morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2021-09-04
From: Liberty springs campsite 

To: Garfield campsite 
Miles today: 7.5
Weather: scattered clouds

Our eyes, barely open as a dreary dawn creeped through the pine forest. Grateful that our tent made it through the night, still standing, she endured the gale force winds of mother nature. Tumbles ingenuity with tying an extra line to a tree to keep our tent taught had paid off.We both looked at each other in hopes to find the motivation to climb out of our toasty sleeping bags on this damp and bone chilling morning. Tumble dressed quickly and scurried over the rocky trail passed the spring to where our food bags were stashed in a bear bin. The hot coffee was brewing while I got myself together and stuffed my pack. No one was stirring or making a sound in the three tents that were set up on the platform next to us. Can't say I blame them. All of us will have some long difficult climbs ahead of us today and the lack of sunshine made it more laborious.Layered up with our rain jackets on, as a shield from the wind, we headed straight up without any help of switch backs, slowly raising each limb up the uneven stairs of granite rocks. The elevation increased several 1000ft in less then a few miles when we scrambled up. Mt. Liberty was a spur trail to the south, she stands at 4,459 feet and overlooks Franconia notch. Making a northerly turn we continue towards Haystack Mountain as several trail runners and weekend warriors passed us with their light day packs on. We walked out of treeline at around 4780'. Unprotected from the alpine for nearly 2.5 miles the wind was more fierce as we sinched our shoulder straps, our packs now fused to our backs. We quickly removed our pack rain cover so it would not become a sail and blow away. At times we literally had to stop and use our trekking poles as support to stable us from being blown over. So amazed at how fierce the wind was pushing us, we could hardly hear each other over the piercing sound. I held onto my hat just incase! Finally, we were experiencing the raw nature and power of the Whites. Our senses profoundly exhilarated...
Date: 2021-09-05
From: Garfield campsite 

To: Zealand Falls Hut 
Miles today: 9.5
Weather: scattered clouds

The campsites in the Whites are not what one quite imagines. They are literally tucked in between sloping mountains, pines and granite. Which is why they have wooden platforms to tent on. However, we were fortunate to have the care taker give us a ground site that we shared with another hiker. Rested and fueled we headed out of camp on a quarter of a mile rock spur trail. Once on the trail we suddenly met our first challenge of the day. A steep descent down a bolder scramble that reassembled a creek bed. We were halfway down when we saw two hikers Rosie and Bullet sitting off to the side. Rosie informed us that Bullet had twisted his ankle. It was sever enough that he wasn't sure how he'd make it down. We offered him our ace bandage but he said he had one. As luck would have it, three young fellows were making there way down and offered to carry his pack and assist him down. We were pleased to witness such a great act of kindness! So many things can go wrong at any moment and we were keenly aware of this. Amazingly, your mind takes over your body and you find a way down a nearly impossible obstacle and then you continue on down the trail. Truly amazed at some of the hurdles we have conquered.We made it to a junction, it was a side trail to Galehead hut. We decided to take break there and enjoy some coffee and homemade pastries. We'll need that sugar and caffeine to help us up the sharp one mile climb to the top of South twin mountain. Once at the top its all downhill to Zealand Falls Hut for the night!
Date: 2021-09-06
From: Zealand Falls Hut 

To: AMC Center
Miles today: 7.7
Weather: overcast clouds

Many hikers a year come to the the White Mountains to stay at one of the eight high mountain Huts that are fashioned after similar huts in the Alps. They are managed by the Appalachian Mountain Club or AMC and only accessible by foot on the Appalachian trail. They're rustic but comfortable and can accommodate anywhere from 36 -96 people, depending on the size of the hut. The croo pack in and out the food. Which is an amazing feet to witness as they carry it on a rudimentary wooden backpack strapped to there backs. Sometimes weighing as much as 70lbs, they hike on some rough terrain let me tell you! The huts are nearly self sustaining with waterless toilets, running water but no showers or hot water.We had the good fortune to stay at Zealand Falls Hut last night. We arrived around 4pm and were quickly greeted by a very  gargarius croo member. Including us there were only 7 guest staying the night which made for a nice intimate evening. The croo served us a delicious 4 course meal that included soup, salad, Lasagna, and dessert! We chatted a bit with the guest then with full bellys we hurried off to our bunks. The huts are a super nice treat after a long hard day of hiking. Just show up and they'll do the rest! I highly recommend the experience if you have an opportunity. °
Date: 2021-06-14
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

A book called "Start with Why" was a corporate fad a decade ago. Using Apple and others as examples, it examined how they evolved their businesses around a core raison d'etre. Rather than being a computer maker, Apple's why is to empower people with intuitive technology. That's how they came to dominate the music and phone businesses rather than remaining a niche vendor for graphic arts professionals. My former employer, a financial software company, came up with its own Why, though it was a bit forced and didn't influence our actions very much. That soured me on the concept for many years. I first heard the concept of Why applied to hiking in a book called "Appalachian Trials". A hiker's Why, like a company's, isn't supposed to be a list of checkboxes to complete. It's a touchstone to remind us, especially on difficult days, why we're out here and to motivate us to continue. The books uses a carrot and stick approach, where the carrot is what you hope to gain by finishing and the stick is the consequences you can expect if you quit (shame, disappointment, lack of confidence, etc). But I prefer to focus on the reasons why I came out here, not the reasons for not leaving.Because I want my Why to have motivational power and not be a superficial artifice like my old company's, it reflects what really drives me to be here. That is not always the deepest thoughts. Sometimes I just wanna have a good time. So here's my Why, in no particular order:1. Experience SOBO lifeWhile I've logged 5000 miles on the AT, virtually all of it has been northbound. SOBOs have a very different experience. They start with the trail's most difficult ascent, having no trail legs whatsoever, must then trek 120 miles without resupply, and then enter the most grueling stretch of the trail, 300 miles of huge climbs and descents. My section hike will cover this entire trial by fire. I've always been curious as to how I'd do starting the trail at the harder end. In addition to comparing it with my own NOBO experience, I hope to learn how first-timers view the journey by meeting as many SOBOs as I can. 2. Maine's pondsI mean, if there's a better place in the world to take a swim surrounded only by nature than in northern Maine's pristine ponds, I haven't found it. My first time through Maine I was in too much of a hurry to swim. I'll never make that mistake again. 3. Boulder scrambles and open viewsNothing wakes you up like a steep, precarious and exhausting scramble to the top of an alpine bald with hundred-mile views. Epic hiking almost every day in Maine.4. Get out of your comfort zoneThis is becoming second nature by now. If I'm not feeling at least a little nervous I'm doing it wrong. Just choosing to go SOBO is creating new challenges.5. Enjoy the rideThere's no point in being out here if I'm not enjoying it on one level or another (type 2 fun is still fun!) Accept and adapt to things I can't control. Keep a positive attitude and look for the bright side. The trail really does provide, and an opportunity often grows from a seeming disappointment. There are no bad days, only bad attitudes.
Date: 2021-06-23
From: Monson (mile 114.5)

To: Monson (mile 114.5)
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

I was up at 5:30, offered to help with breakfast but Poet, Shaw's owner, has an impressive system in place to feed two dozen hungry hikers. Eggs, bacon, fried potatoes, and blueberry pancakes - all of it absolutely delicious and more than filling. And of course he made his signature pancake cairn. I resupplied, dried all my gear, got a 2021 hang tag at the ATC center in town, took a dip in Monson Pond (another shallow muddy bottom mostly for fishing, but keeps the streak alive!), watched Poet do pack shakedowns, and helped demonstrate the PCT bear hang. But mostly hung out and chatted with everyone. Many SOBOs (no northbounders came through today), were concerned about their pack weight and kept Poet busy for hours. Two college freshmen came in, having gotten off 40 miles from Katahdin because their packs were hurting their knees.I tried to finagle a 2020 hang tag off the lady at the ATC center. I have a small collection starting in 2017. She didn't seem amused. Kind of sad they can't give out a souvenir piece of plastic. But can't say I expected anything more from them. There's a BBQ place in Monson which is considered one of the best in Maine (I know, I know), but I've never eaten there before despite three Monson visits because of their weird hours. This year the owners went the full monty and declared their hours to be "Hit or Miss - On a Whim - By appointment". Stitches called earlier and got no response. Then around 4:30 word spread through the grapevine that they were open, but only for a couple hours! So Alex, Pappy, Green Bag and I raced over to enjoy some fine North Carolina style pulled pork sandwiches. Maine's finest!Had only one beer but basically crashed back at the hostel, the accumulation of a week of overstimulation I guess. Back on trail tomorrow.
Date: 2021-07-01
From: Spaulding Mountain Lean-to (mile 201.7)

To: Poplar Ridge Lean-to (mile 209.7)
Miles today: 11.6
Weather: overcast clouds

The NOBO couple in the shelter was up at 5 and out 15 minutes later. The third NOBO, an older woman, made coffee then set out. Pappy left soon after. I dreaded putting on my wet clothes and lingered as long as I could over my sticky bun breakfast. Viewmaster and Just Maine dawdled as well. As I packed up I found a rock in my water bottle side pocket. Viewmaster had snuck it in there when I left my pack to tag Sugarloaf's peak. I laughed. It was the first time I'd ever been rocked in all this time on trail. All in good fun. After a mile I dropped my pack - knowing full well the risk I was taking of gaining more weight - and took a turn off to Mt. Abraham, another 4000 footer. Almost two miles one way, the last half mile of trail was over a talus field. Beautiful views of the mist circling over the nearby peaks. I took the wrong trail off the peak and had to circle the peak over extensive talus to get back to the right trail. Lost a little blood on that bit. I leapfrogged for several miles with section hiker Chris and his buddy, as well as Viewmaster and Just Maine, and Beach Day and Prepack. At Sluice Brook above Orbeton Stream I took a (very shallow) dip in one of the pools to keep the swim streak alive, then Viewmaster invited me to tea time. Hot Earl Grey poured into my water bottle. What a nice treat!At Orbeton Stream there was metal rowboat crushed like an aluminum can against a huge boulder. Must have been a flash flood at some point. After a tough climb up to Poplar Ridge, along which I met a northbound LASHer and history buff named Old Army 1775 who was delighted by my name, I hung out on a sunny boulder for awhile. My socks still haven't dried from last night's downpour. Meanwhile I called around to every lodging in Rangeley but everything was booked due to the holiday weekend. Even the Hiker Hut wasn't sure if they'd have room. I walked down to the nearby shelter to find Beach Day and Prepack ensconced for the night. It was a little after 4. I decided I'd gone far enough as well, since the alternative was an eight mile dash across the Saddleback range to the next shelter, or tenting somewhere in between with rain in the forecast. Either way I'll be in Rangeley tomorrow. Pappy left a note saying he had pushed on over the Saddlebacks. He's quickly becoming a hiking machine! Viewmaster and Just Maine stopped to chat but headed on a couple miles to tent.There is a "gushing brook" here that is barely moving right now despite the recent rains. The waterfall at Orbeton stream was at low volume, though it was still entrancing. Maine has a ways to go to recover from the recent dry spell.
Date: 2021-07-05
From: Bemis Mountain Lean-to (mile 238.1)

To: South Arm Rd (mile 246.8)
Miles today: 9.7
Weather: overcast clouds

It was cold last night, around 40 degrees. One of only two nights so far I've regretted not having brought long underwear or my warmer quilt. Still, I slept well enough. I did some crunches and push-ups to warm up before eating breakfast.The hike down to South Arm Rd was less than 9 miles but was very rough. I climbed Bemis and Old Blue mountains up wet granite slabs and over tumbled rocks and boulders. The descents were much worse, and even the flattish stretches had no dirt to stand on, just constant twists and turns hopping from wet rock to slippery root. The slick bog bridges were the worst. Several times I nearly ate it as my foot slid out from underneath me. All this for no view on forested Bemis and limited views from Old Blue. Bait and I scrambled down Old Blue for the last 3 miles. It was a hellish descent at times. Wet slabs of steeply angled bedrock with no good footholds and only wet roots to arrest any slide. I fell on my butt once and it's a wonder it didn't happen more. Rebar rungs and railings were affixed to several of the steepest slopes. I was gleeful to finally reach the road after some five hours of painfully slow progress. Falcon Punch, Bait, Joseph and I were all shuttled to The Cabin in Andover by Don, son of Honey the family matriarch. Honey will be 89 in a few days and will spend her birthday hiking Gulf Hagas in the Hundred Mile Wilderness. Rusty and Swan are still here from last year, living in a giant tent in the yard and helping run the hostel. They both thruhiked in 2019. Hopper, who's hiked the trail multiple times, arrived today from her home in Virginia to help out for yet another season.A northbound woman and mother of two young kids from South Carolina named Pink Croc came in. She's been hiking between bubbles so happy to see some people. There's also an older northbounder named Cheap Chardonnay who's climbed Kilimanjaro among other things in his long interesting life.I sunned myself in the yard and dried out my gear, and later walked a half mile down the road to a creek to get in my daily swim. I only had twelve inches to work with and had to scramble down a steep bank under a bridge, but the streak is now up to 20 days. On the way back I passed the nineteenth-century schoolhouse and fire company garage for East Andover. Don cooked up fresh-ground burgers and Honey served corn on the cob and homemade potato salad, followed by ice cream and homemade brownies. We all swore we'd never eat again, but Honey encouraged us to take ice cream for later and she was right. Packed out a burger and brownies for tomorrow's slackpack in case I run into other hikers.
Date: 2021-03-17
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

If not now, when?I¢m 67 and will turn 68 in July 2021. I¢m at the age where you are one bad fall away from having a broken hip. So I want to complete my AT thru hike before it¢s too late. Why not wait until next year after the COVID pandemic will hopefully be controlled? My wife Nancy and I plan to thru hike the PCT in 2022 and if all goes well the CDT in 2023. I¢d like to get my triple crown at 70. I retired from teaching in 2018 and was ready to experience the adventure of completing a thru hike of a long trail in 2019. I started the trail on 17 February 2019 and discovered that I am capable of surviving the rigors of hiking long days in snow, sleet and rain during the early months of my hike. I got off the trail in Harpers Ferry and went home for about 2 weeks during spring break to get evaluated for a swollen leg that I thought might have been infected due to a deep wound I sustained from a bad fall I had at the end of the Shenandoahs. Luckily, I didn¢t have any fractures or infection and after some rest my leg returned to normal and I returned to Harpers Ferry to continue hiking.  I completed 1846 AT miles but had to leave the trail due to severe fractures of my left pinky finger due to a fall I sustained while descending Mt Moosilauke. The fall was my fault because I was trying to unwrap a Cliff Bar instead of paying attention to the steep technical downhill.I was thinking about finishing the trail last year but the COVID-19 pandemic put an end to that. I was planning to start the AT this year on 7 March but changed my mind after a shakedown hike I did on the Foothills Trail (South Carolina) at the end of January 2021. I completed a 154.6 mile YoYo of the 72.3 mile Foothills Trail in 7 days. It was a cold hike with nightly temperatures in the low 20s which was great for testing out my cold weather gear. It rained one night which got me thinking about how tempting shelters would be during those multiple day AT rain spells. Being unvaccinated at the time I didn¢t think it would be a great idea for a 67 year old hiker to spend the night crammed into a shelter with strangers during the COVID pandemic. So I got home and cancelled my AT registration and Amicalola Lodge reservations.Then within a week I was able to schedule my first Moderna vaccination at CVS. This seemed like a good omen and my mind returned to thinking about another AT hike. It didn¢t take long to decide to start my hike on 21 March which would be almost 2 weeks after I got my 2nd Moderna shot.  Today is 17 March and I am almost done with my pre hike preparations. I am mailing the 2nd of my 19 resupplying boxes today. I will post a summary of my resupply strategy soon.Happy Trails, Silver StreakNote: I¢m finishing the last 346 miles that I have left from my 2019 thru hike attempt. The mileage includes a week that I hiked from Springer to the NOC.
Date: 2021-03-17
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

I hope to write a few entries detailing some of the gear changes that I¢ve made for this year compared to my 2019 hike.  The first big change is my backpack. In 2019 I carried the ZPacks Park Haul.  Before I explain why I switched backpacks I want to clarify the ZPacks offer great customer service to thru hikers and honors their warranty. In 2019 I had constant problems with the Arc Haul. When I first got the pack I took it out on Foothills Trail for a shakedown hike. One of the vertical carbon fiber rods kept going out of alignment and would fall toward the edge of the pack and throw the pack out of balance. At first I thought it was my fault, that I just wasn¢t packing it correctly so I tried and tried and tried different ways to pack my bag and it never worked. I contacted Zpacks and they offered suggestions which seemed to help.  So I started the AT with the ARC Haul and after having several weeks of constant rain the middle horizontal frame support started popping out. This was annoying because I would have to stop in the rain and reinsert the support. I actually ended up losing the support on the trail after it fell out without my knowing. I was also having trouble getting the pack to balance correctly, no matter what I tried it kept listing to the left. I finally got fed up with the pack and decided that I must have a lemon so while going into Hot Springs I emailed ZPacks and explained my problem.  They told me that they would send me a new pack to Boots Off Hostel (mile 428). This pack worked great until just before Duncannon (mile 1149) when the left vertical rod poked a hole thru the pouch that holds it in place. I emailed ZPacks again and they agreed to mail another pack to Delaware Water Gap (mile 1296). They also agreed to replace it with a small size pack. This pack worked perfectly for the rest of my hike. I still had problems with the middle support occasionally popping out but after I lost it I just decided to lived without it. I didn¢t feel any difference in the way the park rode on my back without the support.Overall the Arc Haul is very comfortable and I was planning on using it for this years hike. As luck would have my wife¢s old Osprey Exos wore out. I bought her a new female specific Eja pack for Christmas so she didn¢t need her old pack. The Exos small was too large for her anyway. So I packed up her small Exos and sent it in to Osprey for repair hoping that the pack would need to be replaced. Lucky for me the pack needed to be replaced and Osprey agreed to replace it with a medium Exos which fits me perfectly. I took the Exos out with 8.5 days of food for my YoYo of the Foothills Trail in late January (see my trail journal for this hike). After I learned how to adjust the load lifters the pack felt great. I consider the comfort of the Arc Haul and Exos to be equal. I decided to take the Exos on my 2021 AT thru hike because I believe it will be more durable. It weighs about 1.5 pounds more than the Arc Haul but that is a small weight penalty to pay for not having to worry about a repeat of the problems that I had in 2019.
Date: 2021-03-17
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

I will once again be using the ZPacks Duplex tent. I bought a new one during their 2020 sale to replace our 4 year old duplex. This year I¢m bringing the flex poles to give me some flexibility and speed of setup in challenging campsites. With enough room I can set my Duplex up with trekking poles in about 3 minutes. I have no problem with getting creative in the routing of my guy lines in areas where roots, trees, or rocks call for a creative set up. I even set up my Duplex on those wooden platforms that are found in various places along the AT. However getting creative takes time and it can be very frustrating after a 25 mile day or during a downpour to juggle the guy line positions. For this reason I am biting the 10 oz weight penalty to make the Duplex ¢freestanding¢. I prefer using the trekking pole method but will use the flex poles in challenging camping areas. You can also modify the width of the tent to squeeze it into an area that would be too narrow for a Duplex.II also played around with rigging up by Zpacks rain poncho in the windward vestibule to block frigid winds or splashback from hard rains. I had to do this during a night of 30 mph 25 degree winds that I encountered on the Foothills Trail in January. I found out in 2019 that the wind blows in and sucks the heat out of my sleeping bag. This gave me the choice of lowering the tent which would lead to less air flow and increased condensation which could make my down bag useless or wake up shivering every couple of hours.  I¢m still using my 2015 Zpacks 20 degree sleeping bag with a silk liner to keep the inside of the bag somewhat free from my hiker trash filth. I discovered that on really cold (19 degree) nights If I placed my sleeping bag inside the liner my bag would keep me much warmer. I found that this trick also works to keep condensation off the footbox of my sleeping bag. I washed my sleeping bag this week and it lofts just like it did when it was new.