morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2015-01-01
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: few clouds

Happy New Year, we spent New Years Eve on top of Springer. We made it to Amicola Falls State Park around 10 and we started hiking up to Springer 8.8 miles. Birdman,Spirit,Ratman and myself hiked about 4 miles before stopping for lunch. It was chilly while we were hiking and overcast. Around 2 the sun finally came out and we also caught up with the other Spirit. She was starting to put up her tent and we told her she needed to hike with us up to Springer so she didn't spend New Years Eve alone in the woods. She decided to pack up and hike the last 3 miles with us to the top. With about two miles to go and we were moving slow me Ratman and Birdman decided to hike on up to the top to set up camp and then Ratman could hike back and provide trail magic by packing Spirits pack to the top because she was getting tired. Ratman had to hike back 1 mile and they made to camp around 530. There was 11 people at the shelter with 3 starting their thru hike. We left this morning around 9 and hiked back to amicola via the approach trail. We hiked in sunshine all day and made it back around 1. We wish those who started today and we hope to run into them as we SOBO. God Bless and happy new year.
Date: 2015-02-16
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

Hope everyone is safe and inside for those in the path of the snowstorm. Right now we have 5 inches and they say we could 7 to 10 more by Tuesday morning. With all the snow that Maine has received we are afraid katahdin will not open June 1 so we are thinking of starting June 1 at springer then hiking to davenport gap. Then fly to Maine and hike back to davenport gap and on the way hike the rest of the LT. When we get back to davenport gap we would finish the AT and the BMT starts there and finishes at springer. So we would have hiked the entire LT,AT and BMT. Then when we reach springer we can hop on the pinhotti trail so we can hike down to Florida and hike the FT. We've talked about this idea bc we don't want to wait later to start and we don't want to be in Maine waiting for Baxter park to open mt katahdin. God Bless to all and we pray everyone is safe.
Date: 2015-02-24
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

We now know what Boston feels like a little bit, we have had almost 3ft of snow in the last week. They are calling for 5 to 8 more inches tomorrow night. We have decided to hike the Benton Mckaye trail from May 17 to June 5th then fly to Maine on the 6th to start our SOBO on the 7th. We feel like it will get our trail legs ready for Maine and New Hampshire. We want to go to trail days first that's why we are starting on the 17th plus it's only 300 miles. We also hope to get a ride with someone on Sunday after trail days to springer mtn. We hope someone from the Atlanta area can give us ride. We hope all are well and safe God Bless.
Date: 2015-03-04
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

We are getting excited only 10 weeks before we start hiking for 8 months. We just received our AT,LT,and BMT guide books. We pick up our last two pieces of gear Friday at REI in Asheville. We will post all our gear next week we have went with new gear to decrease our pack weight. We ask for prayers at this time. We had to move to higher ground because of flooding so please pray for us and everyone else. God Bless.
Date: 2015-03-09
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

We finally purchased all of our new gear for our hike of the AT,LT,and BMT. We are using the Osprey Exos backpacks with the men's weight 2.5lb's and the women's 2.3lb's. Sleeping pads are Therma-a-Rest Lite Sol weight is 14oz. Jackets are REI Co-op 650 down jackets 10.5oz. Sleeping bags Kelly cosmic 21 for men 2lb's 14oz and Kelly cosmic 32 for women 2lb's 8oz. Rain gear Jackets only Marmot precip 13 oz. stuff sacks sea to summit 2.6 oz. platypus 1.5L 5.4 oz. cocoon ultra light pillow 5.8 oz. we are both wearing Merrill's. God Bless to all only 9 weeks until the BMT.
Date: 2015-03-15
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Friday we drove down to Spirit's house and celebrated her birthday. Saturday we drove to hiawassee GA. We went to Top of the Mountain hostel where they were having their 1st annual hiker gathering. We arrived around 11 and enjoyed 5 hrs of eating,talking to hikers,listening to bluegrass and they had a birds of prey show. We seen trail angel Janet and also maw re and pawee. We really enjoyed our time there a great place to stay on a thru-hike. We then went to Helen and spent the rest of the evening walking around town. We then treated Spirit dinner for her birthday. This morning we then drove to Springer Mtn. to see Spirit off as she is hiking into trail days. We hiked with her down to 3 forks which is 4.1 from Springer before we had to hike back and drive home. We really wanted to keep hiking but we have to work for two more months. We also hiked on the BMT for a short piece which made that more excited about our BMT hike in May. It was a sunny day with temp around 47 when we arrived but 66 when we left. We seen between 30 and 40 hikers starting their dream of hiking to Maine and we wished each a safe hike. God Bless to all.
Date: 2015-06-09
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Went to Kayla and Dillons high school graduation last night. We had to change our flight from Wed to Thur and will climb Kahtadin Friday. We have everything packed with out friend in Maine picking us up at the airport to take us to Kahtadin streams campground to start our journey south. God Bless and as always thank u for it prayers and following us on our journey.
Date: 2015-06-12
To: kathadin
Miles today: 10.4
Weather: broken clouds

Today we hiked up Kahtadin we started at 6:30 and u could not ask for a better day. At mile 1 we were greeted by a waterfall and climbing. We climbed for 1.5 miles until we reached the rock crammble above tree line. The wind was blowing 25 to 30 miles an hr and it felt like we would be blown off the mtn. We scrambled for about 1.5 miles until we reached the flat land which was about a mile then climbed up to the summit of Katahdin. The views are indescribable and we'll worth the effort to climb up and view. Now that we got that 5.2 miles that doesn't count out of the way we started our thru hike. We climbed back down to the campground and finished the up and down in 8hrs. We ate dinner and went to bed wwith dreams of the 100 mile wilderness to come in the morning. We will put pics in when we reach town bc cell service is spotty. God Bless
Date: 2015-06-13
From: kathadin

To: rainbow lake
Miles today: 17.7
Weather: overcast clouds

We started hiking around 7 and soon after entering the forest the black flies and mosquito's started having us for breakfast. We had to Ford two streams in first 5 miles and the water was up due to snow melt and rain. The day was sunny and breezy all day which made for a great hike. We made to Abol bridge and out of Baxter park around 11 after 10 miles of hiking. We ate at the store then entered the wilderness of 100 miles. We stopped at herd lean-to for a break and played with a dog that we met. The dog wanted us to throw a stick then he would go off at a mad run to get it and bring it back. We then hiked up to the ledges and had a view of Katahdin. We hiked down to Rainbow Lake and set up camp. We seen 3 deer and 2 snakes during our hike. We signed in and are SOBO 52 and 53. We had a lovely evening by the lake and went to bed at 8. God Bless.
Date: 2015-06-14
From: rainbow lake

To: Nanmakanta Lake
Miles today: 17.9

We got up and started hiking by 5:30 with a sunny but chilly morning. The first 7.2 miles was around the lake with many mud boggs and swamps to get around. We seen two bears within a mile of each other with made tumbler mad at me bc I kept telling her there are no bears in Maine. We have hiked two times in Maine and had never seen a bear. We made it over to Rainbow Lakes Lean-To for a break and a snack before hiking over to Crescent Pond then started out hike over Nesuntabunt Mountain where we had some awesome views of the lake below. Then we hiked down many rock steps to reach the same lake and hiked beside it until we reached Nahmakanta Lake south end to camp. We met a couple who had stopped here for the night from New York. They both had trench foot and asked us how to treat them. We told them how then built a fire to dry out their shoes and socks. I think they were just hiking thru the muck instead of going around like us. We retired around 9 bc it sure gets daylight early in Maine. God Bless.
Date: 2015-06-15
From: Nanmakanta Lake

To: Crawford Pond
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

We were up and hiking at 5 bc the sunlight and the birds woke us up. For the most part we stayed at 500 to 700ft the first 8 miles so we made some great time arriving at Potaywadjo Spring Lean-To by 9:00. We seen a hiker still in their tent and we had hiked 8 miles already. I told tumbler they either sleep real late or were afraid to come out and fight the death squad of black flies and mosquitos. We then made our way around Jo- Mary Lake which is a special place bc we camped here in 12 with late 4 dinner and in 10 we swam and caught some rays on a little beach. We made over to Antler Campsite for lunch. The hiking was not that tough so far so we decided to try for 20 today. About a mile past Antler Ratman was attacked from behind by an Eagle. The bird hit him from behind and cut his head along with tearing off his doo-rag and taking it down the trail before dropping it. Ratman figured she had babies somewhere near and was just protecting them. We continued hiking to Jo-Mary road where we met 5 hikers waiting to be picked up. We then hiked to Crawford Pond to set up camp after hiking 21.2 miles. We were tired so we ate and went to bed. God Bless.
Date: 2015-06-16
From: Crawford Pond

To: West Branch of the Pleasant River
Miles today: 22.1
Weather: light rain

Today was our highest mile day so far We started hiking at 4:45 and first thing hiked up Little Boardman Mtn. at 1980ft. We then hiked to East Branch Lean-To where we met a couple stiil in their tent in the shelter sleeping. They were from Mass. and seemed to hike later in the day bc they feared bears. We had already hiked 7 miles and they were still asleep. They told us the beard were out early in the mornings so they waited to hike after the bears were done in the morning. We did luck up and find that a hiker left some tuna and hot chocolate packets there for whoever wanted them. Of course we grabbed them and had them for lunch. We then started our hike up White Cap which is the highest mountain we crossed in the wilderness at 3650ft. It was a tough climb but a tougher down hill. When we reached the top the Mtn was under fog and it started drizzling the rain. This was the first rain we had seen since hiking. The rain stopped as we made it to the bottom of White Cap so we pushed on. We hiked down to Carl A. Neehall Lean-To where we met 4 more SOBO hikers calling it a night. They were shocked when we said we were going 5.5 more before making camp. We headed down the Mtn towards Gulf Hagas and made it to camp at 7 after our 22 mile day. We met a couple from Atlanta with their dog doing a SOBO. We ate and went straight to bed. God Bless.
Date: 2015-06-17
From: West Branch of the Pleasant River

To: Long Pond Lean-To
Miles today: 15.3

Today was our hardest day so far many ups and downs with rock scrambles. We started out at 7 this morning due to our two big mile days. We first had to climb up Chairback Mtn at 2180ft then hike over to Columbus Mtn at 2325ft. We stopped for a snack before hiking on up to Third Mtn where we had lunch at 1920ft. We then had to hike over to Fourth Mtn at 2380ft. These Mtn are not that high but the trail takes up one down the other side then back up the other. Imagine hiking on rocks and roots along with dodging mud bogs all day while hiking up and down these mtns one after another. We were glad there was no fifth Mtn but we had to climb up Barren Mtn at 2660ft before making a 3 mile basically straight down on rocks and roots to Long Pond Lean-To. We were going to hike 2 more miles but were to tired so we stayed put. We set up our tent and ate. We met a young boy from California hiking from West Va. to Katahadin which is half the trail. He was excited about almost being done. God Bless.
Date: 2015-06-18
From: Long Pond Lean-To

To: Monson
Miles today: 15.1
Weather: overcast clouds

We got up and left camp at 4:45 with one mission town and food food food. We hiked .8 miles and had to ford our first of 4 rivers or streams before town. We then hiked around 5 miles before we had to ford Big Wilson Stream. Then we made it to Little Wilson Stream where tumbler just hiked in the water because she had already fell in and I walked very carefully across a log so I wouldn't have to change shoes again. It was a little nerve racking because the log was slick and high up. After the ford we had 6.6 miles to go to town. By now we had to stop and fix our last oatmeal bc we were both out of steam. We made it to Leeman Brook Lean-To at 1 and still had 3 miles to go with both of us hungry and tired. We finally made it to Monson at 230 and were picked up by the hostel we are at now. We had a Ribeye steak, baked potato,fries,philly cheese steak and salads for dinner. We have passed 30 SOBO hikers that started before us so far. We signed in as 52 and 53 so only about 25 are ahead of us at this point. Will try to journal every day now that we are out of the 100 mile wilderness. God Bless.
Date: 2015-06-19
From: Monson

To: Monson
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

We are here in Monson taking a zero day. It rained until 8:00 this morning and after we made it back to Lakeshore from breakfast Shaws we were informed that someone called and paid for us to stay one more night. We are so blessed God is good. Thank you to whoever provided us with this great trail magic. God Bless.
Date: 2015-06-20
From: Monson

To: Bald Mountaim Brook Lean-To
Miles today: 22.0

We left Monson around 8:30 after eating breakfast and talking with Rebecca for awhile. We first had to climb out of Monson then the trail was easy and flat for awhile. We had to ford the East Branch Piscataquis River before making our way up to the West Branch of the same river to ford. We came around the bend in the trail and seen two coolers with sodas and chips in them, that's what we call trail magic. We climbed up to Bald Mountain and made our way to Moxie Bald Lean-To to get water before climbing Moxie Bald Mtn. While we were at the shelter we ran into a couple from Va. who we had met in Monson at the shelter. We talked with them for a little bit but had to get going because we still had 4.1 miles to go and it was 6 then. We climbed Moxie and got some great pics of the sun setting and the lake below before heading down to our campsite. We were about .4 from our shelter when we seen our first moose. He was standing in the trail and when he seen us he ran down the trail and disappeared, its amazing how they can do that be so big. Tumbler said he ran from our looks but I think it was the hiker smell. We got our tent up and retired for the night right as it was getting dark. We were so tired that we didn't eat much before going to bed. God Bless to everyone.
Date: 2015-06-21
From: Bald Mountaim Brook Lean-To

To: Caratunk
Miles today: 14.7
Weather: broken clouds

This morning we woke up at 4 to rain hitting our tent. We were in no hurry to set out hiking. We didn't start until 11:45 when the rain slacked to a drizzle. We had a easy 3 miles starting out before a long 4.9 mile climb up Pleasant Pond Mountain. It's not the climbing that is getting us its all the blow downs you have to get around and all the mud boggs. This is the worst we have seen the trail look in all the times we have hiked the AT. We made it up to the top at 4 and still had 7.3 to town. We hiked 1.7 down to where the trail levels out and we thought we would have a easy 5.6 miles of trail into town but we were wrong. The trail had many mud boggs and was flooded in areas with sstreams running right down the middle. Our shoes and socks were soaked but our rain gear worked great and kept us dry. The last 2 miles the sun peaked out and smiled at us. We had to road walk 1 mile to the Sterling Inn where we are now. Want to wish all dads a happy fathers day and God Bless to everyone.
Date: 2015-06-22
From: Caratunk

To: west carry pond lean-to
Miles today: 14.0
Weather: scattered clouds

After a night at the Sterling Inn and getting dry with a nice hot shower we were ready to hit the trail. We had a good breakfast then caught the shuttle to the trail. We hiked .3 down to the Kennebec River were we rode the canoe ferry across. We then hiked 3.7 up to the Pierce Pond Shelter for lunch. During the hike up we had great scenery on our left of waterfalls in differant sizes which made for a great morning hike. We then had to hike for about 3 miles in the middle of a stream. We made it to East Carry Pond and the trail was much better. We met a guy going north heading to Katahadin to finish his section hiking the whole trail. We then hiked around East and West Carry Ponds before arriving at the shelter at 6. We met Whip at the shelter who is from Blacksburgh which is 3 hrs from our home. The trail sure makes the world smaller when u meet someone in the middle of nowhere who lives 3 hrs from us. We ate supper then off to bed. God Bless.
Date: 2015-06-23
From: west carry pond lean-to

To: Campsite at Flagstaff
Miles today: 5.2
Weather: overcast clouds

We had been told 100 percent chance of rain today and then sunny skies the rest of the week. When we woke up it was not raining so we packed up and started hiking by 6. After about an hr it started on and off rain so we hurried over to Flagstaff and set up our tent after 5.2 miles. We don't want to climb up to the Bigalow Mtn range in fog and rain so we will hike out tomorrow because the Bigalow Mountains are so great for the scenery on a pretty day. We will then hike into Stratton on Thursday. God Bless.
Date: 2015-06-24
From: Campsite at Flagstaff

To: horns pond lean-to
Miles today: 12.7

After sleeping all day in the rain yesterday we were ready to hike. We started hiking around 7 and had to finish hiking around Flagstaff Lake with the waved crashing into the shore bc the wind was strong. We hiked up to Little Bigelow Lean-To first on the way up met a trail maintainer who we thanked over and over. Without them there would be no trail. We then started our first climb up to Little Bigelow Mtn at 3010ft we made it there around 9:30 and had a snack with a friend we met who is hiking SOBO from Conn. We hiked into Safford Notch before climbing up to Bigelow Mtn Avery Peak. I can't describe the beauty when we reached the top and could see in all directions with Lakes below and a sunny clear day. We had to make it over to Bigelow West Peak at 4135ft. The wind was strong and it was a little chilly even with the sun shining. So, we hiked over to South Horn before making down to our campsite. Today was a great day of hiking with great views and having a clear sunny day made the climbs worth the effort. We made it to camp around 4:30 and are thinking of town food in the morning in Stratton. God Bless and pray all is well with everyone.
Date: 2015-06-25
From: horns pond lean-to

To: stratton
Miles today: 5.1

We left camp at 7 and stopped shortly after to stand on a boulder overlooking horns Pond and up at the Bigalow Mtn range. We think it is one of the best Mtn ranges to hike. We then hiked 4.7 to the road with a easy downhill hike. The second vehicle picked us up and dropped us off at the White Wolf Inn. It has been two weeks so here are some stats Ratman is keeping up with this thru hike. We have met hikers from 18 differant states so far, we have seen 2 bears, 3 deer, 1 moose, 2 wildchickens which we call grouse in Va.,16 snakes all garter snakes, we have had 4 trail magics. Also in 188 miles we have past 22 Lean-Tos so far,have climbed 18 named mtns and 3 over 4000ft. These are the stats we are going to keep up with this time. Also has rained 3 days out of 14 which is not that bad. The temps are 70's and lows are 50 with last night being the lowest at 48. God Bless.
Date: 2015-06-26
From: stratton

To: Spaulding Mountain Lean-to
Miles today: 13.5
Weather: overcast clouds

This morning we had breakfast with Big Tex at a local diner. We met some of the locals who were very friendly and nice. We started hitching around 8:30 for the long ride back to the trail. We made it to the trail at 9:00 and our hiking day began. We first hiked up North Crocker Mountain at 4228ft in 5.1 miles. Then we made our way over to South Crocker at 4040ft. It was a great day weather wise with no wind and blue skies. We then hiked about 3 miles down to the South Branch Carrasbassett River. This is where Inchworm went missing in 2013 and hasnt been heard from since. We then hiked up near Sugarloaf Mountain where we came to a plaque that states this is where the last 2 miles of the AT were finished to complete the whole AT. We then hiked down to our shelter and set up camp around 6. We ate pasta and retired for the night. God Bless.
Date: 2015-06-27
From: Spaulding Mountain Lean-to

To: Rangeley
Miles today: 18.7

We were up and hiking at 6 with blue skies but a little chilly. We first climbed up to Lone Mountain before making it down to Orbeton Stream which we had to ford. We met a group from Germany fording the stream and a group of teens with a leader hiking a part of the AT. We then hiked until we reached Poplar Ridge Lean-To where we ate a snack before hiking up Saddleback Junior at 3655ft. When we made it to the top u could see in all directions with clear skies u could see for miles. We then hiked over to the horn and Saddleback Mountain with big Tex and just sat at the top taking in all the views. We had 5.7 to go to the road where this great couple was picking us up so we could stay with them bc the rain was going to set in tonight and rain all day tomorrow. So we had to be at the road at 6:30 and it was 3:10 and we were still on top of the Mtn. 5.7 miles away. We hurried off the mountain and made it to the road at 6:15 just in time to meet our ride. They live in a cabin on the lake and he fixed grilled chicken,peas and salad for dinner, it was great. No hiking tomorrow bc of rain. God Bless
Date: 2015-06-28
From: Rangeley

To: Rangeley
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

We took a zero today bc of the rain. We stayed with a wonderful family who fed us great meals and took us to the history museum here in town. We have had a great day with them just finished off dinner of roast with steam vegs and rice for dinner and got to sit in their woodstove hot tub to complete a great day on the trail. They are slackpacking us tomorrow 14 miles before we start our last three days in Maine. God Bless to everyone and pray all is well.
Date: 2015-06-29
From: Rangeley

To: Bemis Strean
Miles today: 13.9

We woke up and our great host Tom took us to re-supply at the local IGA yes there is an IGA. We then started hiking around 9 with no packs which felt great. We told Tom we would be at the stream at 3. The trail was very difficult due to the mud and water everywhere. We could not build up any kind of pace and stuggled all day. We made it Little Swift River Pond Campsite and stopped for water and realized we were behind schedule. We then hiked over to Sabbath Day Pond Lean-To and we were now only 5 miles from the meeting point but were one hr behind. We hurried with no breaks and made the stream at 3:30. Tom was there with our packs and had even brought us a stack of dry wood. We had bought brats,cheese,chips and hummus to grill over the fire after our slackpack and with the dry wood we had a great meal. We had to say bye to Tom and Joy but we just want to thank them for everything and we will be back to visit with gifts. God Bless to u all and a big thanks to Tom and Joy u r true angels in our book.