morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2005-08-10
From: Thistle Hill Shelter

To: Woods Outside Hanover
Miles today: 14.6

8:39pm - Livin' it UpOnce again I was off to an early start. Today was a town day, and not just any town day. Today I reached Hanover. Hanover is like the Damascus of the north minus a cheap place to stay. It's full of great restaurants, shops, and pretty co-eds. It is, after all, the home of Dartmouth College. It's not every day the trail passes through the campus of an Ivy League school.And so I walked straight through West Hartford, scarcely stopping to look at the local bridge and its rope swing. It was too early for swimming. I plowed past Norwich, hometown of my good friend Marie. And at last I crossed the Connecticut River, stepping out of Vermont and into New Hampshire.As soon as I reached town I heard someone call out, "Papa!" To my great surprise, it was Gozar. Though he was in town, he's actually about twenty miles back on the trail. He's taking a day off, hanging out with his buddies. I'm hoping he catches me in the Whites - I'm planning to slow down and enjoy them.I briefly stepped into the Dartmouth Outing Club next door to check my e-mail. I had a message from Phoenix. First, she's working at The Cabin, a hostel in Andover, Maine. Second, the guys are about four days back. Four Days??!! After I took two off and went slowly? What are they doing, dragging a corpse with them?Upon exiting the building, Gozar had disappeared. I set off to explore town. I took note of restaurant and shop locations and hours then made my way to the gym. Despite my best effort to haggle the price, I bought my most expensive shower to date. A one day pass to the gym cost me eight bucks. However, local shopkeepers I later visited probably consider it eight dollars well spent.Cleaned up, I bought some supplies I desperately needed - new insoles, socks, and compression shorts. After hitting a coffee shop I headed to the Green to enjoy the afternoon over chai tea (not so good) and cheesecake (quite good). Then I was off to the movies for the second time this week. This time I saw Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. After Tim Burton's Planet of the Apes fiasco, I was curious how he'd handle another remake. This time he hit it out of the park. This movie is a textbook example of why I love Tim Burton. He's the master of modern fantasy with a visual flair like none other. He was born to direct this movie.Afterwards I crossed the street to India Queen for dinner, for what is likely to be my only Indian fare of this whole trip. It was pretty decent and reasonably priced, but nowhere close to what I had in India on either count. Next came a few quick phone calls and a hurried trip through the supermarket to beat closing time. Of course I bought too much - there were simply too many tasty looking choices.Finally I walked about fifty yards into the woods past town and pitched my hammock. Darkness was falling fast; I had to finish up by headlamp. But I'm close enough to town to head back in for a good breakfast. I'm burning cash like crazy in this town, but sometimes you've just got to live it up.
Date: 2005-08-11
From: Woods Outside Hanover

To: Trapper John Shelter
Miles today: 16.7
Weather: broken clouds

6:35pm - One is the Loneliest NumberAs planned, I headed back into Hanover for breakfast. I enjoyed a pleasant morning on the campus green with a bagel, muffin, and coffee. I did get a bit of whiplash, but not too bad. On my way back to where I had stashed my pack I once again crossed paths with Sam-I-Am and Origami, both headed into town. I swear those two have a phantom feature on their packs - you always run across them when you least expect it, and never when you do.When I reached the woods I encountered the town's crazy guy. At least I hope he's crazy; if that's what passes for sane in New Hampshire then it's going to be a long two weeks. There was some yelling, some ranting, and possibly some accusations concerning stalking. As for me, I stood there dumbfounded, mouth agape. He soon stormed away, leaving me to reclaim my pack. I started hiking just as it began to warm up. My timing often leaves a bit to be desired, but on the other hand, it was a good cup of coffee.I finally had my first moose encounter today! In fact, I had lunch on top of it. Alright, so it was actually Moose Mountain. The closest I've come to seeing one of the furry critters was finding some tracks in the mud later this afternoon. Surely there's got to be a moose out here somewhere, though, right? Right?I had a pleasant uneventful afternoon. The only real highlight was a spectacular view from Holts Ledge. I spent some time watching a bird spiral around, riding a thermal ever higher. It may have been a peregrine falcon; I hear they roost near the ledge.The shelter is quite a bit quieter than I expected. There's far fewer wise cracking surgeons, cross dressing corporals, and incompetent colonels than I envisioned would inhabit the Trapper John Shelter. There's also a distinct lack of people. Right now it's just me and an older south-bound section hiker. When I saw Gozar yesterday we talked about how we seem to be smack dab in the middle of a rather large lull. Some southbounders reported seeing a pack of twenty northbounders about four days ahead of me. But today I've seen exactly none other than myself. It would be nice to get a little company out here again, but until then, I'll enjoy the peace and solitude. New Hampshire's not a bad place to have it.Twelve states down. Two more to go. 425 miles to Katahdin.
Date: 2005-08-14
From: Hiker's Welcome Hostel (Glencliff, NH) 9:56pm - Mu

To: Beaver Brook Shelter 7:15pm - Who'll Stop the Rain
Miles today: 7.8

Beaver Brook Shelter 7:15pm - Who'll Stop the RainI took an unepxected trip to North Woodstock this morning for breakfast. Fat Chap was dropping Greenpeace off to slack south of Mousilake so Songline, Mad Elephant and I went along for the ride. Pegs made good pancakes - worth the trip. North Woodstock looks like a fun little town - I look forward to returning in a few days.We saw the local sights on the trip, too. For example, the nearby town of Warren has a Redstone missile erected in the middle of town. We also saw the Old Man in the Ditch, a remarkably similar likeness to the Old Man in the Mountain rock formation on a much smaller scale. However, unlike the Old Man in the Mountain, the Old Man in the Ditch still exists.After returning to the hostel, I packed up and prepared to leave. Nature, however, had other plans. It started pouring. I hung around for a while later to wait out the storm. It eventually subsided and we checked the Doppler radar online. It looked like we had a window of decent weather before another storm front moved in. Songline, Origami, Sam-I-Am and I moved out.It was an easier climb up Mousilake than expected, though the views were a tad on the nonexistent side. For the first time on the trip the trail rose above treeline. Due to the aforementioned lack of views it wasn't quite the awe-inspiring experience it normally is, but it was still quite fun. I enjoy the alpine environment and all the low shrubbery and lichen it entails. Even without any view it still feels like a different world.The top was a bustling place, surprisingly. Chock-full of dayhikers and a ridge runner. We didn't linger too long since it was a bit chilly. Two miles of tricky, rocky descent later we arrived at the shelter and made ourselves at home. A sobo couple showed up an hour or two later, followed closely by a single. The single opted to tent, which is a bit confusing because it is currently raining pretty hard. The rest of us are sheltering it up.Finally - I'm back in the Whites.
Date: 2005-08-15
From: Beaver Brook Shelter 7:15pm - Who'll Stop the Rain

To: Kinsman Pond Campsite 8:22pm - Amish Paradise
Miles today: 13.1

Kinsman Pond Campsite 8:22pm - Amish ParadiseThe climb down Mousilake was as hard as I expected the climb up to be. It was steep, rocky, and slick. The slight drizzle that continued for the first half hour of hiking didn't help much, either. The trail basically followed a waterfall down. It didn't use switchbacks like a normal descent - when I say it followed a waterfall down, I mean just that. Sheer rock faces had been altered to contain steps and rebar, but it still took me an hour and a half to descend a mile and a half and 1,800 vertical feet.The rain stopped but the slick rocks remained for the rest of the day. Climbing up Mt Wolf wasn't too bad, but it also wasn't easy. I found a mild view just short of the summit that I used for a lunch spot before continuing to Eliza Brook Shelter for another break. It was only 4 miles to Kinsman Pond and my intended campsite. That shouldn't be too bad, right?Wrong. I think the climb up South Kinsman is the hardest climb I've seen to date dethroning the Three Ridges in Virginia. It was only 1,800 feet up compared to 3,000 for the Three Ridges, but it was unbelievably steep. It was like climbing up what I climbed down in the morning. Using my hands instead of my trekking poles to help clamber over a rock wasn't uncommon. When I finally reached the top, I had a quick view of the surrounding area before a passing cloud robbed me of it. That's the problem with being so high - I was inside the passing cloud.Nearly three hours after leaving Eliza Brook Shelter I reached Kinsman Pond Campsite. Songline arrived a few minutes later despite leaving the shelter this morning two hours after me. We cooked up dinner and the caretaker came by as we ate.The caretaker here is a fellow named Dingle. Alright, that's actually just his trail name from when he hiked last year. We'd heard wonderful things about him and they're all true. Normally he cooks up quesadillas for thruhikers but his family is at the nearby Lonesome Lake Hut tonight so we were a bit out of luck. But not to fear - Dingle told us to swing by in the morning and he'd have some snacks for us. He also offered to slackpack us over Wildcat Mountain this weekend which he has off. I checked the schedule and the elevation profile. Long story short, I now have a 7am appointment with Dingle Sunday morning at Pinkham Notch. Did I mention that Dingle is the man?Quote of the day: Songline asked a southbounder if she'd seen a northbounder (i.e. me) up ahead. "Yes," she replied, "is he Amish?"
Date: 2005-08-18
From: Galehead Hut 9:30pm - Taking Care of Business

To: Ripley Falls 8:08pm ÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂ Waterfalls
Miles today: 14.7

Ripley Falls 8:08pm ¢ WaterfallsWhat a gorgeous day. We hung around the hut for a bit and helped out with a few chores ¢ setting and cleaning plates, sweeping the floors, etc. Afterwards we were given the breakfast consisting of eggs, coffee cake and tons of oatmeal we could doctor as we chose. Despite all that I was still hiking before nine, enjoying a crisp, crystal clear morning. After a short scramble up the Twinway trail, I was rewarded by my first view of Mount Washington this trip. Does it ever look magnificent!The AT followed the ridge for some time along much easier trail than I expected. Despite a few side trips for views and a half hour of blueberry picking, I still arrived at Zealand Falls Hut four hours after my departure. Seven miles in four hours felt good ¢ I hadn¢t done that in some time.Sam-I-Am and Origami arrived at the same time as me. The three of us took full advantage of the $2 bottomless bowl of soup and homemade bread offered by the hut. I chipped in another buck to raid the crumble cake and chocolate cake pile. I packed in three bowls of lentil and ham soup, tons of bread, and quite a few dessert items. Feeling like I¢d gotten my money¢s worth and then some, I lingered for a long time on a rock slab by nearby Zealand Falls, chatting with Sam-I-Am and Origami.Eventually we moved on, and to our surprise the trail got even easier. Despite a half hour break at Thoreau Falls (named for who you think and every bit impressive as you imagine) we arrived at the Ethan Pond Shelter around 4:30. Today felt too easy, and tomorrow looks hard; we pushed on a few more miles in an effort to balance the scales. We took a side trail up to Ripley Falls just before Crawford Notch. The falls are huge - the best we¢ve seen all day, and that¢s saying a lot. The camping isn¢t great here, but its doable. We settled in for the night. Still feeling quite satisfied from lunch, I watched dusk creep in and edge away the afternoon by the falls, munching on a small snack to serve as my dinner.
Date: 2005-08-21
From: Lakes of the Clouds Hut 10:10pm - One Step Up

To: Madison Spring Hut 9:39pm ÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂ Bad Moon Rising
Miles today: 7.0
Weather: fog

Madison Spring Hut 9:39pm ¢ Bad Moon RisingAt long last I¢ve escaped the clutches of Lakes of the Clouds. Today is the third consecutive day I¢ve summited Mt. Washington but the first where I¢ve continued past. We lucked out in our ascent. The summit building has LCD display panels showing the current weather conditions, including graphs of recent conditions. After hanging out up top I happened to look at the display. The wind had been blowing steadily at 30mph for most of the morning but dropped down to 5-10mph for about an hour or so before resuming its 30mph speed. The brief lull exactly matched when we climbed to the summit. When we left around twelve thirty, the top was still encased in clouds. The winds were blowing at 35mph, but it was actually fairly warm, around 55 degrees. We left right as the Cog railway was boarding and intersected it about a quarter mile down the mountain. We participated in an esteemed thru-hiker tradition, had coal thrown at us by the conductor (who incidentally has quite an arm), and high tailed it out of range.The six mile traverse to Madison Spring Hut involved a bit of everything. The winds would rage; the winds would be calm. We walked through a hail storm. Normally we were surrounded by pea soup fog, but on rare occasion a patch of blue sky would peek through. We even caught a fifteen second glimpse of a valley below when the mountain was particularly generous. The other day I lamented that the official AT skirted the Presidential peaks; today I was thankful.We arrived at Madison Hut just as the weather finally broke. It¢s a similar hut ¢ everything is really crammed in here. The bunks are four levels high. All three of us (Sam-I-am, Origami, and myself) got work for stays. Get this ¢ we were asked to give a thru-hiker presentation. Three huts, three presentations. This is becoming old hat. We also pitched in with setting the tables, wiping down after dinner, and other small chores. I¢m sure we¢ll do the same at breakfast.As usual, the talk went well. This time all three of us fielded questions, with Sam-I-am often taking the lead. It lasted longer than the other huts, taking an hour and fifteen minutes compared to the normal forty five. It was finally halted by lights-out. Talk about a curious crowd.Once more, I¢ll be sleeping above tree line. Sometime tomorrow morning I¢ll descend below it for the first time in three days. It will mark the last time I am above the trees in the Whites, if not for the trip. The top of Katahdin is rock ¢ does that count as above tree line?
Date: 2005-08-24
From: The Barn (Gorham, NH) 9:30pm ÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂ The End of the Inno

To: Carlo Col Shelter 8:44pm ÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂ Across the Border
Miles today: 17.0

Carlo Col Shelter 8:44pm ¢ Across the BorderI hung around town far too long this morning. My platypus has developed a slow leak so I wanted to get it replaced. I waited for the outfitter to open. He was willing to do a warranty exchange but didn¢t have the right size on hand. I then called Platypus to see about mailing it in, but they didn¢t open until 8:30am ¢ Pacific Time. I wasn¢t about to wait that long so I bought a 1 liter Mountain Dew to use as a second water bottle.After my platypus excursions I ran into Doc, the owner of the hostel. We chatted for a bit about moose. It seems a friend of his came across a moose in the road a few days back. He beeped at it, but it didn¢t move. The second beep had the same result. On the third beep, it charged. After tearing up his grill, it left for the woods.I finally reached the trail at 10:15 and started hiking, not surprisingly, north. I had a bit of everything on today¢s hike ¢ sunshine, rain, flat land, overgrown trail, steep climbs, flat rock slabs, and vertical rock slabs. Still, I reached the first shelter, nearly 12 miles in, at quarter to four. It was raining, but I wanted to push on another 5.5 miles to the next shelter. I figured I had plenty of daylight. The first twelve miles weren¢t too bad, after all.The next five miles, however, were hard ¢ very hard. The rain picked up, making sure that every rock was slick. Success Mountain tried every trick in the book to stop me. My feet slipped out from under me on a rock slab. Five minutes later, I post holed to my knee in a mud bog. Thankfully my shoe stayed on. But the rain broke as I approached the summit. I looked behind me and saw mountains being ravaged by storms. Ahead of me, I saw blue sky. I felt like Moses surveying the Promised Land. My Promised Land, however, was Maine, stretched out before me like a vision.An hour later I crossed the border and entered Maine for the first time in my life. I¢m very amused that I¢ve reached a state by walking 1,893.5 miles to reach it. I was not amused by the trail, though. I¢ve heard that Southern Maine is the hardest part of Maine and if the half mile to the shelter is at all representative, that assessment is spot on. I learned a new definition of ¢tough trail.¢I limped into the shelter around 7:30. I ignored a sunset that was lighting the sky on fire, opting instead to get water, clean up, and change into something dry. Red Wing and Hopeful soon showed up, all of us cooked in the early evening dark.Today was a hard 17 miles ¢ I feel like I earned every single yard of it. I¢m sore and exhausted. I go to bed with the knowledge that tomorrow won¢t be easier.
Date: 2005-08-25
From: Carlo Col Shelter 8:44pm ÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂ Across the Border

To: Eyebrow Trail Intersection 7:33pm ÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂ MovinÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂ On Up
Miles today: 14.1

Eyebrow Trail Intersection 7:33pm ¢ Movin¢ On UpBefore I went to bed last night I looked up at the sky. It was a crystal clear night. The stars shone brighter than I can ever recall seeing on the east coast; the Milky Way was far denser than it should have been. I was even lucky enough to see a shooting star streak across the sky.This morning¢s sky was a stark contrast. It rained last night and I awoke to grey, overcast skies. The rain thankfully had finished, and the skies eventually allowed blue to enter as the morning wore on.At 11:15 I reached what is billed as the hardest mile on the entire AT: Mahoosuc Notch. The notch is a mile long rock scramble, taking you over, under, around, and through massive boulders. Was it tough? Absolutely ¢ it took me an hour and twenty minutes to navigate the mile. But it wasn¢t the hardest mile; it was way too much fun. The hardest mile surely involves suffering, and will be different for every hiker.By 3pm I had reached Speck Pond campsite, a whopping 9.5 miles past my starting point. I started hiking at 7:15. I will repeat a mantra that may soon become familiar: Maine is hard. The ground is rocky and they seem to enjoy routing us over steep rock slabs that require hand-over-hand climbing. I don¢t know how the southbounders survive this without 1,800 miles of conditioning.Anyways, I pondered my options. It was clear that I didn¢t have enough daylight remaining to cover the 7 miles to the next shelter, but it was still early. Camping between the shelters looked scarce ¢ plus, the trail passes through Grafton Notch State Park, which doesn¢t allow camping. I thought about staying. After all, Speck Pond is a very nice spot. If I stayed then I¢d get to hang out some more with Red Wing and Hopeful. Hopeful is even cheerier than normal today ¢ it¢s her birthday. But on the other hand, I really wanted to put in a few more miles. I¢m trying to make it to Andover tomorrow, and 15 miles on this terrain could prove to be exceedingly difficult. Finally, I didn¢t really want to pay the eight dollar fee for the campsite.So as the location noted in this entry¢s header suggests, I pushed on. Careful examination of the local maps and my data book led me to believe that there was a flat spot (quite rare in these parts) just before the Eyebrow Trail takes off to a nearby cliff, with a stream nearby. Three miles and two hours later, my hunch proved to be correct. I cooked dinner in the middle of the trail on a rock ledge surveying Grafton Notch below, and backtracked five minutes up the trail afterwards to an inviting pine stand. Everything fell into place perfectly.Andover tomorrow ¢ it should be good, so stay tuned!
Date: 2005-08-30
From: The Cabin (East Andover, Maine) 4:41pm - Come Toge

To: Bemis Mountain Lean-to 8:21pm - Hey, Jude
Miles today: 8.3

Bemis Mountain Lean-to 8:21pm - Hey, JudeAfter saying goodbye to Honey, Phoenix, and The Cabin, five of us piled into Bear's van to be dropped at the trailhead. Red Wing, Hopeful, and I are all on the 8-mile-to-Rangeley plan to allow others to catch up. Mayfly was also heading north with us but planned to go a bit further than us. Last but not least, Pumpkin was slacking south. She had surprised me by showing up last night a bit before dinner. I had seen her briefly in Gorham when she dropped a package off at the Barn but before that my last Pumpkin sighting was in Shenandoah. The AT is a revolving cast of characters - you never know who you'll run into.Hopeful, Red Wing, and I hiked together reaching the shelter around 1:30. Stats and Mad Pumpkin were wrapping up lunch, as was an old familiar face that sadly, I didn't recognize. It was Jude who I had last seen in Erwin. He shot ahead, got off for a month in Harper's Ferry, and started hiking again. He has been slowly closing the gap for some time. He was pushing on today and will likely be ahead of me for the rest of the trip but we made the most of our few minutes together.Our incoming trio settled into the shelter and began an out-loud reading of "The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe." Three chapters had been read when Mayfly arrived. We paused to socialize and to help Mayfly with some minor pack surgery. We ended up sucking her into the shelter. It was midafternoon and rain is predicted for tonight; she really doesn't want to deal with a wet tent. She joined the reading circle, and after a break for dinner, suggested that we incorporate voices for the characters. My favorite is Mr. Beaver who I voiced as a cratchety old geezer. Somehow, we managed to finish off the entire book a bit after dark. Not bad for a day's work, not bad at all.