morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2003-08-26
From: North Woodstock, NH

To: Undisclosed Stealth Site
Miles today: 10.5

I'm not too impressed with the idea of charging people to camp near a shelter in the Whites, especially thruhikers. I know it's a slippery slope giving people exceptions for walking a really long way, but given the low number of thruhikers at this point, I don't think it would be a big deal. Presumably, the reason for charging campers is to reduce impact and pay for trail maintenance. I personally think it's more to fund the AMC. An $8 camping fee isn't going to slow down a 'normal' camper out for a few days, since it's a pretty marginal fee compared with the logistics of getting to and from the mountains, parking fees, their gear expenses, and food costs. As for maintenance, the rest of the trial is maintained by volunteers, and this section could be as well. The helicopter airlifts to campsites don't reall seem neccessary to me, although I can understand the huts need them which is why they charge a hefty fee to stay at them (which I understand completely.) $8 can be a fairly significant amount of money to a thruhiker at this point in the trail. Even eating as much as I do, I can get a solid 15-20 miles in on $8 worth of food, which is my main expense out here. After 5 1/2 months of backpacking, I've run out of personal funds and am relying on money being mailed from home to continue. I'd really like to finish my trip while incurring the least possible financial damage on my family (I plan to pay dad back for his help.) For all these reasons, I stopped by Garfield Ridge Campsite this afternoon for water, then wandered a little farther up the trail and 'stealth camped' a bit off the trail. Had a nice night, didn't spend anything, and left no impact on the local flora/fauna. Might get to see Paranoid again tomorrow, I think she's supposed to be working at Galehead hut, which I might get to in time for breakfast.
Date: 2003-08-27
From: Undisclosed Stealth Site

To: Undisclosed Stealth Site #2
Miles today: 13.0

Got up really early today, and packed up fast too. Not because I crashed in plain view of the trail where I shouldn't be or anything, just for fun really. Turns out Paranoid isn't working at Galehead hut, and I missed breakfast too. Quite a bit of water later today, especially around Zealand hut. I'm finally getting used to the boots, been feeling really strong too. Not sure if I'm actually in better shape than say a week ago or if it's just the bigger presence of 'normal' people is giving me a bit of perspective on being a thruhiker. Found a stealth site for tonight's camp that is suitably far off the trail according to AMC standards.
Date: 2003-08-28
From: Undisclosed Stealth Site #2

To: Lake of the Clouds Hut
Miles today: 15.4
Weather: overcast clouds

Yeah, I'm in awesome shape. Got up at a fairly normal hour and made it to Lake of the Clouds hut by 2:30 or something like that. Not really a big deal except that the terrain today was pretty rugged. I got a work for stay deal at the hut, but just barely. In order to discourage free hut-hopping (moving from one hut to the next doing work for stay,) the AMC starts accepting work for stay in the afternoon to make sure that arriving hikers have covered some miles before stopping. I arrived early enough that I was suspect until a few other hikers confirmed that I had come from near Ethan Pond. We all huddled off in a corner of the hut near the library for a bit, sipping hot drinks and trying to stay warm. The huts have spring water, solar electricity, and no heat. It's really cold here on the side of Mt. Washington. Really dramatic scenery out the windows, but we're more concerned with eating, drinking, walking, and sleeping as usual. A few of us helped wipe down and set tables, then we all watched the normal guests eating. When they had finished, we quickly cleaned up so that we could eat the leftovers (the croos always cook more than needed to feed us thru hikers.) The food was excellent and the hut croo is a blast. Very cool people and a very cool place. Lake of the Clouds hut is the biggest hut in the Whites, and it's the only one with a special place for thruhikers to stay, The Dungeon. I never got around to checking out the dungeon, but heard it was pretty cold down there too. There's a big crowd of us here tonight, which is why I was moving quick to get here today. The dungeon is full, so I'm crashing on one of the dining room tables with a few of the other hikers (we each get our own table.) Really nice view from my nice cozy warm sleeping bag.
Date: 2003-08-29
From: Lake of the Clouds Hut

To: Madison Springs Hut
Miles today: 7.0
Weather: fog

Got up and repeated the dinner routine from last night, but for breakfast instead. Had a fun climb up Mt. Washington, hung around the summit for a bit, then headed on. As we descended from the summit, there was a big, dark coud approaching, so there was a slightly nervous air among my travelling companions. Or maybe they were nervous because the cog train was approaching, and according to thruhiker tradition, they were about to moon the cog. Things didn't go terribly smoothly, and many of us, myself included, showed a little effort but were unsuccessful (you had to be there to understand...) Had a nice stroll over to Madison Springs Hut, which I had originally intended to pass on, but the weather convinced Kokopelli and I to stay and work. Had a fun evening at the hut, safe from the truly nasty weather outside.
Date: 2003-08-30
From: Madison Springs Hut

To: The Barn, Gorham, NH
Miles today: 7.7
Weather: overcast clouds

Well, the weather hasn't improved too much overnight. Kokopelli and I eventually hiked up Mt. Madison, which was quite an adventure. The climb is a rock scrabmble, the visibility was near 0, there was a strong, gusty wind, and everything was wet. At times, I couldn't even see Kokopelli, who was probably 12 feet in front, but could clearly hear her raincover flapping hard in the wind. Speaking of raincovers, mine blew off, but fortunately the drawcord got tangled on my pack, so I didn't loose it. The weather eventually broke, and we had a nice hike down to Pinkham Notch. I decided to hitch into Gorham to get resupplied, and we got a ride pretty quickly (hitching with girls is easy.) The Barn is a neat little hostel, I did some cleanup work for Scavenger, the caretaker. Accidentally ripped the leg on my pants a little bit, which was a bummer. They had been my favorite pants for probably a year before starting the hike, and had held up remarkably well. Ducktaped them together and all was well. We all pitched in and cooked up a really tasty lasagna dinner, then watched some movies.
Date: 2003-08-31
From: The Barn, Gorham, NH

To: Carter Notch
Miles today: 5.8
Weather: overcast clouds

This morning I packed up some food and left it here at the Barn so I can pick it up in a couple days (thus avoiding toting as much food for the next couple days.) Hitched back to Pinkham Notch and headed north. The climb up to Wildcat was pretty impressive, physically challenging and some truly amazing views. I hiked with Yo-yo and Zero for much of the day, and camped with them at the intersection of the AT and another trail. Ran across some funny tourists today. Actually, the tourists weren't funny, but the situation was. They had taken the Wildcat ski lift to the top of the ridge, and started walking on the AT, but without knowing what the AT was. We ran into a few of them headed southbound, and they asked us how much farther it was to the end of the trail, apparently thinking it was a short loop or dayhike. The looks on their faces when they discovered the trail went to GA were priceless.
Date: 2003-09-02
From: Rattle River Shelter

To: Gentian Pond Shelter
Miles today: 13.7
Weather: overcast clouds

Well, the second hitch to Gorham wasn't nearly as easy as the first. Actually, there was no ride at all and I ended up walking 3.6 miles to grab the food I had cached there. I had a ride back to the trail pretty quickly, but the ride took me to a different AT trailhead farther north on the trail. I hadn't missed any of the AT between here and GA, so after a little debate, I stashed my pack in the woods and went for a little trail-run back to US2 where I had gone into Gorham earlier, then turned around, went back to the pack, and continued north. Actually, the trail run was pretty neat, I got to check out a hydro dam (I'm into that kind of stuff) on the way, and it was fun to run sans pack.
Date: 2003-09-03
From: Gentian Pond Shelter

To: Mahoosuc Notch
Miles today: 12.2

MAINNNNNNNNE!!!Yeah, I've now hiked from GA to ME, just ~300 miles to go! Fun day! Good weather and some crazy terrain (boulder fields and such.) Crazy, including the (in)famous Mahoosuc Notch, which Krazy-K and I did together. It was a blast, I went exploring under the boulders a bit, the cracks between some of them are plenty big to crawl through. Many little passages and ways to pop back up out in some other part of the woods. Fun fun fun. We camped at a little, hilly spot near the end of the notch and cooked dinner anticipating the rain to come, and boy did it rain!
Date: 2003-09-04
From: Mahoosuc Notch

To: Baldpate Lean-to
Miles today: 9.4
Weather: light rain

Last night was really really wet. We got a massive downpour, and I had bivvied in a really bad spot (not that there were any better alternatives.) The seam tape in my bivy is finally peeling off in a couple places after so much use, and the rain/groundwater took full advantage of those spots. I had left my radio face-down on the floor of the bivy, the speaker grate rusted and left a little red rust grid on my floor. Sleeping bag wetted out at the bottom, and the rest of it was definitely damp. Not fun. The hike up Mahoosuc Arm was really steep, and it was like walking up a little stream, or maybe waterslide depending on your outlook on things. Near the top, it was very foggy and when we came out to Speck Pond, it was like walking uphill to arrive at a bay. Couldn't see across the pond at all, and there were small waves giving the trail a very nautical feel for a bit. Fortunately, without the fishy smell.
Date: 2003-09-06
From: The Cabin, Andover, ME

To: Hall Mtn. Lean-to
Miles today: 6.0

Took things easy today. Hiked with Yo-yo a bit, and we decided to do a little sewing and cooking. I did some repair work on my pants and backpack, where a small hole has been developing. The hole in my pack is from my misuse of it, not a bad design. I've been carrying my groundcloth rolled up and strapped tightly with two of the compression straps, which makes a weird wrinkle near the transition between two different deniers of packcloth. The pulling combined with abrasion has finally worn through some of the stitches, and they've pulled apart to make a small hole. Yo-yo and I are both feeling pretty tired so we've decided to just hang out for the rest of the afternoon. I made a few pizzas for dinner, then dozed off early.
Date: 2003-09-08
From: Campsite near Bemis Stream

To: South Pond
Miles today: 11.7

Lots of ponds today. Spent the day leapfrogging* with Face, Blaze, and a friend of theirs (can't remember name.) We found a cool campsite with easy range of Rangely (pun? what's that?) and played with a canoe in the evening, and built a fire at dark.*Leapfrogging is what we call it when a hiker (A) passes hiker (B,) eventually gets tired and is passed by hiker B. Hiker B then gets passed by hiker A after slowing down, but then gains speed and passes hiker A.....
Date: 2003-09-09
From: South Pond

To: Piazza Rock Lean-to
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Hello everyone! I haven't been updating my trailjournal very much lately, in case you haven't noticed It's hard to get into town and get essential chores done (ie food) then sit in a library to type for hours before getting on the trail again. I will try to get something more interesting up when I get home (end of septemberish?) Been having a blast lately, made it all the way to Rangeley, ME so far (220 miles from Katahdin!) and am expecting to summit Katahdin sometime around the end of September. That's all for now, gotta get walking!Update 6/21/2004:Well, I've been catching up with journal entries today, and adding pictures too (including this one.) Piazza Rock turned out to be really fun!
Date: 2003-09-10
From: Piazza Rock Lean-to

To: Spaulding Mtn. Lean-to
Miles today: 16.9
Weather: clear sky

Got to see Katahdin today. Probably. Not really sure which bump it was, but it's supposed to be one of them. It's definitely getting closer. Really cool scenery lately, unfortunately most of my pictures don't give it any depth, so I'll refrain from posting any until I get a good one.
Date: 2003-09-13
From: Little Bigelow Lean-to

To: West Carry Pond Lean-to
Miles today: 7.3
Weather: overcast clouds

Short hiking day today. Stopped by West Carry Pond for lunch and ran into a group of MATC maintainers out to work on a bog bridge. They offered us food and drink in exchange for work, so I of course decided to stay and work. Had a blast taking down a couple trees, sawing them in half, carrying them around, and eating! Hungry Hiker turned up as well, what a suprise! Last time I saw him was in Duncannon, PA where he was racing to catch up with his friend Patience. Wouldn't have been a big deal, except that Patience had skipped the entire state of PA, but Hungry Hiker managed to catch up with her after busting out a bunch of 30+ mile days! He had finished, and was heading south for a bit. The chainsaw pullcord broke, so I fixed it with some accessory cord that I had, fun to use a wrench for the first time in a while. Had a nice evening with plenty of good food and humor for all.
Date: 2003-09-17
From: Pie Lady. Monson, ME

To: Shaw's. Monson, ME
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: clear sky

Happy Birthday to Me! Turned 19 sometime today, ate a big breakfast with the Pie Lady, completed my work-for-stay duties there, packed up, went to town and ate some more, got resupplied, decided to make today a 0 day with a bunch of the people I've been hiking with. Rather than stay at the Pie Lady's house again, I decided to move over to Shaws. Not that there's anything wrong with the Pie Lady's house, just that I could turn it into a Monson Lodging review, and hang out with all my friends who were already at Shaws. Worked on my pool game a bit, even got good enough to beat Uncle Mark! My conclusions are that Monson is a weird little town, the highlight is definitely the grocery store's little grill (BBQ might have won, but it was closed.) The Pie Lady/Shaws rivalry is silly at best, I found it to be pretty obnoxious. Pie Lady is weird, Old Shaw is weird. Pie Lady is near town, Shaws is near town. Pie Lady is quiet, Shaws has pool table. Pie Lady is near a 1973 Corvette that's for sale, Shaw's isn't. I like '73 Corvettes.
Date: 2003-09-18
From: Shaw's. Monson, ME

To: Camp near Long Pond Stream
Miles today: 14.4
Weather: overcast clouds

Got a ride back to the trail with the younger Shaw this morning. Had some fun conversation with Yo-yo and Rambler about the whole music sharing thing. Neat walking today, plenty of stream crossings, we decided to camp at one of them. Fun group of people, most of whom I've known at least since VA. We're planning on summiting together, and have been throwing a few target dates around, but of course we all know how schedules and thruhikers mix...
Date: 2003-09-20
From: Camp Near Pleasant River

To: Logan Brook Lean-to
Miles today: 12.8
Weather: clear sky

Reunion with Mr. Rain today. Got good and soaked, but it was actually pretty fun. Lots of dark humor today, which is the best kind (just like dark chocolate.) I hiked with most of this crowd through the neverending rains in VA, so lots of memories were shared. Buddhist Monk and Surestep started at the halfway point, so they've had mostly good weather, we gave them a hard time about it of course
Date: 2003-09-21
From: Logan Brook Lean-to

To: Camp near Joe-Mary Rd.
Miles today: 15.3

Really nice weather today. Since BMonk and SureStep had missed the first 'hike naked day' by starting in July, we had convinced them that they needed to make up for it. There was a standing bet this morning at East Branch lean-to as to whether or not they would do it (everyone else made it to that shelter before them.) I lost the bet. Quote of the day: "There's some naked chick chasing me through the woods! Help!" -anonymous
Date: 2003-09-22
From: Camp near Joe-Mary Rd.

To: Nahmakanta Lake
Miles today: 15.3
Weather: overcast clouds

Awesome lakes today! Buddhist Monk, Sure Step, and I went to White House Landing to pick up maildrops and some pizza. I got a 1Lb hamburger, then ate some pizza. White House Landing is actually across from the AT, so you have to go blow an air horn to signal that you're ready to be picked up. A boat will come out to shuttle you to the landing, where there is lodging and a restaurant. I had mailed myself a package here from Rangeley, ME to keep from toting a ton of food through the 100 mile wilderness (which we're in the middle of right now.) I ate a 1Lb cheeseburger, BMonk and SureStep had a veggie pizza, and we got some more pizza to take back for the rest of the guys. We got a boat ride back to the trail, then headed on to Nahmakanta Lake where we had arranged to meet the rest of the guys. Due to a longer than anticipated stay at White House Landing (it's a really nice place, and they had a canoe!!,) we ended up hiking after dark. Wouldn't have been an issue, except that I'm not carrying a headlamp, but am carrying two pizzas. We managed OK, I just closely followed BMonk, who had a headlamp. Had a fun time scaring the rest of the guys before giving them their pizza. We heard them and stopped, turned off our lights, then Sure Step let loose a truly frightning scream. Everyone enjoyed the pizza, and the boxes were great for playing Yahtzee, which has become our evening addiction.
Date: 2003-10-01
From: Bed

To: Bed
Miles today: 0.0

I guess that this is one of those journal entries that should contain something wise, but the best that I can come up with right now is "I'm done!" or maybe "I'm done!" Thru-hiking the AT was a great experience, mostly because of the great people involved in it. I'd like to send a big "THANKS!" out to everyone that made the trail easier, more fun, or unique. I'd even say "thanks" (note the lowercase type and lack of an exclamation point) to the people who made the trail more difficult or less fun, just because they made completing the hike that much sweeter. Anyhow, I'm going to try and make my journal a little more complete over the next few days, but there'll probably be a lot of blank entries for a while. Thanks for reading
Date: 2003-12-19
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

It's been a while since I've added anything to my journal, so I thought I'd check in to let my hordes of followers know what's happening . It only took a few days to get back into the 'real world,' which was something I was kind of worried about near the end of the hike. After a few days of goofing off, I started making aluminum stoves much like the one that I used on the trail to sell (drop me an email if you want one . I also had a job offer (tech work) about that time as well, but it took a couple of weeks to materialize. Now I'm in front of a computer about 95% of my waking day, the other 5% are spent either in the kitchen or bathroom. It's amazing how much has changed in the computer world in only 6 months! Getting caught up and polishing rusty skills has been a lot of fun, although I'm getting the urge to hike again. A few weeks ago, I drove up to Neel's Gap to get a breath of AT air, and pick up some AT paraphernalia. While I was hanging around in the outfitter, Bluegrasshopper (a sobo who also has a trailjournal here) came in, what a suprise!! I hadn't seen him since we crossed paths back at Greymoor monastery. We had a nice long chat, then went our seperate ways. Other than Bluegrasshopper, I haven't seen any thrus since leaving Millinocket last September. Well, I can't think of anything more to add at the moment. Later!
Date: 2004-03-14
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Well, it's been a year since my first full day on the AT, so I guess it's a good time to write a journal entry. Actually, yesterday would have been better since it was the anniversary of my first hiking day on The Walk, but who cares. Since my last entry, some things have changed. Many things haven't. The tech job was (sortof) fun while it lasted, but things fizzled and were pretty much over by Christmas. After a few weeks of goofing off (including building a new mountain bike and working on a pet programming project,) I started looking for a new job. Although my search was about as serious as a pairs figure skating competition in the special olympics, I did manage to score a job up at Neel's Gap (aka Walasi-yi or Mountain Crossings.) Getting the job was a little strange, it was the most normal 'big' thing I've done since going into the 7th grade. Speaking of education, sometime in the job search mentioned above, I did get get signed up to take the GED. Not that I need the GED, I just discovered that the testing process is unbelievably slow (if you meet the people in charge of adminstering it, you'll understand...) At the very least, I'll get less of the "when are you getting a GED?" gag reflex that I keep hearing when talking about my educational situation (yeah, my outlook on our educational system hasn't changed much in the last year.) Anyhow, working at Neel's has been a blast so far, even if it is retail. The drive to work and back is a little on the long side (30 minutes in decent weather,) but it's quite fun. I'm learning a lot of new stuff about gear and health related stuff (especially feet,) and hopefully teaching a bit of stuff to the hikers that stop in the shop. One of the biggest benefits of working at an outfitter is the discount/pro/clinic deals, which I'm planning on taking advantage of soon to pick up a pair of nice poles, some clothes, and maybe a tent (thinking MSR Zoid 1.5, any thoughts?) Also, quite a few cool people that I met on the trail last year have stopped in. Today, for instance, Seiko, Hey Bob, Hopeful, and Goldberry all came in. Soon, we'll be selling my stoves at the shop, which should get me a nice bit of spare change. Anyhow, not much more to write. What's next?Not sure, Antarctica maybe?
Date: 2004-06-21
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Wow! That last entry of mine was a bit disorganized. Oh well, so am I . Just a quick update entry here, then I'll fill in a few journal gaps here with blank entries to keep the mileage accurate.I'm still working at Mountain Crossings@Walasi-yi (Neel Gap,) The thruhiker rush is definitely over, but the job's still pretty fun and I've been taking full advantage of the benefits; cheap gear, hiking oportunities, and learning lots of new stuff. It was really weird being involved in the trail while stationary. Not sure how much sense it makes, but it felt weird to see hikers walk through and know I'm not going to seem them 'somewhere up the trail.' Lots of cool people came through this year, and some not-so-cool people to keep things interesting.The GED was cake, if you're considering dropping out, it's not something to worry about.Future plans are becoming more and more concrete every day. I'm waiting for a call from Raytheon to discover whether I have a position as a general assistant at the Amundsen-Scott station at the south pole starting in October. Things are looking good, but I don't want to get overly optimistic at this point. Provided I go to The Ice in October, I'll probably be done sometime in March, mess around in New Zealand for a couple months, then get back to the states to go to college for summer semester, then be a normal person. At least that's the current plan...If you've managed to read this much of my journal, thanks for following along, and congratulations for making it through an epic piece of bad, unedited writing. I'll be cluttering the Internet at a new locaion from now on, so if you want to follow my journeys farther, check out trailjournals.com/ian-ct Later!