morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2003-08-09
From: Spruce Peak Shelter

To: Manchester Center, VT
Miles today: 2.8
Weather: overcast clouds

Short walk and easy hitch into town. Did laundry, ate donuts, and found a room at a little hostel/inn called Sutton's Place. Had wonderful showers, laid around and read our books...and then hit the town for a little bit. The town was very ritzy. Lots of wealthy people and nice cars! Went to a neat bookstore, the outfitter, and out for gourmet pizza and a locally brewed beer. Spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing before grocery shopping and dinner at Friendly's. The day went by way too fast, but ended very happily as I got to watch TWO episodes of Trading Spaces while Jonathan finished up Harry Potter!
Date: 2003-08-10
From: Manchester Center, VT

To: Big Branch Shelter
Miles today: 16.2
Weather: light rain

Ran a few errands this morning, and as I was hanging up the payphone in a store parking lot, a guy pulled up and asked if we wanted a ride back to the trail (5.5 miles). Easiest hitch ever! Lowpoints of the day: 3 miles into the day with my nice clean clothes on, I fell right on my rear in a big pit of sticky black mud. I fell 3 times today. Jonathan fell once on some slippery boards over boggy ground (We have learned that the correct trail lingo for these boards is "puncheons." Weird word. We use it as often as possible.) Highpoints of the day: Got to a shelter just in time to wait out a thunder-shower. The sky cleared long enough for a great view from the last of the four peaks we climbed today. And...we met a guy who is trying to break the speed record for the Long Trail (a trail that runs the length of Vermont to the Canada border-- close to 300 miles I think). The record is something like 4 days, 11 hours, and 15 minutes. He has to hike like 59 miles a day and only sleeps 90 minutes a day. You can check out if he made the record at www.thedogteam.com. He's got a support crew of his brother and friend and a van..
Date: 2003-08-11
From: Big Branch Shelter

To: Clarendon Shelter
Miles today: 16.9
Weather: scattered clouds

Slept well last night with only Lite-Walker, Dingles, and me in the shelter and the sound of the stream. Had a nice surprise dinner tonight at the Whistle Stop Restaurant less than a half mile off the trail. The waitress let Jonathan and I order from the kids' menu. I got a BIG grilled cheese and he got a burger and we both got fries, a soda, and a HUGE ice cream cone for only $3.95 each! Nice, eh? Only a little rain today!
Date: 2003-08-12
From: Clarendon Shelter

To: Sherburne Pass
Miles today: 16.4

Big mountain today. Killington Peak. You are supposed to be able to see 5 states and Canada, but of course we just saw a bunch of fog! Went to the Inn at the Long Trail for dinner and a pint of Guiness (which they are famous for serving the "correct" way). Good stuff! Now we don't have to re-supply until Hanover, NH. We wished we wouldn't have stayed in Manchester Center and instead saved our $ and time to stay at this Inn.   They have jacuzzi suites, a nice tv lounge with games and books and movies, live music in the pub, great food, and a bus that goes into town if you need. Instead we camped for free in the parking lot across the street! Oh well!
Date: 2003-08-13
From: Sherburne Pass

To: Chateauquay Pass Rd.
Miles today: 14.8

We definitely miss our hiking buddies that are ahead of and behind us. We walked through Gifford Woods State Park today and wondered if the Terrells still planned on meeting Shifty there. We scoped out the place, half expecting to see Buddy sitting at a camp site with a couple Brooklyn Lagers reading and waiting, but no such luck. We know OFF is only one day ahead and we think Face and Blaze are only one day behind, but we have no idea where Shifty and Sea Bee and Nothin Decent and etc. are! Hope they all catch up before Katahdin.
Date: 2003-08-14
From: Chateauquay Pass Rd.

To: Thistle Hill Shelter
Miles today: 16.8
Weather: clear sky

(Jonathan writing.....) What a beautiful day to begin hiking on! But what a freakin hard day of hikin. Numberous (9) pointless ups and downs over mountains, and usually without many views. However, our next to last mountain provided a phenomenal view. We arrived at the shelter and met 5 southbounders who were also staying there. Tomorrow we hit New Hampshire! And the crowd goes wild (transcriber unable to reproduce Jonathan's illustration of fireworks here). Miss family and friends.
Date: 2003-08-15
From: Thistle Hill Shelter

To: Velvet Rocks Shelter
Miles today: 16.1
Weather: clear sky

Stopped for a few hours in Hanover, NH today. (By the way, we're in New Hampshire! 2 states to go!). Tried to get ahold of the Hanover family we met on Maxpatch, but they weren't around. We did, however, meet up with about 20 thru-hikers, the most we've seen in a long time! Many were new, but it was very fun and exciting to see OFF and Baby Steps again. We played frisbee on the college green (Dartmouth College), laid in the grass, and went to Ben and Jerry's for a girl vs. guy "Vermonster" challenge. Eight girls vs. eight guys (a Vermonster is 20 scoops of ice cream, 4 bananas, 4 cookies, a huge brownie, hot fudge, whipped cream, m and m's, and who knows what else. It's served in a huge bucket.) Well....the guys finished in 7 minutes and then even tually had to help the girls out! We all felt pretty sick after that and sat around for a few hours resting. Girls were: me, Wildflower, Baby Steps, 56, SureStep, KoKapeli, Buddist Munk, and Danika. Guys were: Dingles, OFF, Dred, Nimble, Wizard, Owalla, Monster Button, and Katori. After resting we did grocery shopping and made it to the shelter just as it was getting dark. One funny thing happened in town...while we were throwing the frisbee, I saw a guy with a UNCW Benthic Ecology meeting t-shirt on and yelled out, "Hey, UNCW!" and he turned around and it was Will O'Neil formerly of Dr. Pawlick's lab and currently working on his Ph.D. in Chemistry at Darmouth.Wild stuff, eh! Speaking of coincidences, yesterday we met 2 southbounders who went to OSU vet school and knew Kristy Amer! (my best friend Lisa's little sister). They said they especially knew her because she is so smart and won so many awards for equine studies! Their names were Mike and Malisa. They got married June 28 and started hiking a week later! I think they may have a trail journals page (their trail names are Fat Cat and Grommy)..
Date: 2003-08-19
From: Glencliff, NH

To: Kinsman Notch
Miles today: 9.5
Weather: few clouds

Slackpacked up Mt. Moosilauke today. It was amazing! Our first tree-line, beautiful weather, and beautiful views. I think we're going to LOVE the Whites! Staying at the hostel again tonight. Face and Blaze showed up tonight, as well as several other friends. Fun!
Date: 2003-08-20
From: Kinsman Notch

To: Franconia Notch
Miles today: 16.3
Weather: few clouds

Slackpacked 16 miles today on a section considered to be one of the toughest in NH. Tough climbs, but great views on the Kinsmans. Got picked up by Baby Step's boyfriend Cliff and went in to North Woodstock for dinner and to stay at the Woodstock Inn. The Inn was beautiful. We shared a room with Wildflower and had showers and terrycloth robes to wear!
Date: 2003-08-21
From: Franconia Notch

To: Garfield Summit
Miles today: 9.9

Got an AMAZING breakfast this morning (included with our stay) and hit the trail at noon. Cliff came with us (Baby Steps, Wildflower, Dingles, and I). One of the very greatest days on the trail so far with an awesome walk along Franconia Ridge. It felt like we were on top of the world! And we slept on the summit of Mt. Garfield under a sky full of beautiful stars.
Date: 2003-08-22
From: Garfield Summit

To: Zealand Falls Stealth Campsite
Miles today: 10.1

Very tough day today. None of us felt very good and we kind of struggled through the day. Ten miles took a full 8 hours! Found a good stealth campsite that we shared with a group of students about to start med school at Harvard. Going to bed at 7:30 pm. Dead tired!W
Date: 2003-08-23
From: Zealand Falls Stealth Campsite

To: Mitzpah Hut
Miles today: 14.1
Weather: broken clouds

Today was a very fun day. Started out with an easy few miles of FLAT walking, believe it or not! We got to Crawford Notch at lunchtime and were about to take a break when a guy jumped out of his car and asked if we'd hiked from GA. We said yes, and he said he had treats for us! He was "Rock Dancer," GA to ME '97. He had Pepsi, Mt. Dew, grapes, plums, Doritoes, and Oreos! Amazingly, as we were sitting there, Baby Step's stepbrother came through looking for her. He knew she'd be somewhere in the Presidentials (Crawford Notch is the beginning of them)! He and his two friends had soda, beer, cookies, Rice Krispy treats, and hot dogs. The three of them spent the rest of the day hiking with us. It was a very windy afternoon, and we had great views and fun rock scrambles to get up Mt. Webster, over Mt. Jackson, and to the hut. We got to do "work for stay," helping re-stock the kitchen and do dishes for an hour. In return, we got a warm bed, big dinner (turkey, mashed potatoes, salad, green beans, rolls, soup, and cake and cookies for dessert!). We also got breakfast in the morning! The "guests" in the hut paid $70 each for what we worked an hour for. Of course, we had to stay hidden and eat when all the guests had already finished! All in all, a wonderful day!!
Date: 2003-08-24
From: Mitzpah Hut

To: Valley Way Tent Site
Miles today: 11.8

(Jonathan writes.....) Had a leftover pancake breakfast at the hut that gave us the much needed energy for the day's hard hike. Left about 9 to head for Mt. Washington. Hiking was tough but spectacular walking amongst some of the huge presidentials. Stopped at the "Lake in the Clouds" hut before going up. The wind was quite strong on our ascent and as we later found out averaged about 50 with gusts at 76 mph. So, at times we walked precariously across rocks in hurricane force winds. What a rush and what a great day!¢
Date: 2003-08-25
From: Valley Way Tent Site

To: Pinkham Notch
Miles today: 7.8
Weather: broken clouds

Didn't pitch our tent last night, and woke up about 3 am to sprinkles! So we laid our tent on top of us and kept sleeping. Got pretty bad about 5:30 am, so we got up and out. Went up to Madison Springs Hut and paid $1 for all you can eat baked goods. Nothing like cookies for breakfast! Got to enjoy this hikers diet for a few more weeks before it's back to more practical foods! Hard climb over and down Mt. Madison in some crazy strong winds again today. Took us all day to go 8 miles. We are beat. The Whites are sooooo beautiful, but they are definitely tiring (hear southern Maine is even worse though, so I better not start complaining!). Sprinkled on and off today, but can't complain too much because we've been VERY lucky with weather in the Whites so far. Only a few more days 'til Maine!v
Date: 2003-08-27
From: Imp Campsite

To: Gorham, NH
Miles today: 8.0
Weather: broken clouds

(Jonathan writes.....) Today we hiked only 8 miles in to town for an eagerly awaited rest. Stayed at a motel room with Babysteps and Wildflower. Ate lunch at Pizza Hut and afterwards went for a swim in the pool. Very relaxing and enjoyable. Chilled the rest of the day.s
Date: 2003-08-29
From: Trident Col Campsite

To: Full Goose Shelter
Miles today: 14.5
Weather: broken clouds

We're in Maine! Had a good walk to the border, although I fell and bloodied my knee, but the walk was beautiful and also challenging (I think we're really going to love Maine). Time for bed cuz tomorrow's gonna be a big day. We have one mile of a crazy jumble of rocks that takes a couple of hours and you have to help each other handing packs up and down and over and such. We'll see!
Date: 2003-08-30
From: Full Goose Shelter

To: Speck Pond Campsite
Miles today: 5.1
Weather: clear sky

(Jonathan writes....) So today was the dreaded Mahoosuc Notch. House-sized boulders you had to slither around like a small animal through tight spaces. Well, to put it quite simply, it was hard. We used our arms for three hours to pull us up, which was probably more use than the rest of the trip combined. After we passed the hellacious obstacle course, the arm awaited. The arm was basically where a slice of granite ascended into the sky at a very high angle. We finished the day a little early and with only five miles but pooped.
Date: 2003-08-31
From: Speck Pond Campsite

To: Dunn Notch Falls
Miles today: 14.1

Today was         BEAUTIFUL! We woke up freezing cold and had all of our gear on, but it got sunny and a bit warmer as the day went on. There were TONS of day-hikers out of Grafton Notch today. One gave us peanuts and a family gave us an apple and some candy. We climbed a really neat mountain called Bald Pate Mountain with incredible views all around. By the way....."we" now-a-days is me, Dingleberry, and our friend Wildflower. Since we lost Shifty in NYC, we had to adopt someone new. This time it is a girl. Yeah! She's 25 and from Seattle and she hiked the PCT (Pacific Crest Trail) last year. We've been hiking together pretty much since Dalton, MA. She doesn't completely replace our little Shifty, though. We still miss the little fellow. Hopefully he and all our friends behind are doing well.
Date: 2003-09-01
From: Dunn Notch Falls

To: Andover, ME
Miles today: 10.9
Weather: overcast clouds

I can't believe it's September! Had pancakes with fresh alpine blueberries (we picked off Bald Pate Mountain) for breakfast and then hit the trail. Some easier hiking and then a pretty tough climb at the end of the day. Saw Baby Step's dad again (saw him yesterday) and he actually showed up at the road to give us a ride into town! But the hostel owner came to pick us up too. We had heard it was a very hard hitch so we had borrowed a cell phone at the top of the mountain to call for a ride. So now we are at the Pine Ellis B and B in Andover. This place is GREAT. Very friendly couple running the inn, which is part of their house. It's very homey and cozy. We have to get our mail drop in the morning because the post office is closed today (Labor Day). I think we'll do our chores, eat some ice cream, and watch a movie!
Date: 2003-09-02
From: Andover, ME

To: Bemis Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 8.7
Weather: overcast clouds

Had an amazing breakfast this morning of grapefruit, corn muffins, cheese omelets, home fries, sausage, juice and coffee! Got our maildrop (thanks for the rice krispies, Deniz!) and spent the morning with our lovely hosts before hitting the trail around 11 am. Had a steep climb right off up Old Blue Mountain. The day started off overcast and completely cloudy, but as we climbed higher, the sky cleared. It was a very beautiful, vivid blue by the time we got to the top. It looked liked you could reach up and touch the sky. I'm definitely going to miss feeling so close to the sky on mountain tops. We had amazing views from the top. Short day today, but we're gonna try to do a big one tomorrow. Time to sleep!8
Date: 2003-09-04
From: Piazza Rock Lean-to

To: Orbeton Stream
Miles today: 11.7

Did the second of the three big mountain ranges in Maine (except for Katahdin) today. The "Saddlebacks" (the other two are the Mahoosics which we've done, and the Bigelows which are in a couple days). The Saddlebacks were fun. Lots of rock, and above treeline for a few miles. But we were stuck in clouds, so no views. Can't complain since we've had great views all through NH and ME! Wildflower got stung by a bee at the end of the day and her face is all swollen up. It's HUGE! I feel so bad.
Date: 2003-09-05
From: Orbeton Stream

To: N of N. Crocker Mtn
Miles today: 14.5

Good day. Got to see our old buddies Jack and Mr. Spencer (the dog)! They flip-flopped from CT and are hiking South from Mt. Katahdin back to CT. Jack's girlfriend Shelly is hiking with them now. When we last saw Jack he was waiting for Shelly at Harper's Ferry. Mr. Spencer is the best trail dog ever! We are just beginning to see a bit of color change in the leaves. Some yellows up above and a few orange and reds in the little maples..
Date: 2003-09-06
From: N of N. Crocker Mtn

To: Horn's Pond Lean-to
Miles today: 9.3

Exactly two weeks left! How crazy. We definitely have mixed emotions about the end looming near. Very excited, and yet we know how incredibly much we are going to miss this life. Went into Stratton today for groceries and lunch. A gentleman who we've been seeing the last few days doing day hikes knew we were going to be in town and stopped by to give us a ride back to the trail. Thanks, Doug! Made turkey dogs for dinner and gummy bears for dessert! Yum, yum. The sun has gone to bed and so must I..........good night!
Date: 2003-09-07
From: Horn's Pond Lean-to

To: West Cary Lean-to
Miles today: 17.5

Ok, I have heard a rumor that our journals have not been JUICY enough lately. So....we are going to try our best to make the last two weeks of journals a bit jucier. Here goes.......   2000 miles! Yes, that's right. We have officially walked 2000 miles. As of tonight we have only 165.2 miles to go! At a road very near the 2000 mile mark, a bunch of guys get together and do trail magic the weekend after Labor Day. We were among the lucky recipients. We had grilled turkey sandwiches, blueberry pie, apple pie, oatmeal cookies, and Pepsi! They had had more food and drinks the day before, but we basically just caught them as they were packing up. Nice, eh? Even juicier news: Dingleberry and I have changed our names. That's right. I've never liked my name. I never wanted to be called Snotrocket. So I decided that I would enjoy the last two weeks more fully as "Chauncy." The name change is official as of yesterday, Saturday, September 6. Dingleberry has also agreed he needs a change and will be henceforth be called "Clancey." We are not sure if we will change our trail journals site because it may cause confusion, but be forewarned. Today we finished the Bigelows, so therefore there is "supposedly" nothing hard until Katahdin. We'll keep ya posted!
Date: 2003-09-08
From: West Cary Lean-to

To: Caratunk, ME
Miles today: 14.0

Nice, FLAT walk today! Got 14 miles in by 3 pm where we had to catch the "ferry" across the Kennebee River. The ferry is a canoe ride that you are strongly encouraged to take instead of trying to ford the river. The river is dam controlled and a hiker drowned when the dam was released as she was fording a few years ago. The current is pretty strong also. So the eight of us who were at the shelter together last night rode in the ferry, two by two, escorted by the ferry woman. On the other side we got our maildrop package in Caratunk, ME (thanks, D!) and some yummy treats from my mom and day, and a nice letter from Angela (thanks!). The eight of us found the most incredible deal ever. For $10 each we got to stay at an outdoor adventure resort! Northern Outdoors does rafting trips and has a lodge with dining room, bar, pool, hot tub, tennis, kayaks, movies, and more all for free. We went swimming and got in the hot tub right away. Had a beer and cooked our dinner at a picnic table by the hot tub. Fun night! (The eight of us were Clancy, Chauncy, Wildflower, Disco, Glide, Wanderer, Odessey, and Dutch.)
Date: 2003-09-09
From: Caratunk, ME

To: Northern Outdoors
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Got up, ate breakfast, and were at the road to hitch back to the trail by 9 am. At 10 am we were still trying to hitch a ride, so we decided to give up and take a zero day! We can still get to Monsoon by Thursday; it'll just be two big days instead of three little ones! So all of us except Odessey and Dutch decided to stay and we were able to bargain for $10 a night again. So we taught Wildflower and Wanderer how to kayak, played volleyball in the pool, played tennis, ate lunch on the porch, threw the frisbee, laid by the pool and read, wrote post cards, sat in the hot tub and we're getting ready to watch a movie and eat Ben and Jerry's! What a day. Definitely our favorite zero day of the whole trip. And we have a ride arranged for 7 am tomorrow morning! This is the life.
Date: 2003-09-10
From: Northern Outdoors, Caratunk, ME

To: Moxie Bald Lean-to
Miles today: 18.8
Weather: clear sky

A quick 19 miles today after a wonderful zero day! Chauncy even let me eat an extra ration, another grain of rice, which is rather nice of her. Only 10 more days and about 130 miles. It's starting to really hit us that we'll be through soon and that makes us quite sad. wah. We are looking forward to bein done though and seein our friends and families. Goodnight you friggin awesome tract of earth called MAINE.
Date: 2003-09-11
From: Moxie Bald Lean-to

To: Monson, ME
Miles today: 17.9
Weather: few clouds

Hiked into our last trail town today, Monson, ME. We stayed at the legendary Shaw's Boarding House, but decided to pitch a tent and skip the shower since we had such luxury only 2 days ago! Had sandwiches from the gas station instead of the all-you-can-eat steak dinner they were serving at the hostel. Oh the sacrifices young Clancy makes for the Mrs.
Date: 2003-09-12
From: Monson, ME

To: Big Wilson Stream
Miles today: 9.7

Woke up at 4:45 am to hear lots of commotion outside the tent. It sounded like someone was trying to get into our backpacks. Lo and behold... "someone" was! It was Pepe Le Pue... a skunk! It wanted to scare it away, but I didn't want to scare the skunk so badly that it would spray our stuff. So I just made some funny noises and shined my light on it. Eventually it went away, but not until it had circled the tent a couple times! An hour later it was time for all-you-can-eat breakfast with 3 meats, french toast, eggs any way, hashbrowns, donuts, juice, coffee, and milk. It was filling, but not all that tastey. You win some you lose some! The library usually opens at 9am, but today it deidn't open until one. Luckily, Monson is a small town, so Wildflower was talking to the owner of the General Store whose wife works at the town office, which is attached to the library, so she opened it especially for us to run in and check email! We hit the trail before noon, and now we are in the "100-mile wilderness" with signs warning us not to enter without being fully prepared! Wildflower, Wanderer, and Clancy saw a moose this afternoon! I missed it and was bummed. Well I have exactly one week and almost exactly 100 miles left to see one. I'm going on a moose hunt! Wish me luck!
Date: 2003-09-13
From: Big Wilson Stream

To: Chairback Gap Lean-to
Miles today: 16.3
Weather: overcast clouds

Today in the wilderness we ran out of food and had to eat a day hiker. He was nice and plump, so we had leftovers which we smoked for long-term storage. We also saw a unicorn, purple hippopotamus, and a cabbage patch kid, who we also ate. Seriously, it was a long 17 miles and not much to point out. I, Clancy, did see a Mink a couple days ago and Chauncy and I both saw a small (juv.?) Martin (in the Weasel family). We were really still and it circled Chauncy several times. We arrived at the shelter with about 30 minutes of light left. The shelter was empty, so for the first time we had a shelter completely to ourselves! (No Larry, no conceiving of little Larrys). A couple of mice made their appearances so it's likely we might be eaten alive in our sleep and oh, p.s. I saw a Sasquatch today.
Date: 2003-09-14
From: Chairback Gap Lean-to

To: Sidney Tappan Campsite
Miles today: 11.7
Weather: light rain

We woke up this morning still tired from yesterday, regardless of 10 hours of sleep. Our bodies are very sore and it was a hot, humid day. The last few days have probably been the hottest of the trip. Crazy eh? Anyway... we swam in a beautiful waterfall which is part of a 5 mile loop trail that we really wanted to do called the Gulf Hagas trail. It is referred to as the "Grand Canyon of the East". We really want to come back and do it some day. So we wanted to go 17 miles today, but we didn't make it. Hopefully we can do a bunch of miles tomorrow. Oh, by the way, Clancy changed his name today to "Great Grandmother". I have no idea why.