morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2009-08-10
From: Shirley Road (dirt)

To: Maine Rt. 15 north of Monson
Miles today: 13.5

We split this one up...Hike #1: Shirley Blanchard Rd to Maine Rt. 15Access:South--Drove from Millinocket to Monson and turned left onto Blanchard Rd, then right on Shirley-Blanchard Rd (parking for 2-3 cars).North--Follow Rt 15 north out of Monson for about a mile. Parking for about 20 cars and the beginning of the 100 Mile Wilderness!! Left the pickup truck here for the night.The Hike #1:We started out level, but soon came to mud, mud, mud and then a steep uphill before we sat to eat lunch. Met D and his friend who are major section hikers finishing the AT in about 4 days. D got Lyme disease last year on his thru hike and had to drop off the trail, so he got back on this year in NY. The four of us hiked out (over slick slate downhills) and we drove them to Monson (Shaws) where they will recoup and start the 100 Mile Wilderness in 2 days.The Hike #2:Burly Girl wasn't sure about this, but Bugsy wanted to do another 6 miles to finish the week, so off we went.We drove the pickup truck to Shirley Road...7.5 miles on dirt, sink holes, etc. and crossed a bridge over the Piscataquis River (w. branch). Beyond the bridge there is parking for about 2 cars. We hiked along the river on a great trail of pine needles for about a mile and then the rains came. We forded a small stream and then got to the W. Branch of the Piscataquis River. We had heard horror stories about this river crossing from thru hikers a month ago, but our experience had us wading through it, knee deep, with no trauma. It just goes to show that everything depends on the most recent rainfall or snowmelt!As we had already fallen into mud bogs on this hike and our feet were soaked, we chose to wade across the river with our hiking boots/socks on. Amazing, but no blisters as a result of this. Once again, our water shoes got a free ride along the hiking trail as we didn't need to use them. They will stay 'home' in the future!The topo map made this hike look level, but we went up and down many times along the river to the end. It was also about 1 mile longer than the book said, as we started beyond the river.There was one final ford of the East Branch of the Piscataquois River ('dangerous in high water') and then uphill to the car.Burly Girl and Bugsy...doing the AT one day at a time...
Date: 2009-08-22
From: Little Wilson Falls

To: Maine Rt 15
Miles today: 6.6

Another great breakfast at Shaws and another shuttle to Little Wilson Stream.Access:North--Little Wilson Stream--See yesterday's hike. We re-traced our steps on the side trail, hit the AT and traveled south today.South--Maine Rt 15. This is just 3.5 mi north of Monson and Shaws. There is a large AT hiker parking lot here.The Hike:After coming in off the side trail we went south on the AT following Little Wilson Creek to Little Wilson Falls. It was 60' high...one of the highest waterfalls on the AT. Beautiful!The trail then turned away from the falls and the stream and there were steep ups and downs over slate (the infamous 'Monson slate') ledges. We went by Mud Pond (great name!) and had lunch at the Lehman Brook Lean To. We passed a number of thru hikers whom we had seen at Shaws including a girl who had played several instruments last night at the bluegrass jam session (Monson General Store). She had a small banjo secured to her backpack!And at the Lean To we met the 2 section hikers that we have been crossing for the past 2 days (his wife is meeting them in Monson tonight at the end of their 10 days on the trail so we gave them a ride into town). The 2nd section hiker, Michelle Ray, has written a book 'How to Hike The AT'...we will order it from Amazon when we get home.When we left the Lean To after lunch it was a straight plunge down to a stream, then a steep up from the stream and an uphill that never seemed to end. We hope that the northbound thru hikers don't think that the 100 Mile Wilderness will be technical rock climbing like this, as these are the first few miles of their 100 Mile experience!The last mile was relatively level past several beautiful ponds. but for us, the 100 Mile Wilderness ended as it began with mud bogs. Burly Girl went in twice up to the top of her boot!We took the section hikers to Shaws, grabbed a quick shower, then did a very long car plant to Moxie Pond for tomorrow's hike. At dinner we toasted the end (and our survival) of the 100 Mile Wilderness!!!!Bugsy and Burly Girl...doing the AT one day at a time...
Date: 2009-08-24
From: Boise-Cascade Road

To: Moxie Pond Road
Miles today: 6.6
Weather: broken clouds

After 5 nights at Shaws it was time to check out (sad). We left very early, so no great breakfast this morning. We had to settle for pre-made breakfast sandwiches at the AE Robinson Mini Mart.Access:North--Boise-Cascade Road--This is reached by going into Caratunk on Old Rt 201 and turning onto Pleasant Pond Rd which is opposite the Post Office. Go about 3.2 mi to the pond and stay left at the fork. The road turns to dirt and you continue until about 4.6 mi from Caratunk. The main road curves here and a very small dirt road continues straight into an AT parking area. When we arrived, a tree had fallen on this road and we parked in a grassy area at the fork, as did 3 other hikers that day. South--Moxie Pond Road--see yesterday's hike.The Hike:After 2 long car plants today and the move from Monson, we finally got hiking at 9. We had originally planned to do a 12.2 mi hike from Rt 201 in Caratunk to Boise-Cascade Rd but because of the late start, and the always uncertain conditions of the trail, we opted to break this hike in half and just do the northern portion. The level trail turned into a long uphill climb (1200' in a mile) to the top of Pleasant Pond Mt, some very vertical climbing. When we reached the top it was fogged in and started to rain (remember we were talking about those Maine weather forecasts?...today was supposed to be beautiful and sunny). The top of the mt went on forever. By lunchtime it had started to clear so we ate on a rock slab 'plateau' down from the summit. Both of us had falls on the wet rocks after lunch, but nothing serious. The end of the hike seemed to go on forever with no markings to tell us where we were. We wanted to do another short hike today, but were too tired plus we needed to check in to the Northern Outdoor Center at the Forks, our home for the next 2 nights. We had a cabin here that was a little on the expensive side, but very nice and a good place to spread out our stuff that we didn't take into Shaws the past 5 days (due to space). We had dinner here at the Kennebec River Pub & Brewery and caught up on emails as they had internet service in the lobby area.
Date: 2009-09-05
From: Pierce Pond Access Road

To: Carrying Place Rd, ME
Miles today: 4.6

Access:North--Pierce Pond Access Road--Last week we accessed this road from Caratunk by way of Bingham and a long ride on a dirt road. Today we got to this road by way of Rt 27, Carrabassett Valley by taking the Carriage Rd 4.7 mi (rough) to East Flagstaff Rd, turn right 1/4 mi to Long Falls Dam Rd, turn left, after about 5.5 mi turn left onto Carrying Place Rd (dirt) which we then took for about 9.2 miles to Pierce Pond Access Rd. Turn left. The AT crossing is in 4 miles. South--Carrying Place Rd--see above except the AT crossing is right after Mile Marker 6 (about 7 miles from Long Falls Dam Rd).Hike:Today was a very long car plant but much shorter than if we took the paved roads from Kingfield all the way around to Bingham. With this in mind and the big hikes of the past 2 days, we decided to take a breather and do a short hike!The trail started out following Pierce Pond Stream. It was very pretty with a number of small rapids. The trail then came to Pierce Pond. We walked on top of a stone and wooden dam that contains Pierce Pond for about 50-75 yards. The water seeped through the stones/wood below us. This is another beautiful lake. We saw several of the NOBO thru hikers that we had seen over the past couple of days. They were in a hurry to catch the Kennebec River Ferry's morning crossing. Somehow we walked by Pierce Pond Lean To without even seeing it. We did see the privy, however, but it was occupied. We followed a semi-dry streambed for a while and then went through a number of muddy areas. Good news...the bugs seem to have disappeared!!! There is a big difference in the number of bugs this week vs 2 and 4 weeks ago. Bugsy is a happy camper. The headnet is off!The 700' climb over Bates Ridge was easy (anything was easy after the past 2 days!). We descended the ridge and went on a very long bog bridge over a swampy area and crossed the north branch of Carrying Place Stream by rock hopping. We did not have to ford this today...yeah! We arrived at our car and had lunch in it on Carrying Place Road overlooking a pretty lake.   We then had time to explore access points for the rest of this week and visit Stratton and Rangely (the home base of our next week up here...we made arrangements for our stay in another historic hotel in Rangely).
Date: 2009-09-06
From: Long Falls Dam Road

To: Carrying Place Road ME
Miles today: 9.3

Access:South--Long Falls Dam Road. See September 4, 2009 entry.North--Carrying Place Road. See yesterday.The Hike:First, today was a beautiful weather day. A little cool in the morning, but the uphill took care of that...and in the 60s all day. Another very important item is that, again, there were no bugs today. This is such a difference from 2 wks and 4 wks ago when the mosquitoes were so thick they almost blocked your vision. The mud is finally drying up and instead of sinking in to above your boots, its just nice and soft to walk on!We started out with a 500' climb up Roundtop Mt...no big deal considering the start of this week! The trail today, for the most part, could be best described as very gnarly...a lot of roots. Maybe we are just getting used to Maine, but despite all of the roots and the mud patches, we made pretty good time today. I guess something is finally clicking between our eyes and our feet and we are able to negotiate the terrain better. After about 3 miles, we came to W Carry Pond and walked alongside it for almost 1.5 miles. We stopped in at the W Carry Pond Lean To for a snack and met a family of 4 who had spent the night there. They told us that at 10pm and again at 3am NOBOs with headlamps had passed by. It was a full moon and they must have had a bad case of Katahdin fever! This is a very beautiful lake. We crossed 3 dirt roads and even got to walk on one for a little while. The AT in this area was part of the Benedict Arnold Trail. In 1775 Benedict Arnold took 1,110 men from MA and went up the Kennebec River to the area around Carratunk. He then took an old Indian portage route over to the Dead River and eventually went up to Quebec to engage the British on 12/31/1775. This is the reason that the ponds are called 'carry ponds'. Next we crossed the Arnold Swamp on a long stretch of bog bridges. Arnold had quite a terrible time on his portage. What we did in about 3 days of hiking took him and his men 6 weeks to do...they were carrying boats and did not have the benefit of our bog bridges (thanks again MATC!). Arnold's trip was all downhill from this area. He even lost the battle up in Quebec...After the swamp we went up and over a ridge that was an 'esker' formed during the last ice age. We then followed the shoreline of E Carry Pond and went past a sand beach. We had been playing tag with our family of 4 all morning, and we saw them once again enjoying a swim here. This was another beautiful lake and we did 2 short videos which we will upload to this journal soon...The trail was fairly level and smooth for the last 1.5 miles or so until we reached Carrying Place Rd.
Date: 2009-09-07
From: Caribou Valley Road

To: Maine Rt 27
Miles today: 8.3

Access:South--Caribou Valley Road--From Kingfield go north about 16 miles and turn left on an unmarked dirt road. This is about 1 mi north of the Sugarloaf Ski Area Access Rd. This road was very bad...a lot of pot holes and rocks sticking up. It would best be done with a high-clearance vehicle. It is a total of 4.3 mi in to the AT. We were only able to drive 3.8 mi due to the road condition and a couple of bad bridges. The drive time for the 3.8 mi was 30 min.North--Maine Rt 27. The trailhead parking is approx 18 mi north of Kingfield on the lefthand side or 5.2 mi from Stratton on the righthand side. The Hike:On our ride up Caribou Valley Rd today we saw a female moose and her calf crossing the road. They went up the hill a little bit and looked at us. We went for our camera, but by the time we got it they decided to move on.The trail starts out climbing pretty aggressively for about a mile to the Crocker Cirque Campsite. From there it begins a very steep climb over an extensive rock slide. There were several places that had beautiful views off to the east. The trail climbs 1,400' from the campsite to South Crocker Peak in 1.1 miles! Most of this elevation gain is in the first 1/2 mi on the rock slide. 'Breathtaking views' take on a new meaning here! The last 1/2 mile to the peak was a lot less strenuous. When we reached the AT sign on South Crocker Peak, elevation 4,010' we were disappointed to find that we were in the middle of the woods with no view. A side trail led to the actual peak with a partial view of Sugarloaf Mt over the tops of the trees. About this point Bugsy went onto one of his rants about how they should cut the trees and give the hikers some well-deserved views at the tops of the mountains. C'mon...they are scraggly looking trees anyway!We went down an easy 400' to the saddle between N and S Crocker and then up an equally easy 600' to N Crocker. The 2 mountain tops are a mile apart. N Crocker's summit is 4,228'. Again with no views and Bugsy, with another rant!A side trail did lead over to an area where we could look out onto S Crocker and Saddleback Mt. (our destination tomorrow). We started down Bugsy heard a fluttering of wing as we flushed a bird out of the woods. The bird flew down the trail and about 10' up into a tree. Bugsy got a nice video which we will post here in the next couple of days. It was either a ruffed grouse or a spruce goose. We sat, had a snack, and met up with a NOBO, Woodsmoke. We hiked with him for the rest of the day and traded trail stories. As we came down off of N Crocker, there were limited views on the trail through the trees to Stratton, ME. The rest of the walk to Rt 27 was through trees with no views and was a relatively easy down...much easier than the trail map indicated.
Date: 2009-09-17
From: Perham Stream Logging Road, ME

To: Caribou Valley Road (dirt)
Miles today: 8.5
Weather: clear sky

We're back up in Maine for (hopefully) our last time...4 more hikes to do and we will be done the 281 rugged Maine miles! Having said that the weather is just gorgeous now and all of the mosquitoes will probably have met a violent death! We look forward to Fall hiking this week...We are based in Rangeley now, the most central spot for our day hikes, but we will have some massive car plants to do and we are hoping not to have to do a zero day just to do a car plant...we will see.Access:South--Perham Stream Logging Road--This was a 1 hr/10 min car plant. They had just re-graded the dirt road here so we were lucky that they were gone and we could drive in.North--Caribou Valley Road--see write up of last week...this is a brutal drive up about 4 miles/30 min! Bugsy had to get out twice at the 'shaky' bridges and direct Burly Girl over them...yikes!The Hike:When we left our truck, we went up over 1000' in less than a mile to Lone Mt. The next 2 mi were relaively level and we made great time to Spaulding Mt Lean To where we had a snack (next to a smoldering fire!). It was then up 950' to Spaulding Mt and 500' down in .5 mi We then had a nice view of Sugarloaf Mt and the valley below from a short side trail. The next mile was steep and we had views over to Crocker Mt (where we had had no views the other day), Saddleback, and the Redington Pond Range.Had lunch on some ledges (the old AT) with great views. The last mile was very steep down (1000' in .5 mi!) with a number of 'sit and slides' and tree hugging...then .5 mi walk down Caribou Valley Rd to our car.We have to admit that we had a decadent 2pm beer at the White Wolf Tavern in Stafford as this is such an AT town AND we were thankful to have survived the Caribou Valley Road (x3!!!). Home to Rangeley...Burly Girl and Bugsy...doing the AT one day at a time...
Date: 2009-09-18
From: Saddleback Mt

To: Perham Stream Logging Road
Miles today: 9.7

Access:South--Saddleback Mt. Again we climbed the Gray Ghost Ski Trail 1.7 miles straight up to where the AT goes over Saddleback. This time Burly Girl had a $20 bill in her pocket to see if we could bribe the crew that was widening the ski slope to give us a lift up. We were so early (6:20) that they weren't on the mountain yet...oh well. We were almost too early for sunrise which was at 6:18 this morning.North--Perham Stream Logging Road. We had left the car here from the hike yesterday.The Hike: This was a long, difficult hike with 3 major peaks, hence the early start. We did the hike up Gray Ghost Ski Trail in the same time as last week--1hr/15 min. Today was cool and blustery and again the mt was socked in with fog. It was windier at the top than the last time and we were sure that the gusts were 50 mph!We walked the ridge, then descended steeply (sit and slide), then back up steeply to the second peak, The Horn. The wind was unnerving. Another steep down to a col, but at least we went below treeline for a while. As we hiked down from The Horn, we could look across and see that Saddleback Jr, our next peak was clear on top.However, when we got up there after a rather steep climb, it too was socked in with fog and it started to sprinkle. And the wind seemed stronger than when we were on Saddleback. In short, there was nothing 'junior' about Saddleback Junior! We crouched down walking to avoid being blown off the mt and got off the top fast!We got to Poplar Ridge Lean To by 11:30 and had lunch, happy to have survived all 3 peaks. After lunch we had a gradual uphill to Poplar Ridge where we had a nice view to the south and could see sun in the valley. We went steeply down for 1500' to Orbeton Stream. The water level was down, so no ford today. But just over the stream we did a hand-over-hand up a 150' cliff!There was a beautiful waterfall that fed the stream below. We then followed Sluice Brook for almost a mile through a very nice woods. We crossed Perham Stream and were back to the car. The weather forecast was iffy today, but we took a chance and all worked out!Burly Girl and Bugsy...doing the AT one day at a time...
Date: 2009-09-19
From: Maine Rt 17

To: Maine Rt 4
Miles today: 13.1

Access:South--Maine Rt 17. This was about 1/2 hr north and west of Rangeley and easy to get to. It is a scenic overlook on Rt 17 so there is space for quite a few cars.North--Maine Rt 4. This is an AT hiker lot south of Rangeley and space for 20 cars.The Hike:A 6:30am start! It was a hand-over-hand climb from Rt 17 up and over Spruce Mt. It was chilly and very windy until we got well into the woods. Today was a 'pond' hike...we passed by five beautiful ponds (in NJ we call these lakes!).After Spruce Mt the trail leveled and we passed by Moxie Pond, then a good climb up to Bates Ledges. From there we had a nice view down to Long Pond. We then went down steeply, but thanks to MATC, it was on 100+ beautiful stone steps! Our morning break and first stop of the day was at Sabbath Day Pond Lean To. Another pretty pond.We crossed an old fire road that we had tried to locate to break up this hike (overgrown) and up to the high point of today (unnamed mt with no views). Then it was down 2 miles to Little Swift River Pond Campsite where we had lunch overlooking the lake. MATC had 2.5 canoes here (one was totally trashed) for the use of hikers...how nice. But we decided to save our energy and keep hiking so it was down and around a huge bog and on to South Pond where we saw another canoe. No moose sitings today, although the guide book said that they are plentiful in this area due to the ponds.We went over another high point where we got good views of Saddleback and Sugarloaf and finished this 13 miler in 8 hours.Burly Girl and Bugsy...doing the AT one day at a time...
Date: 2009-09-20
From: South Arm Road

To: Maine Rt 17
Miles today: 13.3

Access:South--South Arm Road (near Andover). A very long car plant from Rangeley. This would have been a better hike out of Bethel. We left Rangeley at 5:30am, went north and west to the car parked at Rt 17, switched cars, and continued on to South Arm Rd where we had left off earlier in the summer. There is parking on the side of the road for about 4 cars. On the way in, we saw a moose the size of our car and got several good pictures! North--Rt 17. See yesterday's hike.The Hike:The day started out cold and windy, but became a beautiful sunny day. The first mile of the hike from South Arm Rd was vertical and very difficult. There were some level spots and we got to stop, catch our breath, and look back across the valley to Moody Mt which we had done earlier this summer. Then it was another vertical to the top of Old Blue Mt. These first 2.8 mi to the top of Old Blue took us 2.5 hr and was an elevation gain of 2200'! There were some views from the top, but many small pine trees gave it an overgrown feeling.The down was very steep and the next 2 mi were confusing as neither of the next 2 mountaintops were marked (Elephant and Bemis) and we didn't know exactly where we were. We plopped down in the middle of the trail for lunch just south of Bemis Mt peak.It was another steep descent off Bemis Mt, then up to Third Peak where we had some views to the north. We stopped off at Bemis Mt Lean To and had a 2nd lunch at 2. Then it was on to Second Peak on rock slabs with great views in all directions. The sun was out, the breezes blowing, and the hiking was certainly easier than this morning. After reaching First Peak we had a steep 1.5 mi drop into the valley where we crossed Bemis Stream...all rocks, very little water. The final 3/4 mi was straight uphill to our car on Rt 17...a fitting and exhausting way to end Maine! This hike was 10.5 hr. During the last mile we had met Sideshow, a NOBO 'minimalist' (his pack was smaller than our day packs!) and gave him a ride to Rangeley. He has none of his winter gear with him so it was good that he is staying in a heated place!Burly Girl and Bugsy...doing the AT one day at a time...