morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2013-06-19
From: lakes of the clouds hut -dungeon

To: pinkham notch - stealth site
Miles today: 14.8
Weather: broken clouds

We awoke in the morning and as I opened the door to the dungeon I was greeted by the light of the sun about to emerge over Washington's summit. There were still some clouds blocking the top, but they were starting to part and it made for an awesome sunrise. We left the hut around 7 and started the roughly one mile climb up to the summit, which we reached shortly after 8. The views from the top were astounding and it was impressive looking down at the other peaks in the presidentals that we were soon to be traversing. After grabbing some food from the snack bar at the summit building we made our way down off the top towards mt Jefferson. Along the traverse I saw many alpine flowers and plants amongst the sea of rocks. We also ran into the man arrowhead and I met at Lehigh gap in Pennsylvania who had given us some homemade dehydrated lasagna. He was out finishing the last section to complete the AT, ending at Franconia ridge. We chatted then continued along the trail, past Jefferson and down towards Edmonds Col. We caught some great views looking down into the steep great gulf wilderness, as well as the increasingly distant summit of Washington. Eventually we found ourselves descending to the Madison spring hut, where the friendly staff fed arrowhead and I some leftovers. We continued up over Madison and made the long descent to timberline. By this time our feet had already taken quite a beating from the rocks, and we weren't looking too forward to the steep descent down towards pinkham notch.... The descent was awful on the feet and very long, but the majority ofnit was over by the time we ran reached the Osgood tent site. From here it was still another 5 miles to pinkham notch, featuring a small but steep 'bump' along the way before a nice gradual descent to the road.The notch visitor center was really cool and they have a 24 hour hiker pack-up room and coin showers, which arrowhead and I utilized after picking up the maildrop. I had been to the center years ago while on mt washington for an avalanche safety course and it was pretty cool to see it again, knowing I hiked here this time from Georgia. After cleaning up we crossed the road and soon found a nice tent spot along a stream...
Date: 2013-06-20
From: pinkham notch - stealth site

To: mt height - stealth
Miles today: 8.0
Weather: few clouds

Today we woke up and hit the trail later than we had wanted, but my bones were quite glad for the extra hours of sleep. The trail seemed to go almost straight uphill from here, and the climb was one of the steepest I've seen on the whole trail. According to the guide book the climb was not terribly long, but as we continued to climb up false summit after false summit it got to be rather tiring. But it became all worth it as we began to near the top, as the trail gave way to steep open slabs which offered increasingly excellent views of wahington and the presidentials. The peaks looked very massive compared to wildcat, and as we traversed along the peaks of wildcat towards the ski lift I was finally able to get my long awaited view of tuckerman's ravine. I was excited to still see a few patches of snow on the slopes of the ravine, one which even looked large enough to potentially ski on. We continued our traverse and stopped at the ski gondola and ate lunch amongst tourists who had ridden the gondola to the summit. Recharged, we continued our hike along wildcat's endless peaks until reaching a overlook of carter notch and the hut sitting deep inside it. We made the steep descent down to the hut, where the friendly staff loaded us full of leftovers, and we even took some BBQ pulled pork and bread with us for dinner. We climbed the long uphill to carter dome, then traversed across to mt height where we found a nice spot to camp. A 360 degree viewpoint was just up the trail from us, and we enjoyed an awesome sunset over madison and the presidentials...
Date: 2013-06-21
From: mt height - stealth

To: tent site north of US2 past gorham, NH
Miles today: 14.7
Weather: clear sky

We awoke in the morning and as I was taking my morning hygiene routine I spotted a beautiful and colorful male spruce grouse amongst the trees. He flew off at first, but only a short distance away. I ran back to camp and grabbed arrowhead and we were able to grab some pictures of the pretty bird. As we were packing up our stuff after breakfast, the bird flew right into our tenting area, and we were able to get some very excellent shots of him roosting around..We headed on down the trail casually making our way across the remainder of teh carter mountain range. We stopped at the imp shelter for a snack before continuing back up the trail and over mt moriah, the final peak before the road to gorham. From the summit of the peak the trail became more and more gradual and was a nice break for my knees and foot bones..I continued down and down until I reached the rattle river shelter, where I found arrowhead waiting for me. We had a small snack then made the final 2 mile push to the road, excited to reach town and to get some grub. At first we had a hard time getting a hitch so we started the roughly 4 mile walk towards town and after a mile of two a nice woman pulled over and gave us a ride into town. We went straight to the mcdonalds for some cheap food and to charge our electronics. Afterwords we headed to the gas station and bought some expensive resupply snacks, as we didn't feel quite up to walking the 3 miles further out of town to the walmart. Just as we were leaving the store an AMC worker pulled up and offered us a ride back to the trail.We were quite grateful to get the ride back to the AT, as were my feet. We planned to camp near the road, but the mosquitoes were terrible so we headed up the hill and eventually found a nice spot near a small stream where the bugs were not as bad...
Date: 2013-06-22
From: tent site north of US2 past gorham, NH

To: full goose shelter
Miles today: 19.8
Weather: clear sky

We began our day fairly early in the morning. I rose around 530 and we were back out on the trail by around 7. As we headed out and started to climb uphill Arrowhead looked quite excited, as it was our last day in NH. He took off like a bolt of lightning, and when I reached the top of the peak I did not spot him waiting for me as he usually would. I thought nothing of it and continued hiking along to the nearby peak, which was the true summit of the mountain. When I reached there I also found no Arrowhead so I continued hiking down the trail, traversing many small peaks as I worked my way downhill to a tenting site. The site was off the trail a little ways, but the rocks at the junction were nice and I was quite tired so I stopped for a snack to boost my energy back up. I climbed back uphill from the junction over many false summits and past several ponds, reaching a gradual downhill to the gentian pond shelter. Here I took the side trail to the shelter for a snack, expecting to see arrowhead waiting, but he was not there. I ate some food then climbed back out of the pond area to mt success. On my way up I ran into a few locals who gave me the inside info on an old plane wreck atop the peak. I followed their directions when I reached the top, and sure enough found the wreck sitting amongst the trees, complete even with the fuselage..As I headed back to my pack I lost the trail and had to bushwack back to the open rock summit to find the trail. Just as I reached my pack a light rain rolled in and I had to make my way down the slick rock down to the long awaited border with Maine. It felt great to at last reach the final frontier of my journey and to know that I hiked over 1900 miles to reach there made it all worth the suffering I've been through so far. From here it was a moderate half mile hike over some small 'hills' to reach the carlo col shelter, located down a steep side trail. I fully anticipated seeing arrowhead here waiting for me, but I arrived to find the shelter empty. I was getting a little frustrated at this point, as I was sure he had to have gone on to the next shelter since he had supposedly been ahead of me all day. I mustered up the strength for the final 4.4 miles despite my raw heels and toes, which were getting quite macerated from all the wet and steep rocks and roots. But I grudged on anyways as I wanted to catch up with arrowhead, up and over two steep and slippery peaks. I passed by several SOBO thru-hikers who had recently set out from katahdin, but none of them had seen arrowhead when I mentioned I was looking for them..In due time I managed to finally ascend the last of the uphill for the day and made my way downhill to the shelter, ready to see arrowhead and tell him about the awesome plane wreck he missed. But when I arrived I found the shelter inhabited only by SOBOs and no arrowhead...
Date: 2013-06-23
From: full goose shelter

To: baldpate lean-to
Miles today: 12.0
Weather: light rain

Today was short on the miles, but felt much longer and harder than that on my feet. I had a similar problem back in virginia during the long push to the disappointing woods hole where the underside of my toes and balls of my feet got some severe hot spots. I figure it must be all the friction from the many roots and slippery rocks in Maine, and its starting to take a toll on my heels especially. But everything can be fixed with duct tape...I slept in for a long while at the shelter, both for some needed rest and because I felt a little hole inside me from the loss of arrowhead and I hoped maybe he would show up if I waited till mid morning. I finally set out around 930 and made my way over fulling mill mountain and down to the infamous mahoosuc notch, the toughest mile on the trail. When I reached the notch the temperature suddenly dropped 20 degrees and I found myself amongst a field of house sized boulders with large patches of ice and snow hidden in the shaded areas. The traverse across this mile was quite hard but also fun too. I found myself digging into my climbing skills as I figured my way around, over, and under the many boulders. I had to remove my pack several times to fit through a few holes in the rocks, and I made sure to go very slow and be careful, as the rocks were very slippery from the recent rain. Eventually I reached the end of the notch and stopped at the camp site for a much needed snack...From the camp site I made the aggressive climb up the mahoosuc arm, a long and very steep climb littered with many slippery rock slides and boulders along the way. I became quite heated and soon found myself missing the cool icy air of the notch...Eventually I reached the top of the arm and descended down to the speck pond shelter where I stopped for a snack. Here I found a wind screen that someone had left in the shelter, and it was here I became sure that arrowhead had not passed by yet. He was in need of a new windscreen and surely would have capitalized on the free offering. I continued along the trail up to the summit of old speck mt. There is an observation tower on the top but the clouds and fog were very heavy so I skipped the pointless trip and instead headed down the long descent to grafton notch..When I reached the notch the trail turned immediately uphill, and by this point the mosquitoes and rain began to settle in quite heavily. Both soon lifted as I ascended towards the shelter, and I was glad when I finally arrived. Thankfully the shelter only had one inhabitant, a SOBO named dog whisperer out on his adventure. He was a nice guy to chat with and I offered him some wisdom on several must stops and skips along the trail...
Date: 2013-06-24
From: baldpate lean-to

To: hall mountain lean-to
Miles today: 14.0
Weather: broken clouds

Today began with a nice early start and I was out on the trail by 630. As I made my way up the slopes the weather became a bit dangerous. As I neared the west peak of baldpate and entered out onto the exposed rocks a dense fog rolled in and the wind started picking up as well. After scaling the first summit the wind picked up even more as I continued to climb. The last quarter mile of so of the east peak was all exposed rock and the wind whipped at around 30 mph. This I could manage, but what made the climb treacherous was the water running down the rocks and the low visibility. It made it hard to spot the cairns, and I almost lost the trail when I finally reached the summit. From here I descended off the peak and back to the relative safety of the trees as fast as I could. Unfortunately the terrain was not much better, and the rocks became even steeper with lots of water running on top. Luckily there was no wind and a few crucial metal stairs and ladders made for a fast descent off the peak. I continued after the descent over another small peak and then made the long descent to the road. From here it was a very long uphill to the shelter, and it seemed to take forever. My heels were becoming quite chaffed and were in desperate need of some airing out, but I continued to push until I finally reached the shelter..I arrived to find two SOBO section hikers out staying in the shelter waiting for some SOBO thru-hikers to catch up. I opted to stay in the shelter despite knowing it was to be crowded that night. We enjoyed some pleasant conversation over an early dinner, before I headed up to the lookout point for some much needed phone service and to catch the view. When I came back down to the shelter the rest of the group had arrived and we relaxed for a while, and I even played my harmonica along with moose leg's guitar playing. In time I grew tired, but the others continued to talk until late in the night and it hampered my rest. They also awoke at 3am for some more chatting, which further disturbed my sleep...
Date: 2013-06-26
From: sabbath day pond lean-to

To: piazza rock lean-to
Miles today: 11.2
Weather: overcast clouds

Today began early once again as I was anxious to get into town for resupply. I packed up my stuff, opting to skimp on breakfast due to the hoard of bugs surrounding my tent. I suited up in my bug protection gear consisting of my rain jacket and bug net and loaded up my pack. I made my way down the trail and stopped at a powerline out of the bugs for my breakfast. I kept hiking and hiking along the rolling moderate terrain and eventually reached the road...Here I ran into a SOBO who also needed to get in rangeley, and we hiked up the road to a safer turnoff where we managed to catch a ride from a nice woman after about 45 minutes of waiting. In town we hit up the diner and ran into the SOBOs friend who had a room at the hotel where he offered me a much needed shower. I took him up on the chance to get clean for a while, then headed to the library for some journal typing..As I typed away at my journal the rain came in spurts and I could see it was pouring outside. When the library closed just as I was finishing up the rain let up and it became clear as I walked up the hill to the grocery store. My luck struck again as it poured while I was inside and then let up once more as I prepared to leave. I got a hitch back to the trail from a shopper pulling out of the store, who I realized after I was dropped off went out of his way to take me back to the trail. I was overcome once again with the post-town longing for civilization and the realization that living out of a backpack has its drawbacks. Thankfully the rain had retreated and I enjoyed the two mile walk up to the shelter. The trail had numerous 'surprise streams' running over it along the hike, but the terrain was very gradual and before I knew it I had reached the shelter. Once there I found the couple I had run into at the library in Rangeley along with two older women section hikers heading south. The couple had hiked from springer to the whites last year but gave up due to inclement weather and are out now to finish the trail then head south for a thru-hike attempt. I was too full from the sandwich I ate at the grocery store to cook up the hotdogs I got on sale for a buck, so instead I relaxed while the others cooked and prepped for a good nights sleep...I did not anticipate the large influx of mosquitoes which would soon put quite the hampering on my nights sleep...
Date: 2013-06-27
From: piazza rock lean-to

To: spaulding mountain lean-to
Miles today: 16.9

It rained a little bit overnight but by the morning it had let up and I was quite eager to leave the mosquito infested shelter so I set out fairly early. From the shelter the climb up saddleback was not terribly strenuous, but it was long nonetheless. As I made my way up past ethel pond and towards the summit a bank of fog rolled in and the wind began to pick up. When I reached the rock slabs near the top I was greeted by a moderate wind with light rain. The climb seemed to last forever as I made my up over numerous false summits, but then I reminded myself that I was climbing saddleback mountain, which should give some good indication that the mountain would be quite round on top...Eventually I reached the true summit and began the descent towards the horn. I left the wind for a short time as I went into the saddle between the peaks and then climbed back up to the horn. The climb was not as steep as I had anticipated, but there were plenty of tricky sections of slippery slab rocks that made the hiking slow. After scaling the horn I made the long descent to the saddle before saddleback junior. Saddleback junior turned out to be quite the junior and I found it the steepest of the three peaks. Despite a few slippery slabs here and there it was not too terrible of a climb and was rather short...I made the descent to the poplar ridge leanto, where I stopped to cook up the hot dogs that were weighing down my pack. This gave me a nice and much needed energy boost, and I continued down the long downhill to the orbeton stream fording. The stream was much nicer than I had anticipated and the ford proved safe and easy, and I continued along uphill towards Spaulding mountain. The climb up to the shelter was fairly moderate and not too muddy and followed streams on each of the two main climbs between the relatively flat sections...I reached the leanto to pleasantly find it empty, but soon was greeted by a SOBO with herstep dad..
Date: 2013-06-28
From: spaulding mountain lean-to

To: sugarloaf mountain
Miles today: 3.0

I awoke in the morning to discover many of my belongings had been moved, and when I glanced to my right I saw that there were three other SOBO hikers that must have arrived during the night while I was sleeping. Rain had rolled in during the night and by morning it was quite cold and did not show any signs of letting up..After breakfast and some snacking I said goodbye to the SOBO girl and her step-dad, armed with a poncho for rain protection. Shortly after two of the three that had arrived during the night made their way down the trail and into the steady rain. I chatted with the remaining hiker for several hours and was quite content in the comfort of my sleeping bag. I strongly considered taking a zero in the shelter but I also felt like hiking but the closest shelter was 18 miles away. I remembered arrowhead mentioning that you could stay on the top of sugarloaf mountain but I was unsure if it was unlocked so I opted to stay..Later in the afternoon a gang of three loud and unprepared SOBOs arrived coming from Stratton. They had heard the river was high so they opted to hike up over sugarloaf and skip that section of trail. I learned from them that the building on the summit were indeed unlocked, and I was eager to leave the increasingly crowded shelter. As I cooked up a hot lunch before preparing to head out three more members of the group arrived in a loud ruckus. This more than motivated me to haul it out of there for some peace and quiet..When I finally hit the trail I soon realized that the hiking conditions were not all that unbearable and I thought about pushing on further but I had heard the blunt of the storm was yet to come so I opted to hike on the 3 miles to the summit. I reached the turnoff before too long and made the half mile climb up to the top, where I found a huge abandoned lodge along with some cell towers and a chairlift building. I found the side door to the chairlift building unlocked just as the SOBOs had said and headed into the nice enclosed shelter for the night. Just as I was to enjoy my night alone I was soon joined by the couple I had met two days before.. but there was plenty of room in the building and I enjoyed being out of the rain and wind..
Date: 2013-06-30
From: horns pond lean-tos

To: pierce pond lean-to
Miles today: 27.9
Weather: broken clouds

Today AJ and I awoke early in the morning with the intention of setting out on an early start for our big day of hiking up, but a dense coating of fog changed our minds and we dozed back off. I finally managed to head out around 7 and made the short climb up to the top of the horn. As I reached the top the clouds began to part in the wind and I caught a great view back down towards the pond and the shelters. I made the descent off the peak and down to the col before the climb up to bigelow mountain. The climb was not terribly steep, but I was distracted by the beauty and impressiveness of the terrain. The summit was in and out of the clouds and I caught some glimpses of the many nearby lakes in the valley and of the horn back behind me. Near the top of the peak there is a small uplift of rock slab which reminded me quite a lot of knife's edge in Pennsylvania, but with a much more incredible view. Eventually the clouds rolled in as I made my descent to the campsite between bigelow and avery peak where I stopped to fill up on water before making the very short climb to the summit of avery peak. When I reached the top the clouds were in and out with the steady breeze, but I caught more sun than I did clouds. I made some calls, enjoying the scarce reception found in Maine and soon AJ caught up and we headed down the mountain. It was already nearly 10am by now and we still had 24 miles to go so we knew we would need to push the miles to finish before dark. The descent off avery was long and steep and eventually we started our climb up to little bigelow, which essentially is a series of small 'bumps' atop a high ridge. This made it rather tough going on our intention to make good time across the 'flat' top as according to our guidebook. We managed a modest 2 miles and hour despite the many ups and downs and eventually reached the summit and made our way down off the peak. Soon we reached the little bigelow lean-to where we stopped for a quick hot lunch to recharge for the remaining 18 miles. It was already 2pm by the time we finally left the shelter, but thankfully the upcoming terrain was fairly flat and we knew we could make some good time. We pushed across the many bogs and mudded root ridden areas, up and over two cmall climbs to the west carry pond lean-to. We stopped for a quick snack before pushing on the final 10 miles of flat terrain to pierce pond. We finally arrived at 830 after a long day, and I set up my tent to escape the bugs and soon passed out from sheer exhaustion...