morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2013-09-09
From: Franconia Notch, NH

To: Garfield Ridge Shelter
Miles today: 0.0

Today's miles for Miles: 10.3Total miles for Miles: 1046.6------------------------------Today's miles for Side: 0Total miles for Side: 705.2----------------------------- Set a wake up call but was up before it. Dressed and was down in the lobby at 6:45 for breakfast. Tried to focus on lots of calories and protein. Waffle with syrup, yogurt, banana, coffee, orange juice. Went back up to pack and figure out how I was going to get back to the trail. Was lucky and found a shuttle service who could pick me up at 8:30. So I was on the trail at 9:00. Later than I wanted but not bad given the circumstances. Had to walk about a mile to get to the trail. This was a big day starting with a 3000 foot climb,a tiny dip, then up another 1000 feet which covered Little Haystack Mountain, Mt. Lincoln, and Mt Lafayette. As I stepped out of the trees starting across Franconia Ridge, tears came to my eyes and I couldn't even speak to the woman next to me. The view up across the ridge and out both sides to mountains galore was so magnificent. This was definitely the most beautiful hike I've ever been on. It was miles climbing up and up. And then miles of steep and rocky trail climbing back down the other side. The views the entire time were just so amazing. There were many people out hiking. I tried to take pictures but they can only capture a tiny segment. Wish you all could take this hike so you would know what I mean. After dropping down 1200 feet, there was a very steep climb both up and down Mt Garfield. Saw the beginning of a beautiful sunset. By the time I got to Garfield Ridge Shelter, it was getting dark. No time to set up the tent so I stayed in the shelter with seven others. Cooked and ate in the dark. Today's hike was 10.3 miles but I was totally done in at the end. The miles in the White Mountains are hard miles so expect to see continued low mileage. Everyone is having a hard time.
Date: 2013-09-10
From: Garfield Ridge Shelter

To: Zealand Falls Hut
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

Today's miles for Miles: 9.5Total miles for Miles: 1056.1------------------------------Today's miles for Side: 0Total miles for Side: 705.2----------------------------- Got an early start from the shelter. What a surprise I got this morning when I ran into Blockade Runner. He and High Tide had tented at the shelter area but because I got in so late I never got to see them. They were out early as usual. I got held up filtering water which I hadn't had time to do last night. The first three miles weren't too bad and I reached Galehead Hut. I was not hiking well; my legs were like lead again. They had put out leftover cold oatmeal for the thruhikers. Now you may think that sounds gross but after two bowls with chocolate chips and honey, a cup of coffee, a huge slab of bread slathered with peanut butter, and a bowl of tomato soup, I felt ready to hike. As I was leaving it was raining and I read the forecast they had posted calling for likely thunderstorms, possibly severe. Oh yippie. Pulled out the phone and with work was able to get a plea out to Side to reserve a spot for me at the next hut, Zealand Falls Hut. The hut system in the Whites is a series of huts that sleep between 30 and 90 in large rooms with bunk beds. They serve dinner and breakfast. They are unheated and have no showers. Rustic living. I'm so lucky to have Side waiting in the wings to help me. The trail between those two huts was a lot of rocky down and my knees were aching. Saw three spruce grouse on the trail. Rolled into the hut just after five. Just enough time to get into dry clothes and get settled in a little before dinner at six. Ate a huge meal of soup, salad, lasagna, homemade bread and chocolate chip cookies. There were only ten staying at the hut including me, High Tide and Blockade Runner. Nice to get a little time with them. Tried planning out the next two days some but I was so tired. Eric from the hut was giving a talk on how the hut system works, but I was just too tired and had to crash.
Date: 2013-09-11
From: Zealand Falls Hut

To: Mt Webster Tenting
Miles today: 0.0

Today's miles for Miles: 11.2Total miles for Miles: 1067.3------------------------------Today's miles for Side: 0Total miles for Side: 705.2----------------------------- After getting down a short rocky trail from the hut, the first five miles of today's hike was lovely, level trail. At first it was soft earthen trail and then a stretch of so many boardwalks over very soggy areas. Went across a section of trail with huge boulders above and below. And high up on the cliffs you could see large rocks waiting their turn to roll down. I hustled across that section. Dropped down into Crawford Notch where I had to find a ride to the AMC Highland Center three miles down the road. Two trail angels appeared with fruit and veggies and gave me a ride. Got some lunch and organized the stuff Side sent me. A nice German couple who were going my way gave me a lift back to the trailhead. Since I had some food left, my pack was super heavy and I had trouble making the 2700 foot climb out of the notch. I'll be giving some away tomorrow or I won't make it up the continued climb tomorrow and the next day to Mt. Washington. Wanted to get up to the Mitzpah Hut where they have a tenting area, but the rumbling was getting serious so had to stop and set up the tent. Didn't get everything set up in time so ended up with a mess in the tent that took some time to get under control. It's been rumbling around and raining some for the last two hours. Hope it doesn't get any more serious. Think I'm in for a night of storming. Going to sleep now.
Date: 2013-09-13
From: Lake of the Clouds Hut

To: Madison Springs Hut
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Today's miles for Miles: 7Total miles for Miles: 1082.2------------------------------Today's miles for Side: 0Total miles for Side: 705.2----------------------------- Happy Birthday Bekki !!!Forgot to mention yesterday that when I got to the hut, the nice young lady who checked me in asked me where I was from. Turns out she was born in my town and her Mom was my doctor until she moved away. It truly is a small world.Woke up early this morning to start packing things up. I had wet clothes hanging everywhere in the room and of course they didn't dry at all because the huts are not heated. I swear my socks are rotting from being constantly wet and the smell is so disgusting. Just put them on wet and off I went again. Breakfast was oatmeal (seems to be a staple at the huts), homemade delicious cinnamon buns, baked eggs and veggies, homemade bread, and coffee. Finished packing up and headed out with High Tide and Blockade Runner. We had a seven mile hike lined up that included Mt Washington. The hike to the top was 1.3 miles and we made it up easily. It was totally fogged in. You could barely see the outline of the cog railway train. We grabbed something at the snack bar and headed out again. The forecast wasn't real hot for the entire day but we were all wearing our rain gear. The trail was a mess of big boulder fields. I swear I never saw so many rocks. And with the rain the rocks were slippery and treacherous. We all fell at least once but luckily didn't get injured; I'm sure there will be a few bruises tomorrow. Sometimes the wind would pick up and add to the misery. For once, my body temperature was good. Usually when you wear rain gear you sweat like crazy but today I was just fine. The miles seemed to go on forever and streams were running down the trail. What a mess. The first half of the hike I managed to keep the boots pretty dry but then forget it. They were squishing and by the end my feet were starting to get cold. We finally reached the next hut at 6:30. It was a brutal day but we completed what we set out to do. Of course there was no choice as we were above treeline and couldn't camp. We quickly changed into dry clothes and they brought us dinner which we had missed because we were late getting back. Others had a similar day and similar falls. Sure will be nice to get into a dry bed tonite. Today we hiked Mt Washington and skirted Mt Clay, Mt Jefferson and Mt Adams.
Date: 2013-09-14
From: Madison Springs Hut

To: Joe Dodge Lodge, Pinkham Notch
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

Today's miles for Miles: 7.8Total miles for Miles: 1090.0------------------------------Today's miles for Side: 0Total miles for Side: 705.2----------------------------- Another good night's sleep warm in a hut. Nice breakfast and up and out. For once I'd like to do more than just eat and sleep at the lodge. Would be nice to have a few minutes to just hang out at the place. Received trail magic in the form of a pair of socks from the sweet young lady who bunked under me. She felt sorry that all my socks were drenched and since she had a dry pair she didn't need, she left them by my boots and told me at breakfast. How kind. Today's climb up Mt Madison was another brutal climb. Huge, wet, jagged rocks, rain, and cold, gusty winds. Took us a really long time to make the first mile. Blockade Runner twisted an ankle causing him to fall. His ankle was a little sore later but he was lucky. The next two miles were pretty tough also but it was more sheltered from the wind. It was 3:00 by the time we were ready to tackle the next five miles. They weren't as bad but it was 6:30 until we finished our day's miles. We had climbed 560 feet and dropped down 3300 feet to Pinkham Notch. Double ouch on the knees. Guess what I'll be doing tomorrow. Taking ibuprofen and a big climb up a mountain. Had a moment today that Side could appreciate- hiking up a gentle grade and rammed my head into a tree branch leaning across the trail and landed right on my butt. Didn't see it because of the bill of my ball cap. Duh. Blockade Runner had to help me back up. Many stream crossings today thanks to all the rain. Hoping for a dry spell or my feet will be blistering soon.Checked into Joe Dodge Lodge so I could get a shower. Felt superb. I was told I could do laundry here also but not the case. Ended up rinsing out the stinkiest things in the sink. But they won't dry by tomorrow. High Tide and Blockade Runner went to another place to stay but had dinner with me here. Got a nice package from Side containing supplies and my warmer sleeping bag. Yes!I have to say that when we've come to New Hampshire on hiking vacations, we've hiked much easier terrain than what makes up the AT. About five more days and then we'll escape this state and head to a probably worse one.
Date: 2013-09-15
From: Joe Dodge Lodge, Pinkham Notch

To: Wildcat Mountain, Peak A, Tenting
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Today's miles for Miles: 5.0Total miles for Miles: 1095.0------------------------------Today's miles for Side: 0Total miles for Side: 705.2----------------------------- Happy 35th Anniversary to High Tide and Blockade Runner !!Had breakfast at the lodge. Went through the dropbox from Side and packed up. Took the swapped out sleeping bag over to get mailed home. Supposed to be right at freezing tomorrow night and the next. I will be so happy to have my ten degree bag. Thank you so much Side. All this took time so I didn't get on the trail until 10:15.Started down the Lost Pond Trail. It was more like the trail was lost. Hard to tell what was really the trail. Started uphill and who do I see ahead but High Tide and Blockade Runner. I had thought they might zero to celebrate their anniversary but there they were on the trail so joined up with them. Hiked up Wildcat C and Wildcat A. Wanted to get to Carter Notch Hut today but that didn't happen. We had heard the trail was particularly difficult before the hut and didn't have enough time to take that on. Where we camped we had a view down to the hut. Yep, it's going to be tough. Set up camp, ate and called it a night. It's cold already.
Date: 2013-09-16
From: Wildcat Mountain, Peak A, Tenting

To: Imp Campsite
Miles today: 0.0

Today's miles for Miles: 8.1Total miles for Miles: 1103.1------------------------------Today's miles for Side: 0Total miles for Side: 705.2----------------------------- Oh Yea¢¦. 12 of the trail completed!!!It rained lightly overnight and continued in the morning. Caused us to delay our start a little. Finally it let up and we packed up wet tents and headed out. Had a 1000 fooot descent in 0.8 miles. It was tough on the knees but not anything we couldn't handle. Stopped off at the Carter Notch Hut. They had an oatmeal chocolate chip cake available which was totally loaded with chocolate. No real coffee so hot chocolate had to do. Began the 1500 foot climb in one mile and although it was steep and tough it wasn't anything we couldn't handle. We had been given so many warnings about this section of trail that it had intimidated me. Thought I might have come to a section of trail I couldn't handle. Got to the top of Carter Dome where it was freezing cold and windy. Continued on to Mt Hight for more of the same. We did have some gorgeous views out into the mountains. Dropped down to Zeta Pass where we sat for lunch. Climbed to Middle Carter Mt and North Carter Mt. Then descended 1200 feet (oh my poor knees, where's the ibuprofen ) to Imp Campsite. Okay, this part of the trail was worth a warning. Had a lot of dropping over rock shelves where you try to find something to hold onto as you drop down. There was a long trail back to the shelter. It was getting really cold and was supposed to be in the high 20's tonight. Hurried to get settled in the shelter, filter water, cook dinner and bearbag. By the time I climbed in my sleeping bag I was super cold. It took a long time to warm up. Slept well and was really glad I didn't have a nature call in the middle of the night. Okay, tmi I suppose.
Date: 2013-09-17
From: Imp Campsite

To: US 2, Gorham, NH
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Today's miles for Miles: 8.0Total miles for Miles: 1111.1------------------------------Today's miles for Side: 0Total miles for Side: 705.2----------------------------- It was very cold last night. Thank goodness for my heavy sleeping bag. I was so cold I couldn't even journal. Woke at 5:00 and decided to stay warm until 5:30. Then got up and packed as quickly as possible. Headed back a distance to get to the trail. Had a tough 800 foot climb to Mt Moriah - cold and windy with a mucky, steep, sloppy trail climbing up rock slides and covering all kinds of rocky trail. The strangest thing happened shortly before the top. When I¢m in the woods my nose seems to run most of the time so tissues are a constant in my pocket. I wiped my nose and there was blood. And then more blood. Didn¢t even know why one side of my nose was bleeding. So I tried hiking with a tissue to my nose and holding two trekking poles. Okay, that¢s not real easy. Then High Tide took a look and realized that is was outside my nose at the base of my nostril. Did a tree limb slap me and I didn¢t realize it? Did the zipper on my rain jacket poke my nose? Or what? Who knows. But bleed it did. Finally James suggested a single layer of tissue like guys do when they cut themselves shaving. High Tide gave me a small piece of tp that I applied but the bleeding continued. And so did I ¢ no time to waste on the trail. Had a 3300 foot descent over six miles. It was a knee breaker. As the miles progressed my nose bleeding slowed but I looked like a weirdo with this bloody tp pasted to my nostril. And, oh yeah, we had to pass other hikers coming the opposite direction. Passed along the Rattle River and it's shelter. The last two miles were better trail than we've had for a while. Got down to the road at 2:05. Figures we'd be early. Side wasn't coming until 3:30. It's been so hard to predict how long the miles will take. You can never tell how hard the trail is likely to be in the Whites. We took off our boots and rain gear and stuck out our thumbs. Third car picked us up and took us right to Mount Madison Inn & Suites, our motel. Thank you Tom for the ride. Checked in (yes, the bloody tp was still pasted to my nostril) and started gathering the laundry together. My clothes so desperately needed to be washed. Side showed up and took the laundry over to the motel's guest laundry and threw them in. Then he brought us each a cold drink. What a trail angel he is. I jumped in the bathtub to soak and then showered too. Finally lost the nose tp ¢ woohoo. We all went out to dinner at J's Corner Restaurant and had a great meal and dessert. We had so many stories to share with Side. Then back to the room to plan the next leg of the trip. Exhaustion took over pretty quickly and I crashed while Side watched a little TV.
Date: 2013-09-18
From: US 2, Gorham, NH

To: US 2, Gorham, NH
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Today's miles for Miles: 8.0Total miles for Miles: 1111.1------------------------------Today's miles for Side: 0Total miles for Side: 705.2----------------------------- Woke up at 6:30 to have breakfast with High Tide and Blockade Runner, then all went to Walmart to resupply (Side had brought me a bunch of food but needed a few more items), and went back to the motel. Side and I went through my pack cleaning gear and adding food and other necessary items. Side brought my wool neck gaiter, waterproof gloves and my favorite black hoodie that I haven't worn since down south. Great, more weight in my pack. Time to find something to remove from my pack. Took out some blister remedies and some extra tp. Ooh, that all weighed a lot. Decided to pull out my short sleeve shirt and shorts also. Every bit helps. Thinking that to save weight I'm going to have to cut back on water I'm carrying and stop to filter more often. Will have to watch the guide for water sources. Took High Tide and Blockade Runner back to the trail and went back to finish my pack work. Ran back to Walmart to have my hair trimmed so that it will tangle less (oh Bekki, where are you when I need you). Went out for pizza and for a drive looking for ice cream. Fruitless on the ice cream end so settled for Dove ice cream bars (not that they aren't good). Got back to the room and did some catching up on journals. Hopped in the bathtub again since it felt so good yesterday. Had to shower to get rid of the scratching on my neck from the haircut. Went out to a nice dinner with a big, fattening dessert. Hope that makes me hike better tomorrow. Side heads home in the morning after dropping me off at the trail. Boo hoo.
Date: 2013-09-19
From: US 2, Gorham, NH

To: Gentian Pond Shelter
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Today's miles for Miles: 11.8Total miles for Miles: 1122.9------------------------------Today's miles for Side: 0Total miles for Side: 705.2----------------------------- Got up at 6:00 so we could get an early start on the day. Side had to get home to take care of the grandchildren after they got home from school. We had a nice breakfast and then headed to the trail. It was hard for me to not just get back in the car and head home with Side. One day to spend together when he comes is just not enough. My emotions continued to get the better of me throughout the day. Today's hike was easier than it has been so I was able to get in more miles. And the weather was really nice. But my pack felt so heavy. I had gotten the rest of my cold weather clothes and resupplied for 4.5 days. My pack was bothering my lower back due to the weight. Hiked Mt Hayes, Cascade Mountain, and Wocket Ledge. Had lunch at Dream Lake. Decided to stay at Gentian Pond Shelter even though I could have hiked further. Just wasn't sure I'd be able to find a place to camp further up the trail.   Got to talk to Side, Kim, Jilli, and Robert. It was nice to get to camp early for a change and be in my sleeping bag before dark. A couple showed up and guess they are going to tent. Hoping to get an early start in the morning.
Date: 2013-09-20
From: Gentian Pond Shelter

To: Full Goose Shelter
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Today's miles for Miles: 9.6Total miles for Miles: 1132.5------------------------------Today's miles for Side: 0Total miles for Side: 705.2----------------------------- Got up at 5:20 and started quietly packing since there was another hiker in the shelter. Started hiking and about a mile out stopped to filter water and have breakfast. Hiked up and down Mt        Success. At about five miles into the hike I passed the NH / Maine sign. Yeah, finished another state. Finally got to the Carlo Col Shelter and even though it was 0.3 miles down to the shelter, I had to go to get water. Hiked Mt Carlo, Goose Eye mountain's west, east, and north peaks. Today's trail was rocks of all kinds and rock ledges. There was never a nice part of the trail. It took forever to make the 9.6 miles to the Full Goose Shelter. My feet were killing me, my knees were killing me. I was way ready to be done with the trail. There were many wooden planks, flat wooden ladders, and rebar to help you on the steeper sections. But not nearly enough. It was just plain a tough section of trail. At one place I had to lower my backpack down with rope. And apparently the next two days are even worse. Yikes. Not looking forward to tomorrow when I have to go through Mahoosuc Notch which has huge boulders you have to get through. Hope I get out in one piece.