morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2015-09-13
From: Kinsman Notch

To: Kinsman Pond Shelter
Miles today: 13.9

We were up at first light and I was given a proper hiker's breakfast. I stowed 2 of my Shiner Bochs and 2 of their IPAs in my pack before we climbed into the car and were off. We stopped in at a grocery store on the way so that I could get toilet paper and wipes as "no job is finished until the paperwork is done!" Then it was back to Kinsman Notch where I was dropped of in a misting condition as I got back on the trail. First it was up to the Dilly Cliff Trail and then on by the Gordon Pond Trail. I passed on the cliff trail due to the overcast preventing the chance of any views. Then it was up to Mt. Wolfe and down to the Eliza Brook Shelter where I was tempted to stop for the day. I snacked and took off as it was just to early and I needed to make miles so I pressed on up and over South and North Kinsman Mountains. It was just starting to get dark when I hit the side trail to the Kinsman Pond Shelter where you had to walk upon raised planks to stay out of the puddles that mostly made up the trail. There were not caretakers present so I was relieved that I could save my money and I went into the Log Cabin Shelter and set up on the second level. I went down and washed up quickly at the pond after getting water and hurried back to the shelter as it was very cold. I made dinner and coffee to warm myself up. To further the warming up I got toasty with a safety meeting to do away with the arthritis pain that always seemed to pop up in humid weather. I looked briefly for my iPod but gave up as I was too tired to bother.
Date: 2015-09-16
From: Camping by the side of the trail.

To: Ethan Pond Shelter
Miles today: 2.8
Weather: clear sky

We were up while it was still dark and cooked breakfast. It was twilight and morning was dawning as we put out packs together and put boots to the trail. I was feeling horrible and was dragging along without energy. The weather had cleared up but was still cold even after the sun had come up. One of the more memorable sights was where the trail opened up on a beautiful valley with a field of boulders and rocks. It looked like a huge rockslide had ripped down the hillside and the trail was carved out of the rock pile. The views were great and the trail, for the most part wasn't that hard. I was struggling and not feeling well so I told Honey that I had to stop at the shelter for the day so I could recover. He understood but had to press on due to the time limit on his visa. It had been a blessing and the saving of my life that I had met and got to know this wonderful hiker. After seeing the treacherous descent that followed Mt. Lafayette, I knew that I would have died if I would have continued that night due to the treacherous trail conditions. I walked the trail to the shelter and filled my water containers at the stream on the way as I didn't want to return once I had reached the shelter. I arrived at the shelter and was the only person there. I claimed my spot by the wall and got set up. I ate lunch and then slept until around 6 when I got up and made some diner. I talked to some hikers who had stopped in for the night, including a friend of Honey who was trying to catch up with him. I told him that he had passed through that morning and he was encouraged that he would catch up. They were tenting and we shared a safety meeting before I went to bed early
Date: 2015-09-17
From: Ethan Pond Shelter

To: The Yellow Deli Hostel
Miles today: 2.9

I woke up and took my time making breakfast, mulling over my coffe in deep thought. After an agonizing ammount of thought and consideration, I had decided to skip the Whites. I just couldn't do the climbing anymore and couldn' justify risking my life to do the section. I would just have to come back and do it another time. I had not only myself to think about but my wife as well who wanted me to come back from this adventure alive. I climbed up to the Willey Range trail and then down to stop at Ripley Falls. It is worth it if you have the time to walk the one mile round trip to the beautiful waterfall. Soon I was down to the RR tracks and the trailhead parking lot where it took me a few minutes just to find where the trail went. I asked a hiker who told me that the trail went down the road and so I went. It wasn't long before I found my first blaze and was soon at US 302 - Grafton Notch. I started walking and ended up walking the whole way to the ATC Highland Center Lodge where I grabbed a large cup of strong coffee and plugged my phone in and called the Yellow Deli. They said that they would try and get their driver while he was still out shuttling and for me to hang tight. I bought a sub sandwich and soup for lunch while still drinking coffee and was finally warming up. I soon received a phone call from the Deli stating that their driver was back and wouldn't be going out anymore that day and suggested that I find a ride there and gave me directions. I was talking to a man about my thru-hike and he sold me a bunch of Kind Bars and other good trail food dirt cheap as trail magic and gave me a ride to the Yellow Deli for $20.00. We were almost led astray by his GPS which wanted to take a route in the opposite direction as did mine for some reason. I gave him the directions I had written down and we were soon on our way. I was warmly welcomed at the Outfitter and shown the way to the Hostel which is a donation based. I soon was showered and had my clothes ready to walk to the laundry. I had to run across the street to the bar for change for the machines before I could start. I saw a very cool public water fountain with a pool and tiny fountain on the other side in memory of someone. Then it was back to the Hostel where I had a little time to rest before being invited to a house down the street for dinner. It was great! There was salad and homemade bread, The main dish was great and a young girl next to me finally showed me how to use chopsticks, and this time it stuck! For desert there was one of my favorite deserts - Cheesecake! It was all served with a refreshing tea and I left stuffed and feeling good. Nearby the Hostel we took a safety meeting and one of the hikers getting off of the trail gave me his glass pipe so that I could have a safety meeting with about five or six people at once. I had called Jeff and Mark and they had found my iPod and were going to come by and drop it off the next day. I was so excited as I missed my music so much. I visited with the hikers for awhile before going to sleep.
Date: 2015-09-18
From: Yellow Deli Hostel

To: Yellow Deli Hostel
Miles today: 0.0

I woke refreshed ad energized to see that it was already light outside. The sun was shining and there were delicious aromas wafting in from the kitchen, so I followed my nose there taking a quick visit to the washroom in passing. There was sausage, eggs and cereal. I ate my fill and drank several cups of coffee before returning to the living room to catch up on trail news from that other hikers. After hearing their stories and accounts, I didn't regret my decision to skip the Presidentials as I was having trouble enough with my shoulders already. My left from the injury and the right from having to do all the work alone as I couldn't lift my arm further than 15o sideways. I walked around town and got a couple of slices of pizza from the place down the street and a beer to wash it down. I wandered around town for awhile and watched the river flowing through the center of town. We were treated to dinner again and were well fed again. During the day my iPod was dropped off and I was so happy to have my music again! Thanks again Mark and Jeff! That afternoon a large group of "Rif Raf" showed up and filled up the hostel to capacity. It was good to see some that I hadn't seen in awhile, some months ago at trail days. After visiting I tuned everything out with some Linkin Park and then went to sleep early as I wanted to catch the shuttle out the next morning.
Date: 2015-09-21
From: Specks Pond Lean To

To: Bald Pate Lean-to
Miles today: 6.9

I was in no hurry to get up as cold as it was. I ate breakfast and packed up and then socialized for awhile and taking time for safety sake.(Someone laughingly called it a "wake and bake!") I was soon off glad for the rain protection of my outer shell as it had rained pretty hard the night before and was bitterly cold and I could see my breath as I huffed and puffed my way down the trail. I missed a turn in the trail due to confusing trail signs and was happy to end up at the Speck Mountain Observation Tower. It had a beautiful view from the bottom and former hikers had built numerous rock cairns in front of the tower. This tower had a ladder to the top instead of stairs and this posed a challenge to me with only one useful arm to climb with. I thought and pondered before coming up with a solution. I would climb with my right arm and hold myself on the ladder with my left arm, holding the arm at a 90o angle where it didn't have to hold any weight while I grabbed the next rung with my right arm. It took more time but I made it to the top without incident. The view from the top was incredible and as I was looking around the clear blue sky I saw Katahdin far off in the distance! I was overwhelmed with emotion as I saw my destination for the first time and it became real to me that I was almost at the end. I had come so far and overcame so many obstacles through sheer determination, stubbornness and lots of trail magic from friends and strangers. I stayed up there for awhile before slowly making my way back down. I started down a trail when a day hiker called me and asked me where I was going. Apparently I wasn't on the trail as I though and I was heading off in the wrong direction. He soon had me on my way back on the trail in the right direction. Along the way I looked up and saw a paper wasp/hornets nest right on the side of the trail about 7' up in the air. I saw activity so gave it a wide berth and continued on my way after taking several pictures. The climb up Baldpate was a challenging one as the trail was full of puddles and slippery mud and rocks which slowed me down out of caution. It started clouding up and looked like it was going to storm pretty good according to the 1Weather app on my phone so I ducked into the Baldpate Lean-To getting my water on the way in. I set up in the shelter and relax after eating some lunch and later in the day it did in fact start raining like crazy and I was glad at my decision to take shelter. Later in the evening I was surprised to see Honey pull in wearing his rain suit to fend of the rain! It was so good to see him again as he had stopped in a town and zeroed for supplies and that's how I got ahead. We caught up and drank one of the beers with dinner and a safety break. Soon it was dark and time for bed. I felt good as I shimmied into my sleeping sack put on my headphones and soon sacked out for the night to the sound of rain.
Date: 2015-09-22
From: Bald Pate Lean To 

To: Hall Mountain Lean To
Miles today: 14.0

We were up early and ate breakfast. We were soon on the trail, which slowed us down greatly due to the wet and slippery conditions. It was misty with occasional light rain. We climbed up and over Baldpate's West and East peaks and then descended to the Frye Notch Lean To where we stopped for a break. Then it was up and over Frye Notch Peak and down to the Dunn Notch.It's nice to have so many water sources to choose from and the views from Baldpate Mountain were incredible. I like having the stone cairn markers which I assume will be easy to see in the snow. There was a beautiful 50'+ waterfall dropping off to our right at Dunn Notch river, which we had to cross. It was a stout climb up by Surplus Pond for a break berfore Wyman Mountain. It wasn't too late when we arrived at the shelter, but too late to be able to make it to the next shelter. After the nerve-wracking night hike into Maine, I had my fill of night hiking as I do not see particularly well in the dark, and so make to little progress. The flowers were still there but slowly fading away, but there were still many mushrooms and toadstools. One mushroom that stood out starkly on the trail was about 3' tall and had a yellowish orange stem and a reddish orange cap covered with many random shaped white spots. We had a couple of thru-hikers (cannot remember their names.) hike with us for the day which was a nice change of pace. I got to tell them about my hiking pole method, which I frequently do as I am asked about my style of use. I collected water at the water source and cleaned before the shelter and after heading to and setting up in the shelter. Honey and I cooked dinner and started a campfire that everyone at the shelter enjoyed. To manage the pain and get toastier we had a safety meeting around the fire while we talked. I went to bed just after dark and listened to the iPod before going to sleep.
Date: 2015-09-23
From: Hall Mountain Lean To

To: Bemis Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 12.8

I was up early and we were on our way after breakfast. The sun was up and it was a beautiful day as Maine is turning out to be as beautiful as it is challenging. The MATC Maine Appalachian Trail Club puts a mind boggling amount of work into their trails. There are stone stairways made out of boulders weighing many hundreds of pounds, I've seen more work on the trails in Maine than I saw in a number of whole states combined! I do landscaping work and have done walkways, but had machinery to do it with and all of this is done by hand! My hat is off to the MATC! This work was exhibited with profusion on the descent from Hall Mountain to Sawyer Notch and up Moody Mountain with it's far reaching views. Then it was up and over Old Blue Mountain and Bemis Mountain where we saw two female hikers that I hadn't seen before who were looking pretty worn out and taking a break. We arrived at around 4:30 an as it was still early, but not early enough to make it to the next shelter, we set up for the night. I in the shelter and Honey in his tent. The female hikers arrived and looked at us suspicously and declared that they would be moving on before going back down the trail. I found a sleeping bag that someone had abandoned at the shelter and threw it on my pad under my sleeping bag as an extra layer of padding. I remember that the shelter had a very new and large and spaceous privy a good ways away from the shelter that was fairly new. We built a fire again and sat around it and visiting until dark, during which time I made and ate dinner. It was cold so we got a fire going and had a safety meeting before everyone started drifting off to their beds. Soon my sleeping bag was calling my name with increasing urgency so I answered the call and was soon off to la-la land!
Date: 2015-09-25
From: The Hiker Hut Hostel

To: Poplar Ridge Lean To
Miles today: 10.7

I got up early and made my usual breakfast but was given boiling water from the kitchen and didn't have to boil water for oatmeal or coffee! I had prepacked so I was ready to go quickly after breakfast. My pack was extra heavy as it always is after resupplying at a grocery store. I don't mind the weight due to the amount of money saved by shopping there. The day was crisp, cold and beautiful as I made Piazza Rock where I stopped in at the shelter to use the very unique privy. It was a 2 seater with a cribbage board for those long socially minded calls of nature! The terrain was pretty rough over Saddleback Mountain but the views were incredible including a clear view of Katahdin in the distance. The terrain was very steep over the Horn and Saddleback Juinor but it was pretty open most of the time and just taking in the views kept me from thinking about the toughness of the climb. You could see a number of ski runs and the Saddleback Mountain Ski lodge off in the distance. I picked up water and cleanded up after setting up at the shelter at about 4:00, too late to make it to the next shelter before dark even if I had the energy. I ate, happy to be lightening my pack and was happy to see Honey walk into the shelter not long after I had arrived. He had to wait for a package and so was delayed and couldn't get in touch with me due to a lack of cellphone service. We got a fire together and visited with the other hikers at the shelter. I looked at a notebook at the shelter placed by the caretaker, which contained the history of the shelter and a story about how it got it's name. There were no longer any popular trees in the area but at one time there had been but had, been replaced by other trees due to logging and forrest fires. It talked about Saddleback Ski-lodge and it's relationship to the trail and the shelter. I was surprised that in years past the shelters didn't have wooden, but dirt floors and hikers would put fir branches to make a soft bed to lay on. This practice was ended as the impact on the trail was unsustainable and posed a fire danger. I went to find the privy which was a good ways down the trail and found that all around the privy was moose droppings and it looked like the privy was in the middle of one of their trails! I had yet to see moose although for some time I had seen signs of their prescience from scat to hoof prints. I was excited and apprehensive about seeing on as I've heard that they can be very territorial and even attack hikers! It was getting dark so I climbed into my bag with my iPod to hibernate for the night.
Date: 2015-09-26
From: Poplar Ridge Lean To

To: Spaulding Mountain Lean To
Miles today: 8.0
Weather: light rain

We were up early and I had an extra cup of coffe after breakfast to get warmed up before packing up. We descended to Orbeton Stream which was supposed to be a ford but I was able to hop across on the rocks and reached the other side with dry feet. I was dragging on and Honey said that he had to be off due to his time limit and sped down the trail and out of sight. He was such a great person to hike with and without meeting him I probably would have died on Mt. Lafayatte. It had been so fun to hike and talk with him and hear stories from Canada where he worked as a lineman for the power company. It was up lonlier hiking up Lone Mountain where I surprised a flock of about 10 grouse who all took to wing with a thunderous roar of wings. I don't know who was the more surprised as I almost fell over and only the hiking poles kept me from falling backwards as birds flew within a foot of my face, buffeting me with the furious beating of their wings! Seeing that it was too far to make it to the second shelter I decided to settle for a short mile day and do a side trail with the extra time. I had heard that there was a great lookout tower on Abraham Mountain so I took the Abraham Trail by faith, that it would be a good view. Soon I was above the treeline and at the tower. It wasn't much of a tower as it looked like there may have been a booth at the top but now there's just a platform without railings. The view was worth the hike even if it added 3.4 miles to the day's hike! I stopped in at the Spalding Mountain Lean-To and got set up in the shelter before going to the water source. There were a lot of birch trees around so I scrounged up some kindling and started a campfire to drive away the cold. Soon a few hikers straggled into the shelter area and huddled around the fire to warm up. I fired up my pipe for a safety meeting, after asking if they partook, which the did and soon we were all warm and toasty by the fire and sharing trail stories. Darkness was coming sooner and sooner every day and it was getting dark by 6:00 again so I wriggled into my sleeping bag with my hat and earphones on before fading off to sleep.
Date: 2015-09-27
From: Spaulding Mountain Lean To

To: The Stratton Motel Hostel
Miles today: 13.5
Weather: light rain

I was so excited about today! I was going to be passing the 2,000 mile mark painted in the middle of one the road on the trail! There were some pretty tough climbs including summiting Spaulding Mountain. I stopped for a picture at the plaque commerating the completion of the last section of the Appalachian Trail. Without so much work and dedicaton there wouldn't be an Appalachian Trail for us to hike, explore and enjoy. There was a scenic view before Sugarloaf Mountain with all of the antennas on it's summit. The trail then plummited down to the South Branch of the Carrabassett River. It was supposed to be a ford but with the help of a board and rock hopping my feet stayed happy and dry. Then there was a 2000' climb of the South and North Crocker Mountains. During the day I had fallen and broken my other hiking pole. I was sad as I had purchased those Nordic trek hiking poles in 2010 while visiting my family in Maine. I had got them on clearance for $10.00. I had checked and found that I could only find them for about $70.00 online. I had put so many miles on them and loved how light the carbon fiber was and how comfortable they were to use. It was late in the afternoon when made the steep descent and arrived at the trailhead on ME 27 and I realized that I couldn't get to the next shelter before dark so I decided to coyboy camp under the large covered Kiosk on a cement slab. It would provide shelter in case it rained, which was a real possibility from looking at the sky. As I was sitting there and resting a pickup pulled in and asked if I wanted a ride into town so I decided to go, thinking that I could find a place to cowboy camp and pick up a few more things at the grocery store. It turned out to be the owner of the Stratton Motel and hostel who I was talking to. He also owned the other hostel in Ragely Maine where Honey had stayed. There were three wooden bear statues in front of the Motel and they were pretty cool to check out. I asked and received a work for stay in good faith as it was too late in the day to actually do anything. The hostel was located in where the motel manager's apartment would be and the place was right on a peaceful stream that you could either bbq at a bench or sit inside a screened porch. I got settled in the hostel and grabbed my laundry in my sleeping bag liner and walked down to the store for some dinner and then the laundromat where I ate while I while waiting for the clothes to finish. At the hostel I raided the hiker box for whatever supplies that I could find. There was a lone hiking pole sitting outside and after asking around, no one claimed it so I did. I have found that the saying is so true that the trail provides as I had both of my poles break and within the same day had been blessed with replacements! I played some chess while watching tv and then dragged myself off to bed.