morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2005-02-12
To: 2000 Miles to Maine screening in NYC
Miles today: 0.0

I was reading the trail forums section of this site yesterday and saw that there would be a screening of 2000 Miles to Maine that night in the village. McKay and I hopped into the car, tuned the radio to hot 97, and were on our way. 50 CENT cranked out of the radio as we cruised over the Pulaski Skyway, which basically lifts you over a vast network of stacked industrial boxes, garbage dumps, metal scrap waste, and surrounding smoke stacks. We emerged out of the Holland tunnel into my favorite city, parked the car, and walked to where the screening was supposed to be. Armed security had no idea about our "movie" we were looking for but sent us to another building, and then another building and so on. We were about to abandon the idea of the screening when we found it. The address on trail forums had been off by one number, but now we were in our seats waiting for it to begin.      The documentary was pretty good and mostly followed one guy in different phases of his hike. Unlike the other films I have seen about thru hiking this one also showed a lot of the illicit activities that some hikers partake in. It was definitely very inspiring to watch, but it did not move me the way Trek did, which I highly suggest. I will not go into any more detail about the film in case anybody reading this intends on watching it.      McKay and I are getting really exited about our hike and it is coming up really soon. We will continue to physically train for our trip but I realize more and more that it is the mental side we will need to master. Anyway, we will find out soon enough if we have what it takes.      On a few side notes I wanted to give a shout out to all the people at Manzana and Giorgios that might be reading this journal, especially James, Scott, Hugo, Amber, Shane, Tyler, Alex, Amanda, Sanford.....Donald, Ellen, Roma, Mike, Giorgio.......and also our families Micki, David and Samantha Steady, Michael, Jane, and Alison Levey, and the MANY others I am surely forgetting!!!      On a second side note the beast upstairs woke us up with an ear piercing screech in the middle of the night!! The war has been officially waged so if anyone out there has any advice I would love to here it!
Date: 2005-02-14
To: a perfect statue never comes from a bad mold
Miles today: 0.0

In my journal entry on the 11th I stated that war had officially been waged, this is how it went down. It was obviously McKay and I against the raccoon, so we formulated a plan. My job was to build a structure to keep more raccoons out of the house, McKay assembled the trap and the sandwich that I ate while working on the roof. Because (Procyon lotor) is a small tree climbing carnivorous mammal of North America that is active largely at night, we had to get him the hell out of our house! Not to mention that he pulverized the flex insulation tubing that runs cold air from the central air conditioner. Every time I climb into the attic the fold out ladder gets a little bit weaker and groans loudly as its joints buckle, and I curse the raccoon for making me risk injury and our hike. My dad and I placed the trap in the musty old roof section of the attic with a can of tuna in it, and then quickly retreated down the rickety exit ladder.      Bangs, crashes, dragging and screeching were the dominating noises at 3 AM monday morning, but we never heard the metallic crash you here when the "have a heart" trap is successfully tripped. For only a moment, laying awake, I wondered how smart it was to trap a raccoon in our house on purpose?      We sort of slacked on returning our budget rental truck, so we had to rush it back this morning in some fairly heavy snow and we also brought some pies to my moms school for valentines day. We were also planning on heading into NYC for the day so things were a little bit hectic. It wasn't until early afternoon when I even remembered that I had a trap to check. Rolling the dice again I climbed to the attic to see what I would see. Standing a few feet past the entrance I felt eyes on my back. As I turned a wall of fur hit me like a freight train and I was knocked unconcious. I woke realizing that the creature was dragging me into the depths of his den........just joking about that part, sorry I had to do it.   I walked back to the trap and did not see the animal but noticed the area had been thrashed up, so I called McKay up to check it out. She was freaked so it took some gentle coaxing but she came up. I hadn't even bothered to turn on all the lights yet and it was kind of dim so I pulled the closest switch and there in the cage was the monster, disguised as a cute little raccoon!      I carried him down carefully and put a sheet over his cage to help with the stress factor. We loaded him up into the truck and dropped him off at the India brook park,(after taking lots of pictures of course) and watched him frollic off into the woods. Hopefully our thru hike attempt starting March 20th will have such a happy ending as well. 34 DAYS AND COUNTING...
Date: 2005-02-23
To: VERMONT
Miles today: 0.0

Whats up everybody?   First I want to say that I am flattered by the kind words of Jackie Brown and know she will be vicariously thru hiking with the class of 2005.         Now that we are in Vermont things are really starting to roll, especially in the field of broadcasting. My good friend Brendon allowed McKay and I to co-host his reggae show (FREE DOVE) which is on monday nights from 10 until he gets tired. RADIO JOHNSON 90.7 at johnson state colledge treated us well and we all had a great time. I ended up reading a public service anouncement and pretty much played everything that I wanted to. McKay also added some of her favorites to the strange musical mix. The previous night we were in Stowe Vermont at the Rusty Nail and saw a good show. After all the cocktails my good friend Brian threw down for a room at the resort that included a great breakfast in the morning.       McKay is working in her fathers office for the next 2 weeks so we will have as much money saved up as possible. Yeserday I spent the day moving and organizing wood piles and digging out frozen stumps. It felt good to be outside all day working with my dog lying by my side. The thought of working in a kithchen compared to that makes me laugh. I would much rather be outside!!!      The training program has slipped a little bit but not all together. Brian, McKay, and I will be snowshoeing to the summit of Mt. Mansfield on Saturday and I believe we will be the tallest people in Vermont for a least a few minutes. I am beginning to daydream looking out the window at the snow so I guess I better go.TRAIL GEAR SIDE NOTE:I have recently aquired an EMS TECHWICK T shirt that claims to be engineered to somehow make a smelly person less smelly. I put this to the test during my yardwork session yesterday and I think it worked
Date: 2005-02-26
To: Mansfield Attempt
Miles today: 0.0

Today my friends and I attempted to summit Mt Mansfield "via snowshoe" but failed. Brian, Brendon, Kristin, McKay, and I were really exited to get started and lost the trail close to immediately. We instead hiked into the back country and followed some steep mountain trails carved by skiers and riders. After Brendon puked, and I laughed my ass off, we decided to just have a good time and see how high up we could get. It was fun to try and climb impossible steep inclines and come rolling back down. We ascended for probabaly 2 hours, the majority of the time making fun of each other, mostly Brendon, and shoving each other off the trail into deep powder.      We got to a nice view and chilled for a few, but then turned back. That is when it got really fun. The conditions today were perfect and we had bright sunshine, blue skies, with deep snow and really nice powder. Going back meant charging down the mountain high speed and jumping baby cliffs, wrestling, and more pushing and joking. Major wipe outs were had by all but nothing close to any injuries. I saw McKay intentionally run and take about a 30 foot slide nice and graceful only to slip out flat on her back laughing the whole time. Brendon also did a pretty sweet face plant and came up looking like dredlocked santa clause. The decent was steep and fun so we will definitely go snowshoeing again while we are here. Thank you very much Uncle Dave and Aunt Sue for lending us the shoes, it was greatly appreciated.      Back at the parking lot we all agreed to meet at The Shed, a great restaurant in Stowe. We ate, drank, teased each other more, and all went our seperate ways for a couple of days. I think I will be very hungry on the trail and hope I supplied correctly for the first couple of days! We both feel that it will take reaching Neels gap to know more about what stays and what goes from our packs but otherwise we are full of confidence and excitement for the approaching journey!                                                   22 DAYS AND COUNTING
Date: 2005-03-01
To: Idleness is the holiday of fools
Miles today: 0.0

Vermont.....Snow....Appalachian trail...      As I peeled my eyes open this morning I noticed it was dumping snow outside. McKay's work alarm went off at 7am, but I was happy to get up and go play with O'Riley and Casey in the snow. The dogs and I said bye to McKay as she left for the office, and then turned on the weather channel. The first thing I heard was,"nor-easter is slamming the appalachian region, and flurries are also reported in the Atlanta metro area". Then I thought about all the people that are already started on the trail and wondered how they were doing. Even though I am in a really comfortable place with great people, part of me wished to be out there. Vermont is great, so I will focus on living in the now and the trail will come soon enough.      I will spend the morning trying to finish up some yard work before the snow gets to deep. Tonight we will hang out with some friends and thats about it. If the Steady's get this message, I hope you find some time to relax in Florida and don't have to work too much. The snow is nice, but so is the beach and the sun, so I guess everybody wins.                         19 DAYS UNTIL AMICALOLA                              PEACE OUT
Date: 2005-03-12
To: Even a broken clock is right twice a day
Miles today: 0.0

Yesterday Mckay and I put together a few mail drops and sent off our first 4 days of food, gas tank, and a few other important things to the Amicalola Lodge. In 7 days we will be guests at the lodge and the next day we will begin the 8.8 mile approach trail. People warn us that this is a tough trail and to avoid it, we feel it is just part of the experience and don't want to skip over anything, especially in the beginning. I can't understand rushing to a trail I will be on for months anyway. These of course are all just opinions.      I am begining to get a little bit nervous about the weight we will be carrying. The packs fit well, and we trained with them, but I hope we didn't pack too heavy. It would be a shame to pull a Katz! McKay's is a little under 30 lbs and mine will probably weigh in at around 35. We both enjoy our creature comforts, but will see how long that lasts. Once our adventure has begun the journal will be handled the old fahioned way by mailing our notes to our transcriber, Micki Steady. This journal (if everything goes as planned) will be on about a one week delay, with photo downloads when possible.                     Simple day today and thats about it.                        7 days until Amicalola
Date: 2005-03-13
To: Transcriber
Miles today: 0.0

David and McKay have prepared well for their journey.They have also prepared their families well! We have been given assignments. David's parents,Janie and Michael,will be taking care of their puppy girl Casey and are also in charge of mail drops. I have been given the task of transcriber. Today is a test to see if I can login,transcribe,and logout.Hopefully I will pass the test and someone will be reading this message.I am so excited for David and McKay.I share in their excitement and adventure.We give our children strong roots and wings to fly. Have a safe journey. I love you both. Mom
Date: 2005-03-15
To: Spare tires
Miles today: 0.0

With three days until our flight out of Jersey, and a sick realization of our our current physical status, things have become a bit daunting. The former bodies of iron forged on the switchbacks of the Mt. Hood Ntnl forest, have been reduced to rubbery, lazy, overeating mounds of gluttony! How have we let this happen to ourselves? We had a plan, a plan to work out intensely for the last week before we left. What happened? I guess we got a bit lazy, but we couldn't be more exited to get on to the trail, utter bordom and anticipation are driving Mckay crazy and I am just ready to get started.      Even though we let ourselves go, the task at hand is still very much in sight. We have packed and repacked, sent out a maildrop, have a towncar coming to bring us all to the airport on time, and pondered every detail we can come up with. I guess these are your standard pre Springer Mtn jitters. What will we do next? Nothing. Chill out more....      My dad will be coming with us to Georgia where we will meet his old college buddy, uncle Lee. Uncle Lee will be putting us all up for the night and it is greatly appreciated. We will all probably eat and drink too much, but who knows the next time we will enjoy such luxuries. After that we all head to the A. Lodge where we will spend our last night together before the approach trail. My dad and Lee have decided to start with us and hike until they feel like turning around, so that will be fun. They might even double back and drive up to Springer to see us off on the official trail.      This might be the last entry for a week or so unless something interesting goes down. I just wanted to say thank you to our families and friends for a great pre-vacation vacation here on the east coast. It has also been great meeting people through the guest book and I hope your encouraging words keep finding our journal.                        PEACE OUT FELLOW FRIENDS
Date: 2005-03-17
To: It's been a blur
Miles today: 0.0

We spent the night in the Lower east side of Manhattan and had one more great time with friends. At the bars people asked us of our plans and responded with the usual,"Watch your ass dude!", "What kind of gun are you bringing?", "What type of animals will you be hunting for food?", "You've seen Deliverance right.", "You know your gunna get fungi, so be careful bro!", "You guys are bringing an ATV, right?", "So, are there like, bars on the trail?", "Oh yeah, my brother did the AT, Oregon is cool.", "You WILL stay with us when you pass the city, ok?!"     These comments were amusing and I was happy to field them. We will be in touch soon. Thanks for the great guest book entries.                Time to go for now, we will be in Georgia in the morning.
Date: 2005-03-20
From: Amicola Falls

To: Springer Mountain
Miles today: 0.2
Weather: clear sky

Day 1: March 20, 2005Approach Trail:We started today on the Amicalola Falls Lodge Road and Hiked 8 miles up to Springer Mountain Shelter. My Dad and Uncle Lee hiked about 2 miles in and saw us off. Last 4 miles were very difficult but our spirits are high. About 20 other thru-hikers but most in shelter. We ate a lot today, I hear the hunger takes a few weeks to kick in but for us it is in full swing. We have a really nice tent site with a few other people. We hung our food on a bear cable for the first time tonight. Clear sky, great sunset!! We are learning to live in the woods :-) Later that night....Coyotes and the brightest moon and stars dominated the still clear night.
Date: 2005-03-21
From: Springer Mountain

To: Hawk Mtn Shelter
Miles today: 7.4
Weather: overcast clouds

Day 2: March 21,2005I woke up in the middle of the night because it was light in the tent. I figured it was dawn and stumbled out to water the plants, but realized it was moonlight! Coyotes were howling from points in the distance and the whole mountain was lit up, light shining off the dwarfed trees and rocks. It was 3:30 am and McKay came out of the tent and checked out all of the early morning activity. We were on trail at 8:40 and walked slowly and looked around a lot. We have also met a lot of people but won't touch on that yet. We did come across an older, overweight man sitting against a tree. He casually told us to point the next ambulance his way because he was surely not going to make it. He had been out for 4 days already, had left from Amicalola Visitor Center and was only 5 miles deep into the official AT. I tild him to just take it slow and it would be OK, but he informed us that he was low on food. He said it would be alright and we moved on. Our feet have been pretty sore and we have acquired a few blisters. Back straps have also been digging in a little. We could not be happier to be out here, everything has been working out so well, we have lots of food and fun. I am listening to Johnny Cash and McKay is reading as I write this journal. We are camped at a nice woods site and just relaxing. Yesterday and today I have filtered 2 gallons of water and it tastes great, but is a pain in the ass. Thats life out here. Very strange and different. We are still adjusting but feel very positive. Low mile days will be the theme for the next weeks or two.
Date: 2005-03-22
From: Hawk Mtn Shelter

To: Gooch Mtn. Shelter
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Day 3: March 22, 2005RAIN: Complain, Complain, Complain, that's all McKay likes to do in the rain!!!We woke up this morning at about 6:40, I made some coffee, McKay relaxed for a few minutes. She then broke down the tent as I pumped 1 gallon of spring water. We were on the trail at about 8:30. As we began to walk a few thunderclaps let us know it might be an interesting day. I counted 7 mountains today as we walked up, over, and down them. We rolled into Gooch Shelter at around 12:20. McKay immediately set up the tent, I filtered water and began cooking an early dinner for us. The sky was very dark and just as I was about to finish cooking dinner sparse, jumbo raindrops began to fal;l and kick up dust. I turned off the stove and rushed into the tent. We ate our Lipton noodle meals right out of the titanium pot in the tent. It became a turrential rain storm complete with thunder and lightening to boot!! It got more fun when a small flood started flowing under our tent. McKay really loved that part the most!!! Since then there have been hours of pouring rain and we are bunched in the middle of the tent trying to stay dry. There is talk about a 13.2 mile push tomorrow that will seperate us from the bunch and leave us with a 2 mile downhill romp into Neels Gap. Then we may get to stay at the highly coveted hostel at Neels that only holds 16, first come first serve. It is wet and rainy with about 25 people holed up in the shelter and ajoining campsites. It will be a race for dry beds and there is no doubt about that!!! Enough for now, talk to you tomorrow.I just wanted to say how I am having a great time and Dave is taking good care of me and putting up with all of my complaining. I am meeting a lot of friendly folks but I really miss my family. Thanks for the note Sammy...its always nice to hear from you. Love you all!! I will put one more entry in before we leave Neels Gap tomorrow and head out into the (supposed) thunderstorms that are on the way!!! Love You All, Miss you XOXOX McKay
Date: 2005-03-23
From: Gooch Mtn. Shelter

To: Neels Gap
Miles today: 16.0
Weather: light rain

Day 4: March 23, 2005We woke up and surveyed the situation. Pelting rain had kicked mud up onto everything but we kept all the clothing and sleeping bags dry, so things could have been much worse. The decision was made to go the 16 miles into Neels Gap and get a spot in the hostile. We figured we might get a spot but probably not because there are only 16 beds available. On the trail we ran into a couple of trail maintainers who let us know that we were the 14th and 15th people they had counted passing so far that day. We were leap frogging with Tom and Leah all day and I think we were both trying to make sure we could get a spot in Neels. After pushing really hard we got to Blood Mtn. which was amazing and restored our weary bodies with great views and a promise of a two mile descent down to our rest stop. Those last two miles almost killed us. It opened up McKay's blisters and rattled the crap out of my left knee. When we got to Walasi Yi they informed us that there was in fact 2 open spaces. We rejoiced and hobbled down to our double pull out bed. I layed down while McKay showered off 4 days of filth and then I took my turn. We went in on a shuttle with 7 others into Blairsville, GA to eat at The Cookie Jar Restaurant, which had an all you can eat buffet. We came back and went right to sleep.
Date: 2005-03-24
From: Neels Gap

To: Neels Gap
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Day 5: March 24, 2005Today we will be enjoying the facilities and relaxing a lot. The journal is getting updated and we got the famous Walasi Yi shakedown on our packs. They helped us shed about 8 or 9 pounds and agve us a lot of great advice. We dropped some major duckets in the gear shop and got some very important stuff. The shop is high quality but very expensive. We both picked up new insoles that make a big difference, Dave got a knee brace and some high tech blister treatment for me. It is a beautiful day and we should be hiking but thats ok, there will be many more nice days, just not in this weeks forecast. We are meeting great people and having the time of our lives. We will update in a few days. Thanks all for the great and inspirational guest book entries!!!Being at the Hostel for the past day we have met some really great people and I have come to realize what the trail is really about. Everyone gets along so well because we can understand what each of us is going through and we all have the same questions. We are all learning how to live out here and doing it together has been a lot of fun so far. We are all pushing for the same goal and we all want to help eachother along the way whether it is in a little way or a big way it doesn't matter. Dave and I came out here as our support team and now we feel like we have a whole other family to work through this with. We realize that if you want the same thing it is really nice to work as a large team...everyone wants to help everyone and encouage eachother...how come that doesn't always work out in the real world?????   I'll leave you to ponder that!!!