morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2007-09-13
From: Poplar Ridge Lean-to

To: Sugarloaf Mtn, Summit House
Miles today: 10.9

Really beautiful day today. Felt great, miles were easy and scenic. Most of the day was flat, a few hundred feet below treeline, where the boreal forest is at it's best. Think I might have seen an eagle today.. I saw it's shadow first, like a plane flying past the sun, and looked up and saw only a huge wingspan. In the light that was about all I could see so I couldn't really identify it, just going by sheer size.Made it to Sugarloaf with no problem, staying in the summit house up here with the same crew. I don't think there's a molecule of water in the sky so I'm going to try to sleep under the billions of stars that are visable up there tonight. Sugarloaf is the 2nd highest in ME at 4230', and we *think* we saw the Big K this afternoon on the horizon.Time for bed after some cards and good ol' rock and roll from the radio.
Date: 2007-09-14
From: Sugarloaf Mtn, Summit House

To: Stratton, ME
Miles today: 10.6
Weather: broken clouds

Made it cowboy camping on Sugarloaf until about 2am, when the wind changed direction and picked up bigtime. It was nice while it lasted.. I haven't seen stars like that in years. Shiverred violently on the way back into the summit house and was finally able to get cozy and fall sleep. The crew that I've been hiking with since Rangeley took a shortcut in order to beat the front coming through over the Bigelows, so I'm going to be a good deal behind them now. Starting to wonder who I'll be on Katahdin with.Ronny From Israel and I stuck around chatting a little late this morning; the weather was a bit dicey with the winds slamming the hut and clouds whipping by, but it turned out to be a perfect fall day. Steep 2000' drop off of Sugarloaf, 2000' straight back up to the Crockers (with 1000' dip between them), then 3000' down again to the road. Big, big climbs with a few fantastic views, and beautiful, green, shady, rich forest. That's a day-in-the-life of southern Maine right there.. this state down not screw around.Staying at the hostel at The Stratton Motel tonight. Only one other NOBO here in the hostel tonight, that's Turbo Turtle, who I just met today. Few others in the motel part, including He-man and She-ra. Wasn't planning on staying in town tonight but I'm trying to wait for good weather on the Bigelow range.Body hurts.. peices of me are starting to rebel, especially my knees. My inner Star Trek Scotty keeps hollering "She can'a take much more o' this captain!"
Date: 2007-09-15
From: Stratton, ME

To: Horn Pond Lean-tos
Miles today: 4.9

One of the worst snorers I've ever heard forced me to move to the couch last night; ended up with only a few hours of sleep. 1000 metal shovels scraping concrete would have sounded like a symphony next to this guy.Did a lot of waiting around in town while a lot of wet, cold hikers piled into the hostel. Saw Pittsburg and ... damn, forgot his girlfriend's name ..., I met them way down in NC while I was out before Trail Days. Bucket and water and Nice Enough showed up as well. Got a ride out of town in the rain at 2pm with Turbo Turtle and her mom, courtesy of Sue and Knucklehead from the hostel. Knucklehead might be the only hiking poodle I've met.The hike up to the pond was something else. Terrain was pretty standard for ME, but the woods were out of a storybook. They're the kind of woods that you don't want to make noise in.. you don't click your poles, squeek your shoes, breathe heavy, and you whisper when you talk. The mist and the rain just made it that much more so. Can't wait till tomorrow to see this all in the sun.Lots of weekenders up here.. got dinner number 1 from a full boy scout and dinners 2 and 3 from the Bowdoin (sp?) Outdoors Club. Quite full now myself! Weekendrs are awesome.. they pack too much food and us thruhikers sit in the wings waiting for handouts like chimpmunks.It's reallt bloody cold up here right now. Almost definite frost tonight, and it's misty with 20mph winds.. recipe for a beautiful but extremely trecherous morning. This might be the highest shelter I stay at for the rest of the trip PS - Apologies for the typos today, fingers are cold and slow.
Date: 2007-09-16
From: Horn Pond Lean-tos

To: Little Bigelow Mtn Lean-to
Miles today: 10.2
Weather: few clouds

Cold last night! Rumor has it that it was in the mid 20's, and the wind was whippin'. Woke up at 5 to fog, same at 6, same at 7, same at 9, but it looked like it was clearing. Didn't get out of the shelter until 11 but i'm glad I waited.. perfect views over the Bigelows. The spine of the range parallels a huge lake to the north, which is in sight from end to end. More of the magical woods that I talked about yesterday too. Lots of trees down in the valley are turning red and gold.. not too long before all the other trees follow suit.Seems the bubble has caught me.. 9 NOBOs here tonight. This is when I start thinking about getting a hammock.Passed the 2000 mile mark today.. Would have been cooler if I was thruhiking but, still cool.
Date: 2007-09-17
From: Little Bigelow Mtn Lean-to

To: Pierce Pond Lean-to
Miles today: 17.3
Weather: few clouds

Big miles! Today is the first day since .. well since last year that the terrain was almost completely flat. Figured a 17er would be a breeze after the Whites and So. Maine, but I forgot that 17 on flat and 8 on steep are completely different animals. Different mental modes, different muscles.. I'm beat today.Not much to report in the what-Kilgore-saw-today dept. Saw two loons, the first was doing an echoing wail on a still East Carry Pond, and the second was this SoBo dude wearing some crazy tight black and purple sash getup. The sashes were in 'strategic' places, and he had about 1/2 a bottle of cologne pouring off of him. When he saw my kilt his face lit up and he says "OOOooo!" and slowed down to talk with a big grin on his face. I employed a trick I learned living on N Halstead St in Chicago, and said "Take it easy bro!" while motoring past him.Sleeping 15' from the pond tonight, which is still as glass. Tim from Harrison Camps up the trail says we should have about 6 loons within earshot tonight, which would be fantastic. So far, very quiet.PS - Did my schedule for the next few weeks, looking at a tentative summit date of 9/30.PPS - Layman family, Creepy Uncle ERock, Bob & Rae : thinking about sounding the White House Landing airhorn and just leaving a note there that says "Sorry no one's here.. but hey, shit happens." Whatdaya think?
Date: 2007-09-18
From: Pierce Pond Lean-to

To: Pleasant Pond Lean-to
Miles today: 9.7
Weather: clear sky

Got up early today for breakfast at Tim Harrison's camp to find everything I had completely soaked. Sleeping next to a pond was nice while the loons were wailing, but in the morning when the mist comes, it's best to be up a little higher. Tonight I'm .2 from the pond.. close enough to hear the loons (very vocal tonight!) but far enough to not get misted on.Breakfast at the camp was great.. 12 pancakes, eggs, and sausage, and Tim is a heluva nice guy. After that was a rocky-rooty trail down to the Kennebec River ferry, where Dave took myself and 3 other NoBos across in his canoe.Stopped in at Steve Longley's place and ended up spending most of the afternoon talking with him. Seems like they've had a whole slew of things going on that makes me really not want to be a part of this summitting group. Lots of reports people stiffing hostel owners, stealing from townspeople and from other hikers, etc, from Andover to Monson. As a hiker it's very embarrasing, and I seem to have caught Steve at his wits end with all of it. Just what the trail needs.. another good, generous person who's been treated so poorly by a handful of hikers that they've had it with us. That really, really sucks.Got some injury reports too : Tumbleweed slipped off a high bog bridge just south of the Kennebec and broke her arm pretty badly. K'ache and Pi apparently had to be airlifted out of the Bigelows to the hospital, and then got back on and summitted anyway like the badasses they are.Was good talking to Steve, he had a lot of insight into how the towns, hostel owners, etc view the trail and the hikers. Interesting to see the other side of the fence, and to see how much we (the hikers) really take for granted out here.All the NoBos disappeared somehow so I'm here with just one other SoBo for the night. Heard Mala is around, half expected to see him here where he's least expected.
Date: 2007-09-19
From: Pleasant Pond Lean-to

To: Moxie Bald Lean-to
Miles today: 13.1
Weather: clear sky

Yet another beautiful day in ME. Got up late after a bout of morning laziness, and made it to the shelter with no problem after two relatively easy but scenic climbs. Heard a very angry moose not far off who was stomping and snorting, so I climbed a rock pile just in case he decided that I was his enemy. Never saw him.Great shelter, again, right next to a loon-laden pond. Sat and watched the moon rise with the bats snacking overhead. Here with a section hiker from Italy, a NoBo named Tonto, and Jungle Jim.I figured out my post-trail diet. I don't want to gain too much weight but I still want to take advantage of my high metabolism, so I've decided that I'm allowed one *huge* meal from every ethnicity. Italian, Thai, Indian, Mexican, etc. (Pizza and seafood count as ethnicites.) Once I have that huge meal I cross it off the list, and then I have to watch what I eat from that category. I think that's a good plan.
Date: 2007-09-20
From: Moxie Bald Lean-to

To: Shaw's, Monson ME
Miles today: 17.9

Rough night sleeping in a rodent-infested shelter.. chewing and scurrying all night. The trip to Monson was not a tough one, especially since I took a blueblaze into town. Saw a moose charging down the trail (not in my direction, luckily) and a coyote near the river, very unusual to see one during the day.Made it to Shaw's by late afternoon and it didn't take long to end up at the pub, with Lino, Jungle Jim and Mellow. Had a huge dinner and stumbled back to the hostel.Starting to get nervous at the prospect of finishing this thing, means I soon have to go back to the 'real world' and decide what to do with myself.Entering the 100 Mile Wilderness on Saturday after a zero tomorrow. That means 7-8 days of food, and *that* means an extremely heavy pack, and *that* is gonna be rough for a few days.
Date: 2007-09-21
From: Shaw's, Monson ME

To: Shaw's, Monson ME
Miles today: 0.0

Sunny zero day in Monson. Had Shaws' huge breakfast.. you just give them a number and that's how much you get of everything.. You tell 'em "4" and you get 4 eggs, 4 sausages, 4 bacon slices, 4 pancakes, etc. That made lunch unnecesary.Let me see if I can list all of hikers in town, for future use: Mojo and Splendora, Jungle Jim, Yogi, Uncle Silly, Lowgear, Walnut, Eula, Forrest, Spaceman, Mellow, Bucket and Water, Torpedo, Nice Enough, Mayo, Cobweb, and let's not forget Granite.The ladies at Shaw's let me drive their car up to Greenville, at the foot of Moosehead Lake. I used to go to Moosehead Lake for 2 weeks every year as a kid, and most of my best summer memories growing up come from there. Was strange to see the town; much less has changed than I thought would have. Still one stop sign / flashing light, still the Indian Trading Post.. Great to see Moosehead again.Spent some of the night at the pub and some of it at the general store, where all of the local musicians (and a few hikers) get together and play every Fri night. Fun stuff.. Monson's got some great musicians. I didn't have the gall (or the talent!) to get up there with my harmonica. Did do some clappin and foot stompin with the old ladies though.
Date: 2007-09-22
From: Shaw's, Monson ME

To: Campsite near Big Wilson Stream
Miles today: 9.2

The smell of bacon got me out of my dew-soaked tent this morning, just in time for another big Shaw's breakfast (I got a '3' today.) Topic of the day was a hiker that's been causing a lot of trouble for my bubble of hikers, as well as for the townsfolk he deals with. Don't want to name names so pronouns will have to suffice.Every town I go in the stories about this guy get worse and worse : He gets kicked out of every town he's in, he's threatened a female thruhiker who had to quit out of fear of him, he's stolen from hostel owners, stolen from other hikers, threatened townspeople, kicked puppies, stolen lollipops from babies, the list goes on.To be honest I don't really want to say much about the whole situation in Monson with this guy, but he apparently was causing trouble throughout the town. When I left the sheriff was driving around looking for him, and all the local businesses were aware of what was up. It was actually very sad.. the folks here don't have to deal with things like this often, if ever, and everyone was pretty upset over it. This town really grew on me, too.. the people here were all just good kind folks. I knew half of their names after one zero day.We know that this guy doesn't hike, really, so we figured that the 100 Mile Wilderness, where there isn't any outside access for 100 straight miles, would be a safe place for us. Left at 2pm which was too late, and I ended up short of my planned destination because of failing light. Plus it feels like I've got a Buick strapped to my back since I've got all of this food in my pack, and that did a bit to slow me down on these little New York style ups and downs.Sleeping at a bend in the river which should lull me to sleep nicely, and it looked today like fall is finally knocking on the door.
Date: 2007-09-23
From: Campsite near Big Wilson Stream

To: Campsite near West Chairback Pond
Miles today: 15.1
Weather: clear sky

Exhausted today. I've offically gave up my war against rodents; if they want my food, it's theirs. My last tactic was to put my food in my sleeping bag with me, where it's unlikely that the smells will escape (I've heard of hikers doing this for their entire trip without any trouble.)So at about 11pm I feel something brush by my rearend, inside my bag. Since I was mostly asleep it took a good 30 seconds to realize that this was abnormal, but once I came to I jumped out of my bag and immediately dumped all of my food bags out outside the tent. Didn't see the mouse. Looked toward the bottom of my tent and see a new hole in the screen, down feathers all over, and a new hole in my bag.Since bearbagging hasn't worked, and keeping it in my tent hasn't worked, I decided in my tired state to just use the food bag as a pillow so at least I'd hear the little SOB. Sure enough at 4am I hear scratching on the bag.. I don't think the guy ever left the tent. I was so tired that my frustration had sort of melted into defeat, and I could barely have cared less that he was in my tent with me. I finally unzipped the zipper and kindly helped him find the exit, and then slept in fits until sun-up.The hiking today was very hard.. even the Whites didn't exhaust me like this. In the Whites I paced myself better, but today I pushed too far, with too heavy a pack, over too variable terrain. The terrain changed so dramatically and so often today that it was impossible to establish any sort of pace, which is the hardest kind of hiking. Couldn't even make it to the shelter, so I'm cowboy camped next to a nice little pond, all by myself.PS Just found out the nice little pond is loaded with leeches.
Date: 2007-09-24
From: Campsite near West Chairback Pond

To: Carl A Newhall Lean-to
Miles today: 11.6
Weather: few clouds

Lost another night of sleep to mice. After 3 or 4 hours of staring at the moon shooing them away every so often, I took my 32oz gatorate bottle and did my best to make a mouse trap. It was an impressive effort, and at one point I had 3 mice stuck in there and thought I might be able to eek out a few hours of sleep, but no dice. There were more around to terrorize me, and the 3 in the bottle got out somehow. Mice go away when the sun comes out, so that's about when my sleep began. Talked to a ridgerunner who said this is the worst the rodents have been in a very long time.Hiking was rough again today, more inconsistant trail, at least up until the Pleasant River ford. At that point I laid down for a bit and gave up on trying to do the 6 miles of Gulf Hagas. The trail after the river was nice.. a graded uphill littered with red maple leaves along a streambed.The shelter here has a 5 gallon bucket so we're making a Bucket Of Death, which will hopefully keep the mice away from our bags. Here with Mojo, Pike County, Forrest and Spaceman. Jungle Jim is AWOL.Going through an almost-done-with-the-trail crisis.. half of me doesn't want it to end but the other half just wants to get there already.
Date: 2007-09-25
From: Carl A Newhall Lean-to

To: East Branch Lean-to
Miles today: 10.8

Much nicer day today. Got a good night's sleep (actually I fell asleep in mid conversation), and woke up feeling pretty good. Checked the Bucket Of Death for mice and there were 22 of them in there. I thought we'd have 3 or 4 at most.. didn't expect to be committing mouse genocide.Climbed Whitecap Mtn today, the highest peak in the Wilderness, but it was a pretty pleasant climb. The rest of the day was essentially downhill from there, through some perfect pine forrest, and lots of sunny birches with yellowing leaves. Saw a moose in the birches, my first Maine moose this year, a very large female. The Wilderness is really starting to grow on me.. the woods are changing little by little and peak foliage isn't far away.By myself (so far) at the shelter.. it's looking like I *might* be the only 9/30 summitter for the Big K, unless someone comes up from behind. Mojo, Spaceman, Pike, Forrest, and (I think) Jungle Jim are all planning on the day before or the day after, and they're the only people I've seen. They went ahead today but I stayed behind.. the clouds to the west look threatening and I want to be in a shelter if it rains.PS - A Bucket of Death is a 5 gallon bucket with 4 or so inches of water and some peanut butter smeared along the inside. Mice go for the PB, get stuck in the bucket, and that's that.
Date: 2007-09-26
From: East Branch Lean-to

To: Potaywadjo Spring Lean-to
Miles today: 19.5
Weather: few clouds

Writing this at 2 in the morning. I woke up at about midnight to pee and was drifting off back to sleep when I heard something in the woods, maybe 100 yards off. It sounded like a man yelling out in torturous pain. I shot up and listened and heard the same thing a few minutes later, and was completely frozen with fear. I was trying to hear if it was getting closer, or if there was any talking, or any clue about what it might be. I figured that if it was really a man that he would have *said* something, and that it could be a moose in heat or some kind of wild cat noise that I've never heard before. Still, I was frozen to the spot listening, and heard the same sound a few more times. It was an awful, gutwrenching sound.. a sound of just terrible pain. I finally drifted to sleep with my whistle in my mouth and my knife in my hand, and was just woken up by the same sound a few minutes ago. It's not any closer, which makes me feel better, but it's not any less human or ! less frightening. Figured writing this might help distract me. Considering hiking out to get the hell away from it. I've never been more afraid in the woods, ever, than right now. Really trying to convince myself that it's an animal and not a person.It seems to have stopped for now.. going to try to fall asleep to make the sun come up faster.Ok, made it through the night. At about 6am I heard something from the same area but this time it sounded more animal. I got the nerve up to investigate and wasn't able to find anything. Did see a mom and baby moose down by the beaver dam, but that was in the opposite direction. Still a mystery.. a very creepy mystery.Long day of hiking. The Long Green Tunnel has become the Short Flat Green-Gold-Red Tunnel, with a gold/red carpet of birch and maple leaves. Beautiful stuff. Record heat today, the radio says, and it feels it too.. mid 80's and high humidity. Was looking forward to crisp fall days but looks like I'm outta luck this year.Only me, Spaceman and Forrest tonight at the shelter.. we've got the Bucket Of Death going.
Date: 2007-09-27
From: Potaywadjo Spring Lean-to

To: Rainbow Spring Lean-to
Miles today: 18.6

Hot sleeping last night, so I was a bit late getting up. 16 mice in the Bucket.The beginning of the day was pretty dull, but the last eight miles made up for it. I think it's the perfect time of year to be in here.. the trail and all of the streams and lakes were littered with red and gold leaves. We also went through plenty of pine forests, covered in thick green moss. Huge solitary boulders with ferns for hair, and massive, ancient pines. Looking forward to tomorrow if it'll look anything like today. I think I have to come back here again when I'm not thruhiking.. I'm so set on finishing that I'm not paying as much attention to the day-to-day stuff as I should be.Very full shelter in the pouring rain. A whole load of people have caught up; we've got two folks out for the Wilderness, Unicycle Pirate, Tonto, General Tao's, Spaceman, Forrest, and Mojo. Nine of us in a sixer.Finally met the trouble-making-hiker today for the first time, he somehow was doing trail magic on a lake. He was eager to meet me because of some jokes I had made about him. Luckily he thought they were funny, and didn't want to kill me. Spaceman and I hightailed it out of there when he had his head in cooler, hoping we don't bump into him at Abol Bridge.Weather for the Big K sounds good so far, should be a nice day. This crazy heat should break tonight and leave us with some crisp fall weather.
Date: 2007-09-28
From: Rainbow Spring Lean-to

To: Abol Pines Campground
Miles today: 15.0
Weather: overcast clouds

- Sleeping arrangements in packed shelter- Rain- Abol Bridge View- Mala- Beer- ColdBetween the heat and the spooning strangers in the packed shelter, sleep was minimal. I was pretty slow getting going.. it was still very hot and humid, and ended up pouring for a good part of the morning. By mid afternoon the rain had stopped and the temperature dropped way down, making for a nice evening.Got to Abol Bridge and out of the 100 mile wilderness, and there's Mala sitting at the road crossing. Again, surprised and not surprised. It was pretty fitting, actually, since I met Mala on the first full day of hiking last year, and now I'd see him on my last.From Abol Bridge you've got a perfect view of Katahdin, this monolithic wall of a mountain. Since the front had just come through the clouds and sky around it were beautiful. We didn't see the mountain through the entire Wilderness so it was really something to see it now, only a few miles away.Had a great night at the campground. Got some beers, got a bit drunk, told jokes, kept warm around the fire.. good stuff. Was here with Mala, Tonto, Forrest, Spaceman, Unicycle Pirate, and General Tsao.
Date: 2007-09-30
From: Abol Pines Campground

To: Mt. Katahdin
Miles today: 5.2
Weather: clear sky

Done!Had a beautiful, beautiful summit day. Weather was perfect. Took the Knife's Edge down. Summited with Forrest, Spaceman, Unicycle Pirate, Nameless Ben, the Band-aid Kid, and Tonto.Posted some quick pictures up to Picassa, just the gems for now. Going to be going back and doing a more complete album with captions, etc.http://picasaweb.google.com/roytruelove/AT07Gems!!!