morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2005-08-04
From: Pine Swamp Brook Lean-T

To: Plateau Campsite
Miles today: 16.6

We left Pine Swamp as fast as we could at 6:30 a.m. because we were getting swarmed by mosquito's. Since about mid-New York the water sources have become more reliable, which means more breeding grounds for mosquito's and we're getting bit more an more the further North we go, but if it means more relable water its worth the nuisance.We hiked the 7 miles out to U.S. 7 and did the short blue blaze on the Mohawk trail to the Mountain Side Cafe where Santa, BigFoot, Beekeeper and myself had a great breakfast. After we ate, Beekeeper wanted to take advantage of the payphone on the restaurant wall to call home, so Santa and Big Foot hiked ahead.About 2 miles up the trail we passed a hydro electric plant where someone at the resaurant informed us that they had an outdoor shower. Sure enough, we found it on the outside of one of the buildings and took a cold shower. In this heat and humidity it was the next best thing to fantastic. It energized us up Prospect Mt. and on to our present location. We made a short stop in Salisbery, CT. to buy something to eat and to load up on water and gatoraid since the water at the tent site is dried up.Santa and Big foot apparently missed the shower, and kept on going up to Riga Shelter about 3 miles and 1000 feet up from here. Beekpr and I decided this was far enough in this heat today. Im sure we'll meet up in a day or so with them. As I was writing this a youth group just came into camp, about 12 of them. They set their tents all around us, so I'm anticipating a noisy night. I think I'll stop here and put my radio ear phones on and listen to music instead of their voices.
Date: 2005-08-05
From: Plateau Campsite

To: Glen Brook Lean-To
Miles today: 13.3

Goodbye Connecticut and hello Massachusetts. This is Beekeepers last state before he completes the Appalachian Trail at North Adams.The youth group I mentioned in last nights journal were rather noisy setting up and making dinner, and finally setting down for the night. I didnt get to sleep until about 1:00 a.m., and 5:30 come early this morning and it was hard to drag my butt out of my tent to get going. The humidity was very high also making it hard to sleep.We left our camp at 6:20 and hiked up to Lions Head at 1738 feet. In all we climbed 4 mountains today in some very hot, sticky weather. Our next mountain was Bear Mt. at 2316 feet. That also had a rock observation tower. From there we headed down to 1380 feet to Sages Ravine, which is a beautiful walk alng the creek complete with many small waterfalls.We got water at the ravine and a good thing it was that we did. The next mountain was Race Mt. at 2430 feet, and the heat from the noon day sun was on us through a great cliffside walk, wearing us out. So we took a break on the first rock we came to after the summit that was in the shade. After eating lunch there we layed out on the rock and dozed for about 45 minutes. We decided we'd better get going since it was looking cloudy. In fact we hadn't hiked half a mile before I heard distant thunder. I told Beekeeper it would probobly hit us on the summit Mt. Everett, and though we were climbing as fast as we could it did just that, slammed us on the summit. The storm was right on top of us and the wind was howling over the mountain top with the rain coming down horizontally. In other words, it really poured and soaked us from top to bottom including our boots.We hiked down to this shelter and it looks like we'll have it to ourselves tonight, so we're staying inside since it will probably rain some more. The rain did cool things off considerably and that is a good thing. After 3 days of hiking since Kent, C.T. in this very hot and humid weather, we're heading into Great Barrington tomorrow for resupply, shower, etc, and will be back on the trail soon. horray!!
Date: 2005-08-06
From: Glen Brook Lean-To

To: Great Barrington, MA
Miles today: 7.9
Weather: overcast clouds

Another early day this morning with Beekeeper and I leaving the shelter at 6:10 a.m. . Its been 2 years since I had to put on damp clothes and wet boots and its still one of the most uncomfortable things we have to do on a hike like this. The thing in our favor was knowing we would be in Great Barrington soon and taking a hot shower and washing all the dirt, grime, and sweat off.On the hike this morning we went over Jugs End with several clear open vistas. It was quite beautiful.We're in town at the Day's Inn and we'll be doing the normal chores, laundry, and shopping and re-hydrating. Tomorrow we'll start out a little later and take advantage of sleeping in a bed. Our plan is to go as far as Mt. Wilson North Lean-to or around 14 miles, so wish us luck.
Date: 2005-08-07
From: Great Barrington, MA

To: .3 miles North of Beartown Mt. Road
Miles today: 14.5

We finally dragged ourselves out of bed at 7:00, showered, packed, and headed to the motels continental breakfast. After eating english muffins, 3 donuts, 4 glasses of orange juice and a couple of cups of coffee we were ready to hike. We went to the motel's driveway and in about 5 min. hitched a ride back to the trail.It was cooler today, but you could feel the humidity in the air as we hiked and especially when we climbed, which we did often. Our destination was Mt. Wilson North Lean-to, but when we arrived at the shelter around 3:45 p.m. we found the water supply dried up, both of us were down to less than a liter of water so we pushed on. After about 1.5 miles Beekpr spotted some water down a ravine off the trail. We filled our water bottles and decided this was far enough, so we set up our camp and cooked dinner as quickly as we could since it seemed we were on the local Mosquitos menu. I'm presently snug in my sleeping bag and tarp tent, and Beekpr is in his hammock, and as tired as we are I'd expect we won't have any trouble sleeping tonight. Good night for now and I'll pick this up again tomorrow.
Date: 2005-08-08
From: .3 miles North of Beartown Mt. Road

To: Upper Goose Pond Cabin
Miles today: 13.4
Weather: haze

We made short work of leaving our campsite this morning, since the bugs were zeroing in on us from the moment we left the protection of my tent and Beekpr's hammock. The trail today was pretty good with one large climb of 1100 feet. I'm glad the trail was good because the weather was hot and very muggy again,. We planned a short day today to go to the Upper Goose Pond Cabin. I stayed here 2 years ago and its as nice as I remember. We arrived at 1:00 p.m. and after eating lunch, swam in the lake for a good hour. After sweating on the trail all morning its hard to tell you how good that water felt. We even took their canoe out for a paddle around the lake. So far, its a great stay and we're looking forward to the pancake breakfast in the morning, a great way to start.Tomorrow we're going to do about 17 miles and then Wed. a nice easy hike into Dayton and Cheshire. I need to be in Cheshire Thursday to pick up a new pair of Teva Sandles. The pair I have right now are coming apart and I'm getting them replaced free so its worth the wait.
Date: 2005-08-09
From: Upper Goose Pond Cabin

To: Kay Wood Lean To
Miles today: 17.6

We had a great hiking day today. It started when I got up at 5:30 a.m. after smelling coffee brewing. I came down from the bunk room and the caretaker was busy making coffee and blueberry pancakes. I got a cup of coffee and proceeded to down 6 pancakes. What a great change from my dry breakfast bars. We packed up and Beekpr and I were on the trail by 7:00. Even though it was quite humid and we had a couple of mountains to climb the trail was fast this morning. Maybe it was the thought of getting to the Cookie Ladies house to devour some of her precious cookies and raid her blueberries of which they have about an acre. We covered the 11 miles there by 12:00 and had a very relaxing lunch on her lawn.Powered by cookies and blueberries we arrived at this shelter around 4:30. The mosquitoes immediately decided to have their dinner on us as we cooked our own. We decided it was too buggy and not to stay in the shelter, but instead set up my tent and Beekpr's hammock in the woods near by.Tommorrow we only have a 3 mile hike into Dalton for breakfast and resupply. We're heading to Cheshire, MA. after that and hopefully we'll find my new Teva Sandles at the Post Office. If not we'll probably spend an extra day there and hopefully they'll arrive on Thursday.I've just checked and Beekpr has only 26.6 miles left to MA 2 and his completion of the Appalachian Trail, which is very exciting. After that our next goal is the Inn at Longtail in Rutland, VT. Thats a long way to go for a beer.
Date: 2005-08-10
From: Kay Wood Lean To

To: Mt. Graylock (Bascom Lodge)
Miles today: 20.0

Another great hiking day. We left our campsite at 6:30 a.m. and hiked the first 3 miles into Dalton by 8:15 and straight to the Dalton Resturaunt for breakfast. Afterword we stopped in a convinience store to pick up some snacks and drinks for our 9 mile hike into Cheshire, MA. We also made a few phone calls from their payphone and we were off by 9:45.As we were leaving the paved road out of Dalton to seturn to the trail in the woods we were talking and somehow mis-judged a trail in the parking lot for the A.T. and went, merrily, strolling down the trail for a quarter mile when it struck us that we hadn't seen any white blazes. There were signs tacked to a few trees saying "hikers only" with A.T. symbols along the edges, but as we learned later, those were boundary markers. We walked another quarter mile before finally turning back to the parking lot to find our mistake. As it was getting later it was also getting hotter and more humid making the hike to Cheshire a hot and sweaty one. When we arrived in Cheshire I went to the Post Office and found that R.E.I. expressed my sandals, so we didnt have to camp near the town that night to see if they would show up tomorrow. After mailing back my defective sandals we headed for Christina's Resturaunt for lunch and had a couple of huge cheese steaks. Then a trip to the local ice cream parlor before making one last trip at the convinience store to pick up some Gatoraid for the climb up Graylock Mt.We started up Mt. Graylock at 5 p.m. . We waited until then because it was a bit cooler and the sun wouldn't be on our backs. Of course though we had a 2550 foot elevation gain and over 6 miles of climbing to do before the sun went down around eight o'clock. We pushed pretty hard and arrived at 8:15, just when it was getting quite dark in the woods. We immediately ran into Santa and his wife strolling near the lodge. Its been a few days since we saw him and Big Foot. They took a zero day today and will leave tomorrow with Godspeed and Aslan. It was really great to be with such good friends again after a long hot day. We got a room, got showers, and just relaxed the rest of the evening. Tomorrow we're taking a zero day and just chillin out for the day and giving our bodies some rest. Its a great day when you can eat breakfast in one town, hike, eat lunch in another, climb, and spend the evening in a beautiful lodge on top of a mountain.
Date: 2005-08-11
From: Mt. Graylock (Bascom Lodge)

To: Mt. Graylock
Miles today: 0.0

Today we're going to enjoy a very relaxing day at Bascom Lodge and resume hiking tomorrow. We figured that the Inn at LongTrail will be our final destination, which is where we figured we'd end up at the end of this hike on 8-19, anyway. We had breakfast with Santa, Big Foot, Godspeed and his son Aslan along with the lodge guests this morning. I was thinking last night that this would be the perfect spot, even though its about 4 miles short to give Beekpr the 2000 Miler Rocker Ive been carrying since our start at the 501 Shelter in PA. So after breakfast I made a presentation to Beekpr for hiking the entire trail blaze for blaze. This was a wonderful accomplishment and to have good friends with us made it even more special. Everyone, but Beekeeper and I, left to hike North this morning, and since we may not see them again we wished them luck and a great hike up Katahdin. They'll all be missed, dearly.
Date: 2005-08-12
From: Mt. Graylock

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

Well it's offical, Beekpr completed the Appalachian Trail this morning as we descended Mt. Graylock, so congratulations to him on a great accomplishment.We had two great days at Bascom Lodge ending with a big breakfast that Tim, the caretaker, prepared for Beekpr and me along with a family of 4 staying there too. About 2:00 P.M. yesterday a hiker informed me of some great Trail Magic in the Parking lot. SOBO hiker "Peanut's" mom and sisters had a great spread of food and drinks. There was more food than the hikers could possibly eat and I'd like to thank these lovely ladies for everything. It was a great way to put a smile on several hikers faces. As for today, we left about 9:30 a.m. after breakfast and worked our way down the mountain, and then proceed 1600 feet up the next montain and to the Vermont border.It started to rain as we passed the Seth WArner Shelter, so we decided to stay after the rain susided aout an hour hlater or about 4:00. We have 100.1 miles to go to our final destination at the Inn at Long Trail, and we have to be there by next Friday, which shouldn't be any problem.It's been a hot and humid hike from the start 4 weeks ago, but having the opportunity to hike with my old friend again has made it a pleasure. I'm looking forward to the next 100 miles.
Date: 2005-08-13
From: Seth Warner Shelter

To: Goddard Shelter
Miles today: 21.6
Weather: haze

Well, it rained and rained last night with the added attraction of a thunderstorm about midnight. It was quite a lightshow as I observed it through the tent. It stopped just before we got up, so we had a quick breakfast and packed up our wet tent and hammock and pushed up the trail.The hike today seemed to be a "green tunnel" hike with basically no good views and just the trees and surrounding vegetation to look at. It was also very wet from the rain with just the slightest brushing up against a tree or plant would cause it to deposit the evening's rainfall on you.Rain threatened us all day, but hasn't started yet. We arrived at Goddard Shelter area around 6:15 p.m. and found it a mess. The shelter was taken down and a new one is being erected next week. We were the only ones there along with 2 other section hikers. What I don't understand is why they made the tent sites uninhabitable for tenters by embedding rocks in all the level areas. After 21 miles though I wasn't about to leave, so I found a tight fit for my tent between a few trees that angled slightly down and made camp there. Beekpr had no problem since he can hang his hammock anywhere there are two trees close enough. We're hoping for a dryer evening and day tomorrow, so we can dry out our gear. Wish us luck, and since I'm pretty tired tonight I'll say goodnight to all.
Date: 2005-08-14
From: Goddard Shelter

To: Stratton Pond Shelter
Miles today: 19.0
Weather: broken clouds

We lucked out and it didn't rain on us last night. We woke up at 5:30 a.m. and everything was still dry, a good sign.We headed out at 6:45 and climbed the remaining 200 feet up to the summit of Glastenbury Mtn. (3748'). As it turned out we were surprised to see that there were several excellent tent sites at the summit which we were unaware of last night. I would recommend that since the shelter builders bouldered over the good tent sites at Goddard that they at least put up a sign informing NOBO hikers of the good sites on the nearby summit. Anyway, we stopped at Kid Gore Shelter at 4.1 miles out for a quick break and then had lunch 4.7 miles further at Story Pond Shelter. The rest of the day had us hiking the "green tunnel" with little or no views again, and many ups and downs. The fact that the humidity was sky high made the hike not only a sweaty one but very fatiguing. I developed chaffing on both hips today from the sweat build up over the past few days. It seemed that many hikers we've met from the beginning of our trek in Pa. have had problems with chaffing this year caused by the excessive heat and humidity. There is now way to avoid hiking with sweat drenched clothes from day to day, which seems to be the major cause.We did find some excellent Trail Magic at the trail head at Stratton-Arlington Road. A cooler with soda and beer still on ice along with a big tuperware of assorted snacks. A Big Thank You to the Trail Angel for leaving it there, it definitely lifted our spirits. We climbed Stratton Mtn. and found that the shelter below included a $5.00 fee, but we could swim in the pond. It was settled then, we we're heaading for the shelter. It felt great to wash off 3 days of dirt and sweat and feel relatively clean again.Tomorrow we'll do a shorter day and go into Manchester Center for resupply and do our laundry before heading back to the trail. I'll be looking forward to some town food for a change of pace.
Date: 2005-08-15
From: Stratton Pond Shelter

To: Mt. Bromely Warming Hut
Miles today: 14.3

Staying in the Stratton Pond shelter last night was a good decision since it just poured and poured. We got a 6:50 a.m. start on a misty, drizzly trail this morning and we apparently got a whiff of the coffee brewing in Manchester Center since we hiked the 11.7 miles to VT. 11 in only 4 hours and 15 minutes, arriving at the trail head at 11:00. We were trying to hitch a ride when we saw a pick-up truck with Vogue and Mother in the back returning to the trail. It was great to see them again, and even greater when the pick-up driver offered us a ride back into town.He dropped us off at the local McDonalds where we had breakfast. Then it was off to do laundry - no kidding, our clothes were getting ripe after the past 4 days. We visited the grocery store, outfitter, and Post Office before heading back to the trail. When we arrived at the laundry mat there were our old friends Santa and Big Foot just getting ready to go and hitch back to the trail. It sounds like they will be at the Inn at Long Trail the same days as us, so it will be good to end our 500 mile journey with some good friends.We got a hitch back to the trail quickly and arrived at the trail head at 4:15 and proceeded up Bromley Mtn. to the summit and the warming hut for the ski resort that we're staying in tonight. It's just a small cabin with an observation tower next to to it, but god, what a view! It's hard to describe the beauty of the sunset I just witnessed and can't help but bring you a little closer to the Creator.Beekpr and I are the only ones here tonight, so we have the whole place to ourselves. This is definitely one of our nicest camps.
Date: 2005-08-16
From: Mt. Bromely Warming Hut

To: Little Rock Pond Shelter
Miles today: 17.2
Weather: light rain

I had a great nights sleep in the warming hut last night. The temperature dropped into the lower 50's and a nice breeze coming through the window. We got up at 5:30 to get a few sunrise pictures from the observation tower next door and then packed up and left by 6:50 a.m.We had 2 peaks to climb over after coming down Bromely Mtn., Styles Peak (3395 ') and Peru Peak (3430'). We stopped at Peru Peak Shelter around 10:00 for a quick break and then we were off again to Lost Pond Shelter where we had our lunch around 12:30. The trail from there does a lot of ups and downs with nothing special until you hit Baker Peak and that great walk up the rocks. The views from there were really stunning.We arrived at Little Rock Pond around 3:00 and went for a refreshing swim. It's always great to get a days dirt and sweat washed off. As we were getting out of the water it began to rain so we got our boots back on and quickly hiked the half mile to our present shelter just in time before it started to pour.I have to say the weather today made it a delightful day to hike. It was cooler, but more important was the humidity dropped considerably making for a pleasant day for a change. The rain has stopped for now and it looks like we'll have another good day tomorrow, or at least I hope so. One thing for sure, we're looking forward to another great meal at the Whistle Stop Restaurent on VT 103 tomorrow. It surely was a memorable one the last time we were there in 2003.
Date: 2005-08-17
From: Little Rock Pond Shelter

To: Secret Shelter
Miles today: 19.0

This was Beekpr and my last long hiking day, and it turned out to be a great one. We left Little Rock Pond Shelter at 6:15 a.m. in the hopes of covering the 12 miles to VT 103 and the Whistle Stop Restaurant for breakfast, but unfortunately we missed it when we arrived at 11:45, or 45 minutes late for breakfast. There were two mountains in between that slowed our progress, White Rocks Mtn. (2680') and Bear Mtn. (2240'). Even though we missed breakfast by 45 minutes we still had a great lunch. You can always depend on a great meal here.The weather too was just awesome today. It was cool, low humidity, and breezy all day making even the climbing a pleasure. From VT. 103 the trail did the usual ups and downs with several field walks for variety. When we crossed Upper Cold River Road we came to a stream with a variety of sodas cooling in the water and when we crosse a Woods Rd. about a mile further we came across Mad Hatter's Trail Magic, a cooler full of soda and a bag full of snacks. This was getting really good!Our goal was the Govenor Clement Shelter, but Mad Hatter informed us of a Secret Shelter .2 miles down a dirt road we were coming to and only about 1/2 mile from Govenor Clement Shelter. It's a shelter built by a family who own the wooded acreage. It's a beautifully built shelter, but being the last night for us on the trail we decided to use our tent and hammock which for some reason seemed more appropriate and we never liked shelters that much anyway. The owners, Swansong and Riverdog, left some beer and soda in the stram nearby, so how cool is that. We're here tonight with Vogue, Wolfman, Redheaded Step Child and a few other hikers that came in late.Tomorrow we're heading up over Mt. Killington (3900') and down to the Inn at Long Trail near Rutland. It's been an unusually hot and humid hike from the start back in mid-July, but Beekpr and I had just a great time hiking together again. I can't think of how many times we'd creack each other up and laughed so hard it hurt. Those are definitely good times and I'll miss hiking with him. We're working on a plan to do a section of the P.C.T. next year, so we'll see how that goes, I know it would be fun.Well I best get some sleep since I'll have over a 1000' climb first thing in the morning. Good Night all!