morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2009-08-30
From: Monson, ME

To: Wilson Valley Lean To 
Miles today: 10.4
Weather: overcast clouds

Day 159, 10.4 miles, 9:30 am - 5 pm   So yesterday turned out pretty good. It ended up being very cold outside, less than 40 degrees, and the rain picked up intensity as the day went on, so I was glad to be in town for sure. Only 1 hiker left yesterday, even those who said that they were going to head out didn't. I also heard of people doing 35 mile days to get into town at 2 am on Friday. I'm glad I wasn't at Shaw's for that.    For the most part, after getting some food supplies for next week, we mostly hung out at the hostel all day. I will be happy NOT to be spending so much money on garbage food anymore. I spent $25 on pure junk to add to our last resupply. Anyway, the hostel worked out pretty well, as I got to take a nap, then watch a movie and eat ice cream. At 5 we had dinner and by 8:30 I brushed my teeth, took a shower, and was back in my bunk, ready for bed.    We had breakfast again at Shaw's this morning. We got a ride back to the trail with a section hiker who was staying at the hostel, too.    I easily recognized the trailhead, and I set upon trail I had already tread in 2007. I figured that instead of blocking out my footsteps, I was adding to them.    Except for wiping out on slippery slate, I love today's hike. The woods were green and mossy, with tall trees, boulders, and lichens. There were also waterfalls, rivers, and beaver bogs. The trail traveled along an open ledge with good views to the east. I stopped a lot just to look around at the setting sun and the scenery. Sometimes the trail is a good place to be.    Now we have only 7 days and 104 miles to go. Back at Wilson Valley, I remember well my rainy morning here in '07. Now it is golden evening, and fall-like.
Date: 2009-08-31
From: Wilson Valley Lean To 

To: West Chairback Pond
Miles today: 13.9
Weather: clear sky

Day 160, 13.9 Miles, 6:45 am - 5 pm   Long beautiful day. After fording a few cold rivers, we started the Barren Chairback Range. Lots of up and down, up and down. We went through a bog that had blood red pitcher plands and odd looking seed pods. Gorgeous day, but cold and windy. I wish I wasn't exhausted all the time. We are camped at bit awkwardly at a picture perfect pond off a side trail. I am wearing every layer I have including raingear. We're making hot cocoa before going to bed. Another great day.
Date: 2009-09-01
From: West Chairback Pond

To: Sidney Tappan Campsite
Miles today: 13.4
Weather: clear sky

Day 161, 13.4 miles, 8 am - 5 pm   Another perfectly beautiful blue sky day with woods, rivers, waterfalls, and mountains to match. Except for my exhaustion everything is perfect. We had a beautiful morning on West Chairback Pond. I sat down on a rock with some hot black tea, looked out at sparkling water, and felt like I was in a Folger's commercial.    We finished Chairback Mountain, forded the tranquil Pleasant River, and today we started up the White Cap Range. The trail up Gulf Hagas Mountain is brand new with rock steps. It's pretty nice.    Not many on the trail today, and no one is here at our campsite tonight. I'm enjoying the quiet, the sun setting on fir trees, and you can't get better than that.
Date: 2009-09-02
From: Sidney Tappan Campsite

To: Crawford Pond
Miles today: 14.4

Day 162, 14.4 miles, 7 am - 4:45 pm   All alone last night except for a cute brown-eared bunny who did a few rounds around our tent until dark.    Up Whitecap Mountain in a clear day. More stair steps, and dense spruces that made me feel penned in but made everything smell like Christmas trees so it was still good.    360 degree views from the top, including, at last, Katahdin. On the way down I could hear owls hooting, and the birch trees were bathed in soft autumnal light, and I had a moment's panic, oh God, don't let the trail be over, I want to stay here! Don't make it be over! Then, exhausted from climbing an hour later, I would conversely think, I can't do this anymore, I am flat out done, I can barely take another step.    Anyway today was another great day with good woods and views. Today also saw the last of our climbs until the obvious.    Tonight we are at another serene pond. We made dinner out on the sandy beach and that is where I am writing this now. Today's sky is paling and the sun had set behind the low hills. I love this. PS--I am glad to have enjoyed 2 shortish days in a row, because tomorrow we have to do 24 miles! It may kill me. Not the greatest planning on my part.
Date: 2009-09-03
From: Crawford Pond

To: Wadleigh Stream Lean To 
Miles today: 24.2
Weather: scattered clouds

Day 163, 24.2 miles, 6:45 am - 6:15 pm   Something made me get up last night, and walk back out to the beach to watch the sky in last light. It was orange and ruby and dusky, and I could hear loons. I went back to the tent and told Matt about it, and then he stayed out all the way until the stars started coming out.    We got up and out this morning, as we knew we had a long day ahead. I haven't done over 20 miles in awhile. Anyway, we hiked out to Cooper Brook Falls in less than an hour. People who had stayed at the shelter last night were still packing up. We had a look at the river and the falls and we moved on.    Beautiful woods today. Woods that made me long to be able to just set up my tent and watch them all day long they were so pretty. Perfect but fast walk out to Antler's campsite, right on a lake, where we took a short break because of the mosquitoes. Then we hiked hiked hiked all day long, crossing rivers, along streams, on boardwalks. By 5 pm I was really tired. We passed a beautiful sight on Nahmakanta Lake, a campsite, the sun going down over the water, a warm breeze coming through. It was so gorgeous and we contemplated a full 10 minutes about staying there for the night. It physically hurt to leave it was so pretty, but at the end we decided to have only one really long day instead of 2. So we pushed on. After an eternity we set arrived at Wadleigh Stream and set up our tent next to Magnolia's. MD3 are here and we chatted with them for awhile, and then I spent a long time talking to Magnolia about Alaska. She is thinking about moving there and I was very honest about the way I felt about it, so I gave her the good and the bad.    I remember why I don't like these long mileage days. Luckily it's the last one. Next hike I will have an upper mileage limit of 18, I think.
Date: 2009-09-04
From: Wadleigh Stream Lean To 

To: Hurd Brook Lean To 
Miles today: 19.6
Weather: scattered clouds

Day 164, 19.6 miles, 7 am - 6 pm   Another bright day on the trail. We were off and went up the little bump of Nesuntabunt Mountain, and then we were down taking a long break on a bridge over Pollywog Stream. The weather has been so great lately that every break we take I want to sit there for longer and longer, and Matt has to remind me to pack up, we still have places to be.    Anyway, we got to Rainbow Stream Lean To and met some guys there from Bangor who were set up for the night. They had giant cotton sleeping bags, metal pots and pans, and were exhausted from hiking 3 miles on from a side trail. They had plans to go fishing in the lake. They were very nice and were having a good time being out. We talked with them for awhile. Rainbow Stream is a nice area and I wish I'd have camped there this time or last but it didn't work out that way. Eventually we left and hiked the long trail around Rainbow Lake and got to Rainbow Ledges. They are so pretty. We were lucky today, too, because it's been so clear out--there was a perfect view of Katahdin from the ledges. It is so close now. It actually took my breath away when I saw it, I'm not kidding. Matt, who has taken maybe 20 pictures this whole trip, grabbed my camera from me and spent 15 minutes takes different shots of it. It is a striking view to say the least. And something about it getting closer and closer makes it more exciting, too.    Eventually we got to Hurd Brook and found a place to set up the tent. Matt started dinner and I backtracked to the brook to splash off. The brook is filled with big boulders and and it was hard to find a good spot that was deep enough. Normally I am not this obnoxious, but being so close to the end, I felt a little crazy and I took advantage of a good spot I found that was unfortunately right on the trail crossing. There was a big old white blaze like 10 feet away from me. I stripped down and washed off. For once, though, the water was nearly tepid, probably warmed up in a shallow lake or swamp, and I stayed in a little longer. It was a good bath. Luckily no one saw me in my naked glory on the trail. By the time I was done it was getting dark, and Matt had dinner all ready.    MD3 came in late and they started a fire for their dinner. They are staying in the shelter. It's only us and them now. It has been quiet on the trail lately, at least as far as thruhikers are concerned. The mass of hikers that left Monson the day we did are summiting tomorrow, and unless anyone does some huge miles to catch up, it will be just the 5 of us to finish the day after tomorrow.    I can't believe that is basically our last camp. I had crazy thoughts of yo-yo-ing the trail. Not that I would ever really want to do that, but I made myself think about what it would be like to summit Katahdin, hike back down, and the next day be back camping at Hurd Brook, heading a long way south. Seems a little anti-climatic, your half way point being Katahdin. I think we're good where we are at now. Good night.
Date: 2009-09-05
From: Hurd Brook Lean To

To: Katahdin Stream Campground
Miles today: 13.4
Weather: few clouds

Day 165, 13.4 miles, 8 am - 5 pm   Woke up this morning to the sound of things being chucked from the sky. A little red squirrel was working hard, high up in a pine tree, throwing down pine cones to store. I guess fall really is coming.    Anyway, got up leisurely, in no hurry. Matt made me some tea. I love these nice mornings on the trail. We got going eventually, though. Easy trail led us to Abol Bridge, where we spoke to the ridgerunner. He's a nice guy. Actually, he sat with us at the picnic table at the campground store for over an hour. We went in, bought some ice cream and sugar filled things for me, and beer for Matt. Matt also got 2 vanilla cokes to carry up the mountain for tomorrow. I'm surprised that he wants to carry it but it's up to him.    By this time the girls (MD3) had caught up with us and we all sat around talking. Pokie took a picture and now Matt is caught forever on film, smiling and holding up an aluminum can of Old Style. Classy. I gave away the box of raspberry Poptarts that I'd bought. I tried to eat them a few times on the trail, but no dice. I really don't like them. They are too sweet even for my taste. And I always get a headache after eating one. Well I had to try once more.    I think we sat there for over 2 hours, actually. Our last trail pow wow. It was fun to hang out with the girls. It's funny who you end up with. We've never hiked with them before, and we ended up leap frogging with them all week. We finally got moving a little before noon, heading into Baxter State Park. We took the afternoon really slow. I mean really slow. I took a break every hour. I practically fell asleep on a bed of pine needles next to the Penobscot River. We also had to negotiate a few streams. One I forded, and then sat on the other side, watching Matt rock hop across. Actually it was surreal, because I was convinced that he was going to break his neck, but for some reason I didn't feel paticularly worried about it. I just thought..."Hey, he's going to die. If he wasn't drunk at 1 pm he wouldn't be doing this." But my fears were unfounded and he got across okay.    The next crossing was the bad one for me. The stream had 2 flimsy sapling logs thrown across to walk on, and Matt got ahead of me just fine, but I was unable to get across. It was too precarious. The saplings were narrower than my feet, they were bouncing up and down, and it was scary as hell.    But all those streams gave pretty gorges and waterfalls to look at, and then we finally crossed the Daicy Pond campground, and then the ponds and mountains came into view, and before I knew it we were walking the tote road that runs through the park into the campground.    So here we are. We paid for a spot to tent, ate dinner, got our stuff organized for tomorrow. We talked with MD3, and now we are tented on hard ground between 2 picnic tables. I am a little excited but mostly I feel like I normally do. After all this time, Katahdin tomorrow.
Date: 2009-09-07
To: Millinocket, ME - Portland, ME
Miles today: 0.0

The Bus Home   The bus leaves out of Medway early, so we got ready to go as usual, but instead of hitching back to the trail we headed to the gas station. It is still beautiful out. I wish we could have spent a few more days on the last section, but things ended where they did. Anyway, I still have bad habits, and I got myself a giant coffee with lots of sugar and cream dumped in while we waited for the bus to arrive. Egg and Union Break were out waiting with us.    The ride to Bangor didn't take so long, but my legs were already starting to ache a little from being sitting and still for so long. Immediately after getting to Bangor we had to change to for a bus to Portland. Egg looked very sad as she said goodbye to Union Break. I think they've been hiking together for awhile.    The Portland bus took a little longer. I distracted myself by watching the movie they had on. It was afternoon by the time we rolled into the bus/train station. We found a place to stay in town, since our trail doesn't leave until tomorrow. Actually I am glad that we are breaking things up a bit, it is mentally and physically easier that way. Also, I was needing a walk by the time we spend over 5 hours sitting down!    Luckily we are close to a downtownish area, and we spent the rest of the day walking around, and then getting Thai food for dinner. Thank God today is Labor Day, because they have a huge used bookstore here. It was closed, or else I might have gone crazy for books. I can't wait to be able to read more.    This is our last official hotel stay. I am trying to suck as much fun out of it as I can, so I had a drink in the bar here and now I'm watching cable. I still like hotels but it will be nice to live somewhere with a kitchen again. The day was over fast and we will be on the train headed back to Indiana tomorrow.
Date: 2009-09-08
To: Portland, ME - South Bend, IN
Miles today: 0.0

The Train Home    The train was long and kind of boring, just like it was in March. This time, though, we have a few breaks and layovers, and we only have to spend one night on it, instead of two. We had to change trains in Boston, and then we had a long stop in Albany. I left the station and walked around for awhile, then I went back in and bought some magazines so I'd have a mindless way to pass the time.    Then next time I do this I think I'm getting a sleeper. It is hard to try to sleep with your legs all crunched up. Matt draped his sleeping bag over us, and I do feel a little sleepy. Now we're almost home.
Date: 2009-09-09
To: South Bend, IN - Mishawaka,IN
Miles today: 0.0

The Walk Home   Many times on this hike I thought to myself, 'One day this will be over, and we will be back, home, working, whatever, but it will be done and we will be on to other things.'    Well that day is today. We are home today. Early in the morning we crossed into Indiana, and I listened to all the stops--Fort Wayne, Waterloo, Elkhart, and then my heart started racing, because the next stop was ours and we'd have to get off. South Bend--here we are. We were back at the little blue train station, tucked into the industrial part of town. That was surreal. This was where we waited for the train to take us to Georgia on March 22. I needed a few minutes to sit down and collect myself, but Matt was anxious to get going, so I got myself together and we left.    We decided to walk across town. We had talked about a taxi, or calling for a ride, but in the end we wanted to walk to the Phoenix to have our end of trail drink. It was much warmer and more humid and overcast here than in Maine. But it wasn't so bad. We walked through the factory/industrial areas, and then some neighborhoods on the west side. We took a detour to downtown where we had breakfast--I was starving! Matt was good, he is already trying to scale back his food intake, but I went ahead and order a heaping plate of potatoes, eggs, and veggies. The waitress was a little quizzical about our packs, and we just told her that we had been out hiking for awhile and had just gotten home, and had walked from the train station. She seemed more impressed by the fact that we had walked from the train station, and she handed me a takeout coffee as we paid our bill. Our last piece of trail magic.    More walking, we walked along the bike path for the St. Joseph river, then through the Indiana University campus, past the farmer's market, and then we were walking through our old neighborhood of River Park. Then more neighborhoods, the walkway through Battell Park, back along the river, and then we were in downtown Mishawaka.    The Phoenix is a bar I had been in only once, in May of 2008. I knew that I needed surgery, and that recovering from it would take up my whole summer. So Matt and I were out for a drink, and we shook hands and decided that I would have my surgery, but the next spring we would hike the AT, and if we didn't we would put it to bed. So we decided there. We never went back, because the next month I was recovering from surgery, and soon after that our apartment burned down and we lost everything. Everything. We moved into the guest room at Matt's parents house. To go back to the Phoenix again would jinx our hike. But I wanted a drink there when I finished the trail, and so we did--that afternoon we walked across town, sat down in the Phoenix, and over a pitcher of Killian's we toasted, and that's where the trail ended for me.
Date: 2009-05-11
To: Georgia
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Well, I'm sitting at home with my friend Alex right now. I just packed up my bag and bounce box. I wish I could weigh my pack. It seems like it's in good shape thought. I will be leaving for Georgia to begin the trail on Friday, with my boyfriend Tim, and our friend Eric. We are starting rather late, but we had a few obligations to fulfill... Also our decision to do the trail was made no more than two weeks ago....Eric has been preparing for years, and Tim and I have done lots of reading and some hiking in order to catch up with him a bit. I have an African drum and dance performance on Thursday, so I couldn't leave before then. It should be sooooo fun! I can't wait to begin.I think my main reason for doing the trail is this dissonance I feel with society. I would love to get away from it, and the trail seems to be a great opportunity for this. I can't stand this profit driven society and the stupidity of the common man. Despite this, I am an incredibly sociable person, with many friends and activities to enjoy. Although trying to get me to go out to a bar is like trying to get a vegetarian to visit a butcher shop. I'm an avid rock climber, and I dance with the Kekeli African Drum and Dance Ensemble. One of the only downfalls that I see is that I'll probably lose a lot of strength for climbing while i'm gone. So our group will have to be doing pull ups on trees every night! That's for sure. I'll also miss some dance classes....but i'll catch up quickly. I guess i'll miss my friends and family, but they're strong, and so am I.So Thursday night, We'll be spending at my mother's house near Boston. Friday morning she'll make us a gorgeous breakfast of chocolate chip pancakes and bacon. at 9:45 We'll be leaving from South Station on a Bus to Gainesville, GA.I am SOOOOOOOOOO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!<3Jenna
Date: 2009-05-26
From: Georgia

To: Katahdin!!
Miles today: 7.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Hey everyone, This is Tim the RockSlinger here. So far the trip has been pretty cool. I lost my phone on the bus on the way down here and I also kinda decided to do this last minute. So basically it might be quite a surprise to find out im here on the appalachian trail. We (me, Jenna, and Eric) get into towns every week or so and can go to the public library to check our trail journals for messages and add some entries. So Please Leave Us Some Messages!They will certainly help keep us going We've been going pretty slow so far, averaging about seven miles a day. But we've gotten our pack wheights down quite a bit, even including the massive boxes of ridiculous stuff that eric and jennas moms just sent them.. So we should be able to pick up the pace pretty soon.Our Base wheights w/o food and water:Jenna comes in first at 14 pounds!I'm down to about 20 (I get to carry the tent :p)Eric has a whopping 24 pounds.Not too bad with all things considered.I don't really miss anything from the real world to much. Just free time. You have almost none out here. ....it bites >:|Some cool things that have happened:- I lost my phone (not actually cool)- Eric broke his camera on the first night (also not cool)- Jenna spilled minty fresh soap all inside her pack (not cool, but it smelled good)- I dropped a cheez-it - Jenna dropped half a bag of cheez-its... we ate them still - We hiked through a virgin forest of massive hemlock trees that have never been logged.- Then we camped under them and next to an awesome waterfall. - we ate breakfast at the fire while the rays of the rising sun cut through the rising mist of the falls.- I hit myself on the head with a rock that fell out of my sling before i could throw it.- we identified some choice edibles with my mushroom book and had a Soweet meal! Gem Encrusted Puffballs- We've seen 5 snakes, 2 different kinds, some big toads, some rabbits, and lots of bear droppings. Still no actual bears though. Oh yeah and Shelter Mice too.- we stayed in a sick cabin on Blood Mountain. It only cost us 12 dollars a piece w/laundry and satelite tv.- we may get a free condo in a couple weeks. the two dudes (Derek and Matt) we split the cabin with have one in the Great Smokey Mountains- We camped in a grove on top of a mountian with an amzing view and the 5 of us all layed out on the rocks for a while stargazing.- we've met some really cool people and hitched some rides too.- Some dude let us take HIS van and told us we had to go to the local steakhouse and get the AYCE(all you can eat buffet).Well, I'm running out of time here so this may be it. I'm gonna try to post a picture of us all from the first day.Leave Messages!!Bye everyone
Date: 2009-06-13
From: Georgia

To: Maine
Miles today: 259.0
Weather: overcast clouds

I am currently at the Standing Bear Farm Hostel in Tennessee. It's nice. We got a cabin last night, shared it with Maria and Oliver from Germany and our friend Mike from the beginning. We're taking a zero day here today to rest my shins.Yesterday was our biggest day...like 16 miles. We saw a baby bear climbing down a tree all speedy like.Other than that...nothing too exciting has happened since Gatlinburg. We're done with the smokies..Oh yeah. We killed a rattlesnake and ate it for dinner. We feel bad.