morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2018-08-22
From: Stealth site at mile 199.5

To: Poplar Ridge Lean-to
Miles today: 10.3

Today was a pretty unpleasant day. We got an early start - at 7:05 - because rain was forecasted to start around 9. We got everything packed up dry, ate a some breakfast crackers and a power bar and headed to Spaulding Mountain lean-to, 2.2 miles down the trail, for a hot breakfast. Along the way, we passed the 200 mile mark. There¢s a bronze plaque there commemorating the completion of the trail at that point in 1937.I walked ahead of Butterfly so I could get water going for tea and have it ready when she arrived. Lelu and Bruce Willis were at the at lean-to. We hadn¢t seen her since last Friday, though we had seen Bruce¢s paw prints in the mud at various places on the trail yesterday afternoon. Lelu was discouraged by Maine and the weather and was talking about skipping the rest of Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont.  It began to rain while we had breakfast in the lean-to, and we had a hard time leaving the comfort there for what we knew would be a wet day. We decided to push on, though, because the forecast indicated that the rain would end around sunset and that tomorrow would be clear and sunny. So the thought process was: tent and everything in our packs is dry and will stay dry during the rain; we¢ll get wet but will be warm because of the exertion of hiking; rain will tail off toward the end of the day so we will be able to set up the tent dry. That was the thinking, and that¢s pretty much how it worked out.We got back on the trail again at 10:25 and slogged it out. It rained most of the day, and long before we reached Poplar Ridge lean-to at 4:30, we were soaked through and through. We had to ford a small river around 2 PM, and we didn¢t even bother to change shoes. We also didn¢t bother with lunch, but did snack on trail food throughout the day. There was space for only one more person in the lean-to, but we prefer our tent anyway.We are camped behind the lean-to on a level piece of ground. The rain had stopped for about an hour before we arrived, but started again just as we began to set up the tent. We managed to get the fly and footprint up quickly as the rain started, and we threw everything under the fly just in time. Laura waited in the lean-to while I then put the tent up from under the fly. It¢s a neat trick made possible by the Bog Agnes tent design. Once we got cozy in the tent, we had tea, lunch and dinner.  The rain has stopped, now, and the wind is blowing, but I don¢t think things will dry out much overnight as we are at cloud level. We¢ll see. For now, we are safe, we¢ll fed, warm and dry and I see a little moonlight on the tent as well.I am thankful that we made it through the day safely and for Butterly¢s courage.
Date: 2018-08-24
From: Rangeley 

To: Rangeley
Miles today: 0.0

Huckleberry¢s theory on why there are no switchbacks in Maine: When the Civilian Conservation Core built the trail in the 1930s, it could only afford enough white paint to blaze 280 miles. (AT hikers have all gotten that joke, but for those of you not familiar with the AT, a little explanation might help - despite the maxim that if you have to explain a joke, it¢s not funny. The AT is marked with white blazes on trees and rocks every so often so that we know we are on trail. Adding switchbacks to all the ascents and descents in Maine would have increased the length of the trail in Maine by at least a factor of two and would have required more whit paint.) Here¢s one I heard from a NoBo through hiker: The trail in Maine is like the people - straight forward and to the point.We slept in today and took it easy so as to give Butterfly¢s calf some time to heal. As we were leaving our wonderful cottage to walk the half mile to downtown Rangeley for breakfast, Stacy was as well, so she gave us a ride. We had breakfast at the bagel shop and relaxed there for a while before slowly walking around town. We napped in the afternoon and returned to downtown so I could use the coffee shop¢s WiFi to update our journal. Afterward, we went to the Red Onion for dinner - a big fresh veggie salad, liver and onions for me, pizza for Butterfly. We then walked up to the IGA to get a sandwich for me to have tomorrow, as I will be slack packing 13 miles while Butterfly takes another day to heal her calf. On the way, we again appreciated the sunset over Lake Rangeley.Rangeley is by far the best trail town we have encountered this year. Lots of good restaurants, very friendly people, an IGA grocery store. We are both extremely grateful for this town and the great cottage we are staying in.
Date: 2018-08-26
From: Maine RT 17

To: South Arm Road and Andover
Miles today: 13.3

Today I slack packed again - this time south bound from Maine RT 17 to South Arm Road where a shuttle picked me up and drove me to the Pine Ellis Hostel in Andover where Butterfly had been shuttled earlier in the day. Stacy of Fieldstone Cottages again shuttled me to the trailhead. We had a very nice stay at Fieldstone and thank Stacy and her crew for that.  The hike today had some so-so views that I¢m sure would have been better but for the clouds. The hiking itself was tougher because of poor trail conditions, and I met several discouraged NoBo through hikers. I talked with one of them, Pappa J from Tennessee who had started at the end of March and was contemplating quitting because ¢it¢s just not fun anymore.¢ He was fatigued and fed up with the Maine trails. We talked for about 45 minutes near the top of Bemis Mountain¢s second peak (there¢s two summits on Bemis) and I encouraged him to eat more and to take his time. I¢m not sure I helped, but I sure hope you finish Pappa J.Though today¢s hike was about the same length as yesterday, it was much harder. The last six tenths of a mile featured an 860 foot drop in the rain. Not fun. My knees are barking tonight.Butterfly was waiting with goodies when I arrived at the hostel. She feels she needs another day or so to heal, so we will take another zero tomorrow.
Date: 2018-08-27
From: Andover, ME

To: Andover, ME
Miles today: 0.0

The forest is just beginning to change. There are red maple leaves here and there, much of the trillium is yellowing as is the False Solomon¢s Seal.  The days are also noticeably shorter than when we started just 3.5 weeks ago. Summer temperatures still predominate, but we expect them to change soon.Butterfly has gotten some KT tape and is doing all she can to help her calf heal, but it just takes time. We went for a four mile walk on roads around Andover and her leg loosened up and felt good after that, but she does not think she¢s ready for the trail yet. The plan is I will slack pack tomorrow and she will again do some road walking. She does feel it healing, but does not want to do too much too fast. If she is up to it, she will slack pack with me for about 10 miles on Wednesday.
Date: 2018-08-28
From: South Arm Road and Andover

To: East B Hill Road and Andover
Miles today: 10.1

I got an early (7:30) start on a tough 10 mile slack pack. The first few miles were tough: steep, thousand foot ascent of Moody Mountain, really steep 1400 foot descent, then a steep 1600 foot ascent of Hall Mountain. All that in 4.1 miles. Average grade: 980 ft/mile. I¢m glad I was slack packing that portion of the trail.From Hall Mountain to East B. Hill Road, the trail was actually pretty nice. I stopped about an hour for lunch and still finished by 1:30. There wasn¢t much in the way of views today, and it was mostly cloudy all day. My photo today was taken near the top of Moody Mt. I love the way the low, early morning clouds wisp through the valleys and hug the mountains.Butterfly is still not sure she¢s going to be able to hike tomorrow. On yesterday¢s walk, she used light compression socks, and she thinks they helped. She got a massage this morning, and the therapist spent a good deal of time on her hurt calf. She also went for a four mile road after I returned from my slack pack hike, and she used KT tape as suggested by Our good friend and Olympic Decathlon coach Josh Priester. After her walk, she said it felt better, but not 100 %. After taking a shower, Butterfly noticed that the knot in her calf was gone.  There was obvious fluid release on the side and back of her calf. We¢re not sure if this is good or bad.  Our plan is to see if she can manage 10 miles of slack packing on the trail tomorrow. We¢ll start at East B Hill Road (where I finished today) and end at Grafton Notch (Maine RT 26). The afternoon shuttle will have our backpacks. If she feels good after the 10 mile slack pack, we¢ll continue about a mile from Grafton Notch to a stealth site for the night. If her calf acts up again, we¢ll head back to Andover and figure out what to do next.Injuries on the trail are tough. Butterfly is frustrated, and we are both unsure what to do. We pray that
Date: 2018-08-29
From: East B Hill Road and Andover

To: Stealth site at mile 268.1
Miles today: 11.2

Great news! Butterfly flies again! Her calf is doing great!We awoke at 5:45 and went to Mill Market for breakfast. We were dropped of at about 7:30 at the trailhead and began the more gradual ascent (by Maine standards) of Baldplate Mountain. We made good time and, thankfully, Butterfly¢s calf was feeling good; according to Butterfly, it was 90 to 95 %. At our mid-morning rest stop, I noticed a toad in a hole in a rock - today¢s pic.As we approached the summit of Baldplate¢s East peak (it has two peaks) we met a young woman named Red (guess what color her hair is) who is SoBo - started at Katahdin August 11. She¢s really delightful, and we hiked with her much of the rest of the day.  We arrived at Grafton Notch at 3:30 and got a little trail magic in the form of somewhat cold Pepsi¢s that some nice angel had left in a cooler at the trail head. Gloria, the shuttle driver, arrived at 4:00 with our backpacks, and we began phase two of the Butterfly calf test: hiking with a full backpack.  The hike south from Grafton Notch to our intended campsite was only a mile, but it was about an 800 foot elevation gain, and I was keeping my fingers crossed that Butterfly¢s calf would not give her any issues. Fortunately, it didn¢t, and she was able to move up the trail at her usual pace.We are camped at a stealth site next to a brook about a third of the way up Old Speck Mountain. Red set up her hammock a few hundred feet up trail from us, but came down and cooked dinner with us. We heard thunder as we ate, the wind picked up, and it started to rain at 7:15. We grabbed everything, jumped in the tent and listened to Huckleberry Finn and the rain on the tent. We are thankful to be on the trail together again and to be safe, warm and dry.
Date: 2018-08-30
From: Stealth site at mile 268.1

To: Campsite at 274.2
Miles today: 6.1

The forecast yesterday indicated a chance of thunderstorms between 5 and 7 PM followed by clear skies and cooling temperatures, going down to the upper 40s, overnight. The thunderstorm began at 7:15 and turned into intermittent showers that lasted well into this morning. We were hot and sticky in our tent much of the night, and while the temps did drop toward morning, I don¢t think they ever got below 60 degrees.We took the morning rain as a sign to sleep in. The rain ended at about 8 and we got on the trail at 10. We began by climbing the remaining 1700 feet up Old Speck Mountain. Butterfly powered up the 2.6 mile hill beautifully, summiting shortly after noon where we were greeted by strong winds and wet clouds. We got off the summit as quickly as we could - which was 1.25 mph at best due to slippery, sloping, rocky trail conditions. We stopped in at Speck Pond Shelter for lunch - beautiful spot and beautiful new shelter. After contemplating staying there for the night, we chose to move on and tackle The Arm as it was still before 3.The Arm is a very steep potion of the trail which, since we¢re Southbound, we had to go down. It a 1600 foot drop in 1.5 miles. It was very slow going as expected. Near the bottom, we crossed a brook where we filled all our water containers and then hiked 3 tenths of a mile to a great campsite. After finishing The Arm, Butterfly said her calf is feeling good.We¢re sharing the site tonight with a young, through-hiking couple that did the Mahoosuc Notch today. The Mahoosuc Notch is considered the toughest and/or the funnest section of the trail. It¢s 1 mile of huge boulders piled up in a ravine between two very steep mountains, and hikers have to climb over. Under and around them. We¢ll do the Notch first thing in the morning. Butterfly has been anxious about the Notch for some time based on its description and some accounts from NoBos. The couple we are sharing the site with tonight say it was fun.I¢m thankful that Butterfly¢s calf is healed, for making it down The Arm safely and for a flat campsite. We are safe, warm and dry.
Date: 2018-08-31
From: Campsite at 274.2

To: Carlo Col Shelter
Miles today: 7.1

I¢ve remarked before about all the mushrooms we¢ve seen along the trail in Maine and have included pictures of some of them in my journal. We¢ve seen mushrooms of every color of the rainbow except for green, and in conversation with others I¢ve said just that. Well, this morning before hitting the trail, I had to go talk to a man about a horse. While I was conducting business, I looked down a couple feet in front of me and there was a colony of little green mushrooms. Check them out in the photo section.We left camp at 8:50 and started the Mahoosuc Notch shortly after 9. The Notch is a deep ravine between two mountains that¢s piled high with boulders of all shapes and sizes that hikers need to climb over, under and through. Butterfly had been anxious for days about the Notch - anxiety stoked by stories from NoBos who had already done it, but also because of her calf issue. As it turned out, it was a lot of fun for both of us and took us two hours and ten minutes to complete. (Butterfly would like me to note that our time would have been under two hours if I hadn¢t stopped to talk to so many people.) A shout out to Duo, a NoBo who we met in the Notch who recognized us from our trail journal. After getting through it, we climbed out of the Notch - pretty much straight up - 950 feet in a mile. Once atop Fulling Mill Mountain, Butterfly asked why this climb didn¢t have a name. I suggested, and she accepted, ¢The Nostril¢ - after she rejected my first suggestion.Much of today¢s hike was ridge walking between Fulling Mill Mountain and the various peaks of Goose Eye Mountain - the North, East and West peaks. All are balds. The weather was excellent and we could see Mt Washington to the southwest and places that we¢ve hiked already to the northeast. A freshman orientation group from Bates College shared the trail with us and we played leap frog with them throughout the afternoon all the way to Carlo Col Shelter and Campground. Our picture today is courtesy of one of the students who offered to take our picture at lunch.In part because of the beauty of the day and the hike, we took our time and arrived at Carlo Col Shelter about 20 minutes before sunset. I set up the tent on a wood platform at the site while Laura got and purified water. We cooked dinner in the waning daylight and were in the tent shortly after eight. It¢s going to be pretty cool tonight. We still have just one sleeping bag which we use as a quilt, but tonight is really too cool for this approach. I¢ll be getting my sleeping bag in a couple days, but tonight am kept warm by my puffy.Today was really wonderful, and I am so thankful it. One of those days when all creation conspires to imprint a powerful memory - one that even a 58 year old brain will remember and cherish
Date: 2018-09-01
From: Carlo Col Shelter

To: Page Pond
Miles today: 9.1

We finished Maine today! Half a mile into today¢s hike, we hit the ME/NH boarder. The day was mostly cloudy and cool. The hiking was uneventful except for Mt Success - a broad summit with glacier smoothed granite where we paused for a long morning break and had fun talking to other hikers. There were a lot of short ups and downs and a lot of bogs today making progress slow.  We ended our day today at about 4:30 on the banks of Page Pond. It looks like the perfect spot to see a moose - a large, shallow, mountain pond with lots of aquatic plants. There are moose tracks in the mud on the edge of the pond. We set up the tent on a large, flat piece of granite near the trail and cooked our dinner at a spot on the waters edge that provided a view of the entire pond. Unfortunately, no moose came to the party.It¢s getting dark, and starting to rain a bit. A few late hikers have passed our tent with their headlamps on, probably heading to the shelter a mile south. We are thankful to have each other and to be in New Hampshire.
Date: 2018-09-02
From: Page Pond

To: Rattle River Lodge 
Miles today: 7.8

Today was a fairly easy, downhill hike to the Rattle River Hostel. We stopped at a ledge overlooking the Androscoggin River valley and read the Sunday readings to each other, discussed them and talked about my father who, were he still alive, would be 90 years old today. My father passed along his love of nature and hiking to me, for which I am very thankful. We arrived at the hostel at 1 PM, immediately showered, took our things to our room and then got on the shuttle to Walmart to get lunch and groceries for the next few days of hiking. We¢ve decided that we will hike the next 21 miles in reverse - meaning we¢ll hike north bound from Pinkham Notch to The Rattle River Hostel. The hostel has a 7 AM shuttle south to Pinkham Notch
Date: 2018-09-03
From: Pinkham Notch

To: Carter Notch Hut
Miles today: 5.9

We took the 7AM Rattle River Lodge Shuttle to Pinkham Notch. Looked around the visitor center a bit, then started northbound on the trail. After meandering along Ellis River and Lost apond, the trail took a left turn and we went up 2000 feet over the next two miles to the top of Wildcat Mountain, D Peak. There¢s a ski resort on Wildcat with a gondola that ends its run near the summit. Butterfly and I arrived at the gondola station at 11:15. The views from this point are great, so we found a flat rock to sit on for the next hour and ate our lunch. The gondola operates year round, so there were a number of families out enjoying the great weather and views of the Presidential Range. Mt Washington had a big dome of clouds sitting atop it. We watched as it slowly cleared. Unbeknownst to us, a woman with young children captured the moment for us and later offered us the photo. She somehow managed to capture us at a moment when no other folks were in the frame.After lunch, we walked along the Wildcat range, peaks C, B ands A, and then descended to Carter Notch Hut - our destination for the day. The Huts were built and are maintained and staffed by the Appalachian Mountain Club. Carter Notch Hut is the oldest of the huts, built in 1914.  There were only 6 guests scheduled to be here tonight, so we got a six bed bunk room to ourselves. We arrived before 3, so had some free time before dinner at 6. I went for a nice long swim in one of the two ponds, and we relaxed. Dinner was a vegetarian curry dish on quinoa with a salad and freshly baked bread. It was great to have plentiful, fresh vegetables for dinner - a luxury on the trail.  We were in bed by 8:30 and are enjoying a thunderstorm. We are thankful for a beautiful day of hiking, for the White Mountain Huts, for vegetables. And I am thankful for a long refreshing swim in a clear mountain pond.
Date: 2018-09-04
From: Carter Notch Hut

To: Rattle River Lodge 
Miles today: 15.3

Breakfast at 7 - left Carter Notch Hut shortly after. Climb out of Notch was 1500 feet in 1.2 miles to top of Carter Dome. Knocked it out in 1 hour. Today¢s hike was 6200 feet elevation gain and 3600 feet of loss. Lots of great views as we walked along the Carter Range and Mt Moriah. The descent from Mt Moruah was long and, though the trail was in pretty good condition, the first 3 miles were hard on our knees. The last three miles, however, were a delightful walk along what must have been a dirt road along the Rattle River back to the Rattle River Lodge. We arrived right at sunset - 7:15.
Date: 2018-09-07
From: Madison Spring Hut 

To: Lakes of the Clouds Hut 
Miles today: 7.2

Today¢s hike took us along the ridge of the presidential range past Mounts Adams, Jefferson, Clay and up to the summit of Mt Washington at 6288 feet. The entire hike was above the tree line, so we had great views all day long.The crew at each of the AMC Huts provides the day¢s weather forecast after breakfast each morning. Today was perhaps the best day of the year on the ridge. Visibility, at 110 miles, was the best this year. It was sunny all day with temperatures in the 50s and 60s, light winds and no chance of rain. It was a perfect day. We hiked with Wet Sticks off and on during the day. Wet Sticks is a flip flop through hiker from Tennessee who¢s trail name comes from his ability to get fires going - even with wet sticks - for the first 26 days of his hike. He¢s a particularly outgoing guy who recognized that there¢s nothing like a good fire to get people to come together and open up to one another. Kudos to Wet Sticks for that.Hiking on the ridge is slow because it¢s mostly rocks but the trail is well maintained. There are plenty of flat rocks to step on - not the random arrangement of yesterday¢s trail. We took our time and enjoyed the views. , but reached Mt Washington for lunch, leaving 1.4 miles from summit to the Lakes of the Clouds Hut on the saddle between Mt Washington and Mt Monroe.  After lunch in the cafeteria at the summit, we checked out the museum. The weather station on Mt Washington in 1937 recorded the highest velocity surface winds on record: 231 mph. The summit of Mt Washington is sunny only 40 days a year on average. Today was not an average day on Mt Washington.We arrived at the hut at about 3:30 and I secured the best bunks I could in a bunk room that sleeps 18. After relaxing outside in the sun - drying clothes that were still wet from yesterday and letting our feet get some fresh air - we enjoyed a dinner of black bean soup, salad, garlic bread, chicken, couscous, vegetables and white cake for dessert. The sunset was again spectacular from this vantage, though perhaps not as special to us as last night¢s. Butterfly and I turned in early - shortly before 8. I worked on my journal a bit and then nodded off. I was awoken at 11:45 by snoring, so took the opportunity to finish today¢s entry and attempt to upload yesterday¢s and today¢s. Unfortunately, the cell signal here in the bunk room isn¢t strong enough, so the uploading will have to wait until tomorrow. Meanwhile, I¢m listening to Aaron Copeland¢s Appalachian Spring - kind of appropriate.