morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2009-06-27
From: Rt 91/Cross Mt Rd TN

To: Watauga Dam Road TN
Miles today: 15.8

Trail Access:We are accessing this trail from Elizabethton, TN. Watauga Dam Rd is accessed off of Rt 91, just outside of Elizabethton. We placed a car there yesterday afternoon (small parking area for 6 cars).Rt 91 (the northern end) is a USFS parking lot, approx. 20 miles north of Elizabethton.Prelude:Before we get into the hike, Bugsy has been nervous about doing this stretch because of the distance of 15.8 miles (remember, we are splitting up sections of the trail and doing 'doable' day hikes to avoid sleeping out). When we came down to TN this Spring, we skipped this piece until we could get our 'trail legs' after being off for the winter.The Hike:We had allotted in our trip this week up to two days to get this hike in because, due to the length, we wanted favorable weather. There was no rain forecasted for today, except for some possible evening thunderstorms. So we made the decision last night to give it a go. We got up early to beat the heat. We started our hike at 7am and within the first 1/2 hour, we lost the battle with the heat/humidity and were drenched. The temperature today reached 90 in the valley/probably 80 in the mountains. We were lucky and the first four hours we were in a cloud that hung over the mountain. Unfortunately, this eliminated any views that we could have had.The first 8 miles went very quickly due to the excellent trail. For whatever reason, probably adrenalin on Bugsy's part, we went much faster than anticipated (a good time for us is 2 mi/hr). We are enjoying the history of TN/NC along the trail. About 3 miles into the hike we saw the Nick Grindstaff Gravesite/Monument. The Grindstaff family were some of the early settlers in this area. Nick was a hermit who lived along the mountain ridge before the AT went through here.We next came to the Iron Mt Shelter. The overnight residents were in the process of eating breakfast. There were 3 section hikers (heading south) and 3 northboard AT thruhikers. We passed Turkey Pen Gap, then was Vandeventer Shelter. We rested/napped/and enjoyed the view from here out over Watauga Lake. The clouds cleared and we got some good views. Three more northbound thru hikers waved as they headed on to the next shelter. One of our pet peeves is that several of the guidebooks that we are using will talk about 'good views'. These books appear to be updated about every 10 years. When we get to the 'good view', it is overgrown with small saplings and the views are gone. We would be the first to never cut down an old tree, but PLEASE...someone...let's cut the lower branches and the new saplings so that the hikers get a view! Thanks!As we started down to Watauga Lake, the trail was very steep. A little bit later, we came to a major trail re-location...new switchbacks. At the end of the long hike, the easier down was much appreciated by our knees!If you have time, continue up Watauga Dam Road. The road leads to several wonderful viewing/picnic areas overlooking the beautiful lake. The TVA has done itself proud here! Here is a link for Wataugahttp://www.tva.gov/sites/watauga.htm
Date: 2009-07-08
From: Stecoah Gap NC

To: Nantahala Gorge/US Rt 74 NC
Miles today: 13.6

Access:We are accessing the trail this week from the NOC where we are staying (see yesteray's post). Start Point: Rt 143 2 miles in off of Rt 18 and approximately 1/2 hr from the NOC. Ending Point: The hike dumps off the mountain into the huge 'rafters' parking lot at NOC.The Hike:We got an early start (7:15am) because everything we read said that this was a strenuous hike...they were right!This hike had 1,900' of climb and 3,500' of descent...ohhh those knees!We started out from the road going uphill. We were not awake, so this was no problem. Then we went down, then WAYYYY uphill to Cheoah Bald at elevation 5,062'!! Another 5,000 footer! This is really a bald that is maintained by the USFS for views and wildlife grazing. Unfortunately, about an hour before we reached the bald, it started raining heavily and we heard our first clap of thunder. By the time we got to the bald, it was totally clouded over with no views. We dashed over the open ridge and were nervous about the thunder. Burly Girl was singing Jackson 5 songs the whole time to keep her mind off of a lightening strike. Perhaps she should have switched to 'Thriller'! What are the odds that our 2nd thunderstorm of the season would occur just as we hit 'the ridge'??? And in the morning??? We thought that thunderstorms were supposed to occur in the pm!!This hike was mostly a ridge hike following the mountain ridge up to Cheoah Bald and then another ridge down to Nantahala Gorge. The hike was like walking the back of a dinosaur! Up and down...up and down...As we were coming off of Cheoah Bald it was raining so hard that the trail was a stream of mud/water. Burly Girl almost went for a swim! As luck would have it, just about lunchtime, we came to Sassafrass Gap Shelter (this is a very nice new shelter that allowed us to sit on a bench under an overhang with a table and eat our Subway hoagies). We met 4 local hikers who were waiting out the rain, having slept there the night before. Bugsy took a nap...Burly Girl was chilled and wrapped herself in her pack cover...note to self...'do not take your dry change of clothes out of your pack for any reason'!The rain let up and we took off around 12:30 for the 2nd half of the hike. There was another up and then the LONNNNNGGG down into Nantahala. The rain started and stopped several times during the course of the afternoon. Bugsy had a case of 'angry knees' by the time we got to the bottom. It was a weird ending. We were in the middle of nowhere, and then suddenly we were in a parking lot with hundreds of kayakers and rafters.Wildlife:1 box turtle, 2 scaredy cats (during the lightening)!, 'cats and dogs' during most of the rainy day!Bugsy and Burly Girl...doing the AT one day (rainy) at a time!.
Date: 2009-07-19
From: South Arm Road ME

To: East B Hill Rd ME
Miles today: 10.1

Bugsy and Burly Girl head north once more. We have been hiking in the south to give the black flies in ME a chance to disappear. We didn't see many black flies this trip, but we did see horse flies that you could have ridden at the local rodeo plus a million mosquitoes, but more about bugs later...Trail Access:We are accessing the trail here from Bethel, ME. There are several motels and a number of nice restaurants as well as a general store, Subway, gas station, etc. We stayed at the Norseman.North: Started here on S. Arm Rd, a substantial drive from where we were staying in Bethel. North on Rt 2, Rt 5 and Rt 26 to Newry. Then we continued on Rt 2 and 5. Went through Hanover to Rt 5 N to Andover. In the center of Andover take a right onto Rt 120 and in less than a mile, turn left onto S Arm Rd. The AT crosses at about 8 miles and there is parking for several cars.South: East B Hill Rd. Same directions to Andover, but make a hard left. The AT crosses at about 8 miles and there is parking for several cars. Left the rental car here last night.The Hike:Our first hike in ME chewed us up and spit us out!! We purposely chose a difficult one to get it done while we had strength in our legs and no fear in our hearts! We had researched the hike, saw that there were 2 stream fords, so packed in our (heavy) water shoes. The first, Black Brook, could be seen from our car. Bugsy rock-hopped (hence no need for the shoes) but Burly Girl did not want to slip in so she walked in the water.The hike up Moody Mt was a killer. No switchbacks and a lot of slippery mud. Going down the other side of Moody was even worse. There had been a recent landslide and the trail had been re-located down a muddy, slippery, treacherous area under fallen trees, etc. There was a crew there working on the new trail. Thanks guys!We reached our second stream fording at the bottom of Moody Mt, Sawyer Brook, and to our delight, could just walk across the rocks. So Bugsy's water shoes were never brought out and just got a 'free' 10.1 mile ride today!From Sawyer Brook it was up, up, up for 1600' in just 1.25 mi to Hall Mt. We collapsed in Hall Mt Shelter, had lunch, left a note for our friend Larry who would spend the night here, and continued our 'adventure'. The next 1/2 mi was level (good for the digestion) and then it was up 400' to Wyman Mt. There were very few signs on this stretch of trail, so difficult to know where we were until we hit Surplus Pond. Very pretty and we took more photos. We thought it would be down and out to the car, but there was another steep 250' up before the final 1.9 mi down to the car.And we passed Larry and friend, Jonathan who were heading up to the shelter. Larry is out for 2 weeks...good luck with the roots, rocks and mud! Wow, we had forgotten what this terrain was like. Saw 6 NOBO thru hikers today.Repaired to our motel weary, but thankful that we survived Day #1. What will the rest of the week (including a possible summit of Katahdin and a beginning of the 100 Mile Wilderness) bring???
Date: 2009-07-20
From: Grafton Notch/ME Rt 26

To: East B HIll Rd ME
Miles today: 10.3

We were so tired last night we forgot to include our statistics of 7/19! We went up 3,250, down 3,150 and the day was 10 hours and 10 minutes. The beer tasted good!To compare, today's hike was up 3,050, down 3,300 and we were out for 10 hours and 20 minutes...not too shabby for flatlanders!Access (direction was south to north):South: Grafton Notch (Rt 26) was where we left off last season. We went from Bethel east on Rt 2 to Newry, then north on Rt 26 for about 12 miles to Grafton Notch. There is a huge Forest Service parking lot, privies and picnic tables here. They request a $3/pp use fee (honor system).North: East B Hill Road. See yesterday's write up. The rental car slept here last night.The Hike:We almost didn't hike today due to the strenuous nature of yesterday's hike, but we are glad that we chose to go ahead. The first 2.5 mi was very steep (almost 1000'), but unlike the morning trail yesterday, it was well-travelled, hence in much better shape. We arrived at Bald Pate Lean To where we met several thru hikers and one section hiker, Sir Woodchuck, with whom we hiked the rest of the day. He is section hiking the entire AT (he started in 1990) in honor of his good friend, Ed Garvey, an original trail preserver. Ed hung up his boots several years ago. We also met 2 groups of young hikers out for 15 days as part of an AMC program. Oh to have young legs again!The climb from the lean to to the top of West Peak and Bald Pate was quite a challenge. We hung on to trees by the side of the trail and tried to avoid the ever-present mud and wet rock slabs. The upper body also gets a workout in these parts! We climebed 1100 ft in a mile, then down 250' and up 400' to a beautiful view from the top of the East Peak of Bald Pate Mt. with 360 degree views. Another steep downhill and a slight up brought us to Little Bald Pate and lunch. The trip down the mountain was another 'tree hanger' and there were times that Burly Girl just did a 'sit and slide'. We rested at Frye Notch Lean To and then climbed Surplus Mt. The final 4 miles were a long grueling downhill to the road, but one mile in, we came to a beautiful feature not listed on any of our maps...Dunn Notch. Here we crossed a small stream, but just to our right the stream dropped off twice into the most amazing waterfall and gorge. The two drops were probably over 100'! You would never have know it was there if you didn't look over the edge!We drove Sir Woodchuck into Andover where he was to pick up a mail drop in the morning, left him at Pine Ellis hostel, and headed for Bethel/beer/bed and a ZERO tomorrow...whew!
Date: 2009-07-23
From: Rainbow Spring Camp (private)

To: Abol Bridge
Miles today: 10.0
Weather: overcast clouds

This is our first hike in the 100 Mile Wilderness!! The 100 Mile Wilderness is a remote, desolate area between Monson Maine to the south and Abol Bridge to the north. There are no paved roads that cross the AT in this 100 miles. Hikers are warned to carry enough food and supplies for 10 days because there are no places to re-supply on the trail. For years we have looking at this area and wondering how we were going to hike it without carrying heavy equipment and supplies. Until recently we had thought that we would need to spend a number of nights 'out' to do this section. As mentioned 2 days ago Bugsy discovered Katahdin Air, which has a seaplane that shuttles vacationers, fishermen, hunters, and YES, hikers into the 100 Mile Wilderness. Yee ha!!Access:South--Katahdin Air and Jim, our great pilot landed us on Rainbow Lake and we glided to a dock at a private camp where he was picking up another group (this was lucky for us as he does not always get permission to drop off 'outsiders' here). Dan at the camp was kind enough to lead us .5 mi on the camp's trail up to the AT.North--Abol Bridge.See description of 7/22.The Hike:The AT follows the western side of Rainbow Lake for a little more than 2 miles. The trail was muddy, rocky, and rooty...something new! The views through the trees was beautiful. We ran across many large erratics (boulders left by the retreating glaciers of 12,000 years ago). Soon we were climbing up to Rainbow Ledges, an easy ascent and as we reached the top, we encountered several thru hikers (amongst them, Tic, ETC and TNT) happily feasting on blueberries that they were busy picking. Right at the top we looked left and saw Mt. Katadhin in all her glory. We took several pictures, looked again, and she was lost in the clouds. We descended to Hurd Brook. Over the last month we had read in several SOBOS' trail journals that this was a difficult ford. One even called it the Ford of Doom. Lesson #2 re fords: The magnitude of each stream crossing changes in direct proportion to the amount of recent rain. We lucked out!! While it was tricky, we were able to boulder hop and walk across logs to get to the other side and the Hurd Lean To where we had lunch. After the shelter it was a rolling mostly downhill walk out to our car...but STILL rooty!
Date: 2009-07-25
From: Jo Mary Road 1.2 mi north of Pollywog Stream

To: Nahmakata Lake (access road)
Miles today: 6.0

We got a late start due to a very long car plant. These logging roads go on and on!Access:North--From Jo Mary Checkpoint, travel down Jo Mary Road for 5.9 mi to a fork in the road/take the right fork. We went 8 mi to Henderson Checkpoint (see yesterday's comments re Henderson). Then 5.5 mi to another fork/took right fork for .9 mi to another fork then took the left fork and went 4.3 mi to where the AT intersects the road. Parking for 4 cars.South--Same as the north directions, except at the last fork, take a right and go 3.1 mi to the bridge crossing Nahmakata Stream. This is called Nahmakata Lake Access Rd Hike:It was straight up 850' to Nesuntabunt Mt. We had a great view of Nahmakanta Lake and also of Pemadumcook Lake where we will be hiking tomorrow. Descended on 250 stone steps, very nice work by the Maine Trail Club! We ended up at Wadleigh Stream Lean To for a solitary lunch. We then followed the lake for the next 3 miles...literally...the trail went down to a sand beach and we then found ourselves hopping from rock to rock along the water's edge. Burly Girl slipped, landed in the lake, and then turned it into a lake hike. At least the Maine mud got washed off her boots!For whatever reason, the mud, the roots, the rocks, and the mud made us very slow today. It took us over 5 hr to cover the 6 miles. So much for our planned 1/2 off!
Date: 2009-07-27
From: White House Landing

To: Nahmakanta Lake Access Rd
Miles today: 4.6

It was sad to leave White House Landing. Access:South--By boat and a shorter hike out (than in).North--See 7/25.The Hike:The day started with rain on our metal cabin roof...what a great sound (unless you're hiking). We had been advised that breakfast would be on the table at 8am. Not wanting to miss a good thing, we were ready and waiting at 7:45! Breakfast is all you can eat...and we did! Bugsy certainly contributed what he could to eliminate the large platter of blueberry pancakes. Shortly after breakfast the rain stopped and we loaded ourselves onto Bill's boat and were treated with a ride up the lake an additional mile to the end of Mahar Tote Road. We only had to walk the .2 mi of wet/muddy road back to the trail. Almost immediately we came to Nahmakanta Stream. We were lucky and as Tic described, the water level was down and we were able to rock hop the stream. In less than a mile we came to Tumbledown Dick Stream. There is a high water blue blaze trail that you can take. When will we learn??? At this time we were walking with Greg and a NOBO thru hiker. We started across what looked like just a muddy area, but it was actually a low water version of Tumbledown Dick Stream. We watched as the NOBO sank in the mud up past his knees. He and Greg, also totally muddy, stayed the course. Bugsy and Burly Girl blazed a new trail over fallen trees through the woods. We managed to get across with mud no higher than our ankles!The rest of the hike was more of Maine's mud and roots with an occasional rock. It was slow going and we were glad to be done after almost 3 hr.We arrived at our pickup truck placed there two days before and for lunch, finished off the last 2 pieces of our White House Landing veggie pizza...mmm good...thanks Linda!!We have now completed almost 41 miles of the 100 Mile Wilderness and over 70 miles for our stay this time in Maine. Home to recharge, work, pay bills, and we will return in a week...
Date: 2009-08-06
From: W. Branch Ponds Road

To: W. Branch of Pleasant River ME
Miles today: 14.3
Weather: overcast clouds

Access:North--Very frustrating in the morning trying to find the right logging road that lead to this trailhead. Entered Katahdin Ironworks Wilderness Area and got 'directions'. Our trailhead parking was 21 miles into the wilderness area. There were many forks in the road and we made all of the correct turns but one (we ended up at a very fragile-looking bridge over a stream and decided to re-trace our steps). Finally we flagged down a logging truck--very brave of us as he was about 12 times larger than we were! He was very nice, knew the area like the back of his hand, and gave us good directions to the Logan area. During this escapade we ran head-on into about 3 other logging trucks. It was scary as the gravel roads at this point were very narrow and it was tough to decide where to pull over and get out of the way. We finally found the parking for the AT and walked .4 miles to the trailhead.South--See yesterday's hike.The Hike:This was our 'big' hike of the week unless we do Katahdin. It is up and over White Cap Mt. and several others beyond that. The initial up to Logan Brook Lean To was not as bad as it looked on the topo map. We did the 1.6 mi in an hour. From the lean to up to White Cap Mt. was very steep, but with 100s of beautiful (easy) stone steps. Kudos to the Maine AT Club for this hard work!It was a beautiful clear day and the views from White Cap Mt. were spectacular! The AT circles the summit and descends on the far side to a steep downhill, then up Hay Mt. This mountain had several peaks and a steep downhill. As this is such a popular destination, the trails were very well-maintained. We passed many other hikers today, both day hikers and section hikers.The third mountain of the day was West Peak. Again the going was steep, but downhill on the other side had nice stone steps...again, thanks MATC...by now our knees needed the break! From here the trail descended gradually to the endpoint meeting up with the Gulf Hagas Brook and following it for 5 miles down to the W Branch of the Pleasant River.We reached the river and hiked through knee-deep water to the other side and the end of our hike. We were thrilled that it was only 6:45 (we did the hike in 10 hr/20 min). Due to the many ups and downs we thought that we wouldn't finish until after dark and had brought headlamps. Yee ha!
Date: 2009-08-07
From: Kokadjo-B Pond Road

To: W. Branch Ponds Road ME
Miles today: 6.9

Access:North--We drove into the Jo Mary Wilderness and went 14.5 miles on several logging roads.South--See yesterday's hike. The Expedition slept out here last night.The Hike:We needed a breather after yesterday! The first 1.5 mi of the hike was up and over Little Boardman Mt, an. easy 700' up. After our descent, we ran into many mud bogs and hiked past Mountain View Pond--bug city!Then it was on to the East Branch of Pleasant River and a ford. We met 2 thru hikers who had just done the ford and were talking to them when it started to rain...hard! It was blowing sideways and just as we were about to brave the water, along comes a clap of thunder. They urged us to cross quickly and hike for about 10 minutes and we would come to a shelter. We did so and came to the East Branch Lean To, a beautiful, spacious shelter with skylights. We stayed for about an hour, had a nice dry lunch, and swapped trail stories with a section hiker who appeared to be putting down for the duration.The rain let up and we continued for an easy 2 miles back to the car.Burly Girl and Bugsy...doing the AT one day at a time... Access:North--We drove into the Jo Mary Wilderness and went 14.5 miles on several logging roads.South--See yesterday's hike. The Expedition slept out here last night.The Hike:We needed a breather after yesterday! The first 1.5 mi of the hike was up and over Little Boardman Mt, an. easy 700' up. After our descent, we ran into many mud bogs and hiked past Mountain View Pond--bug city!Then it was on to the East Branch of Pleasant River and a ford. We met 2 thru hikers who had just done the ford and were talking to them when it started to rain...hard! It was blowing sideways and just as we were about to brave the water, along comes a clap of thunder. They urged us to cross quickly and hike for about 10 minutes and we would come to a shelter. We did so and came to the East Branch Lean To, a beautiful, spacious shelter with skylights. We stayed for about an hour, had a nice dry lunch, and swapped trail stories with a section hiker who appeared to be putting down for the duration.The rain let up and we continued for an easy 2 miles back to the car.Burly Girl and Bugsy...doing the AT one day at a time...
Date: 2009-08-09
From: Kokadjo Road

To: Jo Mary Road
Miles today: 6.9

We were glad to be hiking today despite the pain from the ascent/descent of Katahdin yesterday...we needed to move those sore muscles!Access:South--See hike of 8/7/09...North--We drove south from Millinocket on Rt 11 to Jo Mary Wilderness Area, entered, and drove about 11 miles to the parking area before the stream where we left the truck overnight.The Hike:A late start (9am) due to the stress of yesterday! This was a relatively level hike. We passed by Crawford Pond and then rocks over the pond outflow. Got to Cooper Brook Falls Lean To at 3.2 miles. A nice fire going and we enjoyed talking with an Outward Bound leader who was there with a group of kids. Were talking Katahdin 'stuff' and he said that Outward Bound has a volunteer component which is trained to do search and rescue missions and that he had participated in several of these on Mt. Katahdin...God bless!!We then went from a great trail to bogs and mud and back to the truck. 4 hour hike.We dropped the truck off at Rt 15 north of Monson for tomorrow's hike (very long drive). Sad to say that we are done with our base at Millinocket--it was a fun little town!Burly Girl and Bugsy...doing the AT one day at a time...