morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2008-07-09
From: South Arm Rd.

To: Me 17
Miles today: 13.3

From: South Arm Rd.To: ME 17Today's Mileage:13.3Total Mileage: 1943.1Miles to Go: 233.1We had a long day ahead of us with a little more than 13 miles and Old Blue to climb. Auntie Mame decided to not hike today, but to help Mary Anne move the camp.We got on the trail around 7:30 AM and of course started straight up, but then Recon and I encountered many things to keep our mind off our sore bodies and on the beauty of Maine. There was one place on the trial where the moose have used the bathroom and it went on and on and was 2 or 3 inches thick for 100's of yards. I have seen a lot of signs of moose around (no moose yet) since Vermont but never anything like this so we had a good laugh. The trial leveled out for a while and with the sun streaming in the rocks and water we dubbed it Mystic Mountain. I had been worried about Old Blue for awhile as everyone said it was awful but except for one rock that I got half way up and slid back down I did not find it as hard as Moody Mtn. We got to the top and took a break.   Floater and another north bounder showed up and said they were expecting a huge thunder storm so we got up and put the legs in high gear, which was pretty hard considering the terrain. We then climbed Elephant Mountain and started over the Bemis Peaks. There is East and West Peak and Third, Second, and First Peaks. When we were on top of West Peak, few drops of rain hit us and we heard some thunder but nothing bad and we thought we had lucked out and kept going along still as fast as we could. Third and Second Peak were all rock and we enjoyed the view of the surrounding area. But when we got to the top of First Peak a terrible storm slammed us. We hunkered down for a while as the lighting and thunder were crashing all around us but we were getting soaked and cold so decided to press on. We only had two miles to go but it took us two hours as the trail was a river and we gave up on keeping our feet dry. We mostly sat down and slide down the trail as the decent continued to be steep with not much to hold on to. When we came to Bemis Stream to ford we just walked through it because we could not get any wetter than we were. We were also attacked by misquotes and could not walk fast enough to get rid of them. I am nor sure why that one spot was so bad.   When I was hiking with Calamity Jane last year, we played this game when we could not find one another, of someone shouting Marco, and the other answering Polo and so Recon and I have been doing it. We were getting close to the road and it was late, and we had a straight up climb so Recon yells "MARCO" and all of a sudden we heard "Polo" as the response! We were so thankful to be at the car and go back to a campground to have a hot shower and get into dry cloths. Another hard day in Maine completed on the trail.
Date: 2008-07-10
From: Rangley Me

To: Me 4 Rangley Me.
Miles today: 13.1

From: Rt. 17To: ME 4: Rangeley, METoday's Mileage:13.1Total Mileage 1956.2Miles to Go: 220.0Auntie Mame, Recon, and I started out in beautiful weather today. What a difference a day makes. The skies were clear and a cool wind was blowing to help keep the bugs away. Also the terrain was excellent. The ups and downs were pretty gentle and seemed to be fewer rocks. The only real problem was there was a lot of mud and boggy areas that were helped along by yesterday's rainstorm. But with a little help from Recon, we all managed to stay fairly clean and dry. We had a break at the power lines and I finally got cell reception to call my dad and check in with him.Our second break was at Long Pond and we met Floater again and I thanked him again for the knee brace. But when he left us he picked up Recon's poles by mistake and left so quickly we could not catch him. His poles were Black Diamond, the same kind, but much older and a lot smellier. After we made it to Rangeley and went to the IGA Supermarket and Mary Anne ran into him and retrieved Recon's poles. We went to The Red Onion and had a wonderful pizza that we all shared and celebrated our time with Auntie Mame as V8 was picking her up tomorrow. We all looked so tired that Ground Control (Mary Anne) decided we needed a day off and we all were relieved. We went back to camp showered and went to sleep, three very tired hikers.
Date: 2008-07-11
From: Rangeley Me

To: Rangeley Me
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

From: Rangeley, METo: Rangley, METoday's Mileage: 0Total Mileage: 1956.2Miles to Go: 220.0We said good-bye to Auntie Mame today as her sister V-8 came to pick her up. It was really good to meet her and I hope to someday hike with them both. New friends made because of the Trail We are taking a zero day after only four days because we it is needed. These Maine mountains are really taking it out of us. Starting last year in Georgia was hard, with its straight ups and downs, but you were mostly just walking on trail not climbing hand over hand rocks and such steep downs. I am left with one foot on the ground and the other knee bent so much I can barely get it down off a rock, or I spend much of the time sitting down and scooting down the rock face. Recon and I have a new name for trail that is actually dirt and you can actually hike with a full stride. We call it Wah Hoo Trail and yell it out when we are on it! That gives you an idea of the first part of Maine. When I was in Gorham last year, I was reading Uncle Tom's journals and he said if you got through maps 7, 6, and 5 the terrain was a lot easier so I am looking forward to that as was are almost finished with number 7.It was also good for us to have a zero today as we had to pack our packs for the first time as our slack packing days are over until we climb Katahdin. Recon has not had a backpacking trip since college so this is sort of new to her. We spread all our gear and food out and put them in the packs. Last year I bought a medium Osprey, Ariel that turned out to be too big so Recon is using that one and I have the same one I used last year so we have twin packs. Rangley is a beautiful small town with many lakes and ponds surrounding the area and makes a wonderful vacation spot and also a great stop for hikers as it is close to the trail. I would love to come back and explore the area when I am not hiking the AT.We spent the rest of the day soaking our feet and sitting in the sun looking out over a pond. Mary Anne cooked a wonderful dinner and we went to bed.At 1:00 AM I woke up as sick as a dog and spent the next 3 hours in the campground bathroom doing all the various things you do when you have food poisoning. I have not been that sick in a long time. I finally crawled back to bed at 4.30 feeling somewhat empty but better and did wonder why Mary Anne and Recon were fast asleep as I had had the same food they had! But at least I was not at a shelter!
Date: 2008-07-12
From: Rangeley Me

To: Poplar Ridge Lean-to
Miles today: 10.7
Weather: overcast clouds

From: ME 4: Rangeley, METo: Poplar Ridge Lean-toToday's Mileage: 10.7Total Mileage: 1964.7After getting no sleep and being very sick all night, Recon and I put on full packs and headed out for two nights. It is the first time Recon has backpacked since college and I think she thinks I am trying to kill her. We headed up towards Saddleback Mtn. We passed a few ponds along the way, Mud, Ethel, and Eddy and had a few good laughs about them and then really started to climb. We had to take a few breaks on the way up as we were climbing to above tree line. We finally went above the treeline and although it was a hot hazy, windy day we could see a good distance. We thought we were at the summit a number of times but no, the trail just kept going up. We eventually reached the signage at 4120 and could actually see Katahdin way off in the distance. It gave me goose bumps to see that mountain that I have tried so hard to reach these past months and I did feel like I would make it this time. We took a long break before heading over to the Horn. Again a very steep and difficult decent and then climbed to the summit and were again above tree line. As we were sitting there we could see the trail going up Saddleback Junior and it did not look so bad but it took us forever to reach it. We did not get to the top until around 6:00 PM with a little less than 2 miles to go. A section hiker, Down Easter, passed us and we talked for a few minutes, again on a very hard descent. She was headed towards the shelter as well. Recon and I trudged into the shelter after 7:00PM and quickly did all the chores: set up tents, pumped water, and eat as it was getting dark. Luckily the Poplar Ridge Lean-to was right on the trail with the stream within 3 feet of our tents. We talked more with Down Easter (she gets her name because she lives in the lower eastern part of Maine) and a father son, Ben, combo, with the son doing the state of Maine and the father joining him for a few days. As the sun went down Recon and I went to bed again, two very tired ladies. Although the terrain is very difficult here I am still really enjoying every minute of being out here and want to thank everyone who has helped me and encouraged me along the way.PS. a note to Dabber who wrote me about the pictures. You need to list your email in the sign part so I can write directly to you.
Date: 2008-07-13
From: Poplar Ridge Lean-to

To: Spaulding Mtn Lean-to
Miles today: 8.0
Weather: scattered clouds

From:Poplar Ridge Lean-toTo: Spaulding Mtn Lean-toToday's Mileage: 8.0Total Mileage: 1972.7Miles to Go: 201.3We were up early and walking around 7:00 AM as we knew weather was coming in later that day and wanted to get to the shelter before it started. We had to ford Orbeton Stream but again it was not too bad and felt good on the feet. There was a pretty good hand over hand climb out and up from the stream. We met up with Down Easter again as she had taken the trail to see the waterfalls. I was content to catch glimpses of it and to listen to its music. Also Ben, the son, was there waiting for his fatter to arrive.We have passed many French Canadian camp groups but today my heart went out to a young girl who was sitting on the ground crying. This is some pretty hard terrain for young girls to hike with a full backpack on their back.We climbed up and over Lone Mountain and met Slim and Bogie. I have read a lot of their journals over the last few years and they are doing a flip-flop from PA. We took each other¢s pictures as we are both up on Trail Journals.Around 12:00 on the top of Lone Mtn, we were eating our lunch and with about 2 miles to go and it started to sprinkle. We put our rain gear on but then got too hot so took it off, but then in 5 minutes it was pouring and we had to put it on again. And so once again we were walking in the rain. By the time we got to the shelter we were soaked and cold. We walked up to the shelter and it looked pretty full with a different father and son combo section hikers, Down Easter, Ben, and two south bounders, Super Tramp and Wes (no trail name yet). Everyone was very kind and they all squished over to fit us in but it was pretty tight. The rain kept pouring down and we could not even get out to change or get water. We spread our gear out and changed in our sleeping bags and the rain let up for a minute to get water. It was only around 1:30 when we got to the shelter, so that was the earliest ever for me. We just rested and talked for the afternoon. Two more North bounders arrived, Dirty Harry and LT and they had to set a tent up in the pouring rain. Also, Ben's father arrived very wet and we actually made room at our feet for him.The rain let up and we built a fire and talked until 8:00 or so and went to bed. The young south bounder, Super Tramp, is a character as he has gotten a lot of his stuff through trail magic but then he skipped the Bigelows because he ran out of food? He has the same last name as me, Logan,so I told him if he makes it to McAfee's Knob in VA to give me a call.The two north bounders looked so strong and were quite interesting to talk to. I still feel much closer and have more in common with them and the south bounders are all excited, like we were when we hit Hot Springs.
Date: 2008-07-14
From: Spaulding Mtn Lean-to

To: Stratton ME
Miles today: 13.5
Weather: overcast clouds

From: Spaulding Mtn Lean-toTo: ME 27: Stratton METoday's Mileage: 13.5Total Mileage: 1986.2Miles to Go: 187.8I woke up many times during the night listening to the rain continue to pour down on the roof of the shelter and worrying about crossing the Carabasset River and if we would make it to meet Mary Anne. We were all up around 5:30 AM and the rain finally let up about 6:30. We headed out as we had a pretty hard 13.5 miles hike to do. DownEastern was only going to the next camp ground so I wrote a note and gave it to LT to give to Mary Anne just in case we could not make it.After we climbed up Spaulding Mtn and Sugarloaf we had very hard downhill to the river. It was a lot of hugh rocks that I had to sit down and slide down on and was glad to reach the bottom. I sometimes wonder why more people do not get hurt on the trail, especially when everything is so wet and slippery. We met yet another group of French Canadian boys heading up what we had just come down, one of them in Crocks!The Carabassat River was actually easy, as we could rock hop and someone had put a board across the really bad part. We waited on both sides for a while for Down Easter but we had seen her pack at the Sugarloaf Trail and the crossing was fine so we went on our way.Recon and I started up South Crocker. It was a long, a pretty difficult time as we kept thinking we could see the summit, but we would turn right or left and keep going up and up. Most of the trial was rocky with some hand over hand climbing again for me. We said we learned patience from this summit as you just had to stop the anticipation of the top and accept that you would get there when you saw the signage, and we finally did at 4010. We took a long break and started over to North Crocker at 4228 and then got to hike the 5 miles down to Stratton. On our hike down we met many south bounders who thanked me for Mary Anne as she was doing wonderful trial magic for these hikers. Some of their trailnames were Pounce, Bearwalker, Megaphone, and more that I can't remember.It was a long hike down and Recon's knees were giving her problems. I ran out of water and told her to sit down and when she was rested to come down to the stream which turned out to be about 50 yards ahead. It is sometimes hard to tell where you are as my Wingfoot book will say stream and it is a fast flowing waterway and this one said stream and it was a gurgle running across the trail, but it was wet and cold and tasted wonderful. We kept heading down and would pick topics to talk about to keep our minds off our feet (thank you Auntie Mame for that idea) and I told Recon she could yell Maro at 6:30 and when she did Mary Anne answered her back so we had made one more day going north We went to the Stratton Motel, took showers, ate dinner at the wonderful Stratton diner, resupplied, repacked our packs, did a little change in the mileage over the next few days so I do not kill Recon, and went to bed exhausted!
Date: 2008-07-15
From: Stratton ME

To: Horns Pond Lean-tos
Miles today: 5.1
Weather: broken clouds

From: Stratton, METo: Horns Pond Lean-tosToday's Mileage: 5.1Total Mileage:1991.3Miles to Go: 182.7What a difference a good night sleep makes. I woke up refreshed and ready to hike again. Mary Anne, Recon, and I ate breakfast at the Stratton Diner and headed out up the trail. As Mary Anne dropped us off, Down Easter popped out of the woods, and Mary Anne could take her to town.We knew we only had 5 miles to hike today and so we just took our time. The first two miles were relatively flat and the trail was dirt and leaf covered. What a nice change for our feet. We stopped for a break at Cranberry Stream campground before heading up. We dubbed this "break hike day" and just enjoyed every moment of this beautiful sunny day in Maine. We had some pretty hard rock climbs but again just went with the flow and challenge of the terrain instead of battling it. As we came around the corner, we ran into a 75 year-old section hiker Captain Macs. He was sitting down and not looking too great. He said he had just hiked 7 miles and it felt like 15. We hated to tell him if he keeps going south it only gets harder. I let him use my cell phone to call his wife and let her know he was okay. We wished him well and hiked on.Unlike other days, if there was a view point, we went out to it and admired the views. I would never have done that last year as it seemed the only purpose by the end was to put in the miles.We arrived at the Horns Pond Lean-tos and decided to camp. We found a site that looked straight up to the Bigelow Mountains. We were pretty isolated from the other campsite and the two lean-tos but could hear a lot of noise coming from all areas. We went for a walk to get water and see the pond. This lean-to has a caretaker who is doing a GREAT job. The paths and camp sites are lined with rock and the privy is the cleanest one I have been in on the trail since Georgia, and I have been in a lot. So thank you ATC for providing such a nice spot.We cooked dinner at camp and went to bed after a very relaxing day. I posed for pictures next to my tent and was certainly a fashion statement out here in the woods
Date: 2008-07-17
From: Little Bigelow Lean-to

To: West Carry Pond Lean-to
Miles today: 7.3
Weather: scattered clouds

From: Little Bigelow Lean-toTo: West Carry Pond Lean-toToday's Mileage: 7.3Total Mileage: 2008.8I woke up covered in bug bites and itching all over. I am not sure I can sleep in shelters many more times unless I have to as they are just too buggy at this time of year.We were just going seven miles today so were really taking it easy and took a lot of short breaks. At Long Falls Dam Road, there was a 2000 mile painted on the road. It is really 2005 but who's counting. I lay down and Recon took my picture. Even though I did not do it in one stretch, I have still walked 2000 miles from Georgia and felt pretty good about it.The trail has been boggy in many places since we started, and today we even crossed a road called Bog Brook! Most of the young guys just plow through the muck, but it can suck you down up to your knees. Recon and I generally pick around the edges and/or find rocks and have managed, at least, to not fall in even though we are extremely muddy by the end of the day.The elevation changes of the trail are much less dramatic and today when we went over Roundtop Mountain we were half way down before we had realized we had missed the summit. At that point, we met a man and his grandson who were doing trail maintenance, so thank you for that as on some of the trial the trees are growing so close together you cannot see your feet. We continue to run into five or six southbounders each day. Today's group told us that they were well prepared for the mountains to come as they had come through the 100 mile wilderness. We just smile and wish them safe journeys and think they are so enthusiastic if somewhat naive. But most will do just fine as they are all young and strong.We arrived at West Carry Pond Shelter around 12:30 and decided to stay as it had a great tent site and it was right on the pond. We ate lunch and washed our bodies and our cloths in the pond. We took rests in our tents and just relaxed for the day. It is really hard for me to do this as I just want to hike until late but having to slow down for Recon has given me the opportunity to enjoy Maine more.Bootstrap, southbounder from South Africa, arrived as did Ishmel, a 19 year-old northbounder, and our friend Ben who we have seen on and off since Saddleback.We built a nice fire had some good conversation and went to bed.
Date: 2008-07-18
From: Little Bigelow Lean-to

To: Caratunk Me
Miles today: 14.0

From: West Carry Pond Lean-toto: Caratunk, METoday's Mileage:14.0Total Mileage: 2022.We again were walking by 7:00 AM and it was a very cloudy day but the path was relatively easy. We went through Arnold Swamp. In 1775 Benedict Arnold and an army of 1,150 men traveled this trail towards Quebec but because of the swamps, only 650 men came out alive. Luckily we fared better than that thanks to the Maine ATC clubs work at putting planks, logs, and rocks along the way for us to walk on today. We walked along the sandy shore of East Carry Pond and I posed on the beach. Too bad it was not a sunny hot day. Around 9:30 the rain started and continued for awhile but did stop after an hour or so, but it still managed to make the trial muddy and slick. As we were walking along a southbounder, Chevorlegs, came by and asked are you Signage and Recon. He had a birthday card from my friend, Mary Anne. I turned 60 on the trail today We still got to the shelter at 12:30 and even though it was a really nice place, Ben and Ishmel said the bugs were bad, and they were going to try to make the 3:00 PM ferry across the Kennebec River and go into Caratunk. I talked Recon into going on but Mary Anne was suppose to pick us up tomorrow, so we sent word with Ishmel to tell her we on our way and off we went. We had to go over this slippery dam and Recon fell on her hand, but she was a trooper and got back on her feet and we went quickly on down the trail. We walked at a much faster pace than we have been doing and arrived at the ferry by 3:30. The last one is at 4:00. He was just pulling out as went down this steep hill to the bank of the Kennebec River and we called for him to wait. We filled out the papers and got in to cross. (We later heard that Dirty Harry and LT swam the river. Too dangerous for me) And there is a white blaze inside the canoe. I got to sit up front and paddle and the current was really strong but we made it across the river and walked to the road as Mary Anne pulled up. Perfect timing.We went to Northern Outdoors and had an ice cream sundae to celebrate my birthday and then went for hot showerrs! Northern Outdoors has tent cabins for thru-hikers for $8.00 each so that is not bad and a very good resturant.Mary Anne had already invited Down Easter and Barefodder for dinner so we all ate inside Mary Ann's screen house as it started raining hard again. So again after a wonderful birthday dinner, and good conversation, it was good to go to sleep in a dry bug free huge tent.