morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2020-08-25
From: Joe Ranger Road

To: Hanover, NH
Miles today: 13.2

Prepped and ready for Joe to pick me up at 8. I¢m usually down 15 min early. Gives me time to stretch and start breathing in the morning air. Gettin¢ ready for game time! Hiking by 8:35. Beautiful tall stands of pines that the trail threads thru. Kinda cool. Pretty straightforward (read: monotonous) hiking. Did stop to chat with a lady (nice hike break) married to a real hiker. He¢s done the PCT, now doing the AT. Wants to do the CDT. She¢s very gracious and supports him. They live out of an RV. Different strokes for different folks. Geared up before it rained hard for 30 min, then done. After rain, I came upon a red fox headed down trail toward me. He looked at me, I looked at him and ... off he went as fast as he could into the forest. Too quick for pic! Pretty soon after I emerged onto a paved road. Stayed on paved roads for several miles into Norwich, VT over the Connecticut River bridge and into Hanover, NH. The middle of the bridge/ river is the state line. Now in the 13th of 14 AT states. Progress. I was walking straight into the Dartmouth college town and to my hotel. No shuttler required. This hotel has no laundry so I did some basin laundry. Works well and surprisingly dries quickly in the room. Learned the technique from travel around the world where laundries are at a premium.  After a cleanup went back to Molly¢s for another great dinner. (tried another place but too long of a wait so... back to last night¢s place). So yeah today was grinding it out. Only a couple more. We¢ll get there.
Date: 2020-08-26
From: Hanover, NH

To: Three Mile Road
Miles today: 8.4

Today¢s fun twist is that I could hike out the front door of the hotel onto the AT. The trail goes right through town near hotel. No shuttler required. I was geared up and hiking by 7:20am. Very chilly day- 54 degrees. Don¢t get above the low 60s all day. Actually had my cap and wind shell on all day. What a change! No sweat, literally! Hiked past the Dartmouth football stadium (way smaller than the Big House!), past athletic fields and into the nearby hills. Pretty easy hike. Finished at 12:30 and Joe picked me up and got me back to the hotel. Good day, right foot hurting a bit more. Lots of icing tonight. Stepped out for dinner to a nearby pizzeria upon recommendation of Joe, the shuttler. Great food. Even served Bell¢s Oberon beer on tap. (Made in MI). One more day! We¢re gonna knock this out!
Date: 2020-08-27
From: Three Mile Road

To: Grafton Turnpike
Miles today: 9.1
Weather: broken clouds

Well, here it is, the last day of this Section. Joe had me on the trail and hiking by 8:15. Saw the elevation map and the first up was Moose Mountain. Looked formidable. Actually it was not,  so I summited in one hour. Must have been because I was fresh and energized first thing in the morning. Been told that there are indeed moose around here. Figured I¢d call out for moose on the mountain. No luck. Kept hiking. Met several interesting thruhikers today. Red beard (guess why-yup!) . He said he was a GA boy. Very successful career as industrial refrig manager . But as he grew to 300 lbs he and his wife decided on a life style change. Sold everything, bought an RV, left the stress behind and she now supports his thruhiking. He¢s much trimmer and happier. Met Cherry. She¢s flip-flopppng. Started in middle at Harper¢s Ferry. Going north to Mt Katahdan then starts again in middle and goes south. Met an African American young lady - SOBO thruhiker. Trail name Rue (was very proud of myself to immediately pick up on the Hunger Games movie reference). She started in Maine and is a SOBO thruhiker going to GA. Also met Rebel. A 45 yr old woman NOBO thruhiker who continued through the pandemic because, well, she¢s a rebel. They all have a story,They do like my Bionic Man, new joints story as well. My second up of the day was wicked. Not a mountain just up and up and up the shoulder of a ridge. Maybe my energy was in an afternoon low . Whew! Anyway, finished up at 3pm just when I had told Joe, in a previous txt, that I¢d be done. Worked out very well. Celebrated at Murphy¢s on the Green later in the evening an Irish pub next to Dartmouth¢s commons area - The Green. A burger, fries and salad with a couple of glasses of red wine seemed appropriate. I can hardly believe it¢s done. About the right time. Right foot is pretty mad at me. Gonna need some rest on that one. Thank you all for your thoughts, prayers and readership of the blog. This year¢s stats (cause engineers love those :-) )  413 miles (1,768 cumulative AT miles so far), 44 days (39 hiking days) , lost 13.4 lbs, had fun (most of the time). What an adventure! Will publish an epilogue in a couple of weeks with my wrap up thoughts on this year¢s Section hike in a pandemic. Stay tuned! Onward!
Date: 2020-10-21
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Well, because I promised an epilogue wrap up of this year¢s Section Hike, and because it¢s been about 8 weeks since I finished,  here is the first installment of my epilogue. A bit overdue. (I had reasons- you¢ll see) . I wrote down all of my thoughts and figured I¢d better publish it in multiple installments- too long for just one posting. Topics to follow:Stats, Covid, Physical/Mental, Strategies,  Gear, Experience, Aftermath, Summary, Onward, Top Quote of this Section STATSAT Section Hike Three CompleteAT MP 1355 to 1768 - 413 milesStates entered - NJ, NY, CT, MA, VT, NH44 Trail Days (39 hiking, 5 zero) COVIDHiked during a pandemic. After a Spring / Summer under state at home orders I was so ready to bust out. The AT was shut down initially but mostly reopened by July 15 when I started. It was indeed therapeutic! Other hikers had the same thought and some even ignored the trail moratorium completely. A rugged, rebellious lot these AT hikers are! I practiced masking when off trail in the towns as well as handwashing, distancing and lots of fresh air. I started the trail with a negative Covid test and ended it with a negative test. Locals were very friendly especially when I told them I had been on the trail (essentially I had been quarantining) for awhile. They allowed me, then, into the New England bubble. Most prominently was into the lodging. Although the pandemic added another layer of challenge,  the outcome was successful.
Date: 2020-10-22
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: few clouds

PHYSICAL/ MENTAL I trained for several weeks prior to the hike with miles, hills and a weighted backpack. It helped but, truthfully, it took me a week to ten days to really get my trail legs. Tough to replicate AT terrain in flat Michigan. But overall I felt prepared, strong mentally and physically. I did have a few falls and a few scrapes and bruises, all of which I was able to handle with band-aids and tub soaking.  The first 10 days were in a heat wave. Lots of hydration and determination got me through. It bent me but it didn¢t break me. Later, cooler weather helped a lot. By the end I had seen a temp range of 50 degrees. STRATEGIESI didn¢t want to hike in the dark and I didn¢t want to push my knee replacements too hard so I chose to limit each day to 10-13 miles with just a few days outside of this if needed to make plans work. That kept it fun and less work-like. I did, after about 10 days, work into the slackpacking routine. This was key to getting this section complete. Out in the morning with a shuttler, hike all day, then back to my lodging with a shuttler from a pre- arranged trailhead. Carried less weight, slept fewer nights on the ground in varying weather conditions and ate much more exciting food in town. I will look to repeat this strategy for next year¢s section.
Date: 2020-10-23
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

GEARHad most of my gear from previous sections. It served me well as in times past. Though I did have a few gear glitches. Didn¢t completely clean my Sawyer water filter after last outing. So initially had a constrained output until I could properly backwash in town. Backpack cover not too waterproof. Holes and old. Not a big deal since I experienced minimal rain. First rainstorm in tent reminded me I should have re-waterproofed. Some drops but luckily not a show stopper. Tent pole shockcords, I found out, were old and stretched. Didn¢t snap into place quickly so that added time to setup. Otherwise had all proper gear - thanks to spreadsheets and checklists.EXPERIENCE The first 10 days were quite a challenge with heat indexes in the 90s, me not having my trail legs and me carrying a full pack. Ironically, just as I shifted to slackpacking, the temps were more moderate and continued that way. Rain was almost nonexistent- nice! A couple of sprinkley days, a couple of hard rain days (one of which was the Hurricane Isaias aftermath) but that¢s all. Overall the terrain wasn¢t bad compared to previous parts of the AT. Trail bed, with a few rocky/roots/muddy exceptions, was well maintained and quite nice. There were many beautiful sections of the trail in CT, MA and VT. Pines, green mountains, vistas and many hidden lakes. Lots of pleasant surprises. With slackpacking goes the shuttler interface. I used the services of 7 shuttlers - Frank, Joe, Pete, Debbie, Dave, Charlie and Joe. All of these folks had unique characters and personalities but added a lot of color to my days. I learned flexibility, patience, gratitude and a lot about their lives, the local environment and the regional history. They certainly enhanced my trail experience!
Date: 2020-10-24
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

AFTERMATHMy last post from the Trail talked about my right foot being swollen and mad at me. Well it was swollen because my second toe was infected. I had treated it over the last several days of the hike sufficiently, I thought, to finish and travel home to MI. Upon my return it was diagnosed as osteomyelitis, commonly referred to as bone infection. I was admitted to the hospital and the medical staff rallied around the problem, pumped me full of antibiotics intravenously and them amputated the top two sections of the toe. The good news is that they stopped the infection from spreading into my foot and, after almost a week in the hospital, I was on my way to a full recovery. Great care, good outcome (minus a bit of one toe) and optimistic about total recovery. No loss of mobility or stability. Could have been a lot worse. Quite an experience! As part of my wind down/recovery I have been cleaning, repairing, replacing and storing gear. Updating my checklists will follow shortly. I¢ll be ready for the next section. SUMMARYOther than stubbornness and error in judgement in not treating my toe sooner and properly, this section hike was an uplifting experience. Met lots of great folks, saw a new part of this beautiful country of ours and relieved a part of the Covid stress.ONWARDI¢m ready to take on the next, and last, section of my Appalachian Trail experience, 425 miles, next Summer (2021). This will be from Lyme, NH to the north terminus of the AT, MT Katahdin and will complete my goal of hiking the entire Trail. Just now starting spreadsheets and plans. Onward!BEST QUOTE OF THIS SECTION HIKE¢Very pleasant day on the AT. I know why I¢m out here.¢ August 6, 2020 near Dalton, Massachusetts
Date: 2021-04-02
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

Start-704.5 VA Rt 624 End - 710.5 VA Rt 311   6 MilesGap Hiking. It¢s where you skipped a part of the AT on your thru or section hike due to a variety of circumstances and it bothers your conscience (or at least it does for some of us) so you go back and ¢hike that gap¢. Travel opportunities allowed my wife and I to revisit my gap areas in VA, TN and NC. So Day 1 was a 6 miler near Daleville, VA. My faithful shuttler, Homer Witcher, who shuttled me a bunch in 2017 and 2018 shuttled Susie, my wife, and me from the ending parking lot to the start. Really beautiful day, in the lower 30s but light wind. Great day for hiking on the AT, just had to layer up. It was great to have a hiking buddy. A variety of terrain including switchbacks. But we were treated to nice views, especially since the leaves weren¢t out yet. Had woods, ridge lines and pastures (complete with grazing cows like a previous Switzerland hiking experience). We only took one energy / water break to take in the views. Otherwise steady enjoyable hiking. Great day with only a slight setback when Susie slipped on leaves and hyperextended a knee. She finished but with a sore knee, a true trooper! We enjoyed a few really quiet spots, not many other hikers and a gorgeous day. Nice first gap hiking day!
Date: 2021-04-03
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Start - 710.5 VA Rt 311End - 720.2 Scorched Earth Gap  9.7 MilesStill part of Trail I skipped on Jun 21, 2017. My wife dropped me off on another gorgeous day - cool but sunny. Since it was a Sat, lots of day hikers. First leg of day was a 4 mile uphill to McAfee¢s Knob. My slow steady uphill was rewarded with beautiful views from the Knob. Asked a clean cut young man to take pics. Did a great job and found out he was a Marine Corps Officer candidate starting training in near future. Also chatted with the on-duty Park Ranger, an Army vet who did time in Afghanistan. To go on duty up there he hikes in the 4 mile uphill I had just done. Whew! (and, of course, hikes back down when off duty! Ooh - Rah!) Moved along quickly during the day with minimal water and snack breaks. Another challenging uphill in afternoon to Tinker Cliffs. More great views on a beautiful day and some exhilarating hiking along the sharp cliff drop offs. Felt pretty good all day but did feel my lack of training (was a bit tired) as I finished up the day¢s trail gap hiking at Scorched Earth Gap. Unfortunately I then had to hike the 3 mi blue blaze side trail,  Andy Layne Trail, to get to parking lot meeting spot for pickup by my wife. All downhill but an extraordinary number of steps built into the trail. Great weather all day. I was bushed when I finished up at 4:50pm. A hot shower and then dinner out in Roanoke that evening for some surf and turf (tenderloin and lobster) helped with a rejuvenation.
Date: 2021-04-04
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Easter Sunday Start - 720.3 US Rt 220End - 731.7 US Rt 11  1.4 MilesThis gap hiking was of a short stretch I skipped on June 23, 2017. My wife, Susie, dropped me off after I had gotten straight out of bed, dressed and hit the Trail before coffee and breakfast. Figured I could handle it since it was so short. This part of the Trail is immaculately maintained by the shuttlers, Homer and Theresa Witcher. It was a nice stretch with varied terrain. Unfortunately it runs near I-81 with lots of traffic noise. I did see wildlife, though. A small fawn who, after sizing me up,  ran off into the woods. I texted Susie with a 20 min warning of my finishing up. She drove out from the hotel and, bless her heart, brought me coffee. Really a fantastic start to Easter Sunday. A short hike wrapped up with coffee. Life is good!
Date: 2021-04-05
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Start - 420.1 Dennis Cove RoadEnd - 428.6 Shook Branch Rec Area8.5 MilesSet up a shuttle for today¢s hike to save Susie the hassle of dropping me off and picking me up. Good choice, lots of narrow switchbacks to get up to the starting point. The nice proprietor of Black Bear Resort, Travis, picked me up from my parked car at Watauga Lake. Travis is retired Navy so we got to tell each other sea stories during the shuttle run.  I skipped this part of the Trail on Apr 27, 2017. Another cool sunny day that got a bit warmer as the day progressed. The hike started along several beautiful, peaceful streams. Flat then a downgrade to Laurel Fork Falls. This part of the Trail is backed up by a blue blaze alternative trail since the lower white blaze trail is very close to the stream and often under water. The steam was down so I got to hike the white blaze trail. Had a major 1800 ft elevation climb during day. Also had a chance to practice filtering water again so took it to ensure I had adequate water. Switchbacks and downhill at end of day. Worked my quads! Only wildlife today was a gray squirrel. Finished up today¢s gap hike on schedule in 6 hours. Drive myself back to the hotel in Johnson City, TN to enjoy a dip in the pool and cocktails on the warm, sunny patio with Susie. Tennessee gap hiking complete! Onward.
Date: 2021-04-06
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Start - 167.4 TrailheadEnd - 164.3 Fontana Dam Road  3.1 MilesThis gap hiking section is to cover the Trail I skipped on Mar 27, 2017. We stayed at Fontana Village Resort as our base for this leg of the gap hiking. Quite a bit of history here. The village, in the mid 1940s, originally served as the camp for the workers, and their families,  building the Fontana Dam. It is now a recreational lodging site for visitors enjoying the Fontana Lake and nearby hiking trails. Due to circumstances, we hiked this from North to South. We parked in the middle, near the dam, hiked north to the trailhead and then back south. Susie stopped at the car and I hiked on. Passed a cute family having fun talking about the ¢ dam¢ hike along the ¢dam¢ trail reveling in using the forbidden word in an acceptable context. In passing I said, OK enough of the ¢dam¢ jokes! :-)  I hiked back to the marina parking lot where Susie met me with the car. The latter part of the hike was along the lake. Saw purple and yellow trillium, a unique experience for me. Also saw one of the best shelters along the AT, one dubbed the Fontana Hilton. New construction that includes showers. Didn¢t use it since we were staying in the Fontana Village Resort Lodge. So Gap Hiking was completed today. 28.7 miles total. I can now complete the last AT Section hike this year guilt free. Next, and Final, Section hike to resume this June and July. Stay tuned! Onward!
Date: 2021-06-09
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Well , here we are ! The start of Section 4. Lots of spreadsheets, gear review, coordinating with co - hikers, training. Had gear pack out at 25 lbs without water. Great! Up early for my flight out of Grand Rapids. My great son, Derek, delivered me looking forward to our co- hiking later in summer. First challenge - late flight out of GR made me miss flight out of Detroit. But a later standby seat to Boston worked but ¢¦ had to grab bags (luckily early) and dash across Boston airport for my small plane flight to Lebanon, NH. Made it- yay! But my big bag (with backpack) had to go on a later flight- boo! Well this flight was on time . It was basic air transport. 1 pilot, 2 props and six passengers. My shuttler Joe from last summer took me to the Norwich Inn, a well maintained, historic inn. Joe came back to get me and make the airport run for second bag. It was there as promised- yay! Back at the hotel I quickly packed up my duffles (used to transport my gear into checked baggage) and mailed them back home at the nearby Post Office just before it closed. Back at the hotel a couple of beers settled the dust after a long day of travel. It was a lovely New England evening out on the patio. Had dinner in the hotel to save having to walk out elsewhere. Great food! First lesson for trip - relax and it¢ll all work out. It did! In bed by 8:30pm. Whew!
Date: 2021-06-10
From: Grafton Turnpike

To: Smarts Mountain
Miles today: 5.8
Weather: clear sky

Great night¢s sleep- cool, dark, quiet. Up at 5:30am to take advantage of coffee station in lower level of our building on the inn property. A couple of cups snd ready to go. Went down for the 7:30 am breakfast buffet thinking plenty of time before a Joe pickup at 9:30. Later pickup since I planned a purposely short hike day. All good, right? Today¢s challenge. Joe cancelled since he was sick. He offered no sub. Oh boy! He suggested Big Yellow Taxi. I called Jessica and, wow, she was able to  work me in. 8:30 pickup. I quickly packed up and she was there when I walked out at 8:15. I navigated her out to dropoff at trailhead. On trail at 8:45. Thank you Bob, my wingman. It worked out! No trail legs or lungs so breather breaks up the upgrade trail. These breaks happened when I encountered several fit older day hikers. We traded stories. Beautiful day. Cool and clear. Found a nice tent site at the top at 2:30. Very nice view as shown in the photo. Off to find water. Encountered a couple of thruhikers who said no water around. I decided to look for myself and wouldn¢t you know it, found an adequate supply so all set for the evening. (Never take your first ¢No¢). Had time so rested on my pad, had signal so caught up with family. I felt like a king with my backpacker meal of Pad Thai with Chicken. Yum, a bit spicy. All good. Cleaned up, hung bear bag and into tent early- 6:15 - since flies snd gnats were swarming. A very pleasant 64°and 33% humidity. Going to get down into 40s overnight. Break out that sleeping bag. Birds singing. Very quiet. Not sure there were any humans for miles. Really a spectacular first day.
Date: 2021-06-11
From: Smarts Mountain

To: NH 25A
Miles today: 10.3
Weather: few clouds

Chilly overnight. Broke out the knit cap to keep my head warm. Very cozy in sleeping bag. The birds and then the wind  required ear plugs. Since it got light early I was up at 5:30 and out of the tent by 6. Made my morning coffee to go with the assorted breakfast items. Packed up pretty efficiently considering it had been awhile since my last packup. On the way by 7:07. A windy, overcast, cool day. Ran into two women section hikers, Marmot and No Name. They had stayed the night in the shelter. Also saw a tent at the base of the fire tower. Later met the tent occupant down the trail. Forgetful, a mid aged thruhiker originally from New Zealand who is a cellist now from NJ. No concerts due to Covid so he decided to hike the trail. His engineer wife is supporting him. Go figure! Saw other day hikers and thruhikers both north and southbound. Down for a bit then a fierce up to Mt Cube (who figures these names out?). Then down again. Fatigued but finished on time as promised to shuttler, Marlene, who came with great accolades. She was a no show. And there was no cell coverage to check in. Challenge for the day! Luckily a guy dropped off his wife and daughter for their weekend backpacking trip and he took me into town, out of the goodness of his heart, in the opposite direction from his home.I offered him money but he said just hearing life stories was pay enough. Restores your faith in folks. My wingman helped me again! Turns out she screwed up and was at Route NH 25 not NH 25A . She admitted fault and said next couple of shuttles were free. Checked in to Inn 32, shaved, showered and headed down the street to Woodstock Inn and Brewery. The place was hopping! A biker event in town for the week. Also noticed that this was a different kind of place. No masks! What a change.  Had two beers snd a plate of meatloaf along the mashed potatoes and fried brussel sprouts that would fill up any hiker. Good day. A bit stiff but ibuprofen will help. Great to be back in a bed.