morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2004-06-18
From: Carl A. Newhall Lean-To

To: Chairback Gap Lean-To
Miles today: 10.4
Weather: broken clouds

Today was a long and fairly rough day. By the time we got to chairback we were surprised to be doing another rock scramble, similar to Katahdin, though shorter and with full packs. We stopped at Chairback Pond to get water because we had heard that the water source at the lean-to was bad. The pond was down about 0.3 of a mile from the trail. Once we got down there, we could smell something awful. There was a dead and decaying moose in the water - right near the shore. The bank was yellowed with fur and skin residue! Disgusting - needless to say we moved to somewhere else on the pond to get our water. No dead moose water for us! 4 Winds and Night Rain left us a message at the Lean-to saying that they were going to push on ahead but we decided to stay there. With us at the Lean-to were three guys section hiking parts of the wilderness. We didn't catch their names but dubbed one of them "Jeff Corwin" for his resemblence.
Date: 2004-06-19
From: Chairback Gap Lean-To

To: Cloud Pond Lean-To
Miles today: 7.0
Weather: light rain

Woke up in the night to rain, Captain put the fly on and kept the tent dry. That morning it was drizzling and cold but we set out determined to get going. We hiked for about three miles until we just got too wet and too cold. Being up so high on the mountain definitely didn't help that situation. So, we tented down for part of the day, waiting out the rain and sleeping until about 6pm. After that we packed up and started hiking again. Jill had slept through lunch and was starving by 9ish. We saw a beautiful sunset on 4th Mountain and then put on the headlamps and hiked in the dark. We finally made it to Cloud Pond Lean-To late at night, around midnight. We felt bad for the guys in the lean-to already but the wind was howling and we were exhausted. We didn't eat any dinner and just went right to sleep. It was COLD. We decided that Cloud Pond wasn't all that it was cracked up to be.   The wind came right through the lean-to, there's no register and it's a mile round trip in and out of the place. Not too impressive when you're a cold, hungry, tired hiker. Oh well - bet it's nicer when the weather is better and you can go swimming. Night Rain and 4 Winds, our Swamp Yankees, left us a little note on a piece of birch bark telling us they had stopped in and moved on to a different lean-to.
Date: 2004-06-20
From: Cloud Pond Lean-To

To: Wilson Valley Lean-To
Miles today: 12.1
Weather: overcast clouds

Hiked a long day today after sleeping in and then letting our gear dry out. The weather cleared up and the day was nice. We hiked up Barren Mountain and saw the abandoned fire tower. The winds were so fierce we thought we might get blown straight off the mountaintop. We made haste off it and then had a beautiful lunch on the Barren Ledges. We almost got some cell phone coverage (our T-Mobile phones haven't gotten any in ME) and used our radios to hear the outside world for the first time. The hike between Long Pond and Wilson Valley was really crappy. The blazes are few and far between, if any. There were tons of downed trees and brush in the trail and sometimes there was no way to tell if you were on the trail or not. Many people complained about this section in the register at Wilson Valley Lean-To. When we got to the lean-to we met Megan, another SOBO who's moving at a good clip - she had somehow passed us that day. We also realized that Moxy lost her fleece and her hat! That's her warm gear basically. We left a note in the register hoping someone might be kind enough to find them and bring them into Monson.
Date: 2004-06-21
From: Wilson Valley Lean-To

To: Monson, The Pie Lady
Miles today: 10.0

The hike into Monson had more ups and downs than we expected but we managed. There was a frigid river crossing at 7:30am (our earliest departure from camp yet!). We have been looking forward to Monson where, rumor has it, the streets are paved with chocolate and the manhole covers are pizzas. Jill is sick again today, this time her stomach is pretty upset which means she's having a rough time staying hydrated. We got to Maine Highway 15 around 3:30pm and got a hitch within 15 minutes. A nice family from Monson picked us up and told us that they regularly stop for hikers. It was very nice of them to drop us right off at the Pie Lady's house. We went in and got a really nice room that had a tv, nintendo, couch and plenty of space. ($15 each per night including a shower) We ate pizza at the C&G gas station and called home. They were excited to hear from us because we're a bit behind schedule and had them worried. Apparently, everyone in Monson was hoping we'd show up soon. :P After dinner we stopped in at Shaw's to find Night Rain and 4 Winds and had a nice catch up visit with them. Our trail community is definitely forming itself nicely. We have formed a little family We went to another gas station and got some essentials: Ben and Jerry's, junk food and a Fosters for the Captain. Later we took some wonderfully hot showers and hung out enjoying some time in a real house.
Date: 2004-06-22
From: Monson, The Pie Lady

To: Monson, The Pie Lady
Miles today: 0.0

We took a zero day to get some chores done. We did laundry, went to the post office, and updated on the site. We got our food drop and some letters from home. We ate more food, bought some fuel, batteries and other small items we needed. One thing that was really expensive and should be planned for is contact solution. We had to pay $10 for a bottle of solution! We recommend having solution sent to you if you wear contacts - we're gonna start making arrangements for it. We got our fuel from Mr. Shaw who has a nice hiker store in his garage We ate breakfast at the General Store - it was good and cheap (cheaper than both hostels!). We found that the C&G is generally cheaper than the General Store but doesn't necessarily have everything you need. Also, we got cash at the post office when we sent a box home of stuff we decided we weren't carrying anymore - you can use a debit card and get up to $50 cash back. The stuff we sent home: Jill: long sleeve shirt, two tank tops, pair of shorts, bathing suit, and baskets from poles Dave: large stuff sack, tent ground cloth, mp3 player, extra bug spray. Not tooo bad.
Date: 2004-06-23
From: Monson, The Pie Lady

To: Horseshoe Canyon Lean-To
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Well, we're heading out of Monson today. We had breakfast at the Pie Lady's this morning - good, filling food. (Don't eat the ketchup!) We enjoyed her pies last night - strawberry rhubarb and blueberry (two pies, not combined). We went up to the C&G after breakfast and Jill called home again to get her mom to send her another fleece and hat. After we did that we went back to the Pie Lady's to get our packs and discovered that Bjorn and Paul (of the Caratunk House) had found Moxy's fleece and packed it into the Pie Lady's house! HURRAY! This was definitely Trail Magic. These guys are awesome! Thank you thank you! We talked with them for a while and swapped some stories and then headed to the library to use the computer one last time before heading out of Monson. We're hiking into Horseshoe Canyon Lean-To where 4 Winds and Night Rain should be. They took a zero there today (or at least were planning to).
Date: 2004-06-24
From: Horseshoe Canyon Lean-To

To: The Pie Lady's Monson, ME 
Miles today: 6.0
Weather: few clouds

Ok, so if you have been following along the direction we're travelling in today may seem strange to you. We're actually going north today. This morning we woke up and Moxy basically came to the realization that it really was the time to go home. A lot of things played into this decision and, though upsetting and difficult, it was the right thing to do. We walked back to Monson, tented out at the Pie Lady's, called home and were able to find Jill a ride into Bangor with Tim's (the owner of the general store) niece Tara for the next morning. Jill's parents bought her a plane ticket home and now MoxyCotton is officially off the trail and back in Florida. Dave, the Captain, will continue hiking and hopes to catch up to 4 Winds and Night Rain. At the time of posting (this is Jill, from home on June 28th) Dave has made it past Caratunk, over the Kennebec and should be catching up with the Swamp Yankees soon.
Date: 2004-06-25
From: The Pie Lady's Monson, ME 

To: Bald Mtn Brook LT
Miles today: 16.0

Well today was a weird day. Camped last night at the Pie Lady's backyard (in the rain) and ate a quick breakfast at the General Store before Jill and I went our separate directions. I caught a ride with the Pie Lady to the Shirley-Blanchard road intersection with the AT to save walking through a rather nasty skeeter bog that I'd already hiked through twice. Continued on to Horseshoe Canyon LT where we'd spent the night before and onward to Moxie Bald LT. Thought about stopping there for the night but it was only 2:30 and the skeeters were just insane. Made the long hump up and over Moxie Bald Mountain. The trail was almost straight up - but the views on top were really pretty nice. Ate a late (3:30) lunch up there and headed down hill and off the mtn to the Bald Mtn Brook LT. Got there around 5:00 - 16 miles being my longest day of the trip yet. Shared the LT with Bjorn and later Pete and Commadore. Hiking alone was really weird to say the least. I saw two people as I forded the river early in the day - but none after that. Torwards the end of the day I was getting pretty unhappy and was really glad to see someone else at the LT. I missed having a hiking companion. Skeeters weren't too bad at the LT and it was nice to be under cover after a shower moved through around 7pm. No moose today, but saw several snakes and toads.
Date: 2004-06-26
From: Bald Mtn Brook LT

To: Caratunk, ME
Miles today: 15.0

Made the push today to get up and over Pleasant Mtn and into the next trail town. I'm still not exactly "trail" oriented and trail towns are my big thrill these days. Well...next to moose sitings. Hiked alone again most of the day - got up early and out of the campsite by 7:30. I've been practicing making my cups of coffee every morning with my coffee spoon. The best trick it seems, is to slowly pour the hot water through the spoon and allow it to trickle down into your cup (instead of just pouring the water into the cup with the spoon in it) Pouring through the spoon seems to act like a drip coffee maker and results in a pretty decent cup-o-joe. I was the last one out of camp this morning - but caught up with Pete and Commadore a few miles down trail as they were taking a break. I stopped briefly but moved on. Had to get out my radio headset as the trail was starting to get really boring. Slipped and completely soaked my feet on my way up Pleasant. Hmmm. Great start? I was joined by my friends at the Country Music top 30 Countdown for a partly cloudy Saturday morning climb. Pleasant offered some nice views - I ate a snack at the top and was soon joined by Com. and Pete again. Tried the cell phone on the peak....but no dice. Oh well - it's always worth a shot. Hiked down to Pleasant Pond LT for lunch. Signed in - saw that some Trail Angels had left a case of beer in the stream earlier in the week for Thru Hikers. None left for me - but at least Parsley and Tasha were able to wet their whistles. Pushed on the 6 more miles into Caratunk with hopes of calling home and maybe a Coke. Met several NOBOS along the way - Cactus, A1 and some others. Guys I'd recognized from Trail Journals. That was pretty cool - always neat to see someone who's journal you've read during the Spring. Stepped in another mud puddle - wet feet all day. The result? Blisters and tingles by the end of the day. Yay. Got to Caratunk - a TINY town. Walked down to the PO - where the lady was washing the floors and was able to retrieve a package sent to Jill (even though it was well after the Sat. closing time). Rice Krispey treats for the three of us! Walked the MILE down to Rivers and Trails for a couple extra dinners, some trail snacks and a New Castle Pint. Hiked back to the AT trailhead and pitched tent w/ Pete and Com. in the parking lot there.
Date: 2004-06-27
From: Caratunk, ME

To: West Carry Pond LT
Miles today: 14.2

Slept in this morning and crossed over! The Kennebec River that is...with Steve Longley the longtime AT river ferryman. He paddled us across a very low Kennebec River this morning around 9:30. Due to upriver dam control the water level varies greatly over the course of the day. Yesterday when we walked along it around 5:00 pm the water was very high and quite swift. Hiked through a beautiful Sunday morning. Gave my own little church service while I hiked and said thanks for just about all I could think of. Stopped early to treat blisters from yesterday and continued on to Pierce Pond LT. Thought about stoppoing there, as Bjorn was going to, but it was only 12:30 and the 10 miles to the next shelter were supposed to be pretty easy. Ate a quick lunch and pushed on. Ten miles sometimes feels like forever! Even if it's flat. Did see a moose out on East Carryover Pond - stopped for awhile to watch it eat some bottom munchies. Got to West Carryover Lean-to very tired around 5:00. Shared it with Pete for the night. Around 7:00 a very strong wind kicked up unexpectedly and blew in some rain - but it later calmed down. Long day - kinda lonely - but listened to a lot of radio. My ONE radio station has switched from a country station to a rock station. woohoo.
Date: 2004-06-28
From: West Carry Pond LT

To: Little Bigelow LT
Miles today: 7.3

Short day today! I wanted to rest up and save my energy for the climb up and over the Bigelows. I've been hearing about these mountains for days and have seen their silhouette for miles and miles. They have my full attention. At +4,000 ft. they should. Shared the LT with Pete and Bjorn. Got into camp around 12:30 after a nice morning hike. Listened to a very lame morning radio show on the rock station (you would expect that a station with a coverage area of Maine, NH, Vermont and Canada would have a really good morning crew). Met a NOBO, Little Tree, as we both stopped on a hill to watch a moose that was standing in the trail and one that was off in the woods. As soon as he recognized what I was - and I recognized what he was - he took off through the woods. They're amazing - the size of large horses! Spent most of the afternoon eating and catching up my journal. Later on met a NOBO who had hiked in from Stratton with only a quart of water and a beer for hydration. Crazy. He was a funny little man in his 50's named ShadowMan. Cool guy - his pipe smoked gave the LT a nice smell and helped with the skeeters.
Date: 2004-06-29
From: Little Bigelow LT

To: Cranberry Stream Campsite
Miles today: 13.4
Weather: light rain

Phew! Today was a heck of a day. Got out of camp at 6am for the big push up and over the mountains. Four mountains all above 3k ft. and two of which were above 4k ft. Two quarts of water and lots of snacks got me up and over them. Met several more NOBOS today including Hog Walker, Graybeard, Admiral (a real admiral) and a fella who looked like he was in his 70s or 80s. Avery Peak and West Avery Peak were really fine views above treeline. Heckuva hike up to them though. Tried the celly on the peaks...again...no dice. Took a bunch of pictures though. Stopped at Horns Ponds LT to sign-in and swap howdies with the caretaker there. Pushed on the 3.4 miles to Cranberry Stream Campsite with hopes of being close to Stratton tomorrow. Got to the site around 5:00 with some awfully aching knees and feet. Took my first pain meds for my knees. That right knee esp. is giving me troubles on these mountains. Two or three times coming down the mtn it just gave out on me. Grrr. Not good. Didn't listen to much radio today after hearing about some climbers who were killed or injured on Katahdin by falling rock. Figured w/o the headphones I might have a better chance of hearing stuff coming my way. :0P Shared the site with a group from a Maine camp for (troubled?) youth. The instructors, Matt and Nicole were really nice kids my age. They were headed in four weeks all the way up to Katahdin with this group of teens who had never even backpacked before. Amazing! They were some of my most entertaining neighbors yet. Even gave me some of their leftover rice, beans and chicken - I shared some of my coveted Tabasco sauce. All were happy. Just as it started to rain (7:00) I ducked into my tent for the night and a loud group of girl scouts showed up. The campsite was waaaay overbooked. Two youth groups and this tired SOBO. I curled up with my radio and passed out. Tomorrow...STRATTON!
Date: 2004-06-30
From: Cranberry Stream Campsite

To: Widows Walk
Miles today: 2.1

Woohoo! Trail town here I come. Slept in a little bit and ate my last poptart for breakfast. Packed up and started the easy 2 mile hike into the highway. Along the way I met Pickle and Peanut!!! It was soo cool to meet them. We talked on the trail for a good while until the bugs got too bad. They seem like really nice folks. I followed their journal online until just before leaving for this trip. It was nice to talk with folks who have Southern accents. There's soo many other Yankee tongues up here it's great to hear a "ya'll" every once and awhile. Got to the road and had a really quick hitch from a trucker hauling stuff from Bangor to the next town. He dropped me off at the PO which was closed - so I walked on through town until I found the Widow's Walk. I'm staying there tonight for $17 including a breakfast and ride back to the trail in the morning. Pickle told me about a mountain top lodge that I can stay in for free on top of Sugarloaf Mtn tomorrow. Should be cool - hopefully catch a nice sunrise. Got my package from the PO - food, letters and pecans from home! Called home and talked to mom . Ate lunch at the Cash and Carry - a great pizza and some Vermont Long Trail Ale (VERY good stuff). I rate it as one of my new favs. I've got a load of laundry in the wash now and need to hop on down to the grocery later on. Looks like those Swamp Yankees took a zero day and are now only a day ahead of me. I'll catch them yet. Only about four days from here and I should be in Rangely. Lots of big mountains between though. As Alabama Bert and Mississippi Spencer said: "why does the trail have to go over every single peak in a 3 mile radius???"   Thanks for the notes on the page folks
Date: 2004-07-01
From: Widows Walk

To: Hut on Sugarloaf Summit
Miles today: 11.2

I'm back!!! Bet ya'll thought I went home or got carried off by a moose in the night. Hahahahha!!! Before I go on. Email is an absolutely wonderful thing! Thanks soo much to everyone who's posted on the site. I've been sitting here for the past 20 mins just going through my account, reading messages, smiling, laughing and just saying "awww". Thanks ya'll. Sorry for the delay in updating the journals - I've been keeping up my paper journal on the trail, but Maine seems to be more of an unpaved "Information Tote Road". Sort of technology vacuume if you will. I'm now in Gorham, New Hampshire, where they have internet (!) and pizza huts. So here goes - I'll try to get as many of the journal entries put in, I guess until I'm done or they kick me out of here...A long hike today - left Stratton this morning after a breakfast at the Widow's Walk Inn. Talked with Double Nickels and Endorphine last night. Ate dinner with them at the White Wolf Inn - enjoyed a delish 1/2 lb burger topped with bacon and sausage...mmmm. On the menu they offered "Curly Wolf Whiskers" (fried fiddlehead ferns) Never seen or heard of that before. Didn't try them....got reg. fries instead.   DN and Endorphine were really cool folks. NOBOS from Virginia, they are a mother and son pair w/ the son prolly in his 30s and mom 50s. Good good folks. They were really inspirational to talk to and really helped to reinforce my desire to keep on hiking through the state and the Whites and all the way to Georgia.Got a ride to the trailhead and started hiking around 9:30 am. Kinda late - esp. with three 4,000 ft. peaks to climb today. Talked with two other SOBOS, Dr. Jones and Music Man, and agreed to meet them at the Summit Hut on top of Sugarloaf Mt. for the the night. It's owned by a local ski resort, but is left open to hikers over the summer to use for free. It's only at .5 mile blue blaze off the trail to the peak. The climb up Sugarloaf was nuts! Some of the trail was like rock climbing....I was looking for a helmet and a little rope! Made it to the hut around 5:00. HOT day - I was down to just my shorts and boots towards the end. One of the hottest we've had yet. Dr. J. and MM were already there. The hut was awesome! 360 deg. views from windows - the building itself was very sturdy and bigger than my mom and dad's house. Nice to be in a safe spot, as we could see clouds rolling in and knew that a front was expected to pass through that night. Shared the hut with a group from a local boy's camp. Talked with their leader, about my age, who described things as "diesel" (not "cool" but "diesel"). The view was awesome. We could look across the valley and see the entire Bigelow Range that we'd climbed just days before. The storms did roll in later and battered the summit with rain, lighting and crazy winds. Nice to be warm and dry
Date: 2004-07-02
From: Hut on Sugarloaf Summit

To: Poplar Ridge LT
Miles today: 11.0

Good hike today. Again it was really hot in the afternoon, but very few bugs except for a zillion little flying beetles. They don't bite, just land on you and crawl around. Slept well last night through the storm. At one point a bolt of lighting struck one of the communication towers on the summit...and 30 mins later...A TRUCK drove up there in the middle of the storm to fix it. Crazy. A truck driving up in hurricane winds to the top of the second higest peak in the state of Maine. The lights shining thru the hut from the truck made it look like aliens were landing...The haul up Poplar Ridge was a long long steep climb - but got me to the LT before 4:00 in the afternoon. Stayed there with Dr. J and MM. They're really cool guys, both from California. They carry this honking huge Coleman propane stove b/c they hate waiting for an alcohol stove to heat things up. To each his own.I tried to make some pancakes on the lid of my cook pot. That didn't work so well, but they were good and filling anyhow.The LT here has rabbits. Lots of 'em and they're really big. We discussed the possiblity of a trap...but decided that'd be too much work. Any how, gonna push into Rangeley tomorrow to catch their 3rd of July fireworks show.