morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2004-07-30
From: AMC Carter Notch Hut

To: Pinkham Notch
Miles today: 5.9
Weather: broken clouds

I left early today to run errands in Gorham. The others staying at the bunkhouse woke early and loud; I left Adam alone and asleep. The hike was worse than yesterday--six miles took more than three hours. I needed both Snickers I bought at the Carter Notch hut to climb up, down, and over the steep Wildcat mountains. Coming down, rocky ledges opened out and I looked across Pinkham Notch to Washington and the presidentials. Those mountains are too big to be real, too big to be hiked, but I've walked across the top of that silhouette. I'm glad the AMC made them accessible with the huts, but I'm sad because it cheapens the place--like an escalator up Everest.I hitched into Gorham with slight difficulty and burned time on the internet and at lunch. When Adam showed up we wasted more time in the library on their computers before walking to Shaw's and buying too much food. Adam would complain all the way to Andover. We took dinner at the hostile Fortune Cookie and wasted the evening in the town part chatting with a south-bound father and son. The sky was dark and it was too late when we tried to the four miles out of town. We stealth camped behind and old motel on the edge of town. I was leary and nervous; Adam was--sensing my obvious mood--apologetic. We slept under open sky.
Date: 2004-07-31
From: Pinkham Notch

To: Gentian Pond Shelter
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

I woke at dawn and then again an hour later, and maybe two more times--always I could content myself watching the clouds roll overhead. When Adam got up we "checked out", got a hitch back to the trail (with surprising ease), and by eight in the morning were walking north.We climbed seventeen hundred feet over Mount Hayes, then seven hundred over Cascade Mountain.. We crashed at Trident Col Tentsite for nearly two hours with five miles to go. At Dream Lake (2.2 miles out) we nearly stopped for the day, but we pushed on, and the last miles were excitingly flat.Gentian Pond Shelter is uphill from the pond, adjacent to a cascade that drains the pond, and overlooks a valley. A group of ten or so kids led by an ex-thru-hiker camped uphill from us. Just John (and Casey, his dog), Seeker, and Matt all arrived later to spend the night in the shelter with us.Stuff that happened: I walked too much for water, eventually finding it south on the AT. Casey stepped on Matt's thermarest, leaving a muddy print. Matt told us about his adventures as an international trekker (Spain, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, etc.). All the conversation kept Adam up hours more than he liked (but not as late as the AMC huts).Also: no moose.
Date: 2004-08-01
From: Gentian Pond Shelter

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

We didn't hike out till noon, and I cannto recall what would have let me let Adam sleep in so long. Maybe I was reading a book. We immediately climbed fourteen-hundred feet over Mount Success and into Maine. We took an hour at Carlo Col Shelter and then climbed another nine hundred up to the West, East, and North peaks of Goose Eye Mountain. The ascents and descents took slow, exhausting work; we picked our way up and down bare or root-straddled rock, but the level ridge-walking across swamp and muddy boardwalks was beautiful. We hiked across the Goose Eye peaks in late afternoon. An overcast sky spat on us and threatened more, but we saw the sun glowing like sunset down through the clouds onto the hills around us. We ran down to the shelter to beat the rain (which never hit hard) and ate dinner in darkening twilight at the double wide Full Goose Shelter. Several minutes of rustling later, we were drifting off to sleep. Then we hear distant voices. Sarah and Dave & Miranda were on their way in. I fell asleep as they cooked dinner, but Adam was kept up.
Date: 2004-08-02
From: Full Goose Shelter and Campsite

To: Baldpate Lean-to
Miles today: 12.0
Weather: broken clouds

Thank God for spice drops!The entire gummy product line (spice drops, gummy bears, sour neon worms, fruit slices, gummy jalepenos, etc) is half sugar and half "modified corn starch"--a nice blend of simple and complex carbohydrates. I broke into my stash for a thousand foot climb to Baldpate Lean-to. That was this afternoon.This morning Sarah and Mirando woke early, dragging Dave quite reluctantly with them. They left between seven and eight; Adam and I left an house later as a gaggle of girls hiked in from the south. The climb through Mahoosuc Notch and up Mahoosuc Arm loomed infamously ahead of us.We descended rocks and muddy roots into the chill air of the notch and packed away our hiking sticks; they hinder movement here. The rocks grew larger and we looked down and saw ice in the hollow places beneath us. The rocks got bigger and we passed Dave & Miranda and Sarah and dayhikers, all bouldering slowly. We met Zach and hiked on and off through the notch with him until we took a break near the end of the notch as the rocks were getting smaller; he passed us.I loved the bouldering--especially when I had to de-pack and crawl under trailer-sized rocks through cold, damp holes. The notch had a funny burnt smell--I blamed nocturnal ice zombies. I loved the bouldering, but it used energy and muscled that hiking leaves atrophied; we started the climb up Mahoosuc Arm half exhausted.Sixteen hundred feet, one and a half miles, and lots of rocks--small stepping stones, large stepping stones, boulders, open slabs, cliff faces--the trail rose straight up the hardest terrain I've seen out here. But we climbed up and caught up with Zach and took a break at the top in the sun. Then we broke again a mile later at Speck Pond Campsite before a short, sharp climb almost to the top of Speck Mountain. Then it changed. The trail got easy.We flew down Speck Mountain in the late afternoon at three miles an hour. Then we flew up the bottom half of Baldpate at well over two miles an hour--thanks to the spice drops.Also: Adam tented out back. Zach & I slept in the shelter. A friendly trail crew camped nearby; they are building a rock staircase for a relocation just north and uphill.
Date: 2004-08-03
From: Baldpate Lean-to

To: East B Hill Road (Andover, NE)
Miles today: 8.0
Weather: few clouds

Early morning: Zach and I woke in the lit shelter (translucent skylights) to the sounds of the trail crew waking up and making coffee (black, no sugar). Zach hiked out; I remained, waiting for Adam, watching the crew work through a warmup. They left and I wrote, catching up on two days of journalling.Mid-morning: Adam gets up. I find my hiking poles missing and figure someone from the trail crew mistook their pair with my own. I hike out and up Baldpate, discover that "Philip" had taken my poles, reclaim the two Leki Makalu Tours, and continue to the open rock summit.The hiking: From an open saddle-point I scanned the open summit of Baldpate. Ten minute uphill I picked my way with some comfort over the sunny, slanted rock face. The rock was rough, easy to walk on, but a fall would have led to a long and bloody roll back down the mountain. When I wasn't sure where the trail went (it's hard to wear a trail on rock), I headed for the summit via the easiest possible route and scanned for the rock cairns marking the trail. On the summit I met a hiker headed south; we each took pictures of the other and moved on, sharing a mutually held silent agreement not to bug the other with questions about the weather or terrain: skies were blue, both of us were headed down off the mountain. The descent was quite like the ascent--I had to pick my way (slowly, very slowly), but the trail levelled out into Frye Notch Lean-to.Getting into town: An upset Dave & Miranda greeted me at Frye Notch, "Do you have a cell phone?" No. "How much food do you have?" About none. A bridge was out, closing East B Hill Road to through traffic (Andover is eight miles down East B Hill Road). I got water and sat down to mull the possibility of roadwalk in the hot "scattered PM storms" afternoon; Dave & Miranda made queasy plans to hike to the next road crossing and left. Minutes later Adam hiked in--he had been moving fast to catch up. We sensibly assessed the problem over the last Chex mix: turns out that the last four miles (after a short climb) flew under our feet--terrain reminescent of Virginia and twenty mile days. We made at least three miles an hour.Long story longer: blah. blah blah, blah. Aqua (a stalled southbounder) drove us in to The Cabin as rain and then hail dumped in a precipatory evet remeniscent of summer showers back in Florida. Adam was amazed that in seconds (the seconds it took to go from truck to house) he could get as wet as swimming; I delighted, knowing that he has now seen real rain.At the cabin: Matt was here. We ate burgers and corn and ice-cream and zuchini and stuffed ourselves with the warm company of Aqua, Rumbunny, and Honey & Bear. Honey & Bear retired to this property explicitly to run a hostel. They--I cannot stress how literaly I mean it--accept hikers into their home, which has all the amenities of a hostel. I put on "cabin clothes": a green pair of Lee jeans, and a white-collar button-down shirt with thin blue and black vertical stripes. I also shaved.
Date: 2004-08-04
From: East B Hill Road (Andover, NE)

To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

"Hot bisquits in ten minutes!"Adam, Matt, and I got up out of the basement bunkhouse and went upstairs for breakfast at six. We poured coffee and cooked up omlets two at a time in the kitchen. Mine had two eggs and I filled it with cheese, minced garlic, and sauted onions, green peppers, and cherry tomatoes. Bear had been up since four setting the table: homefries, bacon, hot bisquits, and several pounds of blueberry pancake, with orange juice and fresh melon. We ate.I sold Adam on a zero here and Matt decided to slack ten miles, so we found ourselves with free time. After playing on the internet, Adam took a few naps while I read and washed parts of my backpack (shoulder and waist pads). When Matt returned, I got him in a conversation about his "round the world" journeys; he also shared his white tea with me.Dinner: shepard's pie and corn on the cob with fresh greens and bread. Several hikers were shuttled in just in time--Fuzzy, Stargazer, Achilles, Daybreak, Pita Man, and Buick. Honey & Bear had prepared enough for us all. We put ice-cream and brownies together for desert.After dinner: I drove several of the latecomers into town for a resupply at the general store, and returned to continue conversations with Daybreak, Matt, and Adam. Around ten fifteen I was in bed.
Date: 2004-08-05
From: East B Hill Road (Andover, ME)

To: 1.5 miles north of Old Blue
Miles today: 13.4

The bunkhouse was full this morning. Some at promptly at six; others ate later. Adam and I resisted the sales pitch and threats of all-you-can-eat lobster and decided to hike out. Matt, Achilles, and Buick all went a'slacking. They left early--we left later with three other hikers (Fuzzy, Stargazer, and Pita Man), getting a late start. The hiking surprised me--it wasn't too bad, aside from fourteen hundred feet up Wyman and twelve hundred up Moody and the twenty-two hundred over Old Blue. We came off Old Blue in a strongly chilling wind and made camp late afternoon in a spruce/pine/fir forest with no thick underbrush. It was cold.
Date: 2004-08-06
From: 1.5 miles north of Old Blue

To: Sabbath Day Pond Lean-to
Miles today: 12.7
Weather: light rain

We are both ready and anxious to push for Katahdin, but light afternoon showers with more in the forecast stymie us. I woke with dawn after the coldest night we've had in a while. After breakfast I took down my tarp and crawled back into my fleece liner for an hour. If I lay on my stomach, the thermarest keeps the whole front side of me warm.Adam was up after seven; we were off. The best way to get warm: get moving.
Date: 2004-08-07
From: Sabbath Day Pond Lean-to

To: Piazza Rock Lean-to
Miles today: 11.2
Weather: light rain

We hiked into Rangeley behind Delta (an ex-engineer from a large Irish Catholic family), and picked up more Aqua-Mira. Pita Man, Fuzzy, and Stargazer left in a passing downpour; we waited it out at the Red Onion (for me: a pepperjack burger with fries and pastrami reuben sandwich) and then walked under hot sun to resupply at the IGA. We met Sarah there--she just finished her last section of the AT and is now an official two-thousand miler.After a friendly hitch back to the trail-head we walked 1.8 to the Piazza Rock Lean-to in scattered showers, meeting Delta with his brother and his brother's wife. Another southbound hiker had just walked in from under a hail-storm. Delta's brother and the wife and I all clambered about on Piazza rock when the rain let up, and returned a nicely warm. It was a cold night.Also: Delta and his brother have that non-stop slapstick energy that I'm starting to assume comes with being part of a large Catholic family. They enjoyed to no end--and had everyone laughing--me as I stuggled to get my wind-pants on correctly.
Date: 2004-08-08
From: Piazza Rock Lean-to

To: Spaulding Mountain Lean-to
Miles today: 16.9

To keep warm last night, employed the "wrap your tarp/tent around yourself" strategy to avoid freezing to death ("a harsh mistress"). This morning we climbed Saddleback in nasty, cold, windy clouds. We climbed The Horn in similar conditions, but the sun was out for Saddleback, Jr.--rather, we hiked out down and out of the lifting clouds. Sun and rain took turns with us as the miles flew by.I wanted to press on to the summit house on Sugarloaf, but stayed at the Spaulding Mountain Lean-to with Adam and a large group of French Canadian girls from a summer camp. Fuzzy stopped here, too--she arrived with Pita Man an hour or so after us--while Stargazer wanted to continue to the summit house for the sunset and view ("from Mt. Washington to Katahdin, nearly one sixth of the trail"). Everyone was convined to stay here--everyone being Stargazer and I, and Overload & Truck, and older couple with no plans to hike further.I ate well, even though we didn't finish off our cheese, crackers, and foil pack tuna. Adam yogied, for us, leftover legumes and rice from the French Canadians and I expertly yogied mac & cheese and spaghetti (with a from-scratch sauce that included sauteed onions) from ... Fuzzy and Stargazer, respectively.It's going to be cold again--I can already see my breath; it's not dark.
Date: 2004-08-09
From: Spaulding Mountain Lean-to

To: Stratton, ME
Miles today: 13.5
Weather: scattered clouds

The girls from Quebec got up early and walked around in shorts. It was too cold for the rest of us. Adam and I were about the last to leave at half past eight, but we beat everyone except Pita Man and Fuzzy to the road--hiking was light, weather cooperated. I spent a bad mood this morning--it got me up a hill or two.We are staying here tongiht--splitting a room with two south-bound hikers who have only 187 miles under their belts. Fuzzy, Stargazer, Pita Man, Delta, and Flippy are also in town. I went with Adam for Ben & Jerry's, but he retired while I stayed up for Top Gun with Delta, Flippy, and Pita Man.There was some unpleasantness when the owner came through and saw how many of us there were in the "double"
Date: 2004-08-10
From: Stratton, ME

To: Little Bigelow Lean-to
Miles today: 15.3
Weather: few clouds

The Bigelows are the best! At least for now, today is my favorite day on the trail this year. We got off to a late start at ten, after two yummy breakfasts (only one for Adam). I had blueberry pancakes (soaked in butter and syrup), and egg/cheese/sausage english muffin, and later a grilled blueberry muffin (soaked in butter).The Bigelow range traversed by the AT includes South Horn (3805 feet), the West Peak of Bigelow Mountain (4145 ft.), and Little Bigelow (3025 ft.). By Little Bigelow, we had descended below four thousand feet for the last time until we climb Katahdin. One tenth north of Little Bigelow we crossed the two thousand mile line--conveniently drawn for us in the dirt by Delta. Now we have only 172.5 miles left.The climbs weren't cake, but I fed myself silly and never ran out of energy. From the peaks we looked over foothills and lakes under a partly cloudy sky. We ran into Fuzzy and Stargazer on the West Peak, and again on the "excellent view" from Old Man's Head. By the end of this fifteen mile day my legs shook; I was almost drained and very happy--once I settled into the shelter I walked down to "The Tubs" for a chilly dip.We met the president of the Maine Appalachian Trail Club today--his neice had gotten lost on a day hike; we had seen a sobo talking to her by Safford Notch. I gave him a photon in case he needed to night-hike, but he returned it a few hours later on his way down the mountain
Date: 2004-08-11
From: Little Bigelow Lean-to

To: US201 (Caratunk, ME)
Miles today: 21.3

Working back through time: Adam and I fell asleep in the last bed in the bunkhouse with Delta, Walk On (he heard from Moonpie that I had his hat and officially surrendered ownership), Waldo, and Dragon. We were all happily stuffed: home-made burgers and shakes for most of us, half-price pizza for Delta. This is the Caratunk House Bead & Breakfast, catering only to hikers, run by Paul Fuller, now open after his return from a 500 mile section of the PCT. We checked in at quarter to five, after a snack break on the North side of the Kennebec River.The ferryman was unhappy to see me on the South side at 3:58--he gets off at 4:00. He was less pleased when I told him Adam was behind me, and after a stern (if short) talking-to, we settled into light time-passing conversation. Twenty-one miles in six hours: Adam and I left Little Bigelow Lean-to at ten (actually, he left some minutes after me, with Fuzzy. It was when he caught up seven miles and two hours later that we decided to run for the ferry).An odd day--unpleasant for various reasons (I described me journal as "sanitized"), but worth having been through. Two days to Monson and the one hundred mile wilderness
Date: 2004-08-12
From: US201 (Caratunk, ME)

To: Moxie Bald Lean-to
Miles today: 18.8
Weather: overcast clouds

Breakfast was good. Adam left early, and I chased him all day. Spent the night with Fuzzy, Stargazer, and Pita Man. Ate blueberries on Moxie Bald Mountain.
Date: 2004-08-13
From: Moxie Bald Lean-to

To: Trail to Lake Hebron (Monson, ME)
Miles today: 18.7
Weather: light rain

The rain poured down last night as hurricane Bonnie blew past--the trail was flooded out. After several minutes of rock-hopping, we came to a swollen stream with no rocks to hop and splashed through. We stayed that wet all day. Sometimes it was streams, but the trail itself was under water for miles. The novelty--and lack of rain--put us in high spirits.Fording the West Branch and then East Branch of the Piscataquis River: normally knee deep, the water was up to my waist. The West Branch was the worse--a powerful channel nearly swept Adam downstream if I didn't have a grip on the end of one of his hiking poles. We decided to lodge at Shaw's, and so did everyone else, it seems: Fuzzy, Stargazer, Pita Man, Delta, Just John, Matt, and Flippy.A list: CNN coverage of hurricane Charlie, beer, steak & potatoes, a hot dog eating bear on Fox.
Date: 2004-08-14
From: Trail to Lake Hebron (Monson, ME)

To: Wilson Valley Lean-to
Miles today: 13.7
Weather: few clouds

I joined the early risers and took an order of "three of everything" with Matt's recommendation: three slices of ham, three strips of bacon, three sausage links, three eggs with three slices of cheese, and three pieces of french toast. Afterwards I took three more slices of french toast and later--in the general store--Walsh Nomad game me two more slices.Adam and I left town late with four days of food--Shaw Sr. dropped us at the trailhead. Adam--who had two thirds of the food I did--was loudly complaining about the weight of his food bag and ate a third of his food today.We kept our feet dry for about an hour, then switched from rock-hopping to puddle-splooshing. Little Wilson was a tricky ford; we climbed out on a rotten tree to get across a swift channel and dropped into a knee-deep eddy. Big Wilson was not as hard--we stayed behind large rocks where the water didn't push downstream with as much force.We met a section hiker at the lean-to who called the Long Pond Stream ford "tricky" in a dangerously understated way. If it rains again tonight we might we might be in trouble tomorrow. I hope Charlie doesn't bring much rain.
Date: 2004-08-15
From: Wilson Valley Lean-to

To: Chairback Gap Lean-to
Miles today: 15.6
Weather: overcast clouds

I didn't rain overnight and it wouldn't rain today; Charlie must have turned out to sea. I let Adam get up at his own pace and we were out at nine thirty. The four miles to Long Pond Stream passed quietly. We arrived to find a nasty whitewater river.After a brute-force attack and almost nearly being swept again, we retreated to the south shore to regroup, and also to eat. Two thirds of the river was wade-able--it was the six foot channel between us and the north bank that blocked us. Neither Adam nor I brought up bushwhacking downstream to the highway, but others had done it. I went scouting upstream and only found whiter whitewater, but on my return I turned inland and chanced on a recently downed tree--forty feet tall, six inch diameter at the base, and green. It was a good tree, a strong tree, and when I brought Adam back he agreed. We jumped, ripped, twisted, tugged, and tore it down. To get it through the woods to the river we had to strip the branched. That work was easy enough, and we carried it across the ford-able two thirds of Long Pong Stream to manuver it--thin end first--across the channel till both ends were wedged in front of rocks. We built up the base at our end to lift some of the tree out of the water, and after several attempts, Adam figured the best way to cross. He let the water drag his body downstream and pulled himself hand over hand across the channel, hanging from the branch. He crossed and returned, and we confered, agree that I would throw our gear--piecemeal--across to him. We brought our pack down from the south shore to a rock island and he crossed again. I threw our gear starting with my food back, working my way through everything and ended by heaving our nearly empty packs. We even got crossing pictures of the both of us.It had taken us two hours--most of that time spent dumbfounded and somewhat distressed on the south shore. We still had eleven miles to go. Those eleven miles kicked our butt; we left the north bank around one and didn't arrive at Chairback Gap till after seven.
Date: 2004-08-16
From: Chairback Gap Lean-to

To: Logan Brook Lean-to
Miles today: 17.1
Weather: broken clouds

We caught up with Zack yesterday; he has been hiking slow through the wilderness. We also spent the night in a full shelter with "AT Addict". He is a history professor specialized in sub-Saharan Africa; he is on his eighth AT hike; he has thru-hiked the PCT twice and the CDT once; he has written a book on the CDT and two on the PCT, including a coffee table picture book, "Along the Pacific Crest Trail". He was out before six today, saying last night that early starts are the way to see moose. Adam wants to see moose, but won't get up early.The ten miles to Carl A. Newhall lean-to included a knee-deep and unchallenging ford of the West Branch of the Pleasant River--otherwise those miles were unremarkable. From the Newhall lean-to to Logan Brook we climbed over Hay Mountain and Whitecap--our last three thousand footers. It was hard. I take that back; it wasn't hard.Seventy-one point four miles left. Maybe we'll hit Whitehouse Landing tomorrow--it's a pricey last stop if we stay. I hope Adam gets a good night of sleep. I don't plan on writing much about how excited I might be or what thoughts I'll be thinking as I finish--this journal has grown into a skeletal account of the facts of my hike and I am used to it.