morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2011-07-20
From: Caratunk

To: Flagstaff Lake
Miles today: 18.7
Weather: clear sky

After packing up my tent, I headed over to the river to wait for the ferry. A veteran thru-hiker came by, he'd stayed the night with people he met in town. He'd come to know Caratunk from multiple thru hikes, and some other visits and he liked the town a great deal. He stayed and talked a while, some locals out for a morning run stopped and talked to us about the town and the trail - but after a while, he organized his things in a large garbage bag, headed up stream where the river widened and became shallow and calm and crossed.I preferred to wait and was soon joined by two thru-hikers as we waited for the ferry. Soon we were across the river and on our way.The trail today was gentle and easy. I stopped in at Pierce Pond lean-to and at West Carry Pond to eat a bit, and enjoy the views. While looking for a campsite near Flagstaff Lake, I found the perfect spot to camp - a small white sand beach which had been set up as a camp site. Once I set up, I enjoyed a lovely evening, watching a canoe move across the water and pull in for the day and then watching the sunset across the Lake over a mountain ridge.I remembered when my son and I had come north from West Carry Pond lean-to, we'd made good mileage and had little trouble getting to the river in time to get a ride froM Steve Longley who was the ferryman at that time. Steve was really kind to us, dropped us off where we could get a burger and pointed us to our intended destination - the now defunct Caratunk House.
Date: 2011-07-21
From: Flagstaff Lake

To: Horns Pond Lean-tos
Miles today: 13.0
Weather: overcast clouds

The day began with quite an ascent, but it was a very nice day and not too warm at the start. After summiting Little Bigelow, I came down to Safford Notch where I had been near collapse 12 years ago. I had parathyroid cancer which was not yet diagnosed and this caused elevated calcium levels in my blood. Mild dehydration led to such high concentrations of calcium that I became so weak that I was almost incapable of moving. My son Caleb took over then, set up the tent, filtered water and cooked dinner. He took care of everything and soon I was feeling much better. It would be almost two years before I got my diagnosis, but the day stands out for me for much more than a foreboding of cancer. It was a day when I got the glimpse of the warm caring and capable young man that Caleb was becoming.I enjoyed the uphill slog, accompanied by many memories of hiking with Caleb. The heat and humidity had me sweating more than usual, and I was careful to keep drinking water. The views from the summits were hazy.Over at Horns Pond, I ran into the caretaker I met on my first night out. He'd been hiking all over the area on his days off and was greatly enjoying himself. I went down to the pond for a swim and to filter some water and then settled in to enjoy a quiet evening.
Date: 2011-07-23
From: Crocker Cirque Campsite

To: Poplar Ridge Lean-to
Miles today: 18.6
Weather: broken clouds

The New York bushwhackers were heading out to the trail as I emerged from my tent. Though I headed out soon afterwards, I never caught up.Having climbed Reddington, I had an opportunity to complete the list of 67 New England peaks over 4,000 feet. There are actually more summits at that altitude, but many of them are not counted as there is not much of an ascent when traveling from a higher nearby summit. When I had hiked this route before, I had taken some side-trips to nearby summits, but had kept no records of which summits those were, so today I hiked to Sugarloaf and Abraham. As it turned out, Sugarloaf seemed familiar, but this was definitely my first time hiking Abraham - the trail there was long and rocky. It seemed to go on forever, but offered some great views. The New Yorkers must have been making great time to have gone out and back before I reached the trail to Abraham. I'd finished the list, though I have not done the Baxter Peaks since I was a teenager. I hope to combine them with a return to the 100 mile Wilderness some day.
Date: 2011-07-24
From: Poplar Ridge Lean-to

To: tent site near south pound
Miles today: 13.0

As my backpack was becoming increasingly uncomfortable, I was happy that to be within reach of Route 4, from where I could hitch into Rangeley. Happily I was already at 3000 feet of elevation, so much of the effort involved in going up and over Saddleback Junior, The Horn, and Saddleback was already behind me.The weather had cooled substantially from the days before and with altitude, clouds and wind, it felt chilly so I put on my rain jacket to break the wind. The summits were in the clouds, it was only after I passed the summit of Saddleback that they began to break up. I congratulated several hikers who were on their way up on their excellent timing.My first ride dropped me off at local outfitter and offered to put me up for the night if I needed it, given that the local hostel had closed. Happily the store had something that worked for my pack. After this I had a hefty lunch, with a very large salad. I crave fresh food after eating out of a backpack for a stretch. On the outskirts of town, I resupplied at a supermarket and hitched back to the trail late in the day.
Date: 2011-07-25
From: tent site near south pound

To: off trail, north of Old Blue
Miles today: 20.0

The next 11 miles were fairly flat and easy. There were some very nice spots along Sabbath Day and Long Ponds. It was a little cool, but I took a swim it's always nice to have a chance to refresh and clean off. I had some ambition to make it up and over Old Blue Mountain, but with 2,000 feet of gain going up and over the Bemis peaks, it was getting fairly late by the time I reached Bemis stream trail. Daylight was already fading by the time I reached Elephant Mountain and I felt badly for the backpackers coming the other way who were counting on reaching the Bemis Lean-to which was about 4 miles away. I began looking for a good place to camp and here I missed my hammock for the first time. There were long stretches with old fallen trees and no usable spots on the ground. The trees were too heavy to move and most of them had other trees that had fallen over them at some point. When I finally spotted what looked like usable space, I was disappointed to find someone already there. He was willing to share his space, so I set up there. This was fortunate, because a light rain had started.As I looked for a place away from the site to pee, I saw that this area had been used and misused by many. There was plenty of visible toilet paper and other evidence that showed many who had been there before us had not bothered to dig cat holes. At least it was far enough away from our tents as to not cause problems.
Date: 2011-07-26
From: off trail south of Old Blue

To: Frye Notch Shelter
Miles today: 19.0

I was feeling better with a pack that worked and I set my goal for the day as reaching Frye Notch Lean-to about 19 miles away and with the remainder of Old Blue and three more mountains along the way.When I heard and felt a storm bearing down on me late in the day, I debated whether to set up a tent, or move on in hopes of reaching the shelter before the storm hit. I was only part way up surplus mountain, which stood between me and the shelter, but I decided to go for it. I can plenty of drive clothes in my bag and I had clothes that could still insulate when wet - so I moved as fast as I could. There is something exhilarating about trying to beat a storm to a shelter, between the cooler air, the adrenaline and perhaps even the electricity in the air, I get a surge of energy. I was also hoping to ride that energy for a while.The storm did catch me. First a little water, then drenching rain - I heard thunder off in the distance. Since I was not in an exposed situation, I chose to keep moving. Soon I was totally drenched, I ws worried about getting a chill - but I did not feel cool as long as I kept moving. I finally reached the lean-to about 20 minutes before headlamp time. There as a crowd of girls in their early teens and a couple of young women in the shelter. I was prepared to get myself organized under the shelter and tent - even if they followed, or I pushed the rules about large groups not monopolizing shelters, I'd experienced sharing a shelter with excited kids before and wanted to get some sleep. Happily they were just there to finish a group meal and soon retired to their tents. In the meantime, they offered me some of their hot water which I gladly took with my meal. Once I had privacy I wrung out the clothes I'd been wearing - though the clothes were not very absorbent. After that I was able to wear my clothes partially dry before I felt chilled and needed to put on dry clothes. I'd felt a bit reckless rushing in through the storm, but happily I was safe and warm in the shelter while the downpour continued.
Date: 2011-07-27
From: Frye Notch Lean-to

To: Full Goose Shelter
Miles today: 15.5
Weather: light rain

I gave blood today. I got an early start - feeling strong and headed up over the Baldpates to Grafton Notch. I stumbled twice coming down the Mahoosuc Arm and picked up a few scrapes on the bare rock. It wasn't that wet or slick, perhaps I was trying to move too fast. I hit Mahoosuc notch a little late. Mahoosuc Notch was a lot of fun the first time I passed through it. The notch is filled with boulders and deep underneath ice can last well into summer - perhaps year round. The notch is naturally air conditioned. The rocks were slick today, and I managed to stumble a couple more times, getting some nasty scrapes which I stopped to clean up enough to reduce any risk of infection. Sometimes the notch poses interesting puzzles - shall I go over or under this rock? At another point, there is an opening to small for me to get through with my pack on and the solution was to push my pack through one opening, pass through another by myself and then reach back to get the pack. There was a blast of heat as I finally emerged from the very long mile of Mahoosuc Notch, it felt as if I'd emerged from an air conditioned movie theater into the heat of a summer day. It was late in the day when I finally reached the Full Goose Shelter.
Date: 2011-07-29
From: Trident Col Campsite

To: Imp Shelter
Miles today: 15.0
Weather: fog

I hitched into Gorham today and had myself a big sub at Subway and bought a second sub to carry with me. I wandered Gorham a bit, before hitching back to the trail. South of Route 2, the trail rises at a slow and easy grade. As my socks were mostly wet, I walked in my crocs trying to wear my socks dry. People had left some food at Rattle River shelter, never a good idea because it rewards intrusions by hungry critters including bears. I took some food myself and convinced some others who stopped in to take some. Ultimately I tossed a couple potatoes far from the shelter. A while after I set out from the shelter the trail grew steeper and wetter and I changed into my hiking shoes. Although I ahd thoughts of making it past Imp shelter, it was late in the day when I arrived. The caretaker there was recovering from a 50 mile "day" hike - the hut to hut hike in which hikers attempt to hike the 50 miles from the northern most of the AMC huts at Carter Notch to the most southerly, Lonesome Lake, in less than 24 hours. He'd pushed himself to the limits, but had managed. While I've started to enjoy big mileage hikes, I think this kind of hike will be forever beyond my ability.
Date: 2011-07-30
From: Imp Campsite and Shelter 

To: Pinkham Notch
Miles today: 13.1
Weather: fog

Once I was back on the ridge, I was in the fog. It was cool and breezy. I wanted to hurry since I was meeting Ellen at Pinkham Notch, but I felt drained. Perhaps it was hiking for 12 days without much of a break, maybe it was the cool wet and windy day sapping my energy. I just couldn't kick myself into gear.When I got to Carter Notch Hut, I was feeling weak and hungry so I happily bought a snickers bar and and a nutrition bar. The best though was the soup deal, just a few dollars for endless refills of a healthful and hearty soup. I had about a 1/2 dozen bowls. I made sure to tip the caretaker who cheerfully dished out the refills. Finally ready to hit the trail I began the climb up the Wildcats. The final descent from the Wildcats is steep and difficult. I made very poor time and knew I was keeping Ellen waiting. I finally met up with her and Loki at the base of the mountain on the Lost Pond trail. We stopped at Pinkham Notch where I cleaned up a bit and then headed off to a hotel for the night. Hike completed: 202 miles, 13 days, New England 67 4,000 foot peak list finished - feeling great and happy to have a couple days at leisure to spend with Ellen.
Date: 2011-02-08
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Time to start my journal. I am a PATC (Potomac Appalachian trail Club) ATC (Appalachian Trail Conservancy) and KTA (keystone trails association) member. It is with the PATC that I¢ve been involved with the most. Doing trail work trips, cabin work trips and renting cabins on occasion. For the past couple years I¢ve been a ¢co-overseer¢ with my friend Dee on a three mile section of the A.T. from Rattlesnake Run Road to the Gas Pipeline near South Mountain in southern PA. Tough work but enjoyable and satisfying. Really enjoy stopping work to chat with the thru hikers, section hikers and the local day hikers. All are very appreciative of the work we do keeping the trail in good shape.    So, thought I¢d like to be able to relate to the experiences of the thru hikers passing through.Hiking the A.T. has been on my mind for a few years now. But in order for it to happen I needed to make a few things happen. I needed to retire but couldn¢t afford to due to my $1200 a month mortgage payment, which my pension wasn¢t about to cover. Last fall I refinanced and was able to cut my payment in half. After unloading one of my two cars, one of my two motorcycles and refinancing, my ducks were in a row and was able to retire the end of January 2011.            So now ¢Phase II¢ begins ¢¦
Date: 2011-02-09
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

About two years ago bought an Osprey Aether 70 backpack, Sierra Zip stove and some other essentials and hiked from Caledonia State Park at US 30 to Harpers Ferry WV. Took 4 12 days and had my inaugural backpacking trip under my belt. In the summer of 2010 Dee and I hiked ~ 85 miles starting at Swift Run Gap in the SNP north to Ashby Gap VA. This was a good prep for the ¢Big One¢.    Needless to say, soon after that trip I was thinking Ultra Light. I only weigh 140 and carrying a 40 lb pack wasn¢t going to work. Picked up an MSR Hubba 1 person tent which weighs just over 3lbs. Also got a titanium cook pot and mug. Started using the MSR pocket rocket stove. It¢s small, weighs almost nothing and easy to use. I liked the zip stove because it will burn just about anything but it¢s a pain cleaning the black soot off the pot every time and it weighs almost 2lbs.   Next on the list is the trip planning.
Date: 2011-02-10
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Week two of retirement and feels like I¢m still on vacation. Have all my gear. Hard to stop thinking of things I might need for the trip. Guess that¢s the keyword: NEED ¢¦. I don¢t need anything more!   My start date is May 8th. Plan to be dropped off at Caledonia State Park in PA and head north to Maine.Should be at Katahdin by the second week in August. Then fly back home, take a couple days to visit family, and head back out to Caledonia to start walking south. Plan to finish before Thanksgiving.    I¢m doing it this way as one option suggested by the ATC. Most hikers start in GA and hike north. They do this for several reasons; follow the seasons north, support from fellow hikers etc. I chose my course due to my age, and am not confident I can make it to Katahdin by the time Baxter State Park closes in October. I will follow spring and summer NOBO and late summer into Autumn SOBO. So this is referred to as a ¢Flip-Flop¢ thru hike.
Date: 2011-02-11
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Been anxious to get up to our section of the A.T. to see what damage the last snow may have left. So this past Sunday Dee, aka: ¢muchtoodue¢, and I headed to section 101010 (that¢s the A.T. designated trail name for our 3 mile section in PA) to inspect it and to hang the ¢Chimney Rocks¢ sign I made for the blue blazed side trail to the overlook. In 2009 I replaced the ¢N - Appalachian Trail - S¢ sign there due to being old and cracked, but there wasn¢t a sign pointing to Chimney Rocks.    There was still about 6¢ of snow on the ground as we slowly made our way up the mountain, removing lot of fallen limbs along the way. Finally made it to the top, placed the sign under the A.T. sign, drilled the two holes and inserted the bolts. Looked great ¢¦ until I went to put the nuts on and couldn¢t find them. Err! Poor planning on my part for not having a checklist. So pulled the sign back off and plan to head back up this Saturday to finish the job.   I love this section because it has just about everything on it. It starts a short distance from Old Forge Park, heading north from Rattlesnake Run Road it crosses Old Forge Road, runs along Tumbling Run stream and within a quarter mile are the Tumbling Run Shelters. At that point there is a blue blazed trail leading to PATC¢s Hermitage Cabin. Past the shelters the trail starts the 1000¢ ascent up to the Chimney Rocks side trail. There the blue blazed loop trail from Hermitage Cabin ends. Continuing north on the A.T. the trail levels out and it¢s a nice walk to the gas pipe line about a mile further.    Should mention that there are many A.T. trail clubs with overseers who maintain the shelters, cabins and trails etc. So it¢s a community of volunteers, who in their own way, take pride that the trail experience will be an enjoyable one for those who walk the paths.    If you¢re interested in volunteering with one of these clubs, go to appalachiantrail.org and find a club near you.
Date: 2011-02-27
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Finally got a chance to put the sign up. Last couple weekends we had unusually high winds. So muchtoodue and I decided to play it safe and wait for Mother Nature to finish shaking the weak and dead limbs off the trees before heading into the woods. After hanging the sign we went to work picking up all the limbs but needed the chain saw for four large blowdowns across the trail.Clear path for now ¢¦.
Date: 2011-03-18
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Been doing some short (6 - 8 mi) ¢prep¢ hikes with my full pack. Okay with that. Was curious how my hips would mind it because in my previous section hikes the past couple years both hips gave me a lot of pain. Only when in motion would they burn and sting. I was on a staten for my cholesterol then a pain med for arthritis for about three years. Last November I stopped both meds and soon after I noticed any pain I had disappeared. Seems I may have high cholesterol but no reason to believe I have arthritis. Anyway, I¢m pleased that my hips aren¢t crying out for me to stop. My start date is still ~ 7 weeks away but after reading the journal entries from some of the hikers that have already started, I¢m a bit anxious to get out there.
Date: 2011-04-25
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Pretty much ready to go here. Still trying to shave some ounces in my pack but am at the point where I¢ll have to figure it out on the trail. At this point my pack weighs ~ 35 lbs including four days food and 2.5 liters water.    12 days and counting down. Been keeping up with some of the journals and the NOBO¢s are heading my way. Most are in VA with a couple making it into Maryland. As ¢Second Half¢ mentioned in WB, by the time we jump in we¢ll feel the breeze as the NOBO¢s pass by.    Doing a few short prep hikes a week locally at Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area near Kleinfeltersville PA. It¢s less than 10 miles from home so gas isn¢t an issue. It has a couple moderately steep up¢s & down¢s ~ 600¢ - 900¢ gains and a mile of it is on the Horseshoe Trail, which gives my legs and ankles a workout. If you¢ve ever hiked a horse trail you know what I mean. Then you have to step around what was ¢road apples¢ before they got rained on.   Attached is a pic of the 400 acre lake on the 6200 acre Management Area. The mountain in the far background is the Blue Mountain east of Swatara Gap, which the A.T. traverses the ridge.    Did I mention I¢m getting anxious ?
Date: 2011-05-07
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

My last entry before I head out. A bit nervous making sure everything here at home is ready for me to disappear for a few months. We did make it up to our A.T. section this week to inspect it and clean out some water bars. Looking good for now. I decided to pick up a warm weather sleeping bag. My other one is a 15° and I usually slept on top of it during the summer anyway. My new one is a 40° and weighs a pound less at 2 lbs. I will then swap them when I get into the New England states. Had a get-together today at my daughter and her husband¢s house. Was a ¢send-off¢ for me and a birthday party for two of my grandchildren. Was nice to see family and friends before I head out. Thanks to all for your support. Means a lot and much needed. Looks like it¢s going to be a few nice days to start out on. Taking off in the morning so my next entry will be a ¢trail¢ entry.
Date: 2011-05-08
From: Caledonia SP

To: Birch Run Shelter
Miles today: 10.0
Weather: few clouds

Muchtoodue 'MTD' and I hiked 2.4 miles to Quarry Gap Shelter. Nice 'green tunnels' of Rhodedenum along the path. We said our goodbye and she headed south to her car and I headed north 7.6 miles to my stop for the night. On the way I pased by PATC's Milesburn Cabin. Stayed there a couple years ago w/ MTD and a couple of my grandkids. 6 of us staying at Birch Run tonight. Orange Crush and her dog Appalachain Ridgeback, McDragon and Fall, Roger & Mollie. All much younger than me but very nice people. Weather is perfect ....
Date: 2011-05-09
To: Pine Grove Furnace
Miles today: 9.9
Weather: clear sky

Left the shelter ~ 08:30, mostly easy walk to PGF. Arrived ~ 3pm. But the Ironmasters Hostel didn't open until 5pm so walked over to the little store and sat on the bench outside. McDragon & Fall arrived a bit later. The store sign states it is only open on weekends till the end of the month. After a half hour the owner 'Tony' shows up to restock his store. After a couple trips in and out he sees us watching him and asks if we wanted something inside. Sure! I bought a couple snickers and they got ice cream. Later checked in to the hostel and ate dinner. Two hikers stopped in for the night also. They were section hiking by using two cars. They were Trail Bug and Picador. Picador is in his mid 70's. The shower felt good!
Date: 2011-05-10
From: Pine Grove Furnace

To: Alex Kennedy Shelter
Miles today: 15.3
Weather: broken clouds

Left the Ironmasters Hostel at 8:30 after waffles for b-fast. After a couple miles Trail Bug caught up to me and we hiked together until noon and stopped along the path for lunch and to wait for Picador to catch up. When he caught up we hiked until the parking lot at route 94 where they had a car waiting. Was a fairly good trail up to then but I had another 8 miles to go yet and the trail got tough. For about 7 miles there were ups and downs and the section on Rocky Ridge was all massive boulders, while the path goes over, under and literally through. Was hard on every part of my body. Did a lot of sweating and drinking. I then ran out of water about a mile from my destination. Knew there was a spring and a stream near the shelter so wasn't too concerned. Think I got there ~ 5:30 - 6. went straight to the spring for some much needed cold water. Duck Soup arrived about an hour later and we were the only ones there for the night. Duck Soup is sectioning from Harpers Ferry to Duncannon. Just about everyone I've met up with so far is sectioning and has started in Harpers Ferry. Have been getting a pain in my left heel near the achillies? tendon. Not limping but every step hurts. Think i may need to get arch support or something.