morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2011-08-07
From: Franconia Notch

To: Greenleaf Hut
Miles today: 6.5

We climbed straight up and over rocks for 3 miles. We finally reached Franconia Ridge where we enjoyed a rolling hike. At one point, I reached a big boulder and couldn't figure out how to climb over it. I threw my pack up to Fulltime and Bob grabbed me by the belt and pushed me up the rock. I truly do not know how I would have gotten over that boulder without their help. Laura laughed throughout the ordeal and took photos. Franconia Ridge has fantastic views, but there were no views for us today because it rained most of the day.Along Franconia Ridge, we hiked up Little Haystack Mt., Mt. Lincoln and Mt. Lafayette, all above the treeline. At the summit if Mt. Lafayette, we took a 1.1 mile, steep, rocky trail down to Greenleaf Hut. Mike reached the hut first and claimed a 6 bed bunk room for the 5 of us. The hut supplies each bunk with 3 wool blankets, a comfortable mattress and a pillow. We all brought sleeping bag liners. Our hut stay includes dinner and breakfast. Tonight, we enjoyed turkey and corn chowder, cous cous salad, cheese stuffed pasta shells, homemade bread and Tollhouse chocolate chip cookies.
Date: 2011-08-08
From: Greenleaf Hut

To: Galehead Hut
Miles today: 6.3
Weather: light rain

The Greenleaf Hut served breakfast at 7 am - otameal, frittata and pumpkin chocolate chip bread. We climbed the steep 1.1 mile trail back to the AT. We hiked in the fog for several hours and then it began to rain. We hiked up and down a lot of wet rocks and were quite happy to reach Galehead Hut at 4 pm. We dried out our wet clothes on rocks. Dinner was creamy tomato soup (outstanding), tossed salad, ginger chicken, rice, rosemary sourdough bread and homemade brownies.
Date: 2011-08-09
From: Galehead Hut

To: Zealand Falls Hut
Miles today: 6.8

We started the day with rain gear and pack covers packed away. We went the whole day without rain until the evening - our first day hiking in the Whites with sunshine! What a difference a sunny day makes. We had several spectacular clear, long distance, 360 degree mountainous views. We had the usual rocks to climb up, down and around. I'm getting a little more comfortable and skilled at hiking on and around these rocks.  Laura continues to float over rocks - we've been calling her Rock Dancer. It's nice having a speedster in our group. Laura zooms ahead and claims our bunks. We reached Zealand Falls Hut at 2:00 pm. Dinner was hearty and delicious: chicken noodle soup (2 bowls), tossed salad, lasagna, homemade bread and double chocolate cake sprinkled with powdered sugar.
Date: 2011-08-10
From: Zealand Falls Hut

To: Mizpah Spring Hut
Miles today: 14.1

We had big miles today so we skipped breakfast and hit the trail at 6:15 am. We cruised through the first 7.8 miles of our hike. Part of the trail (4 miles) follows an old railroad bed so it was relatively flat with only sporadic rocks. We reached Mike's van at 10 am. Mike is driving home today.Our afternoon hike was about as tough as this morning was easy. We climbed up to Webster Cliffs, Mt. Webster and Mt. Jackson. We climbed up exposed, rocky cliffs and traversed rock ledges and jumbles of rock. In the late afternoon, I slid down a number of rock walls. I reached Mizpah Hut at 5:30 pm. We ate dinner with Bitterroot, an interesting young lady/backpacker from Montana who attends Bowdin College in Maine. Dinner was curried squash soup, tossed salad, glazed ham, pasta, oatmeal and molasses bread and double chocolate chip cookies.
Date: 2011-08-11
From: Mizpah Spring Hut

To: Lakes of the Clouds Hut
Miles today: 4.8
Weather: fog

Today was a restful, fun day which included climbing Mt. Clinton and Mt. Franklin. We left Mizpah Hut at 8:20 am and arrived at Lakes of the Clouds Hut at 11:45 am. We were hiking above the timberline most of the day and finally had fantastic ridge views. The clouds floated in and out leaving us with clear skies for most of the day. At the hut, we claimed a bunk room with a fabulous view of the mountains. Laura and I had a leisurely afternoon reading and playing cards. While Laura and I relaxed, Fulltime hiked up to Mt. Washington (which we'll all hike tomorrow) and brought us back pizza from the snack bar. In the afternoon, the temperature dropped down dramatically. The high today was 52 degrees and the low 40 degrees but it feels even colder because we're above tree line and the wind is blowing at 45 mph. It's a good night to snuggle with the 4 wool blankets provided. Dinner tonight was split pea soup, tossed salad, rice, marinated beef, cheesy garlic bread and applesauce cake.
Date: 2011-08-12
From: Lakes of the Clouds Hut

To: Madison Spring Hut
Miles today: 7.5
Weather: light rain

The forecast for today was sunshine. We woke up eager for a clear day with views. Instead we found 50 foot visibility, a sky full of clouds, and 45 mph howling winds. We put on layers, rain pants, rain/wind jacket, fleece cap and gloves and hiked 1.5 miles up Mt. Washington.An hour later, we reached the summit and sought refuge in the gift shop/museum. The revised forecast is for the sun to emerge later in the day. We got chili at the snack bar and waited for the weather to improve. At 11:30 am we decided to resume hiking. If anything the weather was even worse. The wind was so fierce, gusting at upwards of 60 mph, that we had trouble keeping upright. The weather improved a little as we hiked down Mt. Washington. We spent the afternoon boulder hopping.Visibility continued to be poor, but we were able to stay on course by following cairns (rock piles). Whenever we climbed up, we dealt with intense wind - strong enough to knock me down a few times. I reached Madison Spring Hut at 4:30 pm and was elated to arrive. The Madison Spring Hut was rebuilt and opened in 2010. This new hut is beautiful and includes nice features not found at the older huts - LED light for each bunk, cargo net above the bed for storing gear and real ladders for upper bunks. Dinner was 32 bean soup, soda bread, tossed salad, rice, soy chicken and red velvet cake.
Date: 2011-08-13
From: Madison Spring Hut

To: Joe Dodge Lodge
Miles today: 7.8

We woke up to clear skies and sunshine. We started our hike with a climb up Mt. Madison. Next we hiked down a rocky ridge above the tree line with spectacular views. This was slow hiking for me. It took me 4 hours to hike 3 miles. Once the trail dipped down into the trees, I was able to maintain a better pace. I was bracing myself for a rocky crawl down to Pinkham Notch and was delighted to find a normal trail (like you might find in Maryland) and I was able to cruise into Pinkham Notch/Joe Dodge Lodge. The lodge has hot showers - something we've been looking forward to for days. Dinner (and tomorrow's breakfast) is included in our stay. Dinner was soup, tossed salad, homemade bread, pork, cucumber salad and peanut butter/chocolate pie.
Date: 2011-08-14
From: Joe Dodge Lodge

To: Carter Notch Hut
Miles today: 5.6
Weather: fog

We started the day with the breakfast buffet at Pinkham Notch and were hiking by 7:30 am. The day began gently with a relatively flat mile on Lost Pond Trail. Next the AT became Wildcat Ridge Trail and the terrain changed dramatically. The Wildcat Ridge Trail (the AT) started with a 1000 foot increase over .3 miles, a section nicknamed the "Rocket" because it takes you up so fast. We hiked up to 5 Wildcat Mountain peaks, named E, D, C, B and A. We gained 2832 feet of elevation. At Wildcat Mountain peak D, we saw the Wildcat Ski Resort gondola in operation. For $12, a hiker can take the gondola down for lunch and back up. There were half a dozen tourists who had taken the gondola up for the view ¢ which was fogged in. It started raining when we got to the gondola so we put on our rain gear and hiked on. The trail was rocky the whole day (pretty much a given in NH). Even the downhills are tough in NH and especially today, as we hiked downhill on a steep, wet, rocky trail to the Carter Notch Hut. We arrived at 2:30 pm and enjoyed tomato turkey soup at the hut. The huts have soup available in the afternoon for $2/bowl or $3/bottomless bowl (AYCE) as well as homemade bread or cake for $2. Bunk rooms at this hut are separate from the dining area. We had our own private 4 bunk room. Dinner was split pea soup, tossed salad, stuffed pasta shells, peas, soda bread and cookies.
Date: 2011-08-15
From: Carter Notch Hut

To: White Mountain Lodge and Hostel
Miles today: 15.0

There are many trails, so at times, it can be confusing as to whether we're on the correct trail. The AT is the only white blazed trail, but blazes are much further apart than other places on the AT. The AT is always coincident with another named trail and the other trail name is the one on signs, often without an AT notation. Today, the AT was called the Carter Moriah Trail, Kenduskeag Trail and Rattle River Trail.We were hiking at 6:10 am as we had big miles to do. We began as usual with a steep, rocky climb. It began raining at 8:00 am and didn't let up all day long. This hike has 5 major views but all we saw was fog. Today was a grind ¢ up and down, slippery rocks, ledges, no views and rain. The last 2 miles was on an old logging road and that was a welcome relief. I reached the White Mountains Lodge and Hostel, right off the trail, at 6 pm. We warmed up with hot showers and ordered dinner from a carry-out menu. This is a very nice new hostel. $25/person includes a bunk, breakfast and two free shuttles per day to Gorham for resupply and meals out.
Date: 2011-08-16
From: White Mountain Lodge and Hostel

To: White Mountain Lodge and Hostel
Miles today: 0.0

Today was a zero day. The hostel served breakfast (oatmeal, hashbrowns, blueberry muffins and egg & bacon burrito.) We enjoyed a relaxing morning catching up with old friends and new ones. At 11:30 we took the town (Gorham) shuttle to the outfitter, Post Office, Walmart and Lunch. I got food for the next 4 day backpacking stint, as well as, a much needed new watch. We had a relaxing afternoon watching a DVD (Adjustment Bureau with Matt Damon). In the early evening, Greg drove us to Enterprise where I picked up our rental car which I'll use tomorrow morning to drive Laura to the Airport. After picking up the rental car, we drove to Pinkham Notch and got our backpacking gear. The visitor's center at Pikham Notch stores gear at no charge to allow hikers to carry a lighter load through the Whites.
Date: 2011-08-17
From: White Mountain Lodge and Hostel

To: White Mountain Lodge and Hostel
Miles today: 0.0

Laura and I drove to Manchester, NH right after breakfast. Our first stop was the Manchester Mall where I found new hiking shorts at EMS. My sit and slide method of navigating rock ledges has taken a toll on my shorts. I dropped Laura off at the airport and said good byes. It's been fantastic having Laura hike with me through the Whites and I'm going to really miss her. I drove back to Gorham and was wowed by all the mountains - the same ones we just hiked. The mountains looked massive from the perspective of a car at base level. I returned the rental car and came back to the hostel to pack up for backpacking out tomorrow morning. Today was beautiful and I am hopeful for a sunny day of hiking tomorrow.It's just Fulltime and me hiking out tomorrow morning. Ranger Bob got a ride home with Mike earlier this week. Bob completed 1500 miles on the AT. He's been a terrific hiking partner, offering me support and encouragement. We're going to miss hiking with Bob and Laura.
Date: 2011-08-18
From: White Mountain Lodge and Hostel

To: Gentian Pond Shelter
Miles today: 11.8
Weather: broken clouds

Fulltime and I left the hostel at 7:30am and began our hike. The backpacks felt heavy with our full cold weather gear and the seemingly never ending climb. We arrived at Gentian Pond Shelter at 6:30pm. The view from the shelter was stunning, big mountains with a partial view of the sunset framed by the open side of the shelter. Rich (from Darien, Georgia) shared the shelter with us and seranaded us with his trumpet. I had heard his trumpet the night before at the White Mountain Lodge hostel and wondered who was playing a trumpet. Rich is a talented musician and carries his 2 pound trumpet (with a plastic mouth piece for weight saving) as his backpacking luxury item.
Date: 2011-08-19
From: Gentian Pond Shelter

To: Full Goose Shelter
Miles today: 9.6
Weather: scattered clouds

Today was my most difficult day to date on the Appalachian Trail. I hiked from 7:00am to 8:00pm to cover 9.6 miles. My challenges were many: rocks, walls, ledges, boulders, a steep ladder, rebar hand holds, rebar foot holds, planks, steps and notched steep planks. After traveling 4.7 miles creeping along, we reached the NH-ME border. Although at that point I was feeling low and quite overwhelmed by the slow arduous progress and miles yet to go, I did allow myself a smirk and quiet moment. We had reached Maine!!!!!!!!!!! When I was 9 years old, I told my Daddy that I was going to follow the Appalachian Trail to Maine and here I was 46 years later doing just that. I gave thanks to my Daddy and God for helping me reach this point and continued my journey up the trail.In the early evening I found myself hiking above the trees on slick rocks totally dependent upon my aluminum hiking poles to keep my balance, still 2 long miles away from the shelter and then it started raining, soon followed by lightning. Fulltime arrived at the shelter first, dropped his pack and turned around back up the trail over rocks, rebar footholds, planks, etc. to help me. Fulltime took my pack, pointed the way with his headlamp and we booked it 1 more mile through the rock obstacle course to the shelter. I've never been so glad to reach a shelter and can't thank Fulltime enough for helping me out.
Date: 2011-08-20
From: Full Goose Shelter

To: The Cabin
Miles today: 1.5
Weather: few clouds

Decided to take a nero and a day off from slick rocks. We took the Mahoosuc Notch side trail 2.5 miles to Success Road. I survived all the planks and rocks of yesterday, but today managed to slip on a wet plank and went cartoon style off the side of the plank right into a bed of moss. I was a bit stunned and had the breath knocked out of me but nothing hurt. I could have landed on the other side with rocks and water but somehow I landed in a bed of moss. Bear from "The Cabin" in South Andover, ME picked us up at Success Road. On the way to "The Cabin," we stopped at Walmart and helped Bear shop for his weekly shopping and he asked what we wanted for dinner. We learned his wife is away hiking in Olympia National Park (Pacific Northwest)and so I volunteered to cook dinner, Parmesan Bowtie Pasta with Chicken, one of Laura's recipes. It was a big hit. Dessert was Moosetracks ice cream and brownies. I slept great!
Date: 2011-08-21
From: The Cabin

To: The Cabin
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

I took a zero day while Fulltime did a day hike with Valcore, Pony and Lost & Found. I organized my pack and packaged some items to mail home in an effort to make my pack lighter. I rested at The Cabin and talked to Bear today. Bear & Honey (Marge) have been running The Cabin hostel for 17 years. Bear told me stories about Earl Shaffer¢s 1998 thru hike. (In 1948, Earl Shaffer was the first person to thru-hike the AT from end to end in one continuous journey.) In 1988, on the 50th anniversary of his first hike, Earl Shaffer at age 79, completed his third thru hike. Bear chose and organized the film location for a TV interview with Earl Shaffer. In the evening I helped Bear by preparing dinner ¢ Marge¢s frozen lasagna (mmmm), salad, garlic bread and a wide assortment of desserts. There were 12 hikers at the dinner table. The Cabin serves family style breakfasts & dinners. A number of hostels serve breakfast, but I don¢t know of any other AT hostel which serves dinner. Mike, a former thru hiker, and Maine Trail Maintainer joined us for dinner and brought leftover desserts from a picnic held earlier in the day. The Cabin is a superb hostel, a warm welcoming energizing retreat.
Date: 2011-08-22
From: The Cabin

To: Dirt road
Miles today: 8.0

Fulltime and I were led by Mike (trail maintainer) on a hike along the old AT located at the base of Elephant Mountain. The old AT connects to the current AT. Just before reaching the AT, we were treated to a view of moose, a Mom and a juvenile ¢ my first moose sighting!! We had some nice views towards the end of our hike. There were 4 of us for dinner. I cooked chicken & veggie stir fry served over rice.
Date: 2011-08-23
From: ME 17

To: ME 4
Miles today: 13.2

We left The Cabin to make our way north on the trail. We skipped a couple of AT sections as Fulltime wants to reach Monson by early Sept. to meet family to celebrate his birthday. Fulltime has a friend who plans to summit Katahdin with him and will come back to hike skipped sections. Today¢s hike looked easy on the profile but it was one of those deceptive hikes which took us on mini ups and downs with roots & rocks which was tiring. We hiked past a number of scenic lakes. At the end of the day Fulltime and I were both tired and his knee was hurting so we decided to hitch in to Rangley. It took a while to get a hitch, but finally a very nice Rangely resident picked us up and gave us advice on motels and restaurants. We met up with Valcore, Pony and Lost & Found at Rangley.
Date: 2011-08-25
From: Rangely Maine

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

I decided to end my thru hike. I¢ve been thinking about this for about a week. I was hoping I would feel stronger with the recent rest days, but I¢m worn out and facing challenging terrain in Maine. I miss my husband and kids and I¢ve been away for long enough. Not only do I still have Maine to hike, I also have 375 miles to hike from my leapfrog and time missed due to earlier medical issues. I¢ll stay in Maine for a while to support Fulltime on his hike and to get a chance to see more of Maine.I look forward to hiking more on the AT as a section hiker. Thank you to everyone who has supported my hike; my family, friends, and TJ readers.
Date: 2011-10-09
From: VA 605

To: VA 601 (Blueridge Mt. Road)
Miles today: 7.1

Mike dropped Kate (golden retriever) & I off at VA 605 where we hiked north to south to VA 601. Mike and Jake (french bulldog) parked the van at the hike's end point and hiked towards us. Once we met up on the trail, Mike and Jake retraced their steps and hiked with us back to the van. It was a challenging hike for Jake but he hung in there and did just fine. This completes the roller coaster section !!!!!
Date: 2012-04-10
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

I abruptly stopped my thru hike when I became overwhelmed by fatigue from the rigors of long distance hiking and an existing thyroid condition, which went haywire along the way. I also had trouble sleeping (primarily due to the thyroid condition) during much of the hike, which kept me from getting the restorative rest needed each night for day after day hiking.   At the end of my hike I suddenly found it difficult to keep putting one foot in front of the other. During the 2nd half of my hike I had gotten progressively more tired, but most days was able to put in decent daily miles and enjoy each day of my hike. Since I didn¢t meet my goal of completing my thru hike it took me a long time to wrap my head around exactly what I had accomplished. I had planned this thru hike for 4 years and dreamed about hiking the AT for much longer. I¢d put in 5 months of hiking on the trail and was extremely disappointed that I couldn¢t find a way to gut thru my fatigue and finish the trail with Fulltime. My first reaction was a sense of failure, but over time I was able to see the folly in that conclusion. After many months of reflection, I was able to feel good about hiking 1553.2 miles (~70% of the trail) and figure out a new plan for continuing my AT hike. In retrospect I think it was a wise decision to stop my thru hike as to continue without medical treatment would not have been good for my health.
Date: 2012-04-11
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

PREPARING FOR A THRU HIKESELECTING GEARI knew to have success backpacking the AT that I needed to keep my pack weight low. I read everything I could find about the AT and backpacking gear. I relied primarily on Trail Journal gear reviews, especially thru hiker post hike journal summaries. I also relied on other websites such as whiteblaze.net/, backpackinglight.com/ and backpackgeartest.org/. My pack weighed 25 pounds at the start of my hike with 3 days of food and 1 liter of water.SHAKEDOWN HIKESI completed several backpacking trips with the goal of gaining experience in backpacking and testing selected gear. My daughter and I completed a 4 day backpacking trip in Georgia in 2009 to test gear and gain familiarity and confidence with the AT southern terminus & trail northward. FOOD PLANSAfter reading much about meal planning for an AT thru hike, I decided to ¢wing it¢. I read many hiker¢s journals summaries and noted over and over that many concluded that if they were to do it all over again they would have would have simply resupplied in towns along the way vs. preparing mail drops ahead of time. This approach matched my personality and organizational style and worked well for me. I have trouble planning meals even a week ahead of time at home and was overwhelmed by the prospect about making trail meal decisions months ahead of time, especially since I had no idea what I would crave or how much. I did end up sending a few mail drops along the way, but those were sent during my hike from one trail town to another. I usually sent mail drops to a hostel so that I wouldn¢t have to be concerned about arriving at a post office during their business hours. I also kept a supply of food in a basket, which Mike (my husband) brought each time he joined me on the trail. (He joined me on the trail every 3-6 weeks as his scheduled allowed.)
Date: 2012-04-12
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

MANAGING EARLY STAGES OF A THRU HIKESTARTING A THRU HIKE SOLOMany hikers I met were traveling solo at the beginning of their hike. In the early weeks before people spread out, around 50 hikers might camp together around shelters. I found it easy to meet people & find compatible hikers with similar paces. Many solo hikers become parts of hiking groups based first upon a shared pace and groups ebb and flow. Meeting hikers along the trail and again at the end of the day at shelters, campsites and trail towns was lots of fun and contributes to the feeling of being part of the AT Trail community.REST OVERUSE INJURIESI was advised to increase miles/day/week gradually or risk an overuse injury. This is excellent advice and ignored by many. I watched over and over as strong hikers pushed too fast too far and quite a few suffered nagging lingering tendinitis, severe shin splints and one (very strong hiker) suffered a fracture from going too fast too soon. Many of these overuse injuries became trail ending injuries for would be thru hikers. I sometimes felt like my average hiking ability protected me from overdoing and putting myself more at risk for injury.FOOT CARE/BLISTER PREVENTIONI used a product called hydropel on my feet each morning (recommended by Tagless & Tagalong TJ 2009 & Backpacking Light) to reduce friction/prevent blisters. This is a tremendous product. Keep feet as dry as possible. I had zero problems with blisters for my entire hike.