morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2014-07-07
From: Belters campsite

To: Race brook campsite
Miles today: 21.7
Weather: scattered clouds

July 07Last night tenting was great. Elizabeth brought me a new pad and it was good ground and a cool night. Put it all together and it equals a good nights sleep. I got going at 6:45 which seems to be my regular departure time. I don't use an alarm but I have been very consistent lately. Last night I had sent a text to a friend's sister who lives in the area. I did not get her response till I reached Salibury. I had gone into town to get some food. Linda had some time and drove right over. I always love meeting people that love the trail. We had a great chat, then I needed to get going again.When I first got to town I saw Brave. Elizabeth had picked her up hitch hiking yesterday. When I turned my phone on I had a text from Go Far that they were also in town. I headed to the deli and sure enough there they were, Go Far, Spruce and Bacon Dog. They took off before me, but I caught them a few hours later.The forecast was for afternoon storms, so the debate was how far do we go. There were lots of ups and downs, so slow going. very pretty terrain though. This afternoon we crossed in to Massachusetts. Mass started out following a beautiful stream, then went up on a ridge with a rocky trail with amazing views. The thunder was cracking and it was starting to rain and it was still 4 miles to the shelter. In a valley there was a camp site, so I left a note for Go Far that I was stopping there. It was already 7pm and 2 miles up over a steep hill to the shelter. 15 minutes later Spuce and Go Far showed up. The 3 of us are tenting here for the night. It has been raining, but no severe thunderstorms like was forecast. Not yet anyway.One thing I would like to clarify, on my fundraising efforts for the charities, the money donated goes directly to the charity. They are not sponsoring me in any way. I am paying 100 percent of my expenses. In addition, at the end of the hike I will be adding $10k of my money and dividing it up amongst the various charities. My wife and I are supporting some great causes. If you haven't done so already, please go to my personal website to learn more. Thank you for your support.
Date: 2014-07-08
From: Race brook campsite

To: MA Rt 23, Great Barrington, MA
Miles today: 18.2

July 08It rained quite hard at times till about midnight. My seam sealing on my tent worked out fine. This morning everything was wet outside, the trees, trail, not my gear. Unfortunately my clothes were still soaked from yesterday's sweat and rain. Always tough putting on sweaty clothes in the morning. Tonight there are severe thunderstorm warnings out and then it is supposed to be clear and cooler. Hopefully that also means lower humidity.Go Far and Spruce tented with me last night. Bacon Dog marched over the last mountain with the thunder rumbling about. We passed him mid morning, then he caught us while we were stopped for a break. Bacon Dog took a detour at a road crossing to head to a restaurant. The three of us continued on. Our goal was to hike 18+ to a road crossing, then head into town for the night to clean up, dry out and eat up. We got to the hotel 25 minutes into the Germany vs Brazil game and it was already 5-0 Germany. So much for watching an exciting game. After showering we headed out for food. Spruce headed over to KMart and Go Far and I sat on a bench and people watched. I mentioned a month ago how it is fun to just watch the activities of small towns as we head north.We did see 2 nobos doing a south bound slack pack, but that was it for thru hikers. Not sure where they all are. Skittles is 2 days ahead. Patch took a zero today and will be slack packing tomorrow. This area is home for him. Hopefully he will be in my neighborhood when he gets back to normal hiking again. Not sure where Bear Juice is, he has been busy visiting friends. Slim and ABear are both back about 100 miles. J5 is only 28 miles back, but I am faster than him, so not sure if I'll see him again. Those are my closest friends and where they are. It is amazing how things can change out here, so we shall see. We are less than 4 days from entering Vermont, pretty cool. I have not weighed myself since Harpers Ferry, but got to believe I have lost a bit more weight. I was down 25 pounds then. Elizabeth was surprised at how much weight I have lost. She has never seen me this light. I was early college when I weighed this little. There have been two newspaper articles this week helping me promote our charities. One was the Valley Reporter from my childhood hometown of Waitsfield, VT. The other is my current home in Phoenix, The Ahwatukee Foothills News. I appreciate their support and hopefully the exposure will lead to additional contributions.
Date: 2014-07-09
From: MA Rt 23, Great Barrington, MA

To: Upper Goose Pond Cabin
Miles today: 19.3
Weather: clear sky

July 09Last night was nice in the hotel. The storms did roll through during the night. Hopefully we have some dry weather ahead of us. We got dropped off a little before 8. As we are getting our packs on, Bacon Dog walks up. He had stayed at the shelter 2 miles back. Go Far and I took off. I like hiking hard early in the day so the afternoon is more relaxed. Spruce was not in any hurry. Our plan was to go to a cabin a little over 19 miles away. The terrain was moderate today. Some ups and downs, some rocks, but overall pretty good hiking. I am still surprised at how few thru hikers I am seeing. Today we did pass Data and talked with a flip flop guy who plans to do the entire trail.As the day progressed the clouds came and went. It seemed like the humidity lowered later in the day. About 4:30 we got to Upper Goose Pond Shelter. What a great place. It is a fully enclosed cabin with matresses on the bunks. There is a beach to swim and we took the canoe out for a paddle. Two nights ago there were 42 people who stayed here. People were tenting all over the place. Last night there were 14. Tonight there are 6 of us. I am glad we hit a quiet night. It is 8pm and Bacon Dog just arrived. Tomorrow it is 20 miles to Dalton. The trail goes right through town. This is a short post, maybe I'll be more chatty tomorrow.
Date: 2014-07-10
From: Upper Goose Pond Cabin

To: Dalton
Miles today: 20.6

July 10This will probably be a short entry as well. It's almost 9:30 and just getting to writing. Upper Goose Pond Cabin was amazing. Slept well in a bunk. Blueberry pancakes for breakfast. I sat on the front porch with Grampy and Texas Jack listening to their stories of the trail till 8am. Since it was over 21 miles to my destination I wanted to get going. Todays terrain was quite easy, so that was a big plus. Wings took off first, then Go Far and I. Spruce was right behind us as was Bacon Dog. About 2 miles in we were all together. Throughout the morning we just kept hiking north in different groups. Then after 6 miles Wings and I decided we wanted to get moving. I took the lead and we did 5 miles to the cookie ladies house in just over 90 minutes. The cookie lady lives 100 yards off the trail and gives out free cookies to through hikers. We also bought a soda and an ice cream from her. She allows peole to camp on her property and also offers water. Been supporting the hikers for 25 years. Her husband was also there. Always enjoy meeting great couples like this. We stayed for almist an hour. Go Far and Spruce came about 40 minutes in. We left about 1:30 hoping to do the last 9.5 miles in under 4 hours. Wings got me talking about stocks and finance and 3 hours later we were in town. I did not realize I was walking over 3mph. It was agreat afternoon. The reason I was wanting to get to town quickly was to meet a childhood friend. It has been about 25 years since I had seen him. He lives over an hour away but still came over on a couple hours notice. We had a great time together. The time went by too quickly, but at least we had a few hours together. Part of that time was spent going to the grocery store. Thanks Ben for coming over to Dalton, great seeing you.We have been amazed at how few hikers we have been seeing. A sobo told us today he had seen 20 nobos today. Amazing, maybe there is this big bubble of hikers just ahead. We shall see in the next few days. I am planning another 20 mile day tomorrow.
Date: 2014-07-11
From: Dalton

To: Wilbur Shelter
Miles today: 20.5

July 11The weather has cooled down, plus getting more elevation. I am typing this from the summit of Mt. Greylock in Mass. I am actually wearing a jacket. Sure is nice having a break from the heat. Last night was great fun seeing my friend Ben. It was after 10 by the time I went to bed, very late for me on the trail. This morning Wings and I were walking at 7am. We took a wrong turn in town and got to see more of Dalton than we wished. Finally got things figured out and we were on our way. Wings is a fast walker so we were cruising. Today involved a lot of elevation change so we had our biggest climbing day since Virginia. Part way in we passed Bacon Dog, then we caught Go Far and Spruce. We all went into Cheshire where we hung out for a bit. Patch is from Cheshire and is resting for a few days, so he came over to socialize. Wings and I took off and Go Far and Spruce went to an outfitter with Patch. We reached Mt Graylock about 2:30 and are just hanging out for a bit. I plan to head out by 4:30 which should get me to the shelter about 6:00. Wings took off a bit after 4. We will meet at the shelter. I went and sat with Bacon Dog at the little cafe on top of the mountain. I had already had a pulled pork sandwich. Bacon dog starts talking about how much weight he has lost and how is trying to eat more. He has felt tired lately and blames it on not eating enough. I am thinking I was down 23 pounds a month ago and have not been on a scale since. He gets a great looking burger so I figure its been an hour since I ate, I'll eat again, so I order a burger as well. BD doesn't want his potato salad or cole slaw, so of course I eat that as well. My burger comes and I chow down. The cafe closes and the woman who works there brings over four peices of cake and asks if we want them. Of course. I left there at 5pm feeling quite full to hike the final 3.3 to the shelter. At the summit I met Mozy and his son Jungle Jim again. I had met them in NY a week or so ago. They are from Maine and doing well. They started the week before me and have been just ahead of me this whole time. They are here by the shelter, tenting in the same area, so we had a nice chat.There is an AMC youth group also tenting here. This is their last night of a 2 week backpacking trip. One of the kids has lived in Abu Dhabi for the past 3 years. Both of his parents teach at Universities there. My sister is headed there soon since her husband has a new job there. He gave me their contact info and said they would love to help in any way. Might be a great connection.
Date: 2014-07-12
From: Wilbur Shelter

To: Congdon Shelter
Miles today: 17.1
Weather: light rain

July 12Last night I slept great in my tent. I woke the first time at 5 and was thinking about getting up to go to the bathroom. Next thing I know the privy door slams and it is 6. It felt great to sleep so well. The area was quite busy. Go Far, Wings and I started walking at 7. We had a 3 mile decent into North Adams where we walked .5 miles off trail to get groceries. I talked with Cooper and we decided it would be too difficult to hook up while he is east. I'll be in the middle of a 40 mile stretch of trail with no main road crossings. Plus I will probably be alone so he wouldn't get to meet any of my friends anyway. I felt badly, but it is so much easier for me logistically. My plans can literally change multiple times a day. If I were to meet him I would have had to do a 24 mile day today to have a chance. Without the commitment I ended up doing an easy 17. Easy is not totally accurate, but true compared to what I would have done otherwise. I thought today would be very busy on the trail. It is Saturday and 7 miles in we joined the Long Trail in Vermont. I did see more than lately, but not as many as expected. I typed the first paragraph at 5pm when I first arrived to the shelter. It is now 8pm. Bear Juice caught up with Go Far and Wings, so those 3 are here as are 5 new faces. There are a few others supposedly coming here as well. Could be pretty busy. It's great to see Bear Juice again, trouble is he is getting off trail again in a couple days. We plan to hike together tomorrow. I am tenting close by the shelter. A barking dog just showed, so hopefully there are some humans close behind.So far the Vermont trail has been very muddy. South of here the trail has walkways across the wet areas, not here in Vermont. I can see why hikers call this Vermud. It is fun being in the state I was born and raised in. Next week I will see my my and sisters, which will be great fun. I need to let my mom know what day I will be cruising through Gifford Woods. I was hoping my trail friends could join me, but right now seems like everyone has a slightly different schedule. We shall see what next week brings.A brief gear update. Socks have been an issue lately. I wore out 2 pair of Smart Wools. Neither were new when I started. I bought 3 different pair along the way that I have sent home. My wife brought me a new pair if Smart Wools which I like. I bought a pair of Keens, but wore a hole in them in just a couple weeks. My favorite is a lightweight merino wool. I am going to ask my sister to bring me a pair of Darn Tough next week. The community seems to really like them.
Date: 2014-07-13
From: Congdon Shelter

To: Story Spring
Miles today: 23.5
Weather: scattered clouds

July 13Today is my 3 month anniversary of being on the trail. Tomorrow I will pass the 3/4 complete mark. Pretty amazing. Last night was good camping, no rain. I again slept till 6. Surprises me that I am sleeping so late. Go Far, Bear Juice and I took off a little after 7. We had a steep decent down to Route 9 which takes you in to Bennington. Go Far got a ride from a local guy there. The gentleman gave us each a cold drink, as always greatly appreciated. There was another guy there in a camper that follows the group north doing trail magic. He said he will be up at Katahdin grilling in a 3 peice suit. He does not know what day. Sure would be fun to see him again.Had a great day hiking with Bear Juice today. He walks at a great pace. We covered the 23.5 miles in less than 10 hours. The last 5 in a steady rain. Tomorrow we plan to do 21 in to Manchester. BTW, Cooper that I referred to yesterday is our older son. He lives in Arizona near me but is in Vermont visiting family. Anyway, today on the trail was fairly busy. There is a good sized group slack packing through here. I met my first sobo and my first Long Trail thru hiker. Part way through the day we saw Bacon Dog. He went past us at the end of the day trying to shorten his day tomorrow into Manchester. We plan to meet up for dinner tomorrow. Since it raining and storms are forecast for tonight we are staying in a shelter. I think it has been over a month since I have slept in a shelter. There are 6 of us here tonight. Captain is a through hiker, the others are section hikers.The terrain today was not as muddy as yesterday, thank goodness. Hopefully that will continue.
Date: 2014-07-14
From: Story Spring

To: Manchester
Miles today: 21.1
Weather: broken clouds

July 14Last night was interesting. As I said yesterday we arrived early to get a place out of the rain. Since it was dark and gloomy out we all were in our sleeping bags by 8. By 9 all of us were sleeping when a woman arrived asking us to shift around so she could fit in. Turns out she was slack packing a 23 mile section and still had over 4 to go at 9pm while it is raining and foggy. We shifted and she climbed in between me and Captain. Since she was slack packing she did not have anything with her. I gave her food, made her a hot chocolate and gave her a rain jacket and socks to cover her legs and a down jacket to wear. Bear Juice gave her a dry shirt and Captain pulled out her tent to use as a blanket. I also gave her one of my sleeping pads. She said she doubted she could make the distance when she started. It bothers me when people are unprepared. The forecast was accurate with the rain, she just started a 23 mile hike with no out points without the proper gear. She was fine in the long run, but mainly because we all pitched in to help.Enough ranting. Bear Juice and I took off a little past 6 to hike the 21+ miles to the road into Manchester, VT. We had to go up over Stratton Mountain in the morning. We passed the group that is slack packing a big section of the trail. We have been seeing them every day lately. There are many ways to hike. This group has a van supporting them, so all they have to carry is a small pack. At the top there is a couple who are caretakers. I am not too sure what they are taking care of, but the woman was very pleasant and full of local information. After a 3 mile decent we arrived at Stratton Pond about 10. We were about half way done our miles. Bear Juice and I both jumped into the pond. Super refreshing and great cleaning the clothes of all the sweat.The trail continued to be fairly busy. We have been told there is a big group of hikers ahead of us. I think I am catching them. The second half of the day was fairly uneventful. We thought the trail would be easy, but between the mud and the little ups and downs, it was more difficult than we expected. We reached the road at 2:30, which was great, 8.5 hours to hike 21 miles. Bacon Dog had arrived before us and texted where he was. We are now at the same motel. The 3 of us went for a swim in the pool, then headed into town for dinner, supplies, laundry and of course, ice cream. Tomorrow Bacon Dog and I will continue north, while Bear Juice is getting off trail for 2 weeks to visit with friends. I have been around BJ from the beginning, we both started on April 13. I will certainly miss him. We will most likely get together post trail.The forecast for the next two days is for rain. There are lots of shelters coming up, so that is good. I am planning to meet my sisters and mother on Thursday afternoon. That means I need to hike two 20 mile days and a 14 mile day. Hopefully the rain isn't too bad. We shall see.
Date: 2014-07-15
From: Manchester

To: Little Rock Pond
Miles today: 19.8

July 15It was sad sayings good bye to Bear Juice this morning. He left about 7 to get bus rides eventually ending in Baltimore. He will be returning in 2 weeks, but by then I will be too far ahead. The weather forecast was for lots of rain, severe thunderstorms and flood watches. I thought about staying in town, but figured can't worry about getting wet. This section has lots of shelters so I headed out about 9. Bacon Dog was running slow, so I took off without him.The morning was cloudy and cool, but the humidity was very high. I was feeling good and hiking solo. There was a pretty climb to start and I still did the first 3 miles in under an hour. The trail follows a ski trail to the summit of Bromley. In the morning there were several section hikers. In the afternoon I saw the day hiking group. This group is coordinated by Warren Doyle. He has hiked the trail 16 times and now trains, supports people who want to thru hike by doing the entire trail on day hikes. He follows along with a van that has everyone's gear and food. His group hikes road crossing to road crossing. Interesting way to hike the whole trail. I have gotten to know many of the clients because they are doing similar miles. It was one of his clients who we helped the other night. There were lots of shelters today. I took a break at one that was right on a great river. It was tempting to stop for the day, but I pushed on. Glad I did. The shelter I am at is new, plenty of room and right on Little Rock pond. It is a great place. The weather turned out great. A couple of brief showers and then it cleared later in the day. Not sure what happened to all the storms. I went swimming in the pond. Always nice to clean up at the end of the day. I am meeting lots of new hikers. I'll see who is hiking my pace over the next couple weeks. I like hiking solo, but it is fun seeing familiar faces. There are several section hikers that are going from here to Maine. I have seen Lightning Bolt the past 4 days and Jester the same. I want to keep moving at a good pace, but not over do the miles at this point.
Date: 2014-07-16
From: Little Rock Pond

To: Clement Shelter
Miles today: 19.5

July 16The weather forecast was wrong about yesterday's storms, but the rain sure did come down all night, sometimes very hard. I was happy to be in the shelter. I don't sleep as well in a shelter though. Since it was still raining I did not get out of my sleeping bag until after 7. That is easily the latest I have stayed in my bag this trip. The rains lightened up so my plan was to start by 8:30. I am meeting my mother tomorrow afternoon, so my plan for today was to get to a shelter 19.5 miles away, which will set up a 14 mile day tomorrow. Virgil and Lightning Bolt were the only others in the shelter. Lightning Bolt informed me the restaurant I planned to go to was closed on Wednesday. Bummer, but not a big deal. I am currently carrying too much food anyway. As we were eating our breakfast the Callan family stopped in looking for someone. The Callans are from Maine and hiking as a family, All In (dad), Mama Bear, Robin Hood (9 year old son), Cartwheel (8 year old daughter) and Orion the dog. The kids are amazing and walking big miles every day. They started in early April and going strong. I caught them and we walked the first 10 miles flip flopping. They then went into town at a road crossing.I saw the day hiking section hikers again. They are all 40+ and fun to talk to. I now know everyone's names. They start early and I pass them at some point. I may not see them tomorrow as I am now a little ahead of them. They are also ending at Gifford Woods, so I may see them at the end of the day.The day was kind of dragging when I came to a road crossing and two young ladys were there. They are through hiking the Long Trail. The first 104 miles of the LT are the same as the AT. Anyway, the trail is still rerouted because of hurricane Irene in 2011. The 3 of us debated staying on the trail, but decided to do the recomended road walk. As we are walking up a dirt road we could smell someone grilling. Turns out it was Key Lime's parents doing trail magic. It was amazing. I had met them all a couple days ago, not sure if I mentioned it in my journal. I pigged out on everything. Don't need to make dinner tonight. There was a southbound LT section hiker that showed up. He lives in Scottsdale, which is right next to my hometown of Phoenix. He is the first Arizona person I have met on the trail. I now have less than 500 miles to go. A month ago I thought it would be awesome to be under 500. The reality is it is still quite a hike in front of me. One day at a time. I feel great, so looking forward the New Hampshire.I arrived at the shelter at 6:20 and was the only one here till 2 guys showed up at 7:30. Everyone is down at the trail magic. Vermont has been tough to get cell reception. I have been typing these in the evening, then the next day finding a spot on the trail with reception. We have had prety good reception till now. It makes it much more difficult to stay in touch with others. I do not hike with my phone on since the batery wears out so fast.Well, I'm going to bed early tonight so I can get an early start tomorrow.