morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2015-04-06
From: Ready to Go! Again

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Continued hikes in the local hills with a pack. Did about 2 hours today and I feel good. The plan is to start the hike going shelter to shelter, or not much more than 6 miles per day for the first couple weeks. My arm with the ruptured tendon is not a problem. Just can't imagine why there is no pain and still have good strength. Got to get this hike going before something else breaks! Four more weeks to go before hitting the trail in Harpers Ferry.I'll be using my 30+ year old external frame pack. I got a brand new Osprey 65 Liter internal frame with the "Anti Gravity" suspension, but returned it to REI when I ruptured the tendon... I never thought I would be hiking this year. Although the Osprey pack was very comfortable I had difficulty getting everything to fit. The external frame lets me hang the sleeping bag and tent outside the pack giving plenty of room inside for other stuff. I also like all the external zippered compartments that I didn't have with the Osprey. The old one squeaks and rattles a lot... good for giving the bears fair warning!
Date: 2015-04-26
To: 2015 - 3rd Attempt
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Temp dipped into the 40's last night. Slept in the tent to check out the cool weather gear. Using a 20 degree bag with liner, also wore long sleeve base layer with short sleeve t-shirt and hiking shorts. Kept me warm enough.Carrying 32lbs with 4 days of food and 2.5L water. All systems are go. Will be on the trail in one week! Looks like I will make the Harpers Ferry kick-off event where quite a few NOBO flip-floppers will be starting there next week. Reservations are booked. The commitment is in place.
Date: 2015-05-03
From: Harpers Ferry

To: Ed Garvey Shelter
Miles today: 6.3
Weather: moderate rain

Great kickoff for all us flip-floppers in Harpers Ferry. Good bunch of people.The ATC folks really did a nice job in arranging the event and Laurie P is the best!Felt tired, but good when I got to the shelter. There were four of us overnighting 2 section hikers, a thru hiker, Ed and myself. Full moon with fantastic views. Glad I didn't go farther today.
Date: 2015-05-04
From: Ed Garvey Shelter

To: Rocky Run Shelter
Miles today: 9.5
Weather: light rain

Hot today! 88F.Left Ed Garvey at 7am arrived at Rocky Run around 2pm. Very tired, still working on the trail legs. No appetite with this heat, but drank 4L of water. Pushed too hard today and in the sack by 9pm.
Date: 2015-05-07
From: Rocky Run Shelter

To: Raven Rock
Miles today: 20.7

Planning on a stop at Waynesboro for resupply and a rest tomorrow. Arrived at shelter today just as I ran out of water. The spring is .3 miles down a steep slope. Had no choice but to go for water. Last thing I needed was to add another .6 miles (round trip). Actually wasn't bad without the pack.
Date: 2015-05-08
From: Raven Rock

To: Waynsboro
Miles today: 5.0

Stayed at the Cobblestone in Waynesboro. Great place to stay for $80 which included limited breakfast. My wife, Elizabeth, drove out to join me and it was great to see her. Had an AYCE buffet dinner at a Family Restaurant, then an AYCE breakfast at the same place the next day. I think they were glad to get rid of me, I ate a week's worth of the bacon, eggs, and home fries.Resupplied at a Walmart with mac & cheese and foil packed tuna, plus Knorr's rice, jerky, nuts, and some fruit.
Date: 2015-05-10
From: Waynsboro

To: Quarry Gap Shelter
Miles today: 19.7
Weather: overcast clouds

Last two days averaged about 10 mi per day. Slowly increasing mileage and feeling good. Weather is still great, at least no rain. Met Ed and we seem to be hiking at the same pace. Good company and the conversation helps make the miles pass quickly.At Quarry Gap shelter met a family of 6 doing a section hike. The shelter was amazing, very clean with hanging flower baskets, plenty of picnic benches, and a spring 15 yards from the front of the shelter. As usual, feeling tired and looking forward to a good sleep here. Elizabeth said she would meet up with me again in a week for resupply and a hotel stay, looking forward to that!
Date: 2015-05-12
From: Quarry Gap Shelter

To: James Fry Shelter
Miles today: 25.0
Weather: clear sky

Averaged 12 mi/day for the last two days. Had breakfast this morning at the Pine Grove Furnace State Park country store. It was an amazing bacon, egg & cheese on a huge roll. Appetite is kicking up big time and I feel like I'm dropping some weight. Today I finally caught up to the other flip-floppers who started with me at Harpers Ferry. They slacked packed to the second shelter outside of HF while I stopped at the first, so I've been about a day behind them until now. T Rx, Fuzz, Will P, Tree Hugger, Biscuit, and others were there.
Date: 2015-05-14
From: James Fry Shelter

To: Darlington Shelter
Miles today: 26.0
Weather: clear sky

Up to 13 mi/day for last two days.Stayed at the Allenberry in Boiling Springs on the 13th. Shared a room with Ed for $26 each. Not bad, included laundry. They had great burgers and bean soup. T-Rx, Fuzz, Tree, Biscuit, and Will P was there also.Next day we hiked across the Cumberland Valley. Quite a change from the rocks and ups & downs. It is mainly open fields on nearly flat terrain for about 12 miles. Just glad it wasn't too hot since there was very little shade. After crossing the valley and up the next mountain we were able to look back across the valley to the previous mountain range from which we started earlier in the day, now just a dim blue mountain near the horizon.
Date: 2015-05-16
From: Darlington Shelter

To: Duncannon
Miles today: 12.0

Stayed at Cove Mt shelter the previous night and hiked today another 4 mi into Duncannon. Ate breakfast at Goodies Restaurant across from the Doyle Hotel. Elizabeth was to meet me today so I hung out in front of the Doyle until she arrived. Met "Bag-o-tricks" who said he was a good buddy of Baltimore Jack. Told me a few stories that I wouldn't repeat here.That night had a good dinner of Turkey and all the 'fixins'. During the night I had to get up and eat a Cliff Bar, fell back to sleep. Elizabeth said I snored all night. Good sleep!
Date: 2015-05-21
From: Duncannon

To: 501 Shelter then Home
Miles today: 46.0
Weather: broken clouds

Last four days averaged about 12 mi/day. Just before the Rausch Gap Shelter (2nd day) it poured hard and into the night. Fortunately I got to the shelter before the worst of it, but everything was damp, even my 'dry clothes' tucked in a plastic bag. The shelter was full and Ed arrived soaked. Somehow we were able to squeeze him in. Sleeping wasn't bad because the sound of the rain drowned out everyone's snoring and I was totally exhausted. Next morning Ed, who is usually the first one up, was still asleep as others were leaving. When he woke up he said something was wrong and he hadn't pee'd in two days. He looked like crap. He was able to contact his wife and arranged a pick-up point at the next road crossing. I walked with him down the next mountain, about 4 mi and waited until his wife was within a few minutes of meeting him to take him home.That day I made it to the William Penn shelter, just over 13 mi for the day, and knew I pushed it too hard. That night the temp fell into the upper 40's and the next morning I got into my damp hiking clothes. As I walked I got warmer and began to sweat a lot. Whenever I stopped I got chilled, the temp was in the low 50's. Finally made it the 4.2 mi to the 501 Shelter. No energy, shivering and I could feel I was getting sick, I didn't want to spend the night with the temps predicted to drop into the 30's this night. I called Elizabeth, and she drove 3 hours to pick me up. At home now, resting, journaling, and will spend the holiday weekend with my family.Hope to return to the trail on May 25th...
Date: 2016-04-02
From: Home 

To: 2016 - 4th Attempt
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Can't believe this started back in 2011. This will be my 4th attempt. Last year's attempt (2015) turned into more of a good shake-down hike than a successful thru-hike.I never returned to continue the hike after leaving the 501 shelter in PA. While home I just got lazy. After a month or so the desire to return took hold and I have been prepping for this since then. Physically I'm in better shape, dropped about 20lbs and now have a better idea of what to expect with the mental and physical challenge and I'm ready for both. Only down-side is being a year older. I'll turn 70 near the end of the hike this year.The plan is to continue doing a flip-flop from where I left off at the 501 heading north to Katahdin, then back to the 501 and head south to GA. Going to Harpers Ferry, WV for the Flip-Floppers Kick-Off in two weeks then starting my hike after that.
Date: 2016-04-03
From: Home

To: 2016 4th Attempt
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light snow

I just wanted to note a few changes for this thru attempt based on what I learned last year:1) Switched to a free standing, Hubba NX 1, tent. Lighter than my older Zoid1 by 6 oz, provides quicker setup and gives me more head room.2) Carrying less water 2.0L vs 3.0L which will reduce weight by another 2+ lbs. I found plenty of water along the trail last year and always filter or treat all.3) Carrying less food, 4-day supply vs 5. Most resupply points were within the 4 day range.4) Not pushing as hard in the beginning to make the next shelter. Rest is more important than pushing for the miles.5) Weight down from 215 to 195lbs and in better overall condition than last year.Overall objective is to reduce pack weight (30lbs this year vs 37lbs last year fully loaded), provide easier setup and tear down for camp, and be in better physical condition BEFORE starting and just take it slow. Also, I finally got a smart phone for weather updates, taking pics, and using the AT map apps.I'm ready for this.
Date: 2016-04-04
From: Home

To: 2016 - 4th Attempt
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Just got back from my last 2-hour hike with the Monmouth County hikers. Every Monday we meet for a 5.5 ¢ 6.0 mile hike in the local parks with some good hills. The leaders, Judy, Bill and Mike do a great job keeping us on a kick-butt pace for the 2 hours. Mike has a phenomenal memory of the trails in the dozen parks where we hike and keeps us from getting lost. This, along with other daily hikes, has been my training regimen of about 35 miles a week for the past several months. The training, along with a slight change to a healthier diet, has helped me in losing about 20lbs for the upcoming AT hike. Probably will not be posting anything until I get to Harpers Ferry, WV for the kickoff in about 11 days. Hope to post some pics. After that Elizabeth will drop me off at the 501 Shelter in PA where I left the trail last year. From that point the AT hike begins again.
Date: 2016-04-17
From: Harpers Ferry, WV

To: Weverton Parking Area
Miles today: 4.0
Weather: broken clouds

Went to the Harpers Ferry kick-off yesterday to take part in some of the activities. Registered with the ATC as a flip-flopper and had my photo taken for for their 2016 album as flipper #54. Met Will P, and Tree Hugger who were a couple of the hikers I met in my previous thru attempt in 2015. Also met up with Laurie P. of the ATC, who organized and pretty much ran the kick-off event. Terrific lady!Today got acquainted with a few of the hikers and hope to see them again when I restart my thru in a few days. Met Tow Truck, Tow Sack, Has Been, Keebler, Slo-Go'N, and a fellow with no trail name yet... he said he was lucky he didn't do something dumb to have a trail name bestowed upon him, so I called him "Lucky". There was also Lost and Found, who was having her picture taken with a plate of pancakes, I think her name got changed to "Pancake" at that moment.Hiked with the group of 10 or so, about 4 miles to the first parking area off Weverton Rd where Elizabeth met me in the car. From there we drove back home. A long way to go just to hike 4 miles, but it was fun meeting a few of the hikers and taking part in the activity.
Date: 2016-07-03
To: gear test fail
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Well it was kind of a disaster, but a disaster mitigated with some lessons learned at least. Kate and I planned a 3 night hike in the uwharrie national forest about an hour and a half west of raleigh. The goal was to test out our new hammocks and see how our pack weights felt (30 and 35 with 3L of water), break in the shoes a bit more etc. It was 90+ degrees and 100% humidity, so very swampy/soaked hiking and not exactly what we'll get in ME and NH which I take some comfort in. We also couldn't find a spot to leave the dog, so Marley came along with us and was generally a pain keeping an eye out for. Bless his heart, but I hate him right now and hope he enjoyed his last overnight backpacking trip ever. We hiked a couple miles in the first night and had a nice spot by a great creek. We're not exactly skilled hammock slingers yet, but we still got them up pretty quick and they were way more comfortable than tent sleeping. It was getting much lower than 70 at night so I didn't need the sleeping bag, air mattress or even a makeshift pillow for that matter. Biggest downside I see of hammocks is being separate from Kate every night, but all the rest are positive. We didn't get any torrential downpour, just a bit of rain, so that still remains to be seen how my tarp holds up. I got a Hennessy asymp zip that has a much smaller, but lighter, tarp compared to kate's warbonnet superfly contraption. It's basically a floating tent. Pretty cool just weighs a pound more and I'm going to wait until the first storm to see if I need a tarp upgrade too. There are mixed reviews online.2nd day was tough hiking in that heat. Just more soaking wet the whole time. We received several "hot enough for ya?"'s from some folks we passed and Kate decided that hiking in the Amazon was not something she ever needs to do. After about 9 miles we stopped for lunch and had doubts about our 15 mile goal for the day. Then the water filter broke, followed by the squeeze bag. In the process some unfiltered water got in my water pouch and it was either drink that or roll the giardia dice even more and go straight from this barely non-stagnant stream (we think we're in the clear but might have another day or so to find out for sure =]) We each had about 2L at that point. The thought of running out of water in that heat was no bueno, so we were planning our bailout. Luckily i've got the mountain bike project app as well as the hiking project app on my phone and when we stopped for lunch right by one of the mountain bike fire roads, kate had the idea to check the mileage and it was a mile and half shorter than the uwharrie rec trail. That turned out to be key because we ran out of water around a mile and a half out and the dehydration was not fun. Lesson learned! We still like the sawyer straw for its light weight but we'll be carrying two of them with one in the bounce box from now on.
Date: 2016-07-19
To: airline depravity
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: few clouds

Gear is packed and I'm sitting at the cincinnati airport trying to get to bangor. We still have a chance. We were originally on united connecting in Chicago but the crew never showed up. Since we were going to miss our connection, which, I mean, would've happened anyway at ohare, they booked us on an American flight going through DC instead. After being aggressively friendly with several airline minions who hate their lives I finally got through to a ground guy with soul in tact and actually got to watch him take care of business and get our bags from United to american. Thanks be to that dude! Fingers crossed that round two pans out. With anything having to do with flying, I just repeat my mantra "there's no end to their depravity" and deal. As it stands we get to bangor at 5 instead of 11am, and our bus to millinocket leaves at 630. Ive currently got about 33000 calories of food in my pack, which weighs 44lbs without water!   After weighing my pack last night I got super depressed and scared at the thought of a 50 lb pack weight. It's supposed to be one day of food for katahdin and ten days for the 100 mile wilderness. I was going to add even MORE food to up the calories but I just can't bear it. I might even shed some calories and just lose some weight in the first week. We can probably get through the wilderness in 7 days anyway.  As far as the rest of the gear so far i just need to buy fuel, toilet paper and i forgot my pack cover. Luckily were staying at the AT Lodge in millinocket and it looks like they've got a good hiker supply store.I think I figured out how to add a photo to the post. If it works there's the fam before shipping out our NC home. I only cried a little bit leaving marley in cbus but he's in great hands (thanks matt and jess!). I already miss the south and hope it's extra motivation to walk back down there. I mean, English muffins instead of biscuits and "you guys" instead of "y'all" to address my female wife and me?! C'mon.
Date: 2016-07-20
From: airline depravity

To: katahdin stream campground
Miles today: 5.2
Weather: overcast clouds

That was an awesome hike. Even a bit more epic than I had imagined. The hunt trail up to katahdin starts off pretty tame, as I suppose everything must, but then once out of the treeline it's basically a series of V0 and V1 bouldering routes. So not that bad except if you slip you might die, and throw in some 30 mph gusts for goid measure. Lots of super skinny ridges with scree and lose rock.  I saw a girl carrying a chalk bag and got a bit jealous. Besides the wind we really lucked out with the weather. It was panoramic clear views of shear faced granite cliffs, woods, and ponds. Definitely a good reason to go nobo. I had a great time, but when kate and i took the pic at the top with thr iconic sign, we were marking trail mile 0. Thr climb didnt count. I can't imagine what it must be like to end the trail with that climb. And that's the hardest, most technical climb of the AT! Done.  we were a bit scared of the climb down because the wind was picking up to 40, but it ended up being much easier, probably because we knew what to expect and where the gnar-bar sections were. There's another infamous trail up there called knifes edge, rated as the most dangerous in the east or some such. I was tempted to do it while we up there but was glad I didn't. This other sobo kid Justin we'd started with in bangor did it and busted his knee. He thinks it's game over. Poor guy.That night we took advantage of the firewood for sale at the campground and hung the hammocks by katahdin stream
Date: 2016-07-21
From: katahdin stream campground

To: Hurd brook lean to
Miles today: 13.4

Much flatter trail today. Still lots of roots, rocks and bog bridges but it was still pretty easy going. Baxter is really beautiful. Didn't really see many other people. Just a couple of nobos bout to finish and a trail steward. We stopped at a beautiful waterfall for some snacks and it was pretty sweet to be all alone in miles if protected wilderness. Made me feel pretty grateful to be out here. I had some bug management issues later on but after talking with other hikers this is what mainers call "zero bugs" so I should count my blessings. I'm deetin it up tomorrow tho for sure. About 10 miles in we came to the abol bridge store. The last stop before 100 mile wilderness, and they had beer! Kate and I had a Baxter ipa and split some cheese sticks to celebrate day 2. I realized I was dehydrated when I was halfway through the beer and was completely wasted. So I hydrated, we took off and now we're in the 100 mile wilderness. Hurdle two coming up!
Date: 2016-07-22
From: Hurd brook lean to

To: pollywog stream
Miles today: 14.4
Weather: broken clouds

Currently hanging comfortably in my hammock at a stealth site near the pollywog stream. Today was a long but good day. Feeling really good about pulling close to a 15 mile day considering kate started out on the struggle bus. We hung our hammocks without the tarp, which is great to see the trees and stars while falling asleep. But around 5 or so there was a light drizzle which got us going pretty quick. It gets light out here around then anyway so that's when we should be up regardless. Just haven't fully adapted to hiker time yet. Kate was kinda nauseous and tired from the start which had us both worried. The first 4 miles we were clocking like 1.2 mph and we weren't sure how much farther we'd get. Then it kinda just passed. She got some food down finally, the weather cleared up a bit and we were off. We climbed a little mountain and the peak was COVERED in blueberries. There was a view of a cloud covered katahdin and it just seemed magical.We were cooking from there until we crapped out by a stream for lunch. At that point we were totally exhausted and planned to slog it out to the Hurd brook lean to about 4 miles away. With the help of some caffeine pills we cruised there gabbing our heads off. !Dame la cafe­na! I've been too lazy to make tea in th he morning and it was sorely missed. The lean two had a swimming hole and was another dose of magic. Cleansing the stank and swamp ass all alone in bouldery cliff rapids was just the best. We felt so good after that we ignored the rumbling thunder and left the group at the shelter to head for the current spot. Thought we were in for a thorough drenching but we lucked out. Still got some kinks to work out with setting up camp efficiently and avoiding the nightly bug massacre but hell, we got time. Tonight I was so tired I after the chores I didn't even play ny guitar. And now it's like 1030 pm and I'm still awake writing this! Way past hiker bedtime.
Date: 2016-07-23
From: pollywog stream

To: tumbledown dick stream
Miles today: 12.6
Weather: few clouds

Tonight we camped at tumbledown dick stream, not far from tumbledown dick falls. An otherwise pretty great day was tainted by an unusually massive onslaught of bugs in the last couple miles. My number one regret of the trip so far is not applying permethrin to all my clothes beforehand. Decicco left a whole bottle of it in my car that's just been sitting there for months and from reports I was hearing of a "really good" bug conditions I didn't use it. We stopped for a break with a father and son, expendable and squirrel, who had a nice fire going and I picked up a bunch of black fly bites while they were totally unfazed with their treated clothes. We both were kind of delirious and exhausted after that stressful break and stopped short of our 15 mile goal. I bathed in 100% deet and put my rain hood on and just sweated through dinner.The plus side is everything before that was good Ole majestic goodness. We climbed nesuntabunt mtn and got enough cell signal to find out kate passed her boards! The official end of a 9 year study binge. Just wish we had champagne to celebrate. I tried to give her the trail name dacvim but she grumped. We skirted around beautiful foothill lakes after that, impressed by how fast the loons swim under water then pop up from out of nowhere. Then we got our first bit of trail magic: some apples left before one of the last climbs if the day. It's now actually the morning after and we're getting another late start while kate and her GI tract are working through an argument they had this morning. Today's the last flatish bit of the wilderness and we were hoping to do 17 to get to our food drop but it's probably not worth pushing that out at thus point. Looking like it will take us 10 days to do the wilderness after all. Which is really no big deal. When you meet and leap frog with other sobos it's hard to not have a race mentality a bit, but it's a marathon not a sprint. Actually like 100 marathons, so yeah....best to let your body decide the miles.