morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2008-07-26
From: Avery Memorial Campsite

To: Horns Pond Lean To
Miles today: 2.9
Weather: broken clouds

I got to speak with Robert several times today. He did not get to make it into Stratton though. He said after hiking up the Little Bigelow and then Avery Peak he was unable to make it any further yesterday, so that put him behind for today. He is staying at Horns Pond Lean To, lat/45.1449 long/-70.3231, off Honrns Peak part of the Bigelow Mountain range. He said that he would hike down to a campsite that is near the highway tomorrow so he can be close to Stratton on Monday. We had different things to go over, he is wanting to get a lighter stove and a new sleeping bag that is not quit so warm, though he was told that he might want to keep that unitl after New Hampshire because of the elevation that he will be at. Then there is the long hike coming up of about 80 miles so we had to discuss what type of food he would want and about how much weight to carry.And he wanted me to make sure to say Thank You to Jim Trowell for picking up the tab for his breakfast while he was in Caratunk last week end.Now today I put some jerky, onions, brocolli, and carrots on to dehydrate. Then put together several different meals to see how much they weigh so I can get this next big mail drop as light as possible for the long stretch.Thats all from me right now. Juanita
Date: 2008-07-27
From: Horns Pond Lean To

To: Hwy 27 near Stratton
Miles today: 5.1

Well Robert made it off the Mountain Range and is camping by the roadside until the morning where he has arranged for someone to come pick him up and take him into Stratton. He is at Hwy 27 by the trail, lat/45.1027 long/-70.3563.
Date: 2008-07-28
From: Hwy 27 near Stratton

To: Crocker Cirque Campsite
Miles today: 7.3
Weather: broken clouds

Robert went over the Crocker Mountain Range today. It has an elevation of about 4000'. He checked in at Stratton at 10:25 and then checked in at his campsite at 5:49pm. It appears he is staying at Crocker Cirque Campsite, lat/45.0361 long/-70.3759.
Date: 2008-07-29
From: Crocker Cirque Campsite

To: Spaulding Mountain Lean To
Miles today: 6.2

Robert is making it slow and steady. He had 2 mountain ranges to cross today. He checked in at 3pm at the base of Sugarloaf Mountain, lat/45.0266 long/-70.321. Sugarloaf Mountain has an elevation of over 3500'. Then he checked in at 7:41pm at the Spaulding Mountain Lean To, lat/44.9958 long/-70.3414. Spaulding Mountain has and elevation of over 3000'.As for me the last few days I have kept it easy. Needed a short break.Juanita
Date: 2008-08-01
From: Piaza Rock Lean-To

To: Rangley - Gull Pond Lodge
Miles today: 1.8

Hey Everyone It's CYFI,Just got into Rangley Maine this morning thanks to my new French-Canadian friends driving me in. I hope to hear from them sometime on here. But for the brief long update. July 1st, Nice flight up to Maryland where I had a VERY brief layover. Just enough time to buy shot glasses for my mom. Then onto Portland. From there got on the bus a few hours later. Had another brief layover in Bangor. where I ran into Slot Machine for the first time. It's a small world out here. He went to Parkview (booo) and graduated in 03. But got up to Medway and stayed at Katahdin Shadows. Pretty nice place to stay. More for tourist than hikers. Cause at the time I didnt' know about the AT Lodge in Millinocket.July 2nd, Got a late start to get the Katahdin Stream Campground. I didn't even start up the mountain until 10:30. Luckily you can slack pack up it and bring just the things you need since you have to go up and come right back down in the same day. Got up there pretty late to the summit. Luckily there were a couple of older ladies up there so they could take my pic for me. Didn't end up eating a good lunch and no dinner cause I got down right at dark and couldn't find my headlamp. My best guess is that I lost it at Katahdin Shadows.July 3rd, I got up and had breakfast and tried to head out got all of ten yards before I knew I would have to rethink my food for the 100 mile wilderness. So I ended up taking my first Zero day my second day on the trip. But I dropped my food down to a slim 10 days of food instead of the good heafty 16 days that I had. My pack was still heavy. But thats when I ran into Greg and Jerimia(Not sure on the spelling). There both cool guys. Stayed the night at their lean-to.July 4th, Headed out at 7 am for a 14 mile day. Greg and Jerimia took the day off since Greg hurt his ankle carrying his full pack up Katahdin. They went up a different trail. Was nice day. They like to throw the river crossings right at you here. Had two on the second day of hiking. Got into camp exhausted right before dark. Set up camp and had dinner. I talked to AYCE for the first time here as well as others never to be seen again, including Stretch, NOCAR, and lots of others that I don't remember their names.Well that's all for now maybe some more days to come in following cities. But all is well. Only had one time that I really considered quitting. It was when I tried to do Little Bigelow and Bigelow all in one day and the back side of Bigelow KICKED MY BUTT. But all those thoughts are gone for now. Just need to get through N.H. and everything will be "smooth" sailing. Well hope to hear from everyone somemore on the guestbook, it really keeps me going knowing there is so many people following me. Also got my "tri-pod" for my camera. So I will be taking a lot more video and will be able to send the DVD's back to my mom so there will be some shots of me doing some climbing since I am usally by myself and can't take any good pics of me.
Date: 2008-08-04
From: Sabbath Day Pond Lean-to

To: Maine Hwy 17
Miles today: 3.7

Hey Everyone,Well It happened, I had to get off trail to head back home for my health. I found out that my lung functions were dropping so back home I head. I am hoping to come back to Hwy 17 here in Maine and pick back up were I stopped within a month or two. But we will have to see.
Date: 2008-06-10
To: The path less taken
Miles today: 0.0

I find myself at the cross roads of life once again. A couple of weeks ago I was visiting relatives in England. I spent time exploring some ruins in Fir Tree woods (?) near Newquay, Cornwall and it brought back memories of how I always dreamed of thru hiking the Appalachian Trail. I told my cousins this later that night, and their only question was "What's holding you back from doing it right now?"Maybe it was the jetlag, the warm beer, or the fact that I kept hitting my head on the pub doorway; but I couldn't come up with a good reason as to why I wasn't on the trail. Sure, I've got a nice steady, well paying job. But there's no wife/girlfriend, house, or car payments. I even had enough money saved up to cover my expenses for a year.Yesterday I walked into work and delivered my two weeks notice. So it begins...
Date: 2008-06-12
To: Worldly Possessions
Miles today: 0.0

The past couple days have been frentic, trying to find and buy gear and plan the trip. I haven't even started selling off all my stuff yet, I need to do that soon or find a place to store it all. My list includes:1 Car1 Truck4 Motorcycles1 QuadLots of toolsCar/Truck/motorcycle parts and gearand more junk than I care to rememeber...I think I will become a fixture on craigslist in the upcoming days. Besides all the people in my life, one thing I will really miss are my motorcycles. I really enjoy riding and working on them, I feel like I'm abondoning my children or something. Fortunetly they aren't children and I can just store them for a few months. I don't think they'll notice.
Date: 2008-06-12
To: Training
Miles today: 0.0

I only decided to do a thru hike a few weeks ago and I'm not in the best of shape.   I got a lot of walking in when I was in London, but city streets probably aren't the best way to get my trail feet. This past Sunday I decided to augment my training by hiking through Highland State Rec with a 35 lb pack. Things were going good until I go to a cutoff point. I felt great, but the sky was getting dark fast and I heard there were storms coming our way. So I took the short cut back to the trail head. Seconds later it started pouring water like crazy, but it was actually a nice break from the bugs. Then I heard a noise that was something between thunder and a freight train and it got awfully windy, like tornado windy. Trees where being knocked down around me, the path was totally blocked. But then the wind died down, and I continued through the nice cool rain. I made it back to the parking lot unscathed. The sky looked OK and I felt good so I went for another loop. I got to the cutoff point again, over lots of large downed trees, when suddenly the storm sirens went off. Not much I could do but head back. It's kind of weird being in the middle of the wilderness during a bad storm, there isn't much you can do. But I didn't panic and I made it through. I think it was a good test, and a good reason to watch more survivor man!
Date: 2008-06-17
To: More training
Miles today: 0.0

Just a note to all my friends checking out my journal. I'm planning a Southbound thru-hike of the Appalachian trail. I fly out to Maine on June 30th, then I will hit the trail on July 1st. I will slowly work my way down to Georgia, arriving sometime around December. That's all there is to my itinerary, I plan on keeping it simple!I really meant to hike and mountain bike all weekend. Honest. But when my friend Kevin called Saturday and offered a boat ride, I couldn't turn it down. Weather was perfect, the company was good, swimming was chilly, and the beer was cold. It's times like this I wonder why I'm doing this whole hiking thing. Then I get back into my daily routine and don't question it.Sunday I went back to Highland Rec with my pack to do some more hiking. I got in about 7.5 miles (?) in under 3 hours. I would have liked to take some breaks, but the mosquito's where so bad I kept up a brisk pace and never stopped. The amount of destruction done by last weeks storm was amazing; I am surprised I didn't get killed by a falling tree when I was hiking through it. There where parts of the park that looked clear cut from all the wind damage. The trail was even hard to find sometimes due to the damage. From my perspective it just makes it more interesting.More hiking tonight with Jer, we'll see how I do with competition.
Date: 2008-06-17
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Today I received the full map set to the Appalachian Trail from the ATC. It probably would have been a better idea to order just a few and get the rest along the way. But I've been full of bad ideas lately (see "Prep 1"), so I sent my $200 in. Just for the record, there are 37 separate maps. 14 of the maps are for Virginia. They are all very interesting. I think it would be cool to set them end to end and see the entire trail, but I would run out of house and still not get out of Maine (7 maps + 1 guide book!)I wasn't planning on doing any maildrops, but there is no way I'm carrying more than a couple of these maps at one time. I don't even know if they are completely necessary, but it will make for some interesting reading along the way.Jer and I hiked 5.5 miles at Brighton rec, nice trail and it was nice to have company. I wish my craigslist sell off went as well, maybe I just need more patience. I've set aside all of Saturday for people to stop by and check out the 4 wheeler. If anyone else pulls a no show I might just burn the quad for entertainment.
Date: 2008-06-23
To: Getting Closer
Miles today: 0.0

Only 1 week to got till I fly out to the remote woods of Maine and start my adventure. Things are going remarkably well here. I sold my 4 wheeler, got someone interested in my truck, got my map mail drops together, and got the rest of my gear together.My last day at work was Friday, it was a lot harder to leave than I thought it would be. After almost 5 years I got used to working with a great bunch of people and it was strange thinking I wouldn't be spending my time there anymore. I spent the day trying to close up all my projects and say goodbye to everyone, a little stressful but not too bad. I really wish I hadn't drank so much the night before, my farewell party was fun but also made me realize I'm not as young as I used to be. Plus it's hard to get my act together while hung over. After work Jer put on a nice grill out and some friends stopped by. Today I went to Moosejaw to pick up some superfeet. I ran into my cousin Andrew, I almost forgot he works there. It was really cool to see him before I left and ever cooler to learn his nickname, AT (his initials, and the trail I'm hiking). I think AT had the best response yet when I told him I was going to spend 6 months thru hiking. Quote "That's a long time to sleep in a tent and shit in a hole!" I couldn't have said it better myself.
Date: 2008-06-25
To: Tracking the 'wreck
Miles today: 0.0

I think I finally figured out a way for people to follow my progress on the trail. Matt G., a friend and my bible study leader, has volunteered to help me out. Here's how it will work out:1. Every night I'll record where I'm staying at as a text message. I'll list where I'm staying by shelter name and state.2. When I get signal, I'll send the text to Matt and he'll post it here. There will be a time lag, but you should be able to see where I was every night eventually.3. Go here to find where the shelter is on Google maps:http://www.cs.utk.edu/~dunigan/at/googleat.php?lat=45.88165&lon=-68.99569&scale=6Drag the cursor over the red flags and it will show the name of the shelter. Note that at the bottom of the webpage you can add the trail in via the buttons there (is there a name for those things?)I think I'll add the link to my signature so it's on every journal entry.I hope this works out, but at the very least the webpage is pretty cool!Oh yeah, I added my mail drops today. The plan is that my friend Mike will send me maps and extra gear along the way as I need them. Some people have food sent to them, but I'm just going to wing it and buy food in town. If anyone wants to send me a treat or a letter, feel free (but not obligated!) to send it to a mail drop about 2 weeks before I get there. I'll add dates as I get closer to the mail drop.
Date: 2008-06-28
To: Prep Hike
Miles today: 0.0

Yesterday I finally went on a overnight hike to test out my new gear. I'm not sure the conditions could have been more miserable, which was kind of perfect for a test. I conned Mike the bike to come with me for company and we arrived at Pinckney state park around 8pm. We hiked about 3.5 miles of the Potawatomi trail; it was hot, muggy, and the bugs were terrible. We got to our campsite to find someone had tented on the beach and blocked access for a midnight swim. Not willing to sleep covered in deet and sweat, we went swimming anyways. All my gear worked out pretty good, and I felt like had a good sleep in the woods.In the morning I got up and packed just in time for a deluge to strike. I was impressed with how my minimalist tent/tarp held the rain out. At one point there was a small river running under my floor, but inside everything was nice and dry. The rain subsided a little, so we made a brake for it and headed back to the car. Hiking the rain isn't so bad, the woods can be quite serene and beautiful if you can get past the slight discomfort. The bugs were pretty bad again and it was so hot it turned into a steambath. We got back to the car and I felt everything went pretty good, and I thought 'How much worse could the AT be than this?' I'm about to find out...
Date: 2008-06-29
To: Last night at home
Miles today: 0.0

Wow, in just a few hours I'll be out the door and headed to the airport. I think the reality of my adventure finally hit me while I was folding my blankets and cleaning up my room. No more comfy beds for me, no warm blankets to protect me on a cold night. What, are those keys in my pocket? No need for those either. I can't even remember a time in life when I wasn't carrying key's with me, it's really kind of profound when you think about it.All my gear is packed and ready to go, even it I had to take an extra bag to get around airline policys (but it's just a small knife officer!) I am still concerned that I have left too many open ends here, but I will just have to live with it.On a more interesting note, my phone freaked out over the past couple days and so I decided to get a new one. Since I was at the store, I figured an upgrade was in order. I am now the proud ownder of LG EnV2, or something to that extent. What that means is that I can now send and recieve email from my phone. I don't plan on turning the phone on while hiking, but I will check my hotmail every couple of days. I don't know if that's really getting away from it all, but I'm happy that I'll be able to keep in contact with all the wonderful people in my life.On that note, I bid you farewell!
Date: 2008-07-01
From: Millenocket

To: Birches
Miles today: 5.2
Weather: scattered clouds

Summited Katahdin! Spending night near birches in Katahdin Stream. Slept in a lean to with Grizzly Bear ... Trail Name!The Birches SheltersWaypoint: TheBircheCounty/State: Piscataquis MEElevation: 1080'5.2 miles from Katahdin
Date: 2008-07-02
From: Birches

To: Abol Bridge Campground
Miles today: 9.9
Weather: broken clouds

Staying near hurd brook. having a blast, this is where i should be!Hiked with grizzly and popeye. Stayed at abol bridge campground, tented and had a hiker party with doc, godzilla, macgyver, abbey, grizzly, popeye, the mikes, dakota, jason and kelly.(I started this day feeling great. I got up and left by myself in the morning all nervous about finding my way all alone. I assumed it would be this way the whole trail, but I turned out to be wrong. I crossed some sketchy bog bridges, my phone kept turning itself on, and there were lots of tree roots. It was pretty flat trail though. I ran into Grizzly Bear and Popeye a couple miles up the trail and decided to hike the rest of the day with them. Had a bunch of interesting stream crossings, spent a lot of time looking for the best spot to cross. Near the end of Baxter park I completely ran out of steam and didn't think I could make it to Hurd brook. Grizzly Bear suggested we stop at the campground at Abol Bridge and I was happy to oblige him. We met Jason, Kelly, and Dakota there. They told us how they made it to the park border and camped out the night before, had a run in with a moose in the middle of the night, then the next morning realized they where .2 or so miles from the campground. They took a nero there to rest up. An hour or so later Doc, MacGyver and Godzilla came along and camped with us, but they where missing Abby! Apparently she fell into the stream and told the others to go on while she dried out. She came to the campground a little later. Dakota bought hot dogs and marshmallows for a campfire that night, and we all had a great time. This was typical of Maine, lots of cool people to hang out with at every stop!)
Date: 2008-07-03
From: Abol Bridge Campground

To: Rainbow Spring Campground
Miles today: 11.2
Weather: broken clouds

At Nesuntabut Mt. Tonight - Rainbow Spring CampgroundHiked with dakota to rainbow spring campground. tough climb up stone staircase, it rained and was miserable. had a fire and things were better!(I started out this day hiking with Jason (Muffin Man), Kelly (Brown Toe), and Dakota. The "100 Mile Wilderness" sign was intimidating, on a pole 15 feet up and warning of the grave dangers that lie ahead. I had good conversation with Dakota and we made it to Hurd Brook Lean-To in no time. It was kind of dirty and dank, so I was glad we didn't stay there the night before. Met up with a hiker that started his hike at Abol Bridge campground, $100, and giant sams club pack of canned tuna. Kinda weird. He told us tales of his sexual prowess and how he got his giganitc cotton power rangers beach towel. I used a privy for the first time on the trail, and we hiked on. We hiked up some crazy stone stair cases and the others got ahead of me. The tuna can guy caught up to me, but I lost him shortly. I caught up with the others just in time for it to rain on us, which it would continue to do through the day. My favorite part of the day was Muffin Man stopping to put rocks and logs in the wet spots we crossed so Brown Toe wouldn't have to get her feet too wet. How sweet!Made to the rainbow springs campground and stopped for the day. This was basically the same group as the day before, and once it stopped raining we had fun sitting around the campfire talking. I found a nice place to set up my tent and slept pretty good this night.)
Date: 2008-07-04
From: Rainbow Spring Campground

To: Wadleigh Stream
Miles today: 11.9
Weather: broken clouds

Tonight at wadleigh stream lean to.         having an awesome time!        Hiked with Doc, Macgyver, and Godzilla to Wadleigh Stream. Slept in a         shelter. I hiked the rest of the way with this group, cool people!                                Wadleigh Stream Lean-to                Waypoint:         WadleighS        County/State: Piscataquis ME        Elevation: 685'        38.2 miles from Katahdin (I was a little worried about hiking by myself today. Dakota only wanted to hike a few miles, so I was hoping to latch on with Doc, Macgyver and Godzilla. I threw all my things together super fast so they wouldn't leave without me, and I ended up hiking with them and having a great time. We stopped by Rainbow Stream Campground for lunch, it was a beautiful site. Doc and I took our shoes off and soaked our feet in the ice cold stream just out front of the lean-to. I wish we would have stayed the night here, but it didn't fit in mileage wise. Climbed up Nesuntabunt Mtn and had beautiful views. Grizzly Bear and Popeye got to the top and shouted down to us, something they liked to do even when picking us up in North Carolina months later! I can't describe how awesome the view was (pic is in previous journal entry), it was just amazing. I called my dad and brother and had my first conversation with anyone on the outside since my hike began.Made it to the lean to and I decided to stay in the shelter with Mike and Mike (Mousetrap and Bookworm). It was still light out, our bodies where wore out but our brains where still going (complete opposite of later down the trail! ha!) So we stayed and talked, then the three of us ended up on or stomachs journaling like a bunch of 12 year old girls. "Do you guys have any cute stickers?" Good times. Later that night Popeye had a mouse incursion into his food bag. This was one of the rare instances this happened to anyone that camped with me the entire trail!)