morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2017-08-16
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Wednesday, August 16. So far my daughter has not given birth to her child that was due on August 11. As I have stated earlier, in my blog, I left the trail on August 6 to come home and be with Jenny until she delivers her baby. She has seen the doctor today and if she does not deliver by Friday, the 18th, then the doctor recommends that she be induced on that day. I am missing the trail immensely but will soon be back at it right after the baby is born. I apologize for people watching my blog and not receiving any updates but I have been very tired since I've gotten home as well as trying to reorganize my pack for the final leg of my trip.The plan, as it stands now, would be that I would leave home on Sunday, drive to Madison, where I would meet my brother and we would drive together out to New York State. There my brother and I would hike for the next two weeks and cover New York, Connecticut and get into Massachusetts. At that point, I will need to evaluate where and when I should do a flip-flop. We would then go to Katahdin and start hiking south. As many people know, the state of Maine will close Baxter State Park on or before October 15. It is in Baxter State Park that the mountain Katahdin resides and thus if they close the park on or before the 15th, I may not be able to summit Katahdin at that time and then I would not be able to finish my thru-hike this year. That is why I would do a flip-flop sometime in September. The most pressing thing right now would be Jenny and that little nugget. That's what we are calling the child till she gives birth. Then it will get a proper name.
Date: 2017-08-20
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Saturday, August 19. Well the moment has finally arrived. At 2:15 this afternoon my daughter gave birth to a beautiful 7 lbs. 10 oz. baby girl. She had quite a time of it but she's a trooper and did very well. Mother, daughter and coach, Peter, are all doing fine. 4 hours was a long time of pushing.Speaking of pushing, I will need to push to start on Wed. More later.
Date: 2017-08-22
From: Highway 22. 

To: Wiley Shelter
Miles today: 5.7
Weather: broken clouds

August 22. Yesterday, Val. (He's my brother), and I drove down to the New York, New Jersey state line and spent the night in the Scottish motel, woke this morning at 6 o'clock, had breakfast and drove to Wingdale New York to start our hike today.On our way to Wingdale we passed a NY deli and Needless to say I had to stop and get my Taylor ham sandwich. That sandwich was my lunch today. After that we went and parked the car and started hiking. The goal was Wiley Shelter. Made it here at about 2 pm and spent the afternoon talking and just relaxing. Good way to get my hiking legs back in shape. The knees seem to be a little sore or weak. Time for some vitamin I, (ibuprofen). I guess the Total distance was only 5.7 miles. Hikers call that a nero. That would be a low mileage day, as opposed to a zero, which is a no mileage day. Tomorrow we will try for a 12 miler. Also we will come across another deli and a Taylor Ham sandwich.
Date: 2017-08-23
From: Wiley Shelter

To: Mt. Algo Shelter
Miles today: 12.4
Weather: light rain

August 23. Had a nice storm come through last night. Woke to clear skies this morning and were on the trail at 7am. Temps have finally cooled off and humidity has dropped significantly. The terrain is quite a challenge, as we go up rather steeply and the same to go down. The cooler weather helps tolerate that though. We did 12.4 today, and I feel I overdid it with Black sheep as he does not have his hiking legs yet. You have hiking legs after your legs are in shape. Tomorrow we will cut back to about 10 miles for a while. We are now seeing a lot of South Bound hikers who have started in Maine in June and July. No north bound hikers today. Should be a cool night tonight. Into the 60's.
Date: 2017-08-25
From: Caesar Brook Campsite

To: Falls Village
Miles today: 25.3

August 24. Temps have finally cooled off. Today was a good day to be hiking. We covered 14 miles from Mt Algo Shelter to Caesar Brook Campsite. The original plan was to only go 10 miles to Silver Hill Campsite, but when we arrived, it was already crowded with campers, so we decided to move on to the next Campground which was 4 miles away. We arrived at 7:10 pm totally pooped. Went to bed after a quick supper. August 25. Cool night for sleeping. 60 degrees this morning. I ate a quick breakfast, while Val, ( trail name Black Sheep ), packed up and was on the trail before I finished my cereal. I found out that he prefers to hike by himself. I think I talk too much for him. For those that know me,.......no I did not entertain him with my stories. Today we hiked to a town called Falls Village. There is a cafe here where we can camp behind the building at no charge. I arrived about 2:30 and Black Sheep rolled in at 5pm.After setting up camp, we both went to the Village Inn for supper and a couple of beers. Tomorrow will. Be another eleven miler day.Debating when to do the flip. Before Labor Day or after.
Date: 2017-08-27
From: Salisbury, CT

To: Millinocket, ME
Miles today: 0.0

Aug 26. Camped in the backyard of this cafe called the Toymakers Cafe. Great tasting food and very hiker friendly. The owner loves Triumph motorcycles. Quite a character. On Saturday we walked 7.7 miles to Salisbury, where we decided to do the flip flop, and drive to Millinockit, ME. Black Sheep and I walked into town, about a mile, had lunch at a local grocery store and called to get a shuttle back to his car, which we parked at Wingdale, NY. Once back at the car we decided to set up camp off the trail a ways and leave early Sunday morning for Maine.August 27, Sunday. We were on the road to Maine by 7:30, after we stopped at the Deli for my Taylor Ham sandwich. Love those things. We arrived at Millinocket at 6:30 pm and checked into the Appalachian Lodge. Tomorrow we will drive to the base of the mountain and summit Katadin.
Date: 2017-08-29
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

Sorry about the miss spelling of Katahdin yesterday in my title. I was too tired to proof the entry. Today was a day of rest. Yesterday was a tough climb and our bodies told us so today. Black sheep and I jumped in the car and headed for Old Town Maine and the canoe factory. Enjoyed looking at wood canvas canoes and talking with the Old Town people. Also drove to Bangor, ME. for a little site seeing tour. After that it was time to do our laundry and a resupply. Then just laid around the hostel most of the evening. Tomorrow we made arrangements to shuttle back to the trail at the base of Katahdin and start hiking south.
Date: 2017-09-01
To: Make it out alive
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: scattered clouds

August 30. Black Sheep and I were able to take a zero on Tuesday, as we both needed rest after climbing Mt Katahdin on Monday. Then this morning we were fortunate to secure a shuttle ride back to the campground where we would continue our hike heading south. It has been a perfect day to hike. The weather is cloudy and cool. We were on the trail by 7:45 am and hiked 10 miles to Abol Bridge. The terrain was mostly level with just a few small ups. Also this day found us walking along the beautiful river called the Penobscot, with all its waterfalls and quiet pools. I bet we followed it for 8 miles. Now camped and pooped.Aug. 31 Thursday Last night Black Sheep and I camped in the Abol Pines campground. There is a bar, restaurant, and store here so we ate supper and had a couple of beers before going to bed and slept like a baby. Up at 6 am, had a cold cereal breakfast, packed up and were on the trail by 7:15. As I approached the trail, in the hundred mile wilderness, there was a sign to caution hikers to be prepared, with food and knowledge of hiking and survival for the next hundred miles. So we are now in the hundred mile wilderness. Today's mileage is 11.4 miles. We arrived at the Rainbow Lake campsite around 4 o'clock and had a relaxing afternoon. Several other campers came in after we got here and set up camp around us where space permitted. One couple, found a flat spot next to a fallen tree, and was immediately descended upon by a swarm of bees. The girl had gotten stung five times before she could escape the area. Black Sheep offered to share his campsite with them as all other sites were taken. As we hiked today the skies continued to cloud over which eventually led to rain. It is raining now as I write this, cozy and curled up in my down sleeping bag in my tent.Sept 1, Friday Our second day in the Hundred Mile Wilderness, (HMW), was a good day as far as temps go. Woke to 46 degrees and a strong NW wind. Wore my puffy jacket all day. Saw Katahdin several times through the mist and clouds. We did 12.4 miles today. Maybe tomorrow we will try to do about 10, and have an easier day. I haven't been able to get messages out due to being in the HMW. We have very spotty reception. Will do what I can if we have service, but don't count on it till we get to Monson, ME. That should be about eight more days. Thanks for your understanding.Having problems uploading an image. Hopefully this text will go.
Date: 2017-09-09
From: Long Pond Shelter

To: Keenan Brook Shelter
Miles today: 12.1

I started my day off with a cup of grits and some hot apple cider. Walked one mile to Long Pond River where I had to take my shoes off and ford the river barefoot. Luckily there was also a heavy duty rope across the river to hang onto as you crossed. It did come in handy a couple of times as I slipped on the rocks. After that the rest of the trail is as usual. Steep ups and downs, to the point that you use all fours to go up and over. That takes a lot of energy on each climb. I usually can handle 2 maybe 3 hills like that but today there must have been 6 or 7 of them. Then I came to Little Wilson River. This required another ford. Only thing is there was no rope to hang onto this time. It was also a wider river than this morning and deeper. I put all electronics in zip locks and started across. The current was quite swift but I moved very slowly to make sure of my footing. After 20 minutes I had made it to the other side. Whew!!!!! Once I landed I met another hiker I had met in NC by the name of Papa John. He and his wife, (Trail Princess), were thru-hiking together. When asked where was Princess he told me she had a very bad fall and had to quit. She was hurt real bad, especially the face and right eye. She's a trooper for sure.And then I took off to climb another hill. As I started to climb it started to rain again!!!!! It only lasted 30 minutes, about long enough to get everything wet and slippery. Time for bed and guess what? It's RAINING again. Pleasant dreams.
Date: 2017-09-10
From: Leeman Brook Shelter

To: Monson, ME
Miles today: 3.0

Well finally the weather turned nice today. Slept in the shelter last night, just in case it rained, and it did. But I woke up nice and dry this AM and it was sunny.I only hiked 3 miles today to Highway 15 where I took a break at the wayside where the trail crosses the highway. While there, a shuttle van from Shaw's Hostel showed up with two NoBo, {north bound}, hikers ready to continue their hike. This was my opportunity to get a ride into Monson and stay at the Hostel for a day before continuing on my trek, so I hopped on for the ride back into town. I've enjoyed a relaxing day here but am now ready to hit the trail tomorrow and to put in some serious time on my dream. Don't know if I can finish now but will go as far south as I can before quitting. Also I now have to keep an eye on Hurricane Irma and see how that will affect my hike.I can't upload any pics here because there is not enough strength from the towers to do that. You need good reception and I only have one bar. Strong enough to send messages but not a photo.
Date: 2017-09-13
From: Pleasant Mt Shelter

To: Caratunk
Miles today: 6.0

Monday Sept 11. 17.9. Miles The image above was taken during a river crossing. Had a fantastic 7 coarse breakfast at Shaw's before packing up and getting shuttled back to the trail. Sunny and warm. No sooner did I start hiking and I came across some trail magic. Some trail angel left a few bananas and clementines for the hikers. I carried one banana and two Clementines with me for a break later. The terrain was relatively flat so I booked along till lunchtime. Ate my fruit and moved on. Today I had two fords to cross. Both were rather uneventful. Arrived at the shelter at 6pm. Later than I usually hike. I like to be off the trail by 5 pm. Tues. Sept. 12. 13.1. Miles Woke to loons calling from the lake below the shelter. Made me homesick for my cabin. Today would prove a little harder than yesterday. Had to climb Pleasant Pond Mountain, which was a climb of 1500 feet and not easy by any means. Mostly ROCKS. Maine must be getting me ready for the Whites in NH. By 6 pm I found my self totally spent of energy and at the shelter. Made a quick supper and was in bed by 7 o'clock.September 13. 6.0 miles I wish to thank all the people who have sent me well wishes so far. I hope you know I can't reply to them all, but please understand that I do appreciate your words of encouragement, especially as I get closer to the end of this adventure. I try to send out a blog when I have service, but when your in the valley between two Mts. it's pretty I also know that the mileage is hard to keep track of, as I am doing my southbound hike at this time. I will try to keep it as accurate as possible and keep the running total, so that you know how many miles I've gone and how many miles I may have left. They say that the western part of Maine is very rocky and challenging. I am looking forward to that challenge. Today was an easier day of hiking. I hiked 6 miles to a town called Caratunk Maine. It is here that I decided to take a Nero day. There is a small B&B and will relax the rest of the day. Also resupply for the next three days. Next resupply will be in Stratton Maine. There I will resupply for the following three or four days. That way I don't have to carry as much food in my pack. It will be tough enough going through the southern part of Maine without the extra burden of excess food. Tomorrow morning I am going to have a seven course breakfast and then be hitting the trail by 9 AM. The first thing that will happen after breakfast will be to take a canoe ride across the Kennebec River. The Kennebec River is too wide to ford and the Main Appalachian Trail club offers a free canoe shuttle across the river which I will definitely take advantage of. Hopefully my boots will stay dry.
Date: 2017-09-17
To: Stratton Motel
Miles today: 40.9

Sept 16Let me try to get you caught up. It's been three days since I left Caratunk Maine and no service till here in Stratton, Maine. Sept 14, Thursday. 17.9 miles.After leaving the Hostel in Caratunk, at 9 am, I was able to get the water taxi across the Kennebec river. Yes, it did have a white blaze in the bottom of the canoe. Only took five minutes. After crossing I would be able to move at a good pace since the terrain was relatively flat. This day was one of my better days for hiking and certainly most scenic as I was able to follow a river for about 8 miles. At times the river would narrow down and turn into a beautiful cascading water fall. Spent the night at West Cary Pond Lean-to. No one was at the lean-to at 5 o'clock when I arrived. Was almost asleep at seven, when five young people showed up at the shelter. Next thing I knew I could smell a strange odor in the air as they were smoking something. They were very rude and inconsiderate of people trying to rest. Head a very restless nights sleep.Sept 15, Friday. 12.6 miles.One of the young people had an alarm set to go off at 6 am and it did! I was truly upset, so I got up and started throwing my stuff around, not worrying about trying to be quiet, and then left at 6:30 without saying a word. Now, Maine is starting to show her true grit. ROCKS! Today was spent rock hopping and gaining elevation. Now at Safford Notch camping for the night. It actually had a wooden platform for my tent. Will have a better nights rest here tonight.Sept 16, Sat 10.4 miles.Woke up this morning rested and excited to tackle the mountain that lays before me and contains Byron Avery's name at the peak. It will be a 1500 foot climb and a challenging one at that. Most of the two miles up would require the use of all fours and my legs would become fatigued after an hour of climbing. The legs are strong for hiking but not for Mountain climbing. Once on top I was told that I should be able to look straight north and see the last view of Katahdin. Unfortunately, due to a lot of smog, I was not able to see very far. Nonetheless the views were beautiful. By the end of the day I will have crossed the Bigelow mountains west peak, Avery peak and the North and South Horns peaks. Coming down from the mountain tops proved to be just as difficult as going up. Again I would have to use all fours and be careful not to fall forward as I would roll quite a ways, not to mention getting hurt. After getting down I had a 2 mile hike on Level terrain to get to Highway 27 where I would then hitchhike into Stratton Maine, and arrive at the Stratton motel at about 5 PM. After eating a hearty steak supper and consuming a couple of beers I returned to the motel room to take a hot bath and have a good nights rest.Sept 17, SundayToday I decided on a zero day. Laid around the motel room and now watching football. Tonight it's the Packers.Mileage should read 1721.4 total at this point. Should have 468 miles to go to finish. I hope my math is correct.
Date: 2017-09-19
To: View Entry
Miles today: 9.4

Sept. 18. This morning I managed to get a shuttle back to the trail at around 7:30. This would be another one of those tough days of long uphills and steep downs. The first uphill would last for 5.2 miles with some almost straight up sections. I reached the top of North Crocker Mt. around noon so decided to enjoy the view and eat lunch. Then it was a half mile down followed by another half mile up followed by a 2.2 mile section where I was forced to use all fours to climb down without falling. Found a nice Campsite by the Carrabassett River and am now enjoying a supper of Ramen Noodles. Totals for today: 8.4 miles. I thought I would give you my routine for when I get to camp for the night. First thing would be to find a near level spot to pitch the tent. Take off my pack and take out several items in order to get at the three pieces of the tent. That would be the ground tarp, the screened tent and the rain fly. Next I would set up the tent which takes about five minutes. Next, blow up sleeping pad, (air mattress ), and place in tent, followed by unloading the rest of the pack to get at the sleeping bag. The sleeping bag is packed on the bottom which I pull out and lay on top of the pad. After that comes the placement of misc. items in the tent. Every item has its place in the tent and will always be in that spot. Easy to find in the dark if necessary. Now that the tent is erected and equipped the next chore would be to collect water from what ever source is available. I usually fill my 3 liter bag and and carry it back to camp. Once back at camp I will set up my stove, decide what to have for supper and place the correct amount of water in my pot, start the stove and bring the water to a boil before adding the mixture. While waiting for the water to boil, (needs to boil one minute to purify), I will filter water into my water bottle and mix up my drink of choice which is usually lemonade. Now that the pot is boiling I would add my ingredients for supper, boil for 7 minutes and enjoy a relaxing meal. After that wash dishes, dry, pack the cook kit away, brush teeth and crawl into the tent and into the sleeping bag. Once in for the night I would take time to look at tomorrow's plan, write down notes and mileage and do a blog if I have service. If no service then I write in my notes, on my phone, and would copy and paste later into the AT journal the next time I have service. Then it's a potty break and lights out. Good night to all. Huck
Date: 2017-09-21
From: Stratton, ME

To: Rangeley
Miles today: 32.2
Weather: clear sky

Sept. 21. Have not had service for a few days so will now catch up. Sept. 19, found me waking up and after breakfast the first thing to do was to cross the river Carrabassett. When I say cross I actually mean to ford the river. You just wade out and hope the current is not so strong as to wipe you off your feet. Some rivers actually have a rope strung between two trees over the river. Luckily the river was low, so it was only a matter of hopping from rock to rock. After that it was a straight up climb for 2.5 miles. After that climb the terrain wasn't all together to bad. I think I let my guard down because about 11 am while walking on a level part of the trail I managed to catch my right toe on a small rock barely sticking out of the ground. The rock was big enough to keep my foot from moving so down I went only to hit the ground next to another rock that seemed to want to kiss my cheek, and it did. Result is a very sore and bruised cheek and a good looking black eye. Arrived at Poplar Ridge Shelter at 5 pm, had supper and asleep by 7pm. This shelter was the place that a hiker by the name of Inch Worm was last seen alive on July 22, 2013. There is a memorial plaque of her here in the shelter. It seems she had her picture taken there, by another hiker, and then left towards the next shelter never to be seen again till 2015. Her remains were discovered, accidentally, by a hiker who left the trail to relieve himself. She evidently did the same thing but never found her way back to the trail. She lived 28 days before succumbing to the elements. Her name was Gerry Largay, age 66, from the state of Washington. RIP.September 20th. Woke up at 6am to a very foggy morning. It was so thick that it seemed that it had rained all night. Took till noon for the fog to lift. By noon I had climbed over 1200 feet to the summit of Saddleback Mt. and the views were worth the added effort that it required to climb there. You could see 360 degrees and it was gorgeous. We were above tree line. Today the rocks and roots were quite slippery and made walking that much more difficult. It would prove to be a long day of climbing rocks and walking gingerly. Only did 10.7 miles but seemed like 20. Ended up at Highway 4, about 10 miles from a town called Rangeley. Now, being 6 pm, I decided to hitch into town for the night and found a motel called Lake and Town motel. Thinking about a zero tomorrow.Sept 21. Yep, took a zero today. Needed to resupply for the push to get to Gorham as well as need a shower, laundry and a hair cut. Nice to just relax today. Tomorrow I'll be back at it. The terrain will be more difficult from now on till I get thru the Whites. Still living my dream. Sometimes I wonder if I'm not living a nightmare! I am still enjoying the adventure though. .