morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2017-06-15
To: View Entry
Miles today: 27.7
Weather: few clouds

June 13I am in the Hexacuba shelter tonight after a 12 mile day and 746.4 total. It is a hexagon shaped shelter with space for about 12 people. 4 here so far. I climbed Smarts Mountain today. 3230 ft. And then at the top was a fire tower. Great views all the was around. But to the NE were the huge mountains I am headed for. Awesome!! I am seeing a good many frogs on the trail this week. 10 to 15 per day. I tell them that if they want to get fat like their Momma (in the amphibian world that is a compliment) they need to eat more mosquitoes and black flies. Eat up, boys!! I need to get an early start tomorrow AM. I will walk 10 miles to a road where I can hitch hike into Warren for a meal and some groceries. Then hitch back to the trail for another 5 or so miles to a shelter. June 14I did 15.7 miles today to wind up at the Jeffers Brook shelter. That is 762.1 total. Today was almost perfect! The temperature was low 50's when I got up and I was on the trail by 5:30. I started by climbing to the peak of Cube Mt. which is 2911 ft tall. It is neat when you have a vista and can see where you were yesterday and the curvy ridge line by which you got to where you are. I saw lots more moose droppings but no moose. I don't think I will ever see moose tracks ice cream quite the same. A little over 5 miles into the hike I came across "The omelette man". He was about 100 yards into the woods from where he parked his truck on a gravel road. He was set up under a tarp and had a Coleman stove and everything he needed to cook you an omelette or pancakes. I turned those down but sat and talked with him while I ate a cookie, a cinnamon bun, two boiled eggs, a banana, coffee and juice!! What a wonderful surprise!! I got started back in my way and he said he would check out my trail journal. Then, 5 miles later, I came to the highway I wanted and with another meal and some groceries on my mind I stuck my thumb out. The first car pulled right over! 4 people in a van took me 5 miles to Warren, NH but all the restaurants (2) were closed. So they dropped me off at the convenience store that had a deli. After a sandwich and doing the best I could with their poor selection of groceries I was ready to go. Standing outside with my pack on, I asked a man if he might be going towards the AT. He said it was 5 miles in the opposite direction but to hop on in. He was glad to help me. Trail Angels everywhere!!!Tomorrow I climb Mt. Moosilauke. It is 4802 ft. Which will be 3800 ft above where I am. I will start early. In addition to the elevation change going up, I will have to go over the other side, down, and cover 15.9 miles. No signal here tonight. Hopefully I will get to post tomorrow. Foghat
Date: 2017-06-16
To: View Entry
Miles today: 24.9
Weather: light rain

June 15I am at the Eliza Brook shelter. 15.9 today and 778 total. I got an early start today be at the first thing facing me was Mt. Moosilauke. The climb really didn't seem difficult and I was at the summit by 8:30 or so. I was there alone for 40 minutes before a day hiker showed up. The steep descent was harder and slower. I got down to Kinsman Notch and then climbed to Dilly Cliff and then climbed again to Mt. Wolf. I couldn't catch a break on the descents. Tough and slow. Finally reached the shelter at 6pm. A 12 1/2 hour day. Makes me wonder about some of the mileage goals I have for next week. Especially through the Presidentials (mountains named after presidents). I deliberately kept the mileage modest because of the terrain. But maybe not enough. We'll see. June 169 mile walk today and 787 total. I am staying at The Notch Hostel. Needed resupply and a clean up. But had to do a little hiking up and down Kinsman peak first. It rained all night and was pouring when I left the shelter this AM. When I reached the summit I was wrapped in a cloud and couldn't see anything so far as a view goes. Also the wind was blowing hard enough to make balance a problem. So off I went the other side. The lady who runs the hostel picked me up and took me into town and to their hostel, gave me a tour and a bed. I took a shower and got my laundry started and she took me to a shopping plaza where I was able to resupply on groceries and eat a steak!!! Will be back on the trail tomorrow. There are a couple of guys here I have hiked with before too. Life is great!!!Foghat
Date: 2017-06-19
To: View Entry
Miles today: 24.9
Weather: broken clouds

June 27I am at the Garfield Ridge Shelter and did 10.4 miles today and am at 797.3 total. Today was awesome!!! First, I can not say enough good things about The Notch Hostel. Super people and great place. I had waffles for breakfast this morning. Then had a ride back to the trail. Today's hike started at Franconia Notch and climbed steeply up to Franconia Ridge which included Little Haystack Mt. at 4800 ft..Then a ridge walk above the tree line to Mt. Lincoln at 5089 ft. and Mt. Lafayette at 5283 ft. Then the trail dropped back down to about 3700 ft. and then climbed back up Mt. Garfield at 4458 ft.. The view from the ridge today was stunning. Above the clouds and super beautiful!! All the climbing and descending has me pretty tired. Yes, I did remember to use sun screen. I had a lot of exposure to the sun for several hours today. June 18I am at the Ethan Pond shelter after a 14.5 day and 811.8 total. The peak I reached today was South Twin Mt. at 4902 ft. There was no view as the whole area was covered by clouds and fog. Then there was a slow down hill walk and even flat for the last 4 miles. Very unusual. But tomorrow I begin my planned two day assault on Mt. Washington. If the weather allows. Rain and thunderstorms are predicted. I am planning a 14 mile day and stopping at Lake of the Clouds Hut tomorrow. I will hopefully stay there using "work for stay" (where they let you stay there and eat leftover food their guests didn't eat and you do some sort of assigned task for them) or stay in their "dungeon" (cellar). The Appalachian Mountain Club or AMC runs all the huts and several camping areas. There have been some strained relations between thru hikers and hut staff in the past. But the AMC reached out this year and offered a deal to thru hikers where after they paid full price at one camping area all others would be 50% off. Plus if you stopped at a hut you could get a free baked good up to 2, or a bowl of soup. I used those privileges today and found the food excellent and the staff friendly and helpful. Looking forward to tomorrow! Oh, no signal for my phone most of the day. I was able to get a call to my Dad for Father's Day early this AM. But nothing since. Foghat
Date: 2017-06-20
To: View Entry
Miles today: 28.9

June 19I am at the Lakes of the Clouds Hut after 13.9 miles today and 825.7 total. BIG climb today. I dropped down into Crawford Notch and then started on the climb toward Mt. Washington. Along the way I got to Mt. Webster at 3910 ft., Mt. Jackson at 4052 ft., Mt. Pierce at 4312 ft., Mt. Franklin at 5004 ft., and now I am at the hut at 5047 ft.. I will do work for stay and then continue on over Mt. Washington tomorrow. The weather was so so today but no real rain. At the higher elevations the mountain tops were thick with fog and clouds. So no great distance views. But the the fog and the wind gave the trail a more ominous feel. It was pretty cool!! The Hut staff is very nice and there are about 6 of us thru hikers waiting on our assigned work for the evening. June 20I am at the Joe Dodge Lodge in Pinkham Gap after 15 miles today and 840.7 total. In our work for stay last night we got a wonderful meal and then the 5 of us were put to work. I was assigned the task of scrubbing some of their dish drying racks which had some mold starting on them. We worked for a couple of hours and then were told that was good and we slept on the floor or benches in the dining area. I got up early again for what I expected to be a long day. I climbed the remaining altitude to the summit of Mt. Washington at 6288 ft. It was very windy and encased in cloud with only 30 - 40 feet of visibility. The picture of the weather report shows you that we were experiencing gusts of up to 70 mph. It was also raining a little. After leaving the summit, I skirted Mt. Jefferson and eventually made it to Mt. Madison. Then I descended along a very exposed, narrow, rocky ridge. The wind was fierce and the gusts made it scary. I would be trying to concentrate on my footing going steeply down and the gusts would throw me off balance. Then the gust would subside and I would be overbalanced the other way. I was scared a little but got down with no falls. The only comic relief involved my pack. The chest strap has an emergency whistle on it. When the wind gusts came so strong, they would make the whistle blow. I hear ya, buddy!! I am loving the beauty and challenges of the mountains in NH but the strenuousness is tiring me. I have planned a 13.3 mile day tomorrow and of course it will be climbing a lot. But then the next day I am headed to a hostel in Gotham and will zero the next day. Need some rest. Foghat
Date: 2017-06-22
To: View Entry
Miles today: 21.1
Weather: clear sky

June 21I am ready for bed at the Imp Campsite. (No comments please) I did 13.1 miles today and have 853.8 total. The meals I had at Joe Dodge Lodge last night and this morning were soooo good. Got me off to a good start this AM. Guess what I did. I climbed mountains. In order there was Wildcat peak E, Wildcat peak D, Wildcat peak C, Wildcat Peak A, Carter Dome, South Carter Mt., Middle Carter, and then North Carter Mt.. Whew!! It took me 11 1/2 hours to do that. I was tired and hungry and knees aching mostly from the descents. But the trail was beautiful. There were some great views. And the weather was perfect. So, a great day. Going back to the mountains I mentioned, it looks like a Bonanza for the Carter family. Wonder who they were/are? I have non signal tonight. One of you can look it up if you like. I am doing a short 8 miles tomorrow to a hostel near Gorham. And also taking the next day off there too. I need to give these joints some rest and eat some more good food. June 22Today I walked 8 miles to White Mountain Hostel near Gorham, NH. Got checked in and a quick shower. Put on some borrowed clothes they have while they wash my clothes and then got shuttled into town to a restaurant where I have had some wonderful seafood and probably the best clam chowder ever. I will need to get some groceries a little later but I am satisfied for now. I understand that Smitty and Skyman will be arriving here this evening. I am interested to find out how they are catching up with me after they rented a cabin back before Mt. Washington. I think they are slackpacking. It will be good to see them again. Today is my sweet sister's birthday! She is now younger than her daughter since she did the reverse birthday thing several years ago. Foghat
Date: 2017-06-25
To: View Entry
Miles today: 21.4
Weather: few clouds

June 24I am at the Gentian Pond Camping area after a 11.8 mile hike today and 873.6 total. It was a good relaxing stay at the White Mountain Hostel. I got some good meals, a little TV time, resupply. After a waffle breakfast this morning I got back on the trail in a warm and humid air. I was soon sweating like a pig as I climbed out of Gorham. But soon the skies cleared and a breeze at higher elevations cooled things off. The hike was pleasant. I am not planning on long hikes from here and throughout Maine. There are not really big climbs like in NH but it is rough and wilder and I just want to enjoy it as much as possible. Tomorrow I will cross the border into my last northern state! I'll try to get a picture if there is a marker or sign. The next big event will be the day after tomorrow when I reach Mahoosuc Notch. A notch is northern talk for a sharp V-shaped valley. Mahoosuc is such a valley but is filled up with a mile long stretch of car sized rocks and boulders that make for rock hopping, caves, and havoc. It is called the most difficult mile of the entire AT. Some say it is the most fun. I hope I am up for it. A couple of other notables - 2 weeks from today Tammy comes up here for a week long visit. Yay!!!! Also tomorrow starts my 11th week of hiking. Still going! June 25I am at Full Goose Shelter after 9.6 miles today and 883.2 total. I am in Maine!! Wet, muddy, rugged Maine. I went less than 10 miles and still it was a full day for me. The weather was good mostly. I thought it was going to rain but it blew over. The trail is very rugged and slow. There is a lot of mud. I thought I knew mud from Vermont and NH. Today as I was walking along a ridge with already soaked shoes, socks, and feet, I came to the end of a board over a wet place and there was mud. No big deal. Happens all the time. You step in the mud and keep on going. You can imagine my surprise as I suddenly found myself in a mud pit all the way up to my upper thighs! My eyes were as big as saucers and the "boys" were scared! I am sure our old friend, the "S" word was sudden on my mind and lips. It took some doing to extricate myself from that. And some cleaning up at the water hole once I got to the shelter. Tomorrow is Mahoosuc Notch. Wish me luck!!Foghat
Date: 2017-06-27
To: View Entry
Miles today: 20.0

June 26I am at the Baldpate Lean-to. It was a 12 mile day and 895.2 total. Don't let the "lean-to" throw you. Just different terminology for the same structures. I started off the day with and survived Mahoosuc Notch. It was a very difficult mile. It took me 2 hours. I left some skin behind. I took a hard fall which left my left shoulder, hip and foot sore. Nothing broken and it all still works. I also lost one of my water bottles, scratched my watch, and cracked the screen of my camera. But overall, I felt pretty good about my effort and my winning. I had a couple of mountains to climb after that and 12 miles got me to the lean-to at 5:15 this evening. 11 1/2 hours on the trail. I am seeing several orange slugs on the trail up here. I know I have told you that sometimes I talk to the animals that I meet. I don't talk to slugs. What do you say to a slug? How's Jabba?Getting very low on food. I need to get to a town for some groceries tomorrow or the next day. June 27Staying at Pine Ellis Hostel in Andover,Maine for the night. I got to a road and needed resupply of food. Also the clouds looked ominous. So I decided to stay at a hostel recommended by both Smitty and Skyman. I am clean with clean clothes and had a wonderful hamburger for lunch. Will head back out tomorrow hopefully with fewer sore areas. Foghat
Date: 2017-06-30
To: View Entry
Miles today: 38.0

June 28I am in my tent near Bemis Stream. Mileage was 17.2 today and 920.4 total.I feel great!! No hurting or pain from the fall a couple of days ago. I mostly loved the trail today even though it was rough, rocky, muddy, and occasionally steep. That's just Maine. I had some good meals in town and a ride to the trail this morning. I forgot to mention that I saw two moose yesterday. I had already come out of the woods and was walking down the road waiting on a car to come by so I could hitch a ride. A Momma moose and her calf crossed the road ahead of me. Exciting! You can read some trail journals that emphasize all the challenges and hardships of the trail and how miserable the person is. Yes, I hate it when those durn, sneaky, slippery roots make me fall. But my goodness, what a life this is! The beauty, the activity, the scenery, the wonder of the creation from the beautiful mind of a loving creator!!! Most people you meet on the trail are happy and excited about what's next! I am so privileged to be here!June 29I am at the Piazza Rock Lean-to. It was a 20.8 mile day and 941.2 total. Believe it or not, today's walk was pretty easy. For Maine. No real great elevation changes or big climbs. Still lots of splashing through mud and water and the feet stay wet all day. Trying to take care of them. Using Mom's Stuff. It really helps. I have enjoyed seeing several SOBO's (south bound hikers). They respect my age and my experience on the trail. They ask questions about what is ahead. They are in awe of my mileage. Some were envious of my moose sighting. The black flies seem to be ending their season but the mosquitoes are really hungry here. Constant battle. Tomorrow I will tackle the Saddleback mountains and The Horn tomorrow but I will keep my mileage down to just 8.9 unless I really feel good about continuing on after the climbs and descents. Bad weather coming in. May affect plans.Foghat
Date: 2017-07-01
To: View Entry
Miles today: 23.1

June 30I am at the Poplar Ridge Lean-to. Only 8.9 miles today and 950.1 total. I climbed 3 mountains today. Saddleback, The Horn, and Saddleback Junior. It rained most of last night, so of course, the trail was wet, rocky, slippery, muddy, and rooty. But it was not a hard day except for the descents which always slow me down. I fell a couple of times and left some of my DNA on the rocks. Par for the course. I met a couple who are doing a thru hike with their 15 month old baby. Nice couple and the baby was happy and healthy. She was cute walking with her Dad's hiking poles. The views from the mountain tops were all cloud. No vistas at all. It is foggy now and rain is expected. Tomorrow I will climb Spaulding Mt.. Then I will finish up all available food I have. The day after (Sunday) I will make my way into Stratton where I will resupply, and clean up. I got to make several phone calls today too! Always good to talk to people you love!July 1I am at the Crocker Cirque campsite after 14.2 miles today and 964.3 total. No Lean-to tonight. I am in a campsite and have my tent set up on a wooden platform. There is a group of about ten 10 year olds here also but they are quiet and across the stream. I had to make good time today because rain was predicted to start at between 2 and 3 o'clock. I got here at 2:45 and it was beginning to sprinkle. But I got my tent up quickly and everything covered. Now I am just waiting on the rain to stop so I can fix some Ramen noodles and tuna and then hang my food bag from a tree. Tomorrow I start by climbing both South and North Crocker Mountains and then it is downhill into Stratton where I will stay a night at the White Wolf Inn. I need groceries and a clean up. Foghat
Date: 2017-07-05
To: View Entry
Miles today: 40.3
Weather: light rain

July 2I am at the White Wolf Inn tonight. I did 7.3 miles today for 971 total. Boy!! Last night was a doozy!! I got into the camping area just in time and pretty soon after I got my tent set up the deluge started. I had to cook and eat in my tent which I don't like to do and then sounded like I had set my tent up in a waterfall. It rained so hard and for so long. I stayed dry and comfortable in my tent but everything I am carrying was wet and some saturated. I was out of any kind of food so I got started early and was on the trail by 5:15. I climbed both of the Crocker Mts. and reached the second peak before 7 AM. I made it to the highway by 10 but then had to hitchhike and it was about the 12th car that picked me up. So I am checked in and have had lunch, washed me and my clothes, bought groceries, and recharged everything. Oh, and trimmed my mustache, manicure, and pedicure, read a paper, and now just relaxing. Will repack the pack tonight and be ready to hit the trail tomorrow. My baby is coming to see me!! July 3I am at Little Bigelow Lean-to after going 15.3 mikes today and 986.9 total. I know everyone has their own opinions but I think my favorite mountain range so far is the Bigelow range. I summited 4 peaks today, two of which were over 4000 feet. The views were outstanding!! The trails were great and they didn't try to BE the feature. They were there to get you to the features which were the mountains. That is not always the case. Sometimes the trail planners try to make the trail so ridiculously difficult and challenging that you don't get to concentrate on the place you are in. The hard rain caused some of the rivers to get high enough to be very difficult to cross. Smitty and Skyman are here tonight too and they said they had to wait about 5 hours for one river to go down enough so they could ford across safely. We are planning to go 17.7 miles tomorrow to get to a shelter near a camp where we can get breakfast the next day! July 4No signal tonight at Pierce Pond Lean-to. It was a 17.7 mile day which puts me over the thousand mile mark at 2004.6!!!! Yay!Happy Independence Day! I hope that you all will celebrate well! Today was somewhat high mileage but over fairly easy trail. Mostly flat but with some sections that were very muddy and wet. There was trail magic along the way in the form of chocolate chip cookies, raspberry white chocolate cookies, snack cakes, and apples. Very nice. Where we are now is near a cabin that is going to fix us a big breakfast in the AM. Also very nice. The shelter is on a very large pond. Some of the ponds here are of course natural but several are man made from the days when much of trade was from canoes so that access was easier to villages and towns. Also transporting of troops. Interesting history. Tomorrow I will make my way into Caratunk. Hopefully I will have a signal and can post. Foghat
Date: 2017-07-06
To: View Entry
Miles today: 4.0

July 6I walked 4 miles yesterday after that wonderful breakfast at Pierce Pond Lean-to. I reached the Kennebec River for which the ATC has hired a person to ferry you across in a canoe. Safely across, I came into Caratunk with Smitty and Skyman. We walked to a nearby hostel famous for its milkshakes and had some. Then came the tough part. While I am so very happy that I am going to get to see my beautiful wife for the first time in 3 months, I also had to say good bye to two hiking buddies that I may never see again. It was harder on me than I expected. When I get back on the trail and especially once I get to Harpers Ferry to start going south I know I will meet other folks and friends. But I will miss those two. They have been great! I am at Northern Outdoors for two nights. I thought about doing a slackpack today but decided to give my abused feet a break and instead went white water rafting on the Kennebec River. It was fantastic!!! I really enjoyed the river, the views, my raft mates, and get this, half way through we pulled over to a beach and got fed! I had steak, three bean salad, stir fried rice with veggies, cookies, and lemonaide. There was one good picture of me in action that I will share when available and also I got interviewed for the video because of my hiking the AT! It has really been a good day! Tomorrow I get to go to Portland, Maine by shuttle so that on Saturday I can meet my bride at the airport. I may not post much about the next week. We'll see. Foghat