morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2016-07-03
From: Crystal Mountain Campsite

To: Bascom Lodge
Miles today: 13.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Day 19 - We awoke at ?5:15am and hit the trail at 6:15am. The previous evening we heard fireworks going off until 10pm so we were up a little later than "hikers midnight". Guess they celebrate the 4th of July for more than one day around here!It was a cold morning again and still windy, making it feel even colder. We had a slight climb to start the day that warmed us up a little, but after that it was all downhill. We made it to the town of Cheshire, MA by 8:45am and headed to the Dunkin' Donuts for breakfast. An hour later we waddled out and started our big climb for the day...2500 feet to the top of Mt. Greylock... our biggest single climb so far. This is "training" us for what is to come later in Vermont and New Hampshire! Fortunately there were only a few steep climbs. The rest were gradual ups. Even so, it took us? about 6 hours to make the 8 miles to the top of Mt. Greylock. We noticed that as we climbed, we saw more and more pines and less of the deciduous hardwoods. By the time we reached the top, it was all pines. Mt Greylock is the highest point in Massachusetts. At the top is a huge tower as a war memorial. Next to it is Bascom Lodge, a lodge built by the CCC in the 1930's similar to the Timberline Lodge we stayed in on our PCT hike through Oregon. Spider had phoned yesterday and got us 2 bunks reserved in the "bunkroom" for tonight (unfortunately, no private rooms were available, holiday weekend and all). So we checked in at about 4pm and immediately hit the showers. As usual it felt sooo Good!? Afterwards we walked around outside and took the attached picture...This is what a clean hiker looks like: wearing his only clean shirt and his rain-pants!At 5pm sharp it was Happy Hour at the Lodge and guess who was first in line? We then found a couple of rocking chairs in the lobby and enjoyed our drinks. Soon a guitar and fiddle duo started tuning up and began playing Irish, Canadian and New England tunes...not our usual night on the trail!!At 7pm sharp, the music ended and those ?of us with reservations moved to the dining room for a wonderful 3-course meal. We sat with 4 people who had driven up for just the dinner. We had great conversation over dinner. The dining room window gave a panoramic view to the valley below. So over our coffee, homemade ice cream and cake, we watched the fireworks below. Like I said, they celebrate 4th of July all weekend around here!!
Date: 2016-07-04
From: Bascom Lodge

To: Seth Warner Shelter
Miles today: 13.2
Weather: broken clouds

Day 20 - Quietly dressing and removing our packs from the bunk room at the Lodge was a challenge, but we did it. No one but us was up at 5:00AM. We hauled all of our gear downstairs and out to the picnic tables in front of the lodge and repacked everything for a new day.We took a few minutes to look at all the info plaques about the Lodge and the huge war memorial at the summit of Mt. Greylock, built in 1932. The memorial is being refurbished, as you can see from the photo. It's actually shaped like a pawn on a chess board.We got our earliest start to date...5:45AM. The trail leaving Mt. Greylock was hard on our knees and toes...3000 feet down. The last section coming down to the town at the bottom of the descent was newly rebuilt with switchbacks...a pleasant surprise! Then we immediately started a 2000 foot climb to get up onto the next ridge in line. This combo was a physical challenge! We took extra rest breaks, just stopping for a few minutesAlong the way, we chatted several times with a Ridge Runner volunteer who worked the holiday weekend at a popular shelter, educating new hikers. He said he had to tell one dad that a whole bottle of kitchen dish soap was inappropriate!We crossed the MA-VT line today. That point is also the southern terminus of the Long Trail. That trail goes straight north to Canada. It coincides with the AT until the AT turns east toward New Hampshire on about 100 miles. We met a number of hikers doing the Long Trail, including one very young man...maybe 14 years old...whose parents walked him in and sent him off. They told us that they would be meeting and re-supplying him along the way. We were impressed that they were letting him go all by himself.We arrived at our destination shelter at 5:15. It's 7 miles into Vermont and was packed full with tenters. Some looked more like Fourth of July celebrants. We heard ATV's and gun shots for several hours. It reminded us of a 4th we spent in Idaho.Milestone: Completed the MA section of the AT, our 11th state, only 3 to go!!
Date: 2016-07-06
From: Catamount Motel, Bennington VT

To: Catamount Motel, Bennington VT
Miles today: 0.0

Day 22 - ?We slept well last night, after a long week of hiking and going to bed, looking forward to our day off. Of course breakfast was .75 miles away in a diner, highly recommended by our Trail Angel driver, the day before. It was The Blue Benn, a real diner car, built in the 1940's. Every table had a selection devise which, for a quarter got you two songs from the 1950's, played on the big juke box. Someone at a neighboring table put it to use. The attached photo shows how it looks inside. The food was excellent too.We spent the day doing our usual chores...getting laundry done, repacking our packs from our re-supply box, shopping for other needed replacements, re-spraying our clothes with Permethrin (tick repellent) which we sent to ourselves in our re-supply box, catching up with family by phone, etc. Spider spent time further repairing his pack, to ensure that it lasts another 250 miles. He also called a taxi to get a 6:00AM pick-up tomorrow, to get us back to the trail (5 miles out of town).For dinner, we walked back into town to eat at Ramunto's Pizza Pub. We'd heard it was popular with hikers, but our experience was that it was popular with families. We enjoyed our dinners...really carbed up for the next week of hiking!Now that we are in Vermont, we're in the Green Mountains, still part of the Appalachians. We've noticed from the maps that we are moving into greater elevations, and bigger climbs and descents. We've also noticed from the maps that there is a whole lot less of anything else like roads and towns. Lastly, we've noticed a lot less AT&T cell reception. Our journal entries may be bunched a bit more, than before, as we send multiple entries from a mountain top where we finally get cell service.So the physical assessment is similar to the last Zero Day. We both have healing blisters on our feet. ET has new blister under her right big toe that appeared 2 days ago. Her hope is that the Zero Day will let it heal some. Spider has been nursing a burst blister all week. It happened on our 18 mile day last week. We got some New Skin Liquid Bandage today that he hopes will do the trick for the upcoming week's hike. This is the first year we have had blisters this late into our hike. Our knees seem to be holding up okay, but long and or very steep downhills are not their friends! Overall we feel much stronger, particularly going uphill. Hopefully another week of "training" will have us ready for the higher, steeper mountains of northern Vermont and New Hampshire.
Date: 2016-07-07
From: Catamount Motel, Bennington VT

To: Kaughnawaga Tent Site
Miles today: 14.4
Weather: clear sky

Day 23 - We awoke at 5:15am and were ready to go at 6am when the taxi arrived. It was a quick run up to the pass where we had left the AT 2 days ago. We hit the trail a 6:15am and, as usual, we had a climb out of the pass. Fortunately it wasn't as steep as the steps/trail we had come down to get to the pass. We had a fairly quick 1200 foot climb then it was a series of ups and down but with a gradual increase in elevation. In the attached picture, you can see the view from a viewpoint...looking out on the thick forest. By our third break we had done most our climbing for the day and reached Goddard Shelter.A little about how we use breaks during hiking. When we start out a long distance hike, we usually take a break every hour for about 20 minutes. We take our boots off to let our socks dry and eat a little something. After about 2 weeks we move the breaks to every 1.5 hours and by week 4 we are to every 2 hours. Usually when it's time for a break, we find a convenient rock or tree to lean up against near the trail.So for our third break today, it was unusual to be taking a break at a shelter. However, it turned out to be fortuitous because half-way through our lunch a rain squall came through and the skies opened up for about 30 minutes. Once it passed, we hit the trail again, but by then it was flooded in many areas and the rocks and roots were slippery.We completed our 2400 foot climb and began our 4 mile descent to our destination tent site, arriving at 5:30pm. Even there was a forecast for a chance of thunderstorms, we decided to roll the dice and stay in our tent instead of the nearby shelter. Well, we lost...as I am typing this, it is pouring rain outside with lots of thunder and lightning. Oh Well!!Today was hump day in a couple of ways: 1) We passed the 250 mile mark of our 500 hike and 2) We have hiked 19 days before this day and we have planned 19 days of hiking after today to finish this hike.Major Milestone: We've hiked 250 miles¢¦ only 250 to go!!
Date: 2016-07-08
From: Kaughnawaga Tent Site

To: Stratton Pond Shelter
Miles today: 15.0
Weather: broken clouds

Day 24 - We awoke at 5:15am. A little water from the previous night's thunderstorms had leaked under the tent but nothing was very wet¢¦ a testament to our 3-season tent. We packed up the wet tent and hit the trail at 6:30am. We started our first climb of the day immediately.As usual after a rain, we had to talk it slow because of the wet rocks and roots...only now there were also standing water in the middle of the trail where there used to be soil. If you step in these you find the soil has liquefied and the mud comes half-way up your boot...so we try to walk around these mini-bogs.Once the first climb was over, it was a fairly level trail. Ever since the Long Trail began, we have been seeing a lot more hikers on the trail and in the shelters/tent areas. Watching them reminds us of the people at the beginning of the AT...big packs, blisters and learning their gear.Just before our last climb of the day, Trail Magic!! The same guy that was at the trailhead near Bennington giving out Klondike bars, was at a trailhead before Stratton Mountain giving out ice cream sandwiches...gotta' love this guy!!The climb up Stratton Mountain was long 1800 foot climb, but our egos were helped when we passed a couple of Long Trail hikers!! Once finally at the top, we found the fire tower in the attached picture. The views were supposed to be great from the top, but we were trying to get to the shelter before the predicted rainstorms...so down we went!!We arrived at the shelter at 5:45pm. With the predicted rain, we decided to stay in the shelter. This shelter is one of the few, so far, where there is a caretaker and he charges $5/person to stay in the shelter. Not sure what we got for this fee...Nothing was different from any of the "free" shelters we have stayed at!!
Date: 2016-07-09
From: Stratton Pond Shelter

To: Bromley Shelter
Miles today: 12.7
Weather: overcast clouds

Day 25 - Good thing we sheltered last night! The skies opened up and it poured from midnight to 6am. When we woke at 5am and heard the rain, we thought "Oh no!!" This is the kind of day where we would prefer to be in our easy chairs with a cup of coffee and a good book watching the rain¢¦ but that is not the lot of a hiker We got a later start, as usual in a shelter...left at 6:50am. Fortunately our procrastination paid off because it had stopped raining. We were dressed for rain with rain jackets and pack covers. Fortunately, the rain held off until we were just about done with breakfast for our first hiking break...about 9:15am.Right after we started down the trail, we saw Stratton Pond, for which that shelter was named. It was beautiful in the morning with mist rising from the water. That's our photo for the day.The trail was an easy one today, with few serious ups and downs. Instead, we were challenged by flooded trails with gushy, muddy sections and deeper streams, due to the previous two nights of rain and the steady rain that started up again around noon.We were glad to find bunk space at our next destination shelter. We even gave up an opportunity to walk down a highway we crossed, for real food in a restaurant. Spider had discovered its availability in his pre-hike research and we were carrying one less lunch because of it. But we were determined to get to the shelter as early as possible to ensure our spots. (We agreed to make up that missing lunch on our last hiking day of this week, when we have a short hike to our next rest/zero day location and can eat a great lunch in town.)So what happens when we arrive at a shelter dripping wet? First, we determine where we'll bunk. Usually, it's the loft, as we're often late arrivers. (Most hikers prefer the bunks on the main floor.) Then we unpack our packs to the side and find a peg or nail from which to hang our wet packs. Spider usually strings a clothesline, for hanging our dripping clothes after we've changed into dry clothes. We use our tent ground cloth to keep our sleeping pads, sleeping bags and blow-up pillows off the loft floor. Lastly, we take our stove, cups and spoons, water bottles and food in our Ursacks (bear-proof) bags down to the cooking table (usually under the front overhang of the shelter), for dinner later.Spider usually fills our big water bag at the shelter's water source (spring or creek nearby). We treat the water with Iodine and then use the water for dinner that night and for filling our water bottles for the next day's hike. Today, Spider got soaked getting water.   The thunder was booming and the rain pouring as he rushed back from filling the water bag!The rain today is from a front moving in, as compared to thundershowers that we'd previously experienced. With it has come much colder temperatures. We're finally getting to use some of the cold weather clothing we've been lugging with us all this time. We hardly sweat at all today!
Date: 2016-07-10
From: Bromley Shelter

To: Big Branch Shelter
Miles today: 14.5
Weather: scattered clouds

Day 26 - We awoke at 5:15am to rain¢¦ Darn!! It had rained all night. (It's easy to tell, when we are sleeping under a metal roof!) So on with the rain gear. We hit the trail at 6:40am and started to climb up the 700 feet of Bromley Peak. At the very top, what do we find? The ski lift in the attached picture. We hadn't realized that the open trail we were walking up was a ski run.?After Bromley Peak came Styles Peak, Peru Peak and Baker Peak¢¦ a 4 peak day in the rain¢¦ because it rained on and off all day. All the peaks were normal climbs except Baker. It was a solid rock scramble in the pouring rain. Every step was a potential slip. We were glad when that was over. The trail was full of water/mud holes...some of them over 3 inches deep. So it was more of a dance? down the trail than a hike. In some particularly boggy areas, trail maintenance folk had nailed long 2X8 boards onto cross beams to make a board walkway above the mud. The problem is that these boards are like ice when wet¢¦ just another challenge!!One thing about hiking in the rain is that it's not easy to plop down next to the trail for a break. For our breakfast break today we tied up our tent ground cloth (a waterproof sheet that goes under the tent to prevent ground moisture seeping up into the tent) to 4 trees as a canopy to sit under. Another break was at a shelter we were passing by. But in general we minimize the number of breaks on rainy days. Today we only took 3 breaks where on a sunny day it would have been 4 or 5.We arrived at our destination shelter at 5:25pm. With all the hikers that had passed us during the day, we figured there was a good chance the shelter would be full by the time we got there, but as luck would have there was only one person there. The forecast is for clearing weather tonight...we sure hope so!! ?We are falling asleep to the thunder of water rushing down Ten Kilns Brook as it drains the mountains just outside our shelter. "Brook" implies a little 3 feet wide trickle of water¢¦ This "brook" is 30 feet wide and a roaring torrent.
Date: 2016-07-11
From: Big Branch Shelter

To: Claredon Shelter
Miles today: 16.9
Weather: overcast clouds

Day 27 - I'm happy to report that there was no more rain last night and we awoke to clear skies!! We hit the trail at 6:25am and start our steady climb of 1100 feet to White Rocks Peak. The trail was very wet and muddy. In some cases a stream was running down the trail. It was cool morning¢¦ just right for hiking.For a change we didn't ? have to immediately climb a mountain! Instead, we had slight ups and downs. We had our breakfast break at beautiful Little Rock Pond. We followed the outflow to the Pond, along the way we passed 2 defunct beaver ponds.Soon we started our first climb of the day, 800 feet up White Rocks Mountain. With a name like that we expected a rock scramble somewhere along the way...but nothing materialized.After getting off White Rocks Mountain, we immediately began the 1200 foot climb of Bear Mountain. It think this is third "Bear Mountain" we have climbed this trip. Every state seems to have one.After Bear Mountain we followed a ridge where at one point we came to an outlook and had a panoramic view of the countryside, including a view of the Rutland, VT airport.After dropping off the ridge we crossed the Mill River on suspension bridge. This is what created Claredon Gorge..?. which is today's picture and the photo on the map we're using!After the Gorge we were feeling pretty good. We only had 1 mile to our destination shelter and it was only 6pm... on the largest mileage day we have had on this trip. The map showed a steady climb to the shelter. Unfortunately what had was an almost vertical climb up a 500 foot climb up a rock fall. Not what you want to see at the end of a long day!It took us 1.5 hours to go the last mile. We finally drug ourselves into the shelter tenting area at 7:30pm completely bushed. But camp duties had to be done! So as ET set up the tent, Spider got water for the next day. We ate dinner in the waning sunlight, then went to bed. Major Milestone: We passed 300 miles on this hike...only 200 miles to go!!
Date: 2016-07-12
From: Claredon Shelter

To: Churchill Scott Shelter
Miles today: 14.5
Weather: scattered clouds

Day 28 - What a long day! After 16.9 miles yesterday, we started out pooped. And today we climbed Killington Peak...about a 2500 foot climb.It felt great to sleep in our tent last night. The "bed" was more comfortable...our pads on leaves instead of the wood boards of shelters for the last three nights. It was dark and quiet and we both slept well. The tent also got aired out and dried after being stowed wet in the tent sack for several days.We started the day with a steep, 500 foot climb. That seems to be the norm...every shelter where we sleep-in or tent-by seems to be down from some high point and below the next high point. Then we roller-coasted awhile, before starting the 7-mile ascent of Killington. Parts of the trail were nice forest paths and others, rocky, rooty, hands-and-feet climbs...another norm. Thank goodness for the easy sections where we get close to 2 miles per hour of hiking. The steep ones are more like 1 mph.We seldom take any side trails to vista points, but one exception ET made was to go just 100 yards off the trail to capture a photo of Killington Peak. The photo was taken around 10am and we reached almost to the peak on the trail at 4pm. (Another side trail, which we ignored, took you to the peak - a ski area concessions area.)We got in at 6:30 pm... 12 hours from when we started, with 4 half-hour breaks. The shelter where we finished for the day is old, small and has only one campsite. About 6 other tenters, including us are squeezing in somewhere. We created our own campsite in a totally new area on fresh, though wet leaves.
Date: 2016-07-14
From: Clevenger Condo, Killington, VT

To: Clevenger Condo, Killington, VT
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Day 30 - With a chance to sleep in, we got up at...5am?!! Oh well!! However it was great to enjoy our coffee, pastries and OJ in the comfort of easy chairs. As I have said before, that's what hiking does for us: makes us appreciate the things we could easily take for granted.Spider has been having more trouble with his knees this last week. Some of it was probably caused by his old pack, but some of it is an ongoing issue. So Spider decided to take the local bus into nearby Rutland, VT to upgrade his knee braces. After a relaxing couple of hours, Spider took off for the bus. The bus arrived on time and Spider discovered that seniors ride for 1 dollar¢¦ you gotta' love it!! 30 minutes later Spider was in downtown Rutland. He visited 4 pharmacies before finding what he wanted. Meanwhile, ET packed up a few things we've decided to send back home and took them to the Post Office. She also stopped by the deli and picked up more food!!The afternoon was spent relaxing, talking to family and Spider catching up on golf on TV. ? The attached picture is of the condo. We really liked the way it was set up.While watching the weather forecast, we saw that heavy-duty thunderstorms are predicted for late afternoon/early evening. That, coupled with the amount of food we still have left (hungry people should not shop for food!!) we decided to not go out for dinner. Good thing, because at about 5pm the skies opened up. Glad we're not on the trail. Fortunately the forecast looks better for the next couple of days, as we get back on the trail.Our physical condition is good in some ways and worse in others. ET is feeling much stronger and her knees only complain ever so often. She has one new blister but all the others have healed. She has a skinned up shin from a fall but it is healing. As mentioned, Spider is having knee problems especially his weak right. His plan is to use the new knee braces and Advil to make it through the remaining 2 weeks. We'll see!! Spider tweaked his back because of the problems with his old pack. The new pack seems to support his back much better, so hopefully it can heal. All of Spider's blisters have healed...and we do this for fun!
Date: 2016-07-15
From: Clevenger Condo, Killington, VT

To: Wintturi Shelter
Miles today: 16.6
Weather: broken clouds

Day 31: We were up at 5am and finished packing up. We straightened up the condo and ate breakfast. We finally hit the trail at 6:30am.We cut down through the forest to the AT that was only 100 feet away. It was a fairly level trail, albeit rocky, until we dropped down to Thundering Falls, today's picture. We then followed a boardwalk through a marsh to a road and parking lot. Apparently, this was all set up for wheel access to the falls.Right after that we began our 1300 foot climb of Quimby Mountain. Later, we had 800, 500, 600 and 300 foot climbs...a big up and down day. At one point we took a short side trail to a no-longer-used shelter (because there is no water!). On top of the shelter was a platform with a ladder to it. From the platform you could see forever!We saw a lot more thru-hikers. At least 8-10 passed us today. So a "bubble" of hikers must have caught up to us. We are also starting to see more thru-hikers who started in Maine and are hiking south on the AT...they are called "South-bounders".Spider loves his new pack. He hardly knows it's there...and best yet it doesn't aggravate the back muscles he strained trying to live with the old pack. Unfortunately, the new leg braces have only marginally helped Spider's knee issues. His right knee hurts on the downhills and his left knee gives him shooting pains if tries to step up more than 3-4 inches high on the uphills. The only time he is pain free in on level trail...and the AT trail planners haven't included much of that!! So more adjusting of braces and more Advil for tomorrow to see if Spider can solve his issues.Major Milestone: We passed the 350 mile mark on our hike...150 miles to go!!