii. We didn¢t realize what a bargain Hawaii was price-wise, until the next year when we started working on the 22 Alaska parks. Oh, the stories I could tell you about getting to Aniakchak National Monument and Preserve! And every once and a while, a new park would be added, and we¢d have to backtrack to fill in a new hole.Finally, Spring Break of 2007, we were ready to fly to American Samoa to complete the list. (If you¢re unsure where American Samoa is located, here¢s a clue: if you fly across the Pacific Ocean from Los Angeles to Hawaii, you¢re only a third of the way there¢¦) Another short flight from Pago Pago brought us to the island of Ofu where it¢s possible to swim into the national park!Since then, I¢ve had to visit seven new parks to stay current (located from CA to NJ & VA), but we now think it¢s safe to spend six months in just one national park before we go back to worrying about my life list again.-NThe cavorting Troverts snorkel on the coral reef of Ofu.
Date: 2012-03-13
To: A Scheduled Stop from the Beginning
Miles today: 0.0

These March anniversaries been coming so swiftly we were about to let one slip by, our first overnight hike on the A.T. ¢ a three day affair from I-40 to Hot Springs NC which we made in March 2008. We had originally talked about I-40 to Erwin, but X had something come up at work, and we had to trim our plans in half. Winter weather was so bad in Nashville as we started out, our #2 Son who was going to help shuttle us, couldn¢t get out of his driveway and we had to detour via Chattanooga to avoid the Cumberland Plateau. We left our car in Hot Springs and got a ride back around to I-40 with the Bluff Mountain Outfitters.Thankfully, the weather improved rather quickly, and we had three clear days. The first time we saw Snowbird, the mountain was all white, but by the time we got there, most of the snow had already disappeared. That early in the season, we only encountered a hand full of thru hikers, but all were wearing their ¢high spot¢ shoes. I recognized this immediately, because as they came zooming by, they were only hitting the high spots on the trail. Our being passed so often was partly because we were weighted down with our heavy Alaska camping gear, purchased when we were moving mostly by raft or kayak, so it wasn¢t an issue. Pretty quickly we decided we had to upgrade to some lighter equipment before we could think about a long distance hike.For X, the highlight of the trip was a stop at the hot springs themselves. After some time soaking while we watched the river flow by, followed by a massage with heated stones, her sore muscles were once more on speaking terms with her. Whatever else happens during the first month of our thru hike, X will make a return visit to the Hot Springs Spa¢¦Four years ago today, we made a second trip to the Smoky Mountain Diner for a great breakfast. Seated in the adjoining booth were Josh and Amanda, two still newly-wed thru hikers from Chapel Hill. They certainly had their act together, and over the next several months we enjoyed following their attractive website, one of the best we¢ve seen. We would have bet the next month¢s mortgage payment on their ultimate success. But then in PA, they learned, for the past several weeks, each had lost their zest for the hike and was only continuing so as not to let the other down. Amanda said it seemed all the thru hikers were wearing blinders, as they trudged on, fixated on Kathadin, while all the section hikers seemed to be having the time of their life. With that realization, they stopped and headed back to North Carolina, confident they¢d return to finish when the time was right. With four weeks to go before we begin, we wonder will we be able to keep our hike a ¢want to,¢ rather than a ¢have to¢¢¦-N
Date: 2012-03-14
To: #3 - Big Cats Near Shelters
Miles today: 0.0

My Number Three of things about Africa I will miss while hiking on the Appalachian Trail is Big Cats near the Shelters. If you have big cats hanging around your shelters, then there is hardly any rodent problem. You just don¢t have to worry about mice getting in tomorrow¢s lunch. You do, however, have to worry about being somebody¢s tomorrow lunch¢¦
Date: 2012-03-15
To: ÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂSome Big Shoes to Fill!ÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂ
Miles today: 0.0

Seventy-five days ago, I made a New Year¢s resolution to post 75 journal entries before heading out on the A.T., in honor of the trail¢s 75th anniversary in 2012. Today, this becomes not only the first resolution I¢ve ever kept, but also one of the hardest, most time consuming things I have ever done. My admiration for those folks who have religiously maintained electronic journals from out on the trail has grown tenfold. It¢s been hard enough finding something to report on each day that might A)be interesting to someone else and (B) be something about which we want to be kept a record, even with all the resources and reliable internet connection available to us at home, much less having to with deal with conditions on the trail. My hat is off to them!Anyway, we're this far into it, we might as well try to stay in top journaling shape while we're at it. So, I guess we¢ll try for 25 more entries before we officially begin. I think our BCM is also game (if not GA>ME), but as we funnel more entries through her, they're going to be shorter until I prefect my smart phone typing skills. For those of you who are getting bored, we invite you to check back on April 10th to see what happens; and for the rest of you, I appreciate your continued indulgence. That said, today it¢s time to talk shoes. Pictured above is what I had in mind when I went to the store: Made in Maine for Maine conditions, water-proof and tall enough to handle any stream fording. And a thick enough tread to last over the course of 2,184 miles of walking. Plus if you turned it over on its side, it can double as your shelter! Imagine my disappointment to learn they only come in singles and are not sold in pairs. So, back to the drawing board...Fortunately, the boys at Outdoor 76 in Franklin had something better in mind, and I¢ll be starting out with these snazzy Salomons. Will I be ¢duh bomb¢ or what???¢There¢s no place like home! There¢s no place like home! There¢s no place like home¢¦¢ -N
Date: 2012-03-16
To: Getting Practice Summiting Mountains in Maine 
Miles today: 0.0

Here is X on the top of Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park, back while we were working on my life list of national parks. This entry would be more impressive if we had taken the Cadillac Mountain Summit Path to the top: a moderate seven mile round-trip hike over open ledges to the summit of Mount Desert Island's highest mountain. But, no, we opted for the drive to the top, and the paved half kilometer pathway encircling the 1,530 foot summit.Cadillac is the U.S.¢s highest peak within 25 miles of the Atlantic Ocean, and most of our attention was focused on the view to the east. [For something more impressive from the Left Coast, see Mount Fairweather in Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska, which is only 12 miles from the Pacific and is 15,325 feet in elevation. But I digress¢¦] For parts of the year, Cadillac Mountain is the first location in the United States to be struck by the sun's rays. However, making this trip close to the autumnal equinox, the sun rose first at West Quoddy Head in Lubec, Maine, the easternmost town in the United States (which we also visited on our way to Roosevelt Campobello International Park). On a clear day, one can see Mount Katahdin, Maine's highest mountain, over one hundred miles to the north; but on this day, two couldn¢t see the mighty K, as there were too many clouds in that direction.   In another minor connection to the Appalachian Trail, from 1883 until 1893 the Green Mountain Cog Railway ran to the summit to take visitors to the Green Mountain Hotel (Cadillac was called ¢Green Mountain¢ until 1918). After the hotel burned down in 1895, the cog train was sold to the Mount Washington Cog Railway in New Hampshire. Isn¢t it a small world¢¦Cadillac Mountain will reMaine a high point of our visits in the state until the last day of our thru hike.-N
Date: 2012-03-17
To: 2010 Rockfish Gap to Harpers Ferry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: haze

Here is a picture of a man I have never met in person, but who I can vouch for as a really good guy: Bill Gallagher of Waynesboro, Va. Back in the summer of 2010, N was returning from a meeting in Maryland, when he had a chance to be dropped off at Rockfish Gap. This looked like the perfect opportunity to do an easy chunk of trail, 150 miles through Shenandoah and up to Harpers Ferry, where he would catch a train to D.C., and then fly home.Other than the park being very hot and very dry, everything was going great until the third day in, when N stopped for water (maybe around Pinefield Hut?). There was barely a trickle from a PVC pipe, but someone had placed a plastic jug to catch what little water there was, and in short order, N had his trusty water filter (a veteran of so many Alaska trips to all the state¢s 22 national parks!) out and going, and was pumping like a madman while he took in the scenery of the surrounding forest. Unfortunately, someone else had left a brillo pad in the bottom of the jug, and my unobservant husband was sucking soap and who knows what else so quickly, he immediately had his filter clogged and completely useless. And of course was carrying no purification tablets as back up. If not a hike ending event, certainly enough to throw a monkey wrench into his plans.So, I¢m getting a cell phone call at home: ¢Houston, we have a problem!¢ Enter Mr. Gallagher. I called Rockfish Gap Outfitters, and they fixed me up with a replacement, plus, more importantly, a list of local trail angels. Mr. Gallagher was third on the list, but recommended by both of the first two people I contacted, each of whom were unavailable. When N came down to Swift Run Gap the next morning, there was Mr. Gallagher parked at the trail crossing, new water filter in hand, and ready to put N back in the ball game. What a trip salvager, and my new hero!Saving weight on this trip, N hiked through Shenandoah sans camera, so could not record the incident, but when googling something else entirely about the A.T., I came across this A.P. photo of Bill Gallagher helping some other hikers, and I thought it gave me the perfect opportunity to thank him again for his assistance in a more public venue. He¢s the kind of person that makes the A.T. special!-X
Date: 2012-03-19
To: Trumpet of a prophecy! 
Miles today: 0.0

Trumpet of a prophecy! ¢¦If Winter comes,can Spring be far behind?-ShelleyA while back, I stumbled on this photo of Katahdin, taken exactly two years ago today; and since then, it has been my constant laptop wallpaper. Every day, I pound the screen with my fist and say "Big Mountain, I'm coming to see you!" Although I hope she looks a little different when I see her in person for the first time¢¦However, getting back to the poet Shelley¢s question: but what does one do when winter never comes??? Our weather in Mississippi has been so mild for the last five months, it¢s like winter really never got here this year. Back around the time this picture was taken, N was making rumblings about starting on 1/1/12 and doing a one year yo-yo. Of course, I pooh-poohed this as being the craziest idea I had ever heard, and the weather last January and February pretty much bore out my opinion. But, this year, from reports drifting down to MS from GA, NC, TN, and VA, it¢s almost like N has been vindicated: I believe he could have started on January 1st and not have frozen to death.Be that as it may, I¢m glad things have worked out as they did. N had so many irons in the fire at work, I don¢t see how he could have walked away any sooner. And I really believe GA>ME will be enough for me this year. We¢ll find out starting in three weeks from tomorrow¢¦-X