morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2004-08-14
From: Crawford Notch 

To: Crawford Notch 
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

Well, we decided to take a break. The owner of the campground brought us the weather report for the next few days. It consisted of pouring rain from hurricane Charley and flash flood warnings for the White Mountains. We do not need to be out here in that kind of weather. I have never been here before, and going over the most beautiful mountains on the trail and not being able to see more that 10 feet in front of your face in the wet windy clouds sucks. Grass' knees also were hurting her and she wanted to rest them as well. Uncle Ben called his dad and he picked us up and took us home to West Newberry, Mass. The rains should be over soon, I hope.
Date: 2004-08-18
From: Madison Hut 

To: stealth campsite on Wildcat Ridge near Summit D
Miles today: 10.8

Up and over Mt Madison after chores. Stomach still bothering me. Pinkhan Notch for lunch. caught Lobstah and saw Biscuit w/ girlfriend. Hike up to ridge took a long time. Found a cool site on edge of mt just after the ski lift.
Date: 2004-08-19
From: stealth campsite on Wildcat Ridge near Summit D

To: campsite near Rattle River Shelter
Miles today: 16.0
Weather: fog

Long day! This terrain is so slow. So much rock and the pitch is so steep it takes forever to get anywhere. The weather was cloudy, but I never did get the thunderstorms and rain they were talking about while I was hiking. I could see the rains off in the distance in the evening but it went around my mountain. It did rain a little as I was cooking dinner but that's fine. I was all set up under my tent by then. I was trying for Gorham, but decided to stop just short. It was getting late and I wanted to save the money it would cost to stay in town. I had to improvise dinner since I had limited supplies left. I took some spaghetti that Grass and Uncle Ben were getting rid of the other day just in case. It came in handy tonight. Made some Macaroni & Cheese with some leftover Habanero-Jack Cheese and dried milk. Spiced up with some herbs from my stash and my last piece of beef stick. It was great, better than peanut butter on tortilla, which was the alternative. Gorham tomorrow and ! maybe a shower. Yeah!
Date: 2004-08-20
From: campsite near Rattle River Shelter

To: campsite at Gorham, NH 
Miles today: 2.1
Weather: fog

Washed up in the stream and left camp about 9am. Put on my headphones with Italian lessons for the first time since entering the Whites. The trail was easy for once. Just after the Rattle River Shelter I found some Beers on the trail cooling in the stream. So there I was, tooling down an easy trail practicing my Italian and sipping on a beer. Life is good this morning. Got to the road and was picked up by an enthusiastic, lovely girl and dropped of at the post office. Thanks for the ride! Got some welcome food from the folks and set about my chores. Put on my laundry, which required brief public nudity while changing, and went over to a little Italian place for a cappucino and biscotti. Nice!This is turning out to be a pretty good day. I need it, I've been in low spirits for a while. The day to day grind is getting old and it is getting hard to motivate myself. I'm missing home and my girlfriend more now after almost 6 months out here. The wet, rainy weather and the tough terrain here in the Whites has been frustrating as well. But the little pleasures this morning have been nice. My thanks to whoever left the beer in the stream, you have no idea how much that cheered me up!On to finish my chores, might even get some miles in this evening, we'll see...Well, no miles but just a relaxing day. Got most everything done but a shower. Oh well, lots of good streams to wash in if it would ever get warm. I met back up with Grass & Uncle Ben and we decided to hitch back to the trail and camp there by the Rattling River. We heard that Biscuit & Slim and Wicked Lobstah were staying at the shelter nearby instead of coming into town tonight. We got a ride back and found a good camping spot. Grass and I finished setting up camp and Ben went to look for the guys. He came back with Slim & Biscuit. Seems they were coming into town to hit Burger King for dinner. Lobstah stayed at the shelter fearing the rain scheduled for tonight. I cooked a good dinner of dehydrated Thai Satay Beef sent by my dad, not bad. Slim & Biscuit returned and made a nice campfire. Grass had all the fixins' for s'mores so we roasted some marshmellows, me from my hammock of course! It was good to hang around by the fire with everyone. As the fire died down and it got a little chilly in the hammock, everyone headed of to bed. It was good to catch back up with everyone. Maine in a couple of days! Wow!
Date: 2004-08-21
From: campsite at Gorham, NH 

To: Gentian Pond Shelter 
Miles today: 11.8
Weather: mist

The rain started last night around 3am. I had just got up to pee and remembered that I had left my hammock up. I got it down before it got wet. The rain made for a late morning. It's 10am now and I'm just sitting in my tent eating my breakfast of banana chips and protein bar, watching the stream flow past our camp. I hear some stirring over by Grass and Ben's tent, she wakes up early. Slim & Biscuit do not. They show no signs of going anywhere soon. Grass & Ben have informed me that they are going into town for a snack run before hiking. The rain has stopped, I think, and it's time for me to pack up. I think I'll try and pull down my tent from under my rainfly then pack up the rainfly last thing. The rainfly stands up on its own so I can load my pack under there. I usually pack them up together and the tent body gets all wet. Time to get moving...It started to rain just as I was putting on my pack. Damn it. It rained on me all morning and into the afternoon. I started getting cold once I got up on the ridge. I took shelter under a big leaning rock that had just enough dry space to sit under. I rung out my shirt, and dried off with my towel. Once rung out my hiking shirt is practically dry so I put it back on and put on my rain jacket. I had a snack and pushed on. It rained until about 3pm or so and was wet and misty all day. I sat up on a rock and had a quick lunch with no views. I have seen lots of moose tracks and other "sign", but no moose yet. I hope to see one soon. It was getting dark by the time I was getting close to the shelter. I contemplated stopping short and camping, but I just wanted to get somewhere. I made it just at dark to find Grass & Uncle Ben already there. I figured since I was following Grass' tiny footprints all day. Also there were Austin and a couple from Maine. Hope we get some sun tomorrow! , I need it.
Date: 2004-08-22
From: Gentian Pond Shelter 

To: Full Goose Shelter 
Miles today: 9.6
Weather: clear sky

I got to look around the shelter once the sun got out. It was very nice, located right on a pretty lake. Also great views across the valley from the shelter. We took off after drying some things out and 4.7 miles later we reached the New Hampshire - Maine border. We were excited to reach the last state. The day was actually nice. The rest of the day over Goose Eye Mountain was gorgeous. We stopped and hung out on top basking in the sun and playing with the echo. It was above treeline and we had nice views for once. We finally made it the shelter and decided to call it a day. We've been taking it easy on Grass' knees and the hard terrain also slows us down a bit. The hikers at the shelter congratulated us on reaching Maine. We had a nice group in the shelter which we packed to capacity. It was nice visiting with the folks and cooking dinner. It was cold last night and this night will be no different. I put on all my clothes before bed tonight instead of having to wake up cold in the middle of the night and put more on like I did last night. My tent is a little warmer than the shelters. I need to remember that. The stars are out in all their glory tonight. Looks like we'll have a good weather day to get through Mahoosuc Notch tomorrow. Should be fun.
Date: 2004-08-23
From: Full Goose Shelter 

To: campsite on Old Speck Mt 
Miles today: 8.0

Mahoosuc Notch! A huge rock scramble through the notch. It is like caving above ground. You rock climb over giant boulders and sometimes wiggle under them on your belly. The actual ground is hidden some where far below where there are permanent ice chunks still in the caves. The cold air coming up from the ice and warm air from above make it a strange place to travel through. It is the toughest mile on the trail and it takes most people (and us ) about three hours. I fell and almost busted my head open. I went tumbling head over heels down into the boulders. Thinking quickly, Grass yelled "Oh my god!" But no problem, my head broke my fall. It was pretty scary though, not a good place to get hurt.More rain. Walked until almost dark in the rain looking for a campsite. Grass' knees hurt, slow going. Pitched the tents and hoped for better weather. This rain in New England is getting old.
Date: 2004-08-24
From: campsite on Old Speck Mt 

To: Andover, ME 
Miles today: 12.0
Weather: clear sky

Good hiking day. Nice weather. Hung out on top of Baldpate Mt above treeline and had lunch and dried out our wet gear. The trail was nice for the most part. It was good to feel like we are able to make some miles finally. I hope it continues. So far the weather is nice and we hear it will continue through the week. Maine is very beautiful. The trail above treeline and the views have been spectacular. Like the sign said when we entered the state. "Maine, the way life should be."We met Hippy Long Stockings on the trail and she told us about a good hostel in Andover. When we hitched into town we called and found out she was out looking for us. She showed up a few minutes later and drove us to the hostel. We all ate and cleaned up. Nice to get clean, hot showers are great!
Date: 2004-08-25
From: Andover, ME 

To: campsite at Sawyer Notch 
Miles today: 7.4

Woke up at The Cabin Hostel and were told that we had 15 minutes to get packed up to leave. Someone needed the car or something so the 2nd shuttle had to leave right away. So much for a relaxing morning shower. We were able to get fuel and some food from the great hiker box there. Anyway, we were dropped off at the store/diner. I got breakfast and cut my lip on a cracked water glass. Not a great start this morning. The ladies were very apologetic and gave me my breakfast on the house. We resupplied and I got new batteries for the digital camera. I had dropped it the other day after the batteries ran out and it would not turn on. It still won't, Damn! I went to the post office and sent it home to be fixed. I met Terrapin Flyer on the way back to the store. We met her at Full Goose Shelter the other night. She was with a friend and they ended up coming to the store and offering to take us back to the trail. I was still making some phone calls and they got some Ben & Jerry's while they waited. Thanks guys for being so patient! I would be missing an anniversary tomorrow and I wanted to call my girlfriend to hear her voice and at least spend a few minutes "together". I miss her so much. We're on the home stretch now though, I'll see her soon! Love you babe!
Date: 2004-08-26
From: campsite at Sawyer Notch 

To: Bemis Mtn Lean-to 
Miles today: 11.4
Weather: broken clouds

Grass woke me up at a decent hour this morning. We wanted to get an earlier start than we have recently. We cooked breakfast on the picnic table that we found out here by the stream last night. The shelters up here do not have picnic tables but we found one out in the woods. Crazy! Someone must like camping at this spot. Thanks for the use of the table whoever you are. (After six months we are easy to please) Grass and Uncle Ben took off a bit before me and started up Mt Moody. It was a tough mountain. It was steep and had ladders and iron handles set into the rock faces to climb up and down on at some spots. Very slow going. On the way down the other side I ran into Slim, Biscuit and Wicked Lobstah slackpacking south back to Andover. They were dressed in clothes from The Cabin Hostel, used to wear while you are doing laundry. They looked like they got their outfits from a yardsale in the 70's. Very colorful and quite a bit from the womens section too I might add. I finally got to the bottom where Grass and Ben were waiting. Grass was lying down with her knees up. She was hurting after that tough climb and decent. She wanted to take some time off and give her knees a break. She called a friend of the family that works at a summer camp near here and they said they could come to Andover and pick her up. Ben stayed with her to make sure she got a safe ride into town. I expect he'll go into town with her and meet up with Slim, Biscuit and Lobstah at The Cabin and hike out with them tomorrow. I continued on and made it to Bemis Mtn Lean-to around 6pm. Gaitor Woman and Pokey were there and had found three beers in the spring. It was a sign. I accepted the offered beer and decided to stay the night here with them. They were hiking into Rangely tomorrow so I figured I could make it from here too. The profile looks like it will be much flatter tomorrow. While I am writing this a mouse just tried to steal my brownie wrapper that is sitting about 3 inches from me! I looked over at the noise and he looked back up at me. Startled by my headlamp he took off down the shelter and went around the foot of Pokey's sleeping bag and over the side. That's bold. Got to make sure everything is hanging out of reach tonight. Well it's 8:35pm and I'm the last one up. Time to brush my teeth and hit the sack. The ladies are getting up early tomorrow and I would like to get an early start as well. I would like to get to Rangely early enough tomorrow to make a doctor's appointment. My stomach thing is still with me. I hope I do not have to waste a whole day there. Oh well, we'll see.
Date: 2004-08-27
From: Bemis Mtn Lean-to 

To: Rangely, ME Rt 17
Miles today: 4.6

Had to get to the medical center and just realized it was friday. Chose to hitch into town 13 miles early so that I could get there early today. Took a while to get things done and met the Gull Pond Lodge owner while in town. Decided to stay there and head out in the morning.
Date: 2004-08-28
From: Rangely, ME Rt 17

To: Piazza Rock Lean-to
Miles today: 14.9
Weather: scattered clouds

Finally a nice section of trail. It's good to actually feel like I'm making progress again. Didn't get a very early start. I needed to run some errands this morning and then hitch back to the trail. Walking was relatively easy though. Stopped at Little Swift River Pond Campsite and had lunch. I set up my hammock by the pond and while I was eating a group of students from Tufts University arrived to stay the night. I chatted with them for a while. There are two groups out here heading in opposite directions. I said goodbye and headed out to make some more miles. I got to Piazza Rock Lean-to and met the caretaker, Sarah. She informed me that the second group from Tufts University was here at a tent site by the shelter. I had the shelter to myself. Maybe for the first time on the whole trip. I set up and talked with some of the Tufts girls that came over and were curious about my trip. The caretaker, Sarah came by and chatted with me while I cooked a nice dinner of Italian flavor stuffing with tuna. We drank some tea and had a nice evening. The moon was bright when it came out. Almost full now.I sat up for a while reading a book I found at the shelter and then hit the sack. Still haven't seen the thunderstorms they were calling for this evening. Good!
Date: 2004-08-29
From: Piazza Rock Lean-to

To: Poplar Ridge Lean-to 
Miles today: 8.9
Weather: overcast clouds

Well, it's pouring rain outside as I write this before bed. It has been yucky all day but has really opened up now. I walked over Saddleback Mt today and again had no views. The top was all foggy and clouded in. I had left very late from Piazza Rock. It was raining this morning and I just hung out talking with Sarah, the caretaker, until about 12:30. By the time I reached Poplar Ridge the skies were dark and threatening rain. I was all alone until who should show up but Dragon Slayer with Yoga Monkey. It was so great to see DS again. I was introduced to Yoga Monkey and filled in on what DS has been up to since I last hiked with her. We cooked dinner and had a great night catching up.
Date: 2004-08-30
From: Poplar Ridge Lean-to 

To: Crocker Cirque Campsite
Miles today: 14.2
Weather: overcast clouds

Just like last night, as I write this at 9:30pm a storm is raging over my tent. Thunder, lightning and pouring rain. We got wet in the rain hiking into this campsite, but thankfully it was not like this. Great to be hiking with Dragon Slayer again. She has been joined by Yoga Monkey since she has been back on the trail. Yoga Monkey is a mom from Maryland. As expected, since she has hooked up with DS, she is quite crazy. Yoga started in May, so she has been really moving. It's been fun hiking with them. They sing, Yoga gave me a cup of wine... good times. The wine did have a distinct tequila flavor, but on the trail it was great!
Date: 2004-08-31
From: Crocker Cirque Campsite

To: Horns Pond Lean-to 
Miles today: 12.2
Weather: overcast clouds

Busy day. We did 7.3 miles into Stratton, ME. Hitched to town for lunch and resupplied. After lunch we met some thru-hikers that told us Grass was down at the trailhead with trail magic. I hope we get down to the road in time to catch her. She took a few days off to rest her knees. I hope she feels better. We dried out our gear and did our shopping, which included 4 bottles of wine and a bottle of beer (a nice barleywine brewed in Maine!). By the time we got back out to the trail around 5pm Grass was gone. Damn! We hiked up the mountain but never caught up with her. Grass and Ben must have come into town to stay. We hiked til dark and made it to Horns Pond Lean-tos. We met a cool guy, Doug, in the shelter and he offered us some cheese and crackers. We shared our wine and cooked dinner while we talked to our new friend. He sails as well, so we talked about boats until bedtime. Nice way to end the day.
Date: 2004-09-01
From: monson, me

To: West Cary Pond Lean-to 
Miles today: 17.5

We had a big climb up South Horn and Bigelow Mtn first thing in the morning. Dragon Slayer, Yoga Monkey and I climbed up to the ridge to spectactular views. We could still see the shelters way down by Horns Pond and waved to Doug who was waiting for us to reach the top. We continued on and headed for the 2000 mile mark which we would cross today. After crossing Avery Peak, which was beautiful, we reached Little Bigelow Mtn. I hope we get some views like this when Sam comes out to hike with us in a few days. We had lunch on top of Little Bigelow where we celebrated our completion of 2000 miles. We broke out the wine and had a little party up on top of the mountain where we could see what we think is Mt Katahdin in the distance. While we were there we met "Two Cents", a hiker from Israel. After lunch we headed out for West Carry Pond Lean-to in a great wine induced mood. We had a great time talking and the girls were singing songs. When we arrived at the lean-to we found King Alabar and Mellow-Yellow. It was a nice group to hang with while we made dinner. Coyotes sang us to sleep from across the lake under a full moon.
Date: 2004-09-03
From: monson, me

To: Campsite near Moxie Pond 
Miles today: 11.7
Weather: few clouds

I swear it was like raptors spotting a mouse from a mile away. There we were¢me standing while eating some chips; Patrick, Dragon Slayer, and Yoga Monkey sitting on a log dining on their respective lunches¢all engaged in separate conversations. I¢m not sure anyone was even looking my way. But then I dropped a tiny piece of my chip. Not really a piece so much as a morsel, or a crumb. The teensiest bit of a fragment, in fact. Couldn¢t have been more than eight or nine Dorito molecules floating swiftly to the ground and settling silently in the grass. You have never seen three heads whip around so fast. Did they hear it?   Did they see it fall out of the corners of their beady little scavenger eyes? I was frozen, afraid to move as they locked in on all two-calories-worth of Dorito morsel, their leg and arm muscles twitching like those of a cat ready to pounce. Janet slowly moved away and hid behind a tree. Finally, Yoga Monkey said quietly but firmly, without moving her gaze from the crumb, ¢You¢¦dropped¢¦a¢¦chip.¢ I cautiously reached down and picked it up, prepared to leap away at the first sign of attack, and then the pack appeared to relax. Except for the alpha male (I know, I know, but he was the ONLY male in the pack, so he gets to be alpha by default). He continued to stare intently at the ground. ¢You¢re¢¦not¢¦done.¢ Apparently, two molecules had broken off on landing and were lying a few inches from the main chip fragment. Amazingly, the creatures permitted me to pick that up, too, and continue with my meal. Why did these wild creatures allow me to complete my repast without ripping me to shreds? Although they did stare at me with disgust while I continued eating, I will never know what spurred their almost human behavior. It is such natural wonders that no doubt draw me to the woods.Once lunch was done, we headed out about noon, losing Dragon Slayer and Yoga Monkey within two minutes. Show offs.Arrived at our goal, Moxie Pond, after dark, but still within reasonable time. DS and YM had gone on ahead. Pitched tent in field (power lines) overlooking the pond, and were serenaded well into the evening by the comforting sounds of ATV¢s roaring up and down the road and someone (what¢s the Maine equivalent to ¢Bubba¢?) repeatedly firing a cannon from the parking area just on the other side of the trees. At least we think it was a cannon. It was loud.
Date: 2004-09-04
From: monson, me

To: Campsite at west branch of the Piscataquis River 
Miles today: 12.9

Guest author Sam:Was windy and raining much of the night and early morning, but it subsided and we were fed and underway by 9:00. Yes, a.m. I said to myself, ¢Self, since we did 12 miles starting at noon yesterday, I bet we can do 17 to the next shelter today since we¢re starting earlier and it¢s flat after the first climb.¢ Myself lied, the bastard. He¢s always doing that to me.Anyway, enjoyed the hike up Moxie Bald to bee-utiful Maine views. Nothing but treetops and lakes as far as the eye can see. I also had fun watching God mess with Pat:¢Sun¢s out, Pat! Time to take the jacket off!¢ (Pat takes off jacket.)¢Oops, here come the clouds! Wonder where they came from. Sure is getting chilly, heh heh.¢ (Pat puts jacket on.)Repeat every 15 minutes throughout the day.Fortunately, since I¢m not a lizard, I thought the temperature was fine. After about 12 miles of Maine trails (mud, roots, mud, rocks, roots, mud, rocks) we called it quits when Ranger Pat spotted a nice campsite right on the river. Built a fire, ate dinner, hung out. Cold night, but at least no rain.