morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2004-09-20
From: Corcker Cirque Campsite

To: Avery Memorial Campsite
Miles today: 15.3
Weather: clear sky

Great day today. The sun came out and warmed the earth during the day so that was nice. Down in the valley it was so warm, but that didn't last long. Being up in these mountains changes everything. This campsite (we'll call it base camp) is in the col between the two 4,000' peaks of the Bigelows. At 3,800' it's pretty harsh up here. Thermometer says 39 right now and there's some light rain coming down. If it continues, my tent could be a popsicle in the morning. I saw my first Pine Martin today, back at Horns Pond, so that was cool. It was chasing a rabbit. This cold weather better not keep up or I might not be able to bike home like I planned.
Date: 2004-09-21
From: Avery Memorial Campsite

To: West Carry Pond Lean-To
Miles today: 14.6
Weather: overcast clouds

Crossed the 2,000 mile mark today. Two thousand miles!!!!!!!!! That's mindblowing. No time for it to sink in though. The end is racing towards me so fast. Gotta get up early tomorrow to do the 14 miles to the Kennebec River ferry before 3:30 when it stops running. Might move quickly right on thru Caratunk to line up a zero in Monson and maybe catch Podini, which would be a trip! Buckwild made a nice campfire here for us bugs to flock to. We were highly entertained by the foreign writing on the HARIBO bag of gummy candy my aunt and uncle sent from CA. We figured there was German, Swedish and Finnish writing on it. One of the ingredients is overflatobehandlingsmidler. No wonder they taste so good! I'm about to fall asleep to the soothing sounds of loons on the lake. Eat your heart out relaxation tapes.
Date: 2004-09-22
From: West Carry Pond Lean-To

To: Pleasant Pond Lean-To
Miles today: 19.7
Weather: scattered clouds

Gorgeous weather today, and some sweet trail too. This day is what has been pulling me along for the entire hike. Maine finally flattened out some and the clouds cleared. And I saw my first moose today! My thru-hike is now complete, I've been moosed. Had a lot of fun on the canoe ferry across the Kennebec. That water was MOVING. After resupplying in Caratunk, I decided to push on to this shelter to try and catch Podini. I didn't want to night hike though, so I put on a 75 minute Paul Van Dyke techno song and BOOKED IT! Did 4.5 miles in 1 hour and 10 min. I was sweating like crazy and nearly running at times. A lot of fun though, and in the end, it was all worth it. Podini and I spent the entire evening catching up on everything since the last time I saw her in Harper's Ferry. Tons of laughs. It's so great to see her and remember all the fun times through Virginia. And they might come and visit me at the cabins after the hike. No guarantees, but it would be awesome to have some company. I gotta try and sleep though. Another big day tomorrow.
Date: 2004-09-23
From: Pleasant Pond Lean-To

To: Bald Mt Pond (outlet)
Miles today: 15.2

We're getting spoiled with good weather at the end of the hike now too. I planned on doing 22 miles today, but it was just too nice to focus on miles. And I was sick of hiking 'til dark everyday. So, when I saw this big flat rock on the side of the river here, I just had to stop and sleep on it. Now the sun has set and the stars are out, but the big bright moon is spoiling the darkness. Another chilly fall night. I think I'm going to get up really early tomorrow and hike in the morning twilight, but we'll see when the alarm goes off.
Date: 2004-09-24
From: Bald Mt Pond (outlet)

To: Monson, ME
Miles today: 15.8
Weather: broken clouds

Had to hike pretty quick to get into town before the P.O. closed, but I made it with 45 minutes to spare. There were 3 river fords today that I had to take my boots off to keep them from getting wet. As Chris pointed out though, it was nice to have an icy wade every 4 miles to keep the feet refreshed. About a mile before town I saw my first coyote of the trip, and we had a 5 second staring contest about 30 ft. apart from each other. He ran when I went for the camera in my pocket. Never seen one so close before, they really are just wild dogs. In town I had a slight debate about where to stay. With the big criwd at the pie lady, or Shaw's. Well, I had to go where the food was and I don't regret it at all. Dinner tonight was incredible. Big chunks of juicy ham, cooked carrots, stir fry veggies, baked potatos, and bread. I absolutely stuffed my face. Proably ate an unhealthy amount of food, but it's not often I'm fed so well. Last town stop, last zero tomorrow, and last mail drop. It's all drawing to an end. Until then, I shall sleep like a petrified log tonight.
Date: 2004-09-25
From: Monson, ME

To: Shaw's
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: overcast clouds

What a breakfast this morning. Damn they know how to cook here. Death by french toast, nearly. After eating I went back to bed for another 3 hours. I didn't leave the house until 11. Felt so good to be lazy and not worry about chores, or errands, or even hiking. Rented a couple movies and spent most of the day on the couch relaxin'. Eatin' Ben + Jerry's and pizza throughout the day on and off. A week from today I'll be at the base of Katahdin. Wish I could wrap my brain around the imensity of it all. I wonder when it will really hit me. The Big K is going to be so overwhelming I'm not going to be able to keep myself together.
Date: 2004-09-26
From: Shaw's

To: Wilson Valley Lean-to
Miles today: 10.4
Weather: clear sky

Stuffed myself with another titanic breakfast this morning. A 4-by as they call it. 4 pancakes, 4 scrambled eggs, 4 sausage links, 4 strips of bacon, 4 chunks of ham, and a pile of hash browns. Mmmm, mmm, I hardly had to eat lunch today. The leaves are beautiful now that we got down out of the mountain pine forests. Seeing oak trees now too for the first time in a while. I'd say the maples are just about peak right now. Most of the poplars are still green, but they probably just turn yellow like the birches. I decided on officially calling off the bicycle trip home. It just had too many things that could go very wrong. I've also come full circle on my decisions about college. Starting to lean towards my thoughts when I started hiking, about going back to school within the next year. We'll see.
Date: 2004-09-27
From: Wilson Valley Lean-to

To: East Chairback Pond
Miles today: 18.3
Weather: clear sky

Only planned on doing 15 today, but the water at the last shelter was pretty much dried up, so I pushed on to this gorgeous little pond. Guess the lack of rain is good and bad. Today was one hell of a day. Up, Down, Up, Down, Up, Down! Hiked from 8AM to 6:30PM to get these miles done. That did include an afternoon nap in the middle of the trail, but still a full day. Maybe I'll get to see a moose in the morning.
Date: 2004-09-28
From: East Chairback Pond

To: East Branch Lean-to
Miles today: 18.0

I got to see the beast today. All the way in the haze on the horizon, a mile high pile of rock, The End. Even just seeing it made my heart rate increase. I flew today, running on adrenaline. Now that the sun doesn't get as high in the sky it never feels like midday. When I caught Poco, Podini, Chris, and Elly at the last shelter it felt like 5 o'clock. They corrected my sundial and told me it was 2:30. Still though, I had done 14 miles in 6 hours whish was pretty impressive over the terrain. All plans are a go, right on schedule.
Date: 2004-09-29
From: East Branch Lean-to

To: Antlers Campsite
Miles today: 16.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Today was so easy it wasn't even funny. Finally Maine is flat! I'm getting so sad that this is coming to an end. 178 days now and I still can't get enough. These days are easy to treasure though. Long breaks to sit and relax knowing at any point we can get up and bang out 16 miles in 3/4 of a day. Since catching these guys they convinced me to stop at White House Landing. So instead of rationing all of my food I've been devouring it. I ate 7 days of food in 5 days. Today at lunch I jumped in Cooper Brook and froze my ass off, but it was so refreshing. Cheeseburgers tomorrow!!! I haven't had a burger since West Hartford, VT. It's going to be soooo good. I love the appreciation I've gained in small pleasures.
Date: 2004-09-30
From: Antlers Campsite

To: White House Landing
Miles today: 6.3

We came in planning to only have lunch here and leave, but this has proved to be a one-of-a-kind must stay place. The burgers here are a full pound! They're like the size of your head. I had 1 and a quarter of Elly's, plus 3/4 of a medium pizza. That's like 5 quarter pound burgers in one sitting. Needless to say I wasn't going anywhere after that. Chris and I had the hostel olympics, which consisted of horseshoes, cribbage, and chess. I think we ended in a tie. Also went for a swim in the surprisingly cold Pemadumcook Lake. Then on my paddle boat trip I saw 2 bald eagles and got a picture of one. But none of that was even the highlight of my day. Today was my first clear view of Katahdin. Forget the past views in the haze and clouds, this blew me away. It looks about 14,000 feet high and belongs out west. Insane.
Date: 2004-10-01
From: White House Landing

To: Rainbow Stream Lean-to
Miles today: 15.4
Weather: clear sky

Woke up to a killer breakfast of eggs, bacon, hash browns, and AYCE blueberry pancakes. We're about 1/2 a day behind my original plan, so I won't get to see my parents tomorrow, but the day after. One more full day of hiking, one more setting up of the tent, one more trail dinner... I was laughing about how I don't want it to end and yet back in MA I was saying I was sick of the trail. Maybe I'd feel different if it was pouring, but I don't think so. Maine is far and above the most beautiful section of trail on the entire east coast. Anyways, so just looked in the outside pocket of my pack and realized my Gatorade bottle was full of water! I carried 2 extra pounds all day without even knowing it! Won't make that mistake again.
Date: 2004-10-02
From: Rainbow Stream Lean-to

To: Abol Campground
Miles today: 15.7
Weather: overcast clouds

So leaving camp this morning I realized that I didn't need to make it all the way to Katahdin Stream to see my parents. I could get here pretty easily from Abol Bridge and do that last section tomorrow. With help from ridge-runner Pop-Tart I easily got here in time for burgers and some sittin' round the campfire. Had the coolest thing happen at Rainbow Spring today. I was sitting by my pack having a snack when I heard some leaves crunch behind me. I thought there was a hiker coming along, but when I looked behind me there was a big bull moose walking right at me! I jumped up and grabbed the camera out of my pocket. He stopped about 20 ft from me and measured me up, but decided just to turn and walk away. I got ana amazing picture when he turned sideways to me. Now that put a smile on my face all day.
Date: 2004-10-03
From: Abol Campground

To: Abol Campground
Miles today: 9.2
Weather: clear sky

Finished up the last little section today. Bittersweet because of how incredible the weather has been and how beautiful the trails around here are. I guess it's good to go out while it's still fun. We had a big hiker feed here at the campsite complete with birthday cake and everything. A great fitting last night to this incredible journey. Exactly 26 weeks ago today my uncle Terry dropped me off at the base of Springer. His last words to me were "This is huge, Tim." How right he was. Now half a year later, 3 hours away from my 21st birthday, and 5 miles from the end of the Appalachian Trail, I've finally reached The End. The experiences I've had and the people I've met have made this hike way more than I ever thought it could be. Tomorrow I'm going to summit "The Greatest Mountain," and it will be the greatest day of my life.
Date: 2004-10-04
From: Abol Campground

To: Katahdin Summit
Miles today: 5.2
Weather: overcast clouds

What a day. How many times have I said that in the last 6 months? Too many to count. Today was exactly how I wanted to conclude this trip. I'm laying here in our trailer and I can't get my heart rate to slow down. That mountain sticks with you for a long time. It was such an exhilarating hike. My parents hiked all the way up and down with me which made it a very different kind of hike than I'm used to. It was tough watching everyone pass us on the way up, but it turned out to be a blessing, because as I approached the summit there was a crew of 20 or so thru-hikers who joined in a group song of happy birthday to me. I had the biggest smile on my face ever, and I held it together until I touched the sign and then I lost it. Hugs all around and lots of tears, and an immense feeling of relief. Tons of pictures with everyone up there, legal champagne, and the best grilled cheese I've ever had courtesy of Pippin, Cowgirl, and Buckwild. A perfect birthday present as I had pulled my final brainless move of the hike by leaving all of our food back at the campsite by accident. At least I'm consistent, right? After getting safely down we went into Millinocket for dinner and saw the whole crew of hikers again at the restaurant. I of course got to order my first legal beer with the meal and she even carded me! After dinner we said the final goodbyes and parted the closest of friends. Where each of us are headed now, I'm not sure anyone knows...
Date: 2004-10-18
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

Here I am, 2 weeks after finishing. Still at home and still a little off. Coming back and readjusting was far harder than I expected. There's a struggle between regressing back into where I fit here before, and how I'd like to fit now that I've been through that "life-changing" hike. Everything here is the same, and it's in part what I left to get away from. So in some ways I want to get up and run away ASAP, but at the same time I don't even have my feet back on the ground yet. For now I'm still gathering myself and trying to find a new direction to go in. One of the things I miss most from the hike is being around a group of happy and carefree people. There's so many people I come in contact with in public who are worried about everything, unhappy with where they are, and just plain living scared. My goal now is to continue to make decisions without fears. I must trust myself, what's the worst that could happen, I learn something?This concludes my trail journal, hope you enjoyed the ride as much as I did. For those interested in keeping up on how I'm doing in the future I have my personal website that will continue to track my life at :http://www.timhumphrey.comA complete photo journal can be seen at: :http://www.timhumphrey.com/cgi-bin/album.pl?album=Thru-HikeI want to hear from all of you out there too, email me! : twhumphrey@gmail.com
Date: 2004-05-27
To: Bad news from the bathroom scale
Miles today: 0.0

I've never dreaded a bathroom scale before this morning.   Being a guy, I'm not particularly fussy about my weight and being physically active I have no reason to be. I'm happy with any number between 160 and 180, because 170 is a decent weight for my height. I can go months without weighing myself and not really care.    This morning my scale spun for a new high: 220 pounds.    Then I took off my backpack and it dropped back down to 170.   I can't say I'm particularly happy with that weight, because 50 pounds is pretty much the maximum in the amount of gear you should bring on the trail, according to the ATC and I have that in my pack alone. To be fair, I also have my sleeping pad, tent, foam pad and kukri lashed to my backpack's frame, so those are included in the 50 pounds. But that's not counting my boots, water filter, canteen, or USMC knife, which would put me over the top.   I'm sticking with what I'm bringing, and not only because I don't have the time or peace of mind to repack my backpack one more time. I packed about five days of food, so I'm hoping that as time passes the pack will lighten up and I'll be strong enough to carry the weight when I resupply. At the same time, though, I'm also wondering if three changes of clothes are too many and if I'll be able to get by on just one can of butane.    I put as much thought as I could into what to bring as I did about what not to bring. I know there will be some things I forgot, some things I'll never use, and some that simply won't work. All I can really do is say I did what I thought was the smartest thing at the time.
Date: 2004-06-07
To: Me vs. the Bathroom Scale: The Rematch
Miles today: 0.0

.Before going to work I put on my still-loaded backpack one last time. I took a few cautions steps into the bathroom and stood on the scale. My weight, including boots and a wet sleeping bag, was 190 pounds. Not bad. Not bad at all. I no longer feared the scale.         Then I took off my backpack. The dial went back to 162 lbs.         I lost eight pounds in ten days while eating carbohydrate-rich foods. Take that, Atkins diet!A Place Called HomeI think the biggest letdown was how little things had changed during my ten days in the woods. I¢m not complaining, mind you, things were great just before I left. I¢m simply a little sad I didn¢t have a reason to say, ¢How was I supposed to know that? I was sleeping under a rock¢ or ¢What happened to the microwave? Did you guy have a fondue party?¢ but other than having a thick mountain-man beard the place everything went back to normal in a few hours.         In fact, things at the office were almost exactly the same as I had left them, other than a few more emails in my inbox. My co-workers asked about my trip, although they seemed to have trouble grasping the fundamentals of what such a hike entails (one asked me, ¢When you¢re out there, how do you eat ice cream?¢). My worklife was normal again before lunchtime. Not that I¢m complaining, mind you, I was just glad to be back in a routine that didn¢t involve counting miles.         Even the news seemed practically unchanged beneath all the Reagan tributes. George W. was still under attack from some and vehemently defended by others; John Kerry was still sans running-mate; Alzheimer¢s, Parkinson¢s and other neurological diseases were still incurable, so I still have plenty to fill my magazine with (the day a cure for one of these is discovered, I¢ll be on vacation - I know it) and Iraq is still a mess.         Strangest of all, for me, was how little I missed all of this. I didn¢t miss browsing the web or watching TV as much as I did sitting down on a clean dry spot for hours on end. I heard nothing about the presidential election for ten days and honestly couldn¢t have cared less. I certainly didn¢t miss any of my DVDs, my shelves of books I¢ve not touched for years, or even my computer.         I will admit, tough, that missed my futon. But I didn¢t miss the object itself; I missed having a constant place to lay my head. I missed not having to find a shelter or worrying if it would rain or if I would wake up to find a skunk rummaging through my backpack. It¢s only when you leave your nest that you realize its true value lies not in its material costs, it¢s the sense of security and peace it brings to you.         And with that, I am ready to turn off my computer, pull up my comforter, and dream of the wolf trails of my youth.THE END
Date: 2004-01-16
To: The Beginning
Miles today: 0.0

It's time to get this journal started. Funny, even though I have written a couple of previous accounts about British hikes I was a bit reluctant to begin this before now. I know I'm not starting to question my comittment, so maybe I'm just too busy weighing pots and contemplating sawing the end of my tooth brush to save a gram or 2. I'm much too fixated on gear and that's a sure sign I'd better get out in the woods soon.I first heard of the AT from 'that book' by Bill Bryson, you know the one. This was about 5 or 6 years ago and I was in the States travelling around the East coast, between Boston and Savannah by train, only for a month before starting a course the following September. Amtrak tends to take you to the major cities, but reading the book inspired me to get out of the train and into the woods for 2 or 3 days to see for myself what the Appalachian Trail was like.This was in the Shenandoah and in that short time I saw 5 bears, met a lot of nice people and thought to myself, this seems pretty cool, but the thought of doing ALL of it, Georgia to Maine, was too daunting. Not for people like me, who had more or less started hiking by accident as as way of saving money when on long trips abroad.I kept up with the hiking, however, and in 2001 I walked the Bibbulmun Track in Western Australia, 600 miles and 7 weeks through some fairly remote country. At the beginning, I never thought I'd reach the end and was pretty much going town to town which were spaced out almost a week apart most of the time. I finished - with terrible blisters - but knew that now anything was possible including this, which for me has always been the big one.
Date: 2004-01-27
To: At the US Embassy
Miles today: 0.0

In the end, my plan to drive to Essex last night in order to catch the nearest underground train into London for my visa interview did not come off.I had hoped to stay with my parents and drop off a car load of my possessions whilst I was at it. Whilst I'm hiking the trail I'm renting out my room to my good friend Steve and need to put all my stuff somewhere.Would you believe that catching a train from Bristol to London {about 120 miles} before 9.00AM costs £89.00??!! I could fly to Venice from Bristol airport for almost half the price and the ice cream is much better there.So, I caught the 9.10AM, which got me to London with an hour to sparein which to locate a bank to pay my visa fee and find the embassy itself.This all went remarkably smoothly and, at 11.45, I was lining up outside the building to get security clearance. Security procedure was pretty tight but, I had expected hot shot US marines patrolling the perimeter in full combat fatigues brandishing assault rifles. Instead, it seemed to be almost entirely fat blokes from the Metropolitan police and others that seemed straight off a building site. In my humble opinion, they didn't look much of a match for Al Quaida's best operatives, I was a little dubious at hanging out for a few hours in what must be one of the World¢s top targets.I won't describe the long, tortuous process by which we Brits procure our US visas these days, as Ross and Bloody Cactus have already done this, admirably, weeks ago. So, I won't even mention the 3 queues, 2.5 hour wait and general cattle market feel to the proceedings.Eventually, it was my turn to be summoned by the glacial lady behind the bullet proof glass. I had spent ages trying to get all my documents and supporting info together and had arrived armed with 2 years worth of bank statements, pay slips, contract of employment, mortgage agreement, old passports and anything else I could think of. She looked me up and down over her glasses and asked lots of questions that seemed to boil down to: shouldn't someone your age be more responsible?I ummed and ahhed for what seemed like ages before she cut me off."Visa approved. You will receive it in 7 days".