morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2017-07-25
To: Day 7 Southbound
Miles today: 14.5
Weather: overcast clouds

Sidney tappin campsite to West chairback pond 14.5 miles. I just decided that today's "easy 12 mile day" was not easy or 12 miles. We climbed one of the toughest mountains I've ever climbed. It featured a 300 ft near vertical boulder field that we climbed hand over hand with our 35 lb packs on. We also forded the West Branch Pleasant River, our first true river ford. Jeff took my picture mid stream, I think he was waiting for me to fall in but it didn't happen. Ha ha! We ended up stealth camping tonight because the stream at the last shelter was dried up,. Hence 3 extra miles hiked, we needed water!
Date: 2017-07-26
To: Day 8 Southbound
Miles today: 14.65
Weather: scattered clouds

Chair back Gap to Wilson valley lean to. 14.65 miles distance from Mt katadin 104.2 miles. We climbed 5 mountains today and we forded 5 streams today also. It's been a most tiring day. The scenery had been once again beautiful. The climbs are far more challenging than any I did when I hiked the southern Appalachian trail. I'm adjusting and slowly getting my trail legs back but this has been a tough hundred miles. Both Jeff and I will be happy to get out of the wilderness tomorrow and go to Munson tomorrow. It's time for some R and R!
Date: 2017-07-27
To: Day 9 Southbound
Miles today: 10.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Wilson valley lean-to to Munson, my distance from katadin 114.5 miles. Total distance hiked on the AT is 843.5 miles. We woke up to rain this morning, never a good way to start the day when you're backpacking. It rained off and on until we got to Munson about 2:00.The trail had several River and stream crossing challenges. The first was big Wilson River ford. The water was up a little due to the rain. At the ford, it was about 2 get deep and flowing fast. The river is about 75 ft wide at the ford. We both got over ok despite the slippery rocks and icy cold water. We had two additional fords today but we were able to rock-hop both. We did see one very cool water fall, I got a pic of Jeff next to the top of it. We are in Munson tonight at Shaw's hiker hostel. Shaw's was made famous in the book and movie, "A walk in the woods". We checked out the local pub and had some great pizza and local beer. I'm feeling really good now, I'm clean and my clothes are clean after 8 days in the woods. We'll be back on the trail Saturday.
Date: 2017-07-28
To: Day 10 Southbound
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Zero day in Munson, ME. Shaw's hostel is famous for their breakfast and they did not disappoint! Eggs, bacon, hashbrowns, blueberry pancakes, coffee and juice for 7 bucks! I've added a picture of Jeff and I sitting out front. Feels weird not to be hiking today but it's a good kind of weird. Enjoyed dinner tonight at the Lake House Tavern with Magic Legs, Predator, Not Yet, and one other NB thru hiker. We had a great time talking about our hiking experiences. This is one of the trail stops you'll remember for a long time and hate to leave.
Date: 2017-07-31
To: Day 11 Southbound
Miles today: 15.0
Weather: clear sky

Munson mile 114.5 from Springer to Mile 129.5  stealth camping. Hiked 15 miles today. We didn't leave Munson until about 930 this morning. Both Jeff and I were tired and sluggish this morning. We kinda dragged all day. We did ford more rivers and met more Northbound hikers.
Date: 2017-08-01
To: Day 12 Southbound
Miles today: 16.0

Stealth camp at 129.5 miles from Katahdin to Pleasant Pond lean-to at 145.5 miles. 16 miles. We passed over two mountains today - Moxie Bald and Pleasant Pond mountains. Both were very steep and rocky, I'm very tired tonight. Tomorrow we have a 5 mile hike to Caratunk. Short day tomorrow and back on the trail Tuesday. I did run into a hiker today that is Northbound that I hiked with in North Carolina for a few days. He recognized me and we talked for a few minutes. His trail name is Red Legs and he's a veteran who's suffering from PTSD. He looked good I think this hike has been good for him. I wished him well as he finishes his last 140 miles.
Date: 2017-08-02
To: Day 13 Southbound
Miles today: 6.0
Weather: clear sky

Pleasant Pond lean to to Caratunk about 6 miles. We made it to Caratunk around 10 and got a ride to the Sterling inn. It's a B&B that welcomes hikers. A really nice place to relax for a lot of the day. Tomorrow we move on, we're heading into the Bigalow mountain range. They look forbidding and have a reputation for being hard on hikers. I feel a little like I did before going into the Smokies. Kinda anticipating and kinda dreading. Our next stop will be Stratton, it's about 45 miles away.
Date: 2017-08-03
To: Day 14 Southbound
Miles today: 14.0
Weather: clear sky

Caratunk to West carry Pond lean to 14.0 miles, 165.2 miles from Mt Katahdin. We left Caratunk at 9:00 this morning and were the first people on the ferry (canoe). Joanna trained me well, I manned the front paddle and we got across the Kenibec River just fine.Today we hiked by several carry ponds and a lot of beautiful streams with waterfalls. Carry ponds were used historically by early settlers to travel cross country. They'd carry their boat down the trail to the carry pond, cross the pond and then carry the boat to the next pond. The ponds are quite large and close together, most trails are difficult to walk especially if you're carrying a heavy load. By doing most of the travel across water the overland travel was minimized. This practice sped up travel when large amounts of material or maybe an army was traveling in the back country (ref. historical marker photo).Wild Blue berries are ready to eat, I munched a bunch of them today. They're really good! This evening at the shelter I met up with old friends I'd hiked with earlier, Pace and Beast. Pace is a young fellow from Virginia and Beast is a beautiful young lady from Bern, Switzerland. They met on the trail back in Georgia and have been together since. Appalachian Trail romance at it's finest! Really a nice couple, I wished them well as their journey nears completion.Oh I almost forgot a fellow that lives near the pond we're camping at came by with homemade blueberry muffins and cookies! Plus some drinks, really a nice fellow and extremely thoughtful. Jeff's first trail magic!
Date: 2017-08-03
To: Day 15 Southbound
Miles today: 13.0
Weather: scattered clouds

West carry pond Lean to Stafford notch campground. 13 miles, 177.8 miles from katadin mountain. Today we climbed 3 mountains, the biggest being Little Bigelow Mountain. All three were very steep and rocky. It was extremely hot going up Bigelow too. We are whipped tonight! Tomorrow we are climbing Avery peak which is 1000 feet higher than we climbed today. The Bigelow mountain range is already letting us know it's for real! We only have an 11 mile hike tomorrow and we are headed to Stratton ME for a zero day on Friday. I met up with my old hiking partner Jay on top of little Bigelow. We spent about 30 minutes talking, it was great to see him again. He's very ready to get this journey done!
Date: 2017-08-04
To: Day 16 Southbound
Miles today: 11.2
Weather: scattered clouds

Stafford notch campsite to Stratton, ME 11.2 miles, 8000 total feet of elevation change, 188.2 miles from katadin, 916 miles of the Appalachian Trail hiked. This morning we got up at 415AM to hear an early start on our ascent of the Avery peak system of the Bigelow mountain range. It took 9 hours to cover 11 miles over the 8 peaks that make up the mountain complex. The views on top were breathtaking. This was a very steep and difficult mountain to climb. It rained last night which made everything more slippery. Glad we got this one behind us.Tonight we are in the town of Stratton staying at the White Wolf inn. The talk on the trail is that the restaurant at the inn is great. Well I had their 20 stuffed lobster dinner tonight, it was awesome!We're zeroing here tomorrow, we're going to resupply and get back on the trail Saturday. We have less than a hundred miles left to hike in Maine!
Date: 2017-08-08
To: Day 19 Southbound
Miles today: 9.5
Weather: light rain

Maine hwy 27 to Carrabassett River crossing 9.5 miles, 196.6 miles from katadin. Today Jeff, myself, doc, tinkle, and honey badger left Stratton about 730 am to shuttle back to the trail. We began climbing the North Crocker mountain pretty much from the start, we had a 3400 ft climb in about 4 miles. Pretty steep, rocky climb and with the rain we got last night, a very slippery climb too.The descent was also slow and hazardous as well. We all decided we didn't want to hike over another mountain so we stopped early. We are on the banks of the Carrabassett River. A great place to camp, short day but we'll all take it.Jeff and I had a great evening talking with Doc and Tinkle. Doc is an MD, he owns an Urgent Care Facility in West Virginia. He and Tinkle are both in their 50s now, but went to grade school thru high school together. They didn't pay much attention to each other during their school years. They got together about 4 years ago and got married this past February. They have been hiking the AT for their honeymoon. They are really nice folks!
Date: 2017-08-09
To: Day 20 Southbound
Miles today: 10.5

South Branch Carrabassett River ford to Orebeton Stream ford approx 10.5 miles. 207.0 miles from katadinWe left our camp site around 630 this morning. We began an immediate climb up Sugar Loaf mountain after crossing the ford. The initial climb was steep and rocky but by Maine standards, not too bad. Toward the top, things changed, we began a near vertical boulder scramble. It lasted about a hundred feet, much more typical Maine hiking conditions. We also hiked over Spaulding and Lone mountains.We hiked 4 hours to go 5 miles in the morning. We did get down the mountains this afternoon in about 3 hours for about the same distance. We've had to really cut distance with the terrain being so tough and this seems to be helping. We're taking more down time in the evening and we've had more energy in the morning.Tomorrow we've got another series of tough climbs. We are also watching weather, there's rain forecast for all day tomorrow with thunderstorms in the afternoon. With 3 miles of exposed ridge tomorrow we may have to stop early if we've got thunderstorms in the area. That will impact our arrival in Rangeley on Wednesday, but you've got to respect Mother Nature!
Date: 2017-08-09
To: Day 22 Southbound
Miles today: 3.5
Weather: few clouds

220.4 miles from katadin, 3.5 miles hiked todayWe continued our trek today to Rangeley, this is a resupply day. We only hiked about 3.5 miles on the AT, then we found a ride going to town. The gentleman who have us the ride was from Boston up here with his family on vacation. It's about 8 miles from the trail to town, his generosity was really appreciated!We've spent the day getting cleaned up, washing clothes, and getting resupplied. We ate at two great local restaurants. We also enjoyed the view from our motel courtyard of the lake. We've watched float planes take off and land, boats and jet skis come and go. Just a beautiful place to spend a day. We'll be back on the AT tomorrow.
Date: 2017-08-10
To: Day 21 Southbound
Miles today: 10.5
Weather: light rain

Orbeton stream campsite to Eddy pond campsite. 10.5 miles today, 216.8 miles from katadin. Epic hike today! Jeff and I hiked part of the time today with doc and tinkle.We left around 530 this morning to try to beat the thunderstorms forecast for today, that rain never came. The trail started with a very steep descent to the Orbeton stream ford. The water was high and running fast due to it raining off and on all night. I put on my camp shoes and wadded across. Icy cold water up to my knees, good wake up at 530! In about 3 miles, we climbed about 2500 feet to the top of Saddleback Junior mountain. Our first big climb of the day. It was a doozy, several segments were near vertical boulder scrambles. We next climbed another thousand feet to the top of the Horn mountain. This was the steepest climb and descent of the day but not the highest mountain we climbed. That honor went to Saddleback mountain at 4300 feet. All in all, we hiked about 10 miles in 9 hours and climbed then descended about 6000 feet each way. We also climbed over 3 major mountains, Saddleback is on Maine's list of tallest mountains in the state. Maybe my toughest day ever on the AT.We are camped tonight at Eddy Pond, a beautiful place to camp. I think we'll all sleep good tonight! We are going into Rangeley tomorrow to resupply. We will be back on the trail Thursday. We only have 4 miles hike to town so we're doing a Nero tomorrow.
Date: 2017-08-12
To: Day 23 Southbound
Miles today: 13.78
Weather: light rain

Rangeley to Bemis stream 13.78 miles 234.4 miles from katadin Doc, tinkle, Jeff and I caught a shuttle this morning from Rangeley to the trail head. We pushed longer distance today because the terrain was quite a bit easier. We did see one beautiful view of Lake Ouossoc as we crossed Maine hwy 17. Tomorrow we began to climb again as we continue southward.It did began to rain on and off this afternoon, I hope this doesn't continue. This trail is tough enough without everything wet and slick.
Date: 2017-08-12
To: Day 25 Southbound
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

We did a Nero today and are staying at the Human Nature Hostel for a few days. We'll be slack packing the two extra days. The Hostel just opened this year and they are still getting organized. The owner, Yukon, is a survival expert and has been on the reality show "Naked and Afraid" several times. He is assisted by Rock Ocean and Kim Tea in running the Hostel. Rock Ocean shuttled us around for our slack packing and to get supplies.
Date: 2017-08-13
To: Day 24 Southbound
Miles today: 8.4
Weather: clear sky

Bemis stream to unnamed Gap, distance today 8.4 miles, 242.4 miles from katadin Jeff and I spent a flusterating day hiking. As we were packing up to hike this morning, we had a very intense thunderstorm that started about 6 and lasted until about 8 am. Fortunately neither of us had taken our tents down yet. We sat in them and ate breakfast while it rained. When we left our camp, we had an 1100 ft climb in less than a mile. With the rain, everything was really slick and the trail was flooded. This was a big concern because we had a number of very steep climbs and descents in front of us today. We cut our goal for the day from a 12 mile hike to 8 miles. As it was, we spent 9 hours hiking 8 miles. It also rained several more times today. I took several trail pictures to show the conditions and how the trail generally looks. Unfortunately, I didn't think to take any before the start of a big climb or descent that shows how incredibly steep the trail can be.Right now my tent is wet and caked with mud, my sleeping bag is damp, my clothes are soaked. Just a nasty day on the AT. We've decided that tomorrow we will hike the trail until we intersect the nearest road, we've contacted a shuttle operator to pick us. We'll stay in Andover and slack pack for a few days until the weather straightens out. We'll keep making miles but not carrying our gear and we'll get to sleep inside. Sounds good to me!
Date: 2017-08-13
To: Day 26 Southbound
Miles today: 10.0
Weather: broken clouds

We hiked from South Arm Road to East B Hill road, a distance of about 10 miles. This was a slack packing day for the 4 of us, Doc, Tinkle, magic legs (Jeff), and me. We did climb over Moody mountain and Hall mountain, both were extremely steep and rocky. We got absolutely soaked by a rain storm in the morning shortly after we started hiking. It rained off and on until about lunch time. With the wet conditions, footing and trail conditions were not good at all. There is better weather forecast for tomorrow. We will need it, huge climbs and descents over Bald Pate mountain's 3 peaks.
Date: 2017-08-14
To: Day 27 Southbound
Miles today: 10.5
Weather: overcast clouds

East B Hill road to Grafton Notch about 10.5 miles. Distance from Katadin is 267.2 miles, less than 15 miles from the New Hampshire border. 995 miles of the AT hiked so far in 2017. The trail in this section passes close to Dunn notch falls. We visited the falls, very beautiful. I've got several pictures of the two step falls.The biggest climb of the day was over Bald Pate mountain, which has three peaks. This is one of the toughest climbs we've done to date. However, I can say the same thing every day as we progress into the toughest region of the AT in Maine.We did have good weather all day today. Bald Pate would have been nearly impossible to cross if it had rained. It has a very steep, shear granite face to climb and descend.We have an even steeper climb and descent tomorrow and thunderstorms are back in the forecast. If the rain will hold off until after lunch we can get the first half of the Mahoosuc notch climbed. There is a camp site we can use about 7 miles in if we need to stop for rain.
Date: 2017-08-15
To: Day 28 Southbound
Miles today: 7.2
Weather: overcast clouds

Grafton notch to Mahoosuc Notch North end at Bull Branch campsite. Distance 7.2 miles, 274.2 miles from katadin, 1002 miles on the AT. We left Grafton notch at 630 this morning. We hiked over Old Speck mountain and the Mohoosuc Arm today. Very rough, steep terrain once again.Thunderstorms ended today's climb early today. We are at the North end of the Mohoosuc Gap, reputed to be the toughest mile on the AT. North bound through hikers tell us is taking 2 hours to make it thru the mile of boulders. We will be climbing it tomorrow morning rather than this afternoon. I'll let you know tomorrow if it is as tough as we've heard it is.
Date: 2017-08-16
To: Day 29 Southbound
Miles today: 6.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Mohoosuc notch campsite to Carlo Col campsite distance 6 miles, 281.3 miles from katadin, 0.4 miles from State line NH. I had two goals for my birthday, one was to get thru the Mohoosuc notch mile of boulders, the second was to get out of Maine. I missed on the second by about half a mile, oh well we'll get to New Hampshire tomorrow. It took 2 hours to hike thru the notch, which is pretty good time. Especially since the rain storms yesterday had everything wet and slick. The 5 peaks we scaled after the notch were every bit as daunting as the notch. I averaged slightly over 1 mile an hour all day. This is the first day my shoulders, arms and hands hurt as much as my legs and feet do. There was so much hand over hand climbing today I'm sure all over. Hopefully the terrain will get better tomorrow. We need to start making more miles.
Date: 2017-08-17
To: Day 30 Southbound
Miles today: 12.2

Carlo col campsite to stealth camp 293.5 miles from katadin. 12.2 miles hiked today. 1021 miles of the AT hiked so far. It was unseasonably cold this morning, probably in the low 40s with a 30 Mile an hour wind blowing. I had on all the clothes I have with me and I was still cold. Doc was still wearing shorts but he had a jacket on so it had to be cold. Lol Finally a good hiking day on fairly good trail, steep climbs and descents but manageable. We made over 12 miles today, got 5 to go to Gorham, NH. Yes, we are finally in a new State! We did see huge bear tracks this afternoon. I should have stuck my foot by the track for the picture. The track was as big as my foot! Tomorrow and Saturday we will be in Gorham, taking a zero before we began exploring the White mountains.
Date: 2017-08-18
To: Day 31 & 32 Southbound
Miles today: 5.0
Weather: few clouds

Aug 18 and 19 th stealth camp to Gorham about 5 miles, 298 miles from katadin. Short hike on Friday, zero on Saturday. We made it to the road to Gorham about 10 in the morning on Friday in a hard rain. We got a ride with a guy in a pickup. He'd picked up Doc and Tinkle already so we had to ride in the back. It was a wet, cold ride the 5 miles to town. It rained until mid afternoon and it was quite cold. Our room at the Libby House wasn't ready so we hung out in the Hostel. We got a shower taken and got our clothes in the washer and went to eat. The town of Gorham is really quaint New England. I've taken quite a few pictures, I really like New England, the people, towns and mountains. The Libby House is really a neat B&B. It's full of antiques and has been carefully maintained. It was built in 1892 by one of the Libby brothers. This prominent family owned a saw mill here in town and had the timber rights from here to Mt Washington, a huge tract of land. They were probably the largest employers in the area, in their day.Tomorrow we're being shuttled 22 miles south of here to Pinkam's Notch. We're going to hike back here over the next 2 days. Since we're coming back we can lighten our pack loads, not quite slack packing but better than a normal hike out. We decided to hike North back to Gorham for a couple of reasons. It's 80 miles to the next town, we can't carry enough food for 8 days, 5 or 6 days is more manageable. The second is the hike north is a little easier, there's a thousand feet less climbing.
Date: 2017-08-20
To: Day 33 Southbound
Miles today: 13.2
Weather: clear sky

Pinkam's notch to Imp campground 13.2 miles, 6200 feet of climbing 5000 feet of descending. We got transported to Pinkam's notch this morning and began hiking the AT North back to Gorham. We hiked 13 of the 21 miles today, it has been one of my longest and hardest days on the AT. We are hiking the Wildcats mountains that are part of the White mountain range in New Hampshire. They have a reputation for being very difficult to hike. In short, they deserve their reputation! I hiked 12 hours today to go 13.2 miles. I didn't get to camp until after dark. We did visit and eat lunch at one of the huts that are maintained in the White mountains. They provide food and shelter to hikers. The White mountains have some of the worst weather in the world! The huts have provided safe refuge for many hikers over the years. They are positioned about every 6 to 10 miles along the main trail routes. All hikers in this area know where the nearest hut is located and what trails to take to get there.
Date: 2017-08-21
To: Day 34 Southbound
Miles today: 8.2
Weather: scattered clouds

Imp campsite to Gorham White Mountain Hostel 8.2 miles, total miles of AT hiked 1048 miles.Today was a relatively short and less demanding day physically.  I really needed it after the 13 mile 12 hour day I had on Sunday.I still got in a couple of climbs and was rewarded with a great view of the presidentials. We got showers, clothes washed and stocked up on food for the next 50+miles of the White mountains. We'll start tomorrow climbing Mt Madison. It's about a 3000 ft climb and it looks steep. We progress to Mt Washington after Madison. We've cut the mileage to single digits until we see how we're handling these climbs.
Date: 2017-08-22
To: Day 35 Southbound
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Zero day, severe weather in the mountains this afternoon. 80 percent off chance of severe thunderstorms, hail and high winds starting this afternoon and getting worse tonight. Better weather predicted for tomorrow. It appears the weather forecasts are accurate. We're heard from north bound hikers that just came down from the mountains this evening. They said the weather was really bad this afternoon and going to be much worse tonight. Glad I'm not up there right now.
Date: 2017-08-23
To: Day 36 Southbound
Miles today: 8.0
Weather: broken clouds

Pinkam's notch to Madison hut 8 miles today 327 miles from Katadin. We left the White mountain hostel via shuttle about 7 this morning bound for Pinkam's notch. This was our major climb into the presidential mountains. Our climb to the top of Mt Madison took about 3 hours and was about 3000 feet vertical in less than 2 miles. Above the tree line, the trail is all boulders. Hard on the feet and slow going. It was windy and chilly on top but we had a great view. I took a lot of pictures today. These include a great suspension bridge we crossed, shots from the top of Madison and the Madison hut.We stopped at the hut about 3 and ate there. They had enchiladas today, quite good too. We are stealth camped about 2 tenths of a mile from the hut on the mountain side. Tomorrow we go over Mt Washington.