morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2014-09-12
From: White Mountain Hostel, RT 2, Mile 1887.1

To: Carlo Col Shelter, Mile 1904.0
Miles today: 16.9
Weather: overcast clouds

After another delicious breakfast, I immediately left for the trail. Ronin was the only one who left ahead of me, by just a few minutes. Although there weren't any particularly big mountains to climb/descend today, the trail path was still tough and all the smaller ups and downs were quite tiring. I was enjoying having both my hiking poles again! I passed Ronin fairly soon - he's still carrying a big back pack and moving a little slower on the uphills. A bit later I caught up with a hiker I hadn't seen since Vermont - Tabasco! He had stayed in Gorham last night and got on the trail ahead of me this morning. We hiked pretty much together the rest of the day. At some point early in the day, I managed to do some sort of tricky maneuver when my right pole tip caught and I broke my pole again! I found a nice stick to use in place of my broken pole and continued on. Not nearly as good as my real pole, but better than no pole. When Tobasco and I approached the Maine border, he noticed a single hiking pole stuck in the ground right behind the sign. He helped me video "well... that's 13 down!" before checking out the pole. It was a cheap one, bent, and the handle didn't fit my hand well, but it's an improvement for sure! Thank you unknown trail angel! Maine Border with Newfound Pole!Tobasco and I were the first ones to the shelter. Ajax arrived soon after - I was surprised he hadn't caught up with us sooner. Then Ronin made it, followed soon by Mailman and No Rush. As it started to get dark, Giggles came in and we made room for him, too.I felt stronger today, but am still both getting back in shape and recovering from the Whites. Tomorrow: Mahoosuc Notch - billed often as the toughest mile on the AT. I'm looking forward to have fun bouldering through it, no matter how long it takes. :-)
Date: 2014-09-15
From: East B Hill Rd, Andover, Mile 1928.4

To: South Arm Rd, Andover, Mile 1938.5
Miles today: 10.1

Mailman and No Rush had eaten dinner at the other option in town last night, the General Store, and enjoyed it. So this morning I went there for breakfast and to get snack foods for our hike today. Large stack of blueberry pancakes! Yum! Note that at home I usually eat my pancakes without anything else on them - I tend to like my starch straight up. On the trail, I add all the butter and syrup they will hold!Our hostel hostess Naomi drove us back to the trail at 8:00 and we had a most enjoyable hike with light back packs up and down a couple of mountains on a beautiful day. We stopped for a food break at Hall Mountain Lean-to, where we met Hungry Horse and Poncho, two young Nobo thru hikers I hadn't met before. When we got to the top of Moody Mountain, Mailman called the hostel so they could pick us up at the bottom of the mountain. Since I had good reception, I called our grandson to wish him a happy 11th birthday. It was cool to call him from a mountain top in Maine! :-)We made great time down the mountain, and a few minutes later our hostel host David showed up and took us back. When we got there Blueberry Bear, Dos Equis and Lately were already there. Lately boarded her dog Early when she got to Pinkham Notch, and will pick him up tomorrow. I met Blueberry Bear briefly a day or two on the trail. This is the first time I've met Dos Equis, he's not the Dos Lekis I hiked with in MD! I spent the afternoon planning the next few days with Mailman and No Rush, and working on my journal. We've decided to slackpack 13 miles tomorrow to Rt 17 and come back here again. Then on Wednesday, we'll slackpack the 13 miles from Rt 17 to Rt 4, where David will drop our full packs at the Hiker Inn for us to pick up and continue our hike.As I was leaving to go to dinner, Mad Max came in. I recognized him as the young guy who slept in his hammock inside the first shelter where I stayed in the Smokies. He's had a couple of illnesses that had taken him off trail a while.I had a great Reuben sandwich with french fries and milk for dinner tonight. Yum! My grease low-level light is definitely extinguished! :-)
Date: 2014-09-16
From: South Arm Rd, Andover, Mile 1938.5

To: ME 17, Mile 1951.7
Miles today: 13.2
Weather: overcast clouds

I met Ethan last night just before going to bed. He's one of the last Sobo thru hikers. The good news is that of all the creek and river fords ahead of us listed in the guide, he had to actually ford only three of them. The warer level for the rest has dropped such that he could rock hop across.Mailman, No Rush and I were dropped off at the trail about 7:30 for another day of slackpacking. We had awoken to a light rain which was forecast to end about midday. However, to our good fortune it stopped as we got going and the rest of the day was cool and overcast - a great day for hiking!The trail continued to ease up in difficulty, both in the footpath and steepness. The more difficult uphill sections had metal steps and handrails drilled into the rock. The rock slopes were sometimes slippery so we had to slow down on those sections and we each took a minor spill once. Mailman was really looking for a moose since tomorrow is his granddaughter's birthday and he promised her a picture of one. The closest we came was when we were passing a thicket of bushes we heard someone bellow "AstroGuy!" It was Ronin who had camped there last night and planned to zero there on this forecast rainy day. Scenic View (note No Rush near the bottom)Back at the hostel I met Giggles and One Step. One Step ia an old trail friend of Mailman and No Rush, so he joined us for dinner at the General Store. Mad Max also showed up and we chatted some. We had spent the nighr together in the shelter on my first night in the Smokies. Tomorrow we put on our full packs and continue to head north!
Date: 2014-09-17
From: ME 17, Mile 1951.7

To: Piazza Rock Lean-to, Mile 1966.7
Miles today: 15.0

Since David was taking us to the trail at 6:45, we got up early and had breakfast at the General Store at 6:00. Today was a semi-slackpack day. David was dropping us off where we left off yesterday and then taking whatever we wanted from our packs in plastic bags and dropping them off at the Hiker Hut 13 miles further up the trail. Since David had never been to the Hiker Hut and we hadn't coordinated with anyone there, I only offloaded stuff I could easily replace, like my sleeping bag and food.We stopped for lunch at one of the lakes along the way. This lake had a few canoes on the bank for anyone to use. Apparently, canoes and small row boats are somehow brought up to many of the lakes, and the original owners leave them there to use when they hike in, but don't mind if others use them. Canoe Ride Anyone?When we got to ME 4, we hiked the 0.3 miles down the road to stop by the Hiker Hut. No Rush and Mailman were both getting food packages there. I was hoping my package had made it from Linda with the pole replacement section and my extra pair of bifocals. If not, I planned to spend the night there and get them tomorrow.Fortunately, all our packages were there along with the plastic bags with our stuff that David had dropped off! The Hiker Hut owners Steve and Kathy were very nice and didn't charge us anything for being a storage place for us! No Rush and Kathy at the Hiker HutWe continued on another two miles to the Piazza Rock Lean-to to spend the night. They have a two seat privy there with a cribbage board between the two seats. The sign on the privy is "Your Move"!After settling in the shelter, we hiked uphill on a short side trail to where a huge boulder called Piazza Rock hangs out over the entrance to a boulder section of trail called the Caves. Since it was more uphill climbing, we didn't explore the Caves, but returned to the shelter and started a nice fire in the firepit and fixed dinner.Pretty soon Puzzle, Triple P, Cheekie Chee and Ravioli passed through on their southbound slackpack. Mailman had a canned ham in his Hiker Hut maildrop, and I had a full loaf of bread, so we did a little trail magic ourselves giving out ham sandwiches! Sockless and Blazer, a young couple who were tenting, joined us around the campfire, along with Sobo flipflopper Worldstar and section hiker Chip, who both stayed in the shelter with Mailman, No Rush and me. I thoroughly enjoyed our time chatting around the campfire, before hitting the sack!
Date: 2014-09-18
From: Piazza Rock Lean-to, Mile 1966.7

To: Spaulding Mountain Lean-to, Mile 1983.6
Miles today: 16.9

Mailman, No Rush and I started hiking about 7:00 this morning. We had several climbs above tree level ahead of us including Saddleback and the Horn. Although it was pleasant weather with no wind when we were in the trees, the bare rock tops of the mountains were in the clouds and cold and quite windy.We leapfrogged with a number of other Nobos today. The AT Guide called for a ford at Orbeton Stream, but once again, the water was low enough that we could easily rock hop across. Worldstar told us last night that he only had to ford a couple of streams coming south from Katahdin.We got to the shelter at 5:30 and City Slicka was there setting up his tent. It was getting cold and forecast to possibly go below freezing tonight, so I set up my tent behind the shelter while Mailman and No Rush settled in the shelter. We had dinner and turned in early! There were three other hikers in tents further behind the shelter - WiFi, Iron Cheeks and Bama - but I didn't interact with them much since we were all settling in early due to the cold.Lithium batteries don't like below freezing temps, and a Sawyer Squeeze water filter will be ruined if the water in it freezes. So I got my phone, camera, extra batteries and filter and slept with them in my sleeping bag. I usually just put my sleeping bag opened up over me like a quilt, but tonight I zipped it up and used it mummy style. I kept the cold sensitive gear around my armpit area, and it didn't bother me during the night.
Date: 2014-09-20
From: ME 27, Stratton ME, Mile 1997.1

To: East Flagstaff Rd, Mile 2013.8
Miles today: 16.7

2000 miles!!!We decided to slackpack thru the Bigelow Mountains today. Sue drove seven of us up to East Flagstaff Rd and we hiked southbound the 16.7 miles back to ME 27 where we ended yesterday. Then we hitched a ride back into Stratton. Hiking southbound, we met many thru hikers hiking northbound. Rocksloth and Marathon were two that I knew but hadn't seen since PA. The rest were folks I've seen the past couple of days or were folks I didn't know. It was a fun but tiring hike. Even though we were slackpacking, the climbs up and down the mountains and the wind at the tops wore me out. It was fun seeing all the folks headed in the opposite direction - we probably spent an hour or more chatting along thw way. No Rush and IIt was also fun crossing the peaks of the mountains where the wind was blowing so hard, we looked like the weather reporters covering a hurricane. Some folks were guessing 60 to 70 mph. After crossing the last one, we met Drag'n Fly and Freckles heading northbound up the mountain. Drag'n Fly is a petite 74 year old, so we only half-joked about our concern she might get blown off the mountain top! When I got back to town, one of the locals said it was forecast to be 60 mph. At one point the wind blew my glasses off my face, but fortunately I could retrieve them. High Winds on Mt. Avery!A couple in a pickup truck gave the three of us plus Mad Max a ride back to town. We all rode in the bed of the truck. When we pulled in, there was Naturally Hob and his wife Chickadee! It was really good to see Hob again and to meet Chickadee. I knew they were ahead if me, but I apparently passed them when they went into Rangeley. I wouldn't have seen them if I hadn't slackpacked today! Hob and Chick-a-Dee!Hob also had my glove I had lost a while back. Somehow Ajax had gotten it and had given it to Hob. Thought I'd never aee that glove again!We all had dinner together and caught up. Then we said our goodbyes and Maulman, No Rush and I did laundry at an apartment building laundry room before turning in. Headtunes: I haven't covered this lately since most have been replays of what I've mentioned before. This is the Day thw Lord Has Made gets the most airtime. There was an old Beetles tune playing in my head the other day, but I forgot which one.Today I started out noticing I was playing an old soft rock tune that I can't now remember what it was. Sue had the radio tuned to a soft rock station when she dropped us off, so that's probably its origin. Later on Here We Go a Wassailing got some headtunes airtime, followed by Ain't No Mountain High Enough. I finished off with singing out loud: And I would walk 1000 miles, and I would walk 1000 more, just to be the man who walked 2000 miles to fall down at your door, Li-li-linda! :-)
Date: 2014-09-21
From: East Flagstaff Rd, Mile 2013.8

To: Harrison's Pierce Pond Camp, Mile 2030.5
Miles today: 16.7

Sue's shuttle back to the trail wasn't leaving until 8:00, so we had a great breakfast at the White Wolf Inn before leaving. On the way to the trail, we passed a rural mailbox that had been modified to look like the Space Shuttle. Mailman and No Rush made me get out for a picture beside it! Today's trail had a couple of small up and downs near the beginning and then stayed pretty level as it wound its way from pond to pond. We made great time on the relatively easy trail - relative to what we've been hiking recently. Even the level trail has more rocks and roots than "the good old days" down south! Marathon joined us near the beginning and we all stopped for an early lunch break at the West Carry Pond Lean-to. Three young women we hadn't met before - Navigator, J-Rex and Toots stopped in shortly after us. Marathon knrw them and stayed behind when Mailman, No Rush and I left. We covered the 16.7 miles today in about 7 hours much faster than I've done in a while!Harrison's is a fishing camp near the Pierce Pond Lean-to where a hiker can stay or just stop by for a 12 pancake breakfast. We sat at the Lean-to a few minutes trying to decide where to stay, but the forecast for rain led us to staying in a cabin at the camp. The opportunity for a hot shower also helped! :-)The three of us shared a small cabin that had a front porch overlooking the stream and the fall foliage. It was really nice to relax on the front porch eating dinner and enjoying the view, while it rained lightly off and on. View from our CabinTomorrow we'll be crossing the Kennebec River by ferry - which is a canoe. The ATC pays a person to ferry hikers across 2 at a time in a canoe. Should be fun!
Date: 2014-09-23
From: Bald Mountain Brook Lean-to, Mile 2048.8

To: ME 15, Monson ME, Mile 2070.8
Miles today: 22.0
Weather: clear sky

It was chilly this morning, but warm enough for me to start hiking a little before 7 without a jacket. On colder mornings, I start out with either my down jacket or my rain jacket and 30 minutes later am heated up enough I have to stop and take it off. It was a little windy and chilly near the top of Moxie Bald, but nothing close to what we experienced going over the Bigelows!Once past Moxie Bald, the trail was fairly level and I made good time. With the nice weather we're having, most of the muddy places are dried up enough that they didn't slow me down much, although there were still places requiring a "mud dance" to the side of the trail and/or rock and log hopping to avoid muddy shoes. The trail still has roots and rocks but not severe. I covered the 22 miles in 9 hours, includong a half hour stop for lunch at the Horseshoe Canyon Lean-to. Haven't been that speedy in a long while! Rock Trail in Fragile Ecosystem Pretty Stream Crossing!There were three streams in today's section that hikers usually have to ford, two of them have a rope or wire strung across the stream for hikers to hold on to as they ford across. The water levels were low enough that I found places I could rock hop across without getting my feet wet. One of them might have been tough for someone with shorter legs! So far, I haven't had to ford any of the streams.Dawn, from Shaws, picked me up at the trailhead and drove me to an outfitter to buy new poles, then to the grocery store to resupply before taking me to the hostel. I broke a pole again yesterday, and I don't want to do the 100 mile wilderness with just one. Plus, I need two for my tent! I found some cheaper ones that have wrist straps - it'll do for the next six days. At the hostel I met a couple of older guys who had just returned from slackpacking the next 15 miles. Took them 9 hours! Although there aren't any mountains to climb, it's a constant series of rocky, rooty small ups and downs. I decided to do the same tomorrow to give my knees a break rather than cover it with a heavy pack with 5+ days of food.The fall colors have been starting to pop for the past several days. Might be at peak when I summit Katahdin next week. That will be awesome!Speaking of awesome, Linda and Sarah are drivimg up next Monday to hike with me on Tuesday. Sarah has to fly back to CA on Wednesday, so I'm trying to make it so that Tuesday is summit Katahdin day! :-)
Date: 2014-09-25
From: Side Trail Junction, Mile 2086.1

To: West Branch Pleasant River, Mile 2101.1
Miles today: 15.0

The folks at Shaws served up another great breakfast! Then I walked down to the Post Office to mail some things home, in order to both lighten my pack a little and to make more room for all the food I'm carrying today. The items included my phone chargers since this is my last section before I'm finished. That's a cool thought!My food bag is full plus I'm carrying a little extra in another bag. I hope to make it to Abol Bridge in four more days, but have five plus days of food since that's what I bought when I resupplied Tuesday not knowing I was going to slackpack the first day. Plus, it gives me extra just in case. 13 pounds total to get me to Abol Bridge!I said goodbye to Mailman, No Rush and Puzzles as I'm now a full day ahead of them and probably won't see them again. They're not slackpacking today, but are making a food drop at Jo Mary Road halfway to Abol Bridge. Dawn then drove me to the place where Susan dropped me yesterday and I climbed the 0.8 miles up to the AT. This time I headed north with a full pack!Along the way I met up with Sparklefeet and Gary. They are the couple I met one evening in the Shenandoah after I had pitched my tent at a lookout point just prior to a thunderstorm rolling through. They came by the lookout point to have dinner after having hiked through the storm. Today was a beautiful sunny day with gorgeous views, however! Gary, Sparkle Feet and Yeti LegsI also leapfrogged with Senator, Yeti Legs and Tumbles today. Yeti Legs is a 19 year old recently out of high school who got his name early on the trail after hiking through the snow with shorts on and getting ice on his legs. Senator and Tumbles are thirty-somethings - Senator worked in the Florida state senate and Tumbles fell down a lot. The three of them have been hiking together for half the trail now. All four of us planned to camp near the West Branch of the Pleasant River tonight, hopefully on the far side since the AT Guide called for a ford there. Yeti Legs and Senator enjoying the View Fall Colors!When I got to the river, Yeti Legs and Senator were on the other side and had set up camp a hundred yards down the trail along the river. I may have been able to rock hop across on some small rocks, but just decided to cool my feet after a long day and forded across barefoot. Aaahhh! When I got to the other side, Hey Y'all was also there filling up his water bottles. He said he was camping a little further up the trail along with Shoes, a 70 year old thru hiker I haven't met yet.I hiked on down the trail and set up my tent next to Senator and Yeti Legs. When I went back to the ford to fill up my water bottles, Tumbles was just coming across the river. He came down and camped with us, too. We all had dinner and good conversation together, and then I climbed into my tent for the night.
Date: 2014-09-26
From: West Branch Pleassnt River, Mile 2101.1

To: East Branch Lesn-to, Mile 2117.5
Miles today: 16.4
Weather: overcast clouds

I had a good night's sleep and woke up early. It doesn't get light until nearly 6:00, so I was hiking about 6:45. The guys were just starting to roust when I left. I leapfrogged with them all day and we stopped at the same shelter this evening.It was a gradual long climb up to Gulf Hagas Mountain on a fairly nice trail. I passed the Carl Newhall Lean-to enroute and met John - an older hiker who knew Catfish and Old Blue. He had hiked the Gulf Hagas trail yesterday. It's a 5 mile side trail that's supposed to be quite beautiful. Although months ago at the beginning of my hike I had thought I might take the time to hike it, today I just wanted to use those 5 miles to get closer to Katahdin so Linda and Sarah and I can hike it Tuesday. :-)Shortly after the shelter I found a knit hat on the trail, so I picked it up and carried it the rest of the day hoping to catch up with its owner. Since John had said Catfish had left earlier, I thought it might be his. I didn't catch up with anyone today, so I'll try again tomorrow.After Gulf Hagas Mountain the trail continues up a series of peaks , finally topping out at White Cap Mountain. My AT Guide mentions a view spot one mile down the northside of White Cap as having a view of Katahdin, so I assumed the peaks were tree covered with no views to the north. The first three peaks were just that. The top of White Cap opened up, with an amazing view to the southeast along with a little bench to sit on to enjoy the view. Yetti Legs and Tumbles were there so I joined them.I wanted to get to the view and stop for lunch, so I didn't stay long. I expected the trail to reenter the trees before getting around to the north side, but to my surprise and delight it stayed above treeline as it curved around to the north side. Suddenly, there it was - Katahdin! 73 trail miles away but probably only 40 direct miles away. It seemed even closer so I wasn't certain it was Katahdin, although I knew there weren't any mountains like that between me and Katahdin. Just then a local day hiker passed me going the opposite direction, and confirmed it was Katahdin. It looked much clearer to the naked eye than it appears in the photos below. First Sight of Katahdin! (on horizon left of center)I sat down and had lunch while I soaked in the view. The land between me and Katahdin consisted of mostly flat land with a few hills all covered with green and orange and yellow trees with numerous sparkling lakes strewn about. Magnificent! Pretty soon the three guys caught up and we all took pictures and soaked in the view. Tumbles had cell coverage and let me borrow his phone to call Linda.The hike down the mountain was fairly easy as we all coasted to the shelter full of anticipation for the coming days. 68 miles to go! Senator, Yeti Legs & Tumbles headed for Katahdin!