morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2017-07-19
From: Gorham

To: Gentian Pond Shelter
Miles today: 11.7
Weather: clear sky

7/19Gentian Pond Shelter11.7 milesAt one point today Safari passed me and said she liked what I wrote in the register at Carter Notch Hut. It was "It's not a moral failure to be slow. Nor to be weak. Nor to understand your limitations. Giving up when you feel that you fail in comparison to others is a moral failure."I was discombobulated this morning. I couldn't find my spare bandanna or my water reservoir. I did eventually find them but I had this floundering feeling. Walking away from the hostel I realized I had forgotten my fanny pack. Seriously?! That's ridiculous. I waved the others on and went back in to find it. I had taken it off to stretch, as it turns out. The day started out pretty and easy. It sucked me in, then hit me hard with unblazed steep rocks. Then I realized that I had miscalculated and it was a twelve mile day, not a ten mile day. I tried to text the others not to worry if I didn't make it but the text wouldn't go through. I got water at a stream so I could dry camp, but no camp site showed up. Eventually I ended up at the shelter after all. Hurrah!Tomorrow we're going 9.6 so we're staged for a short but tough day through Mahoosuc Notch. Can't wait! Sort of. My headphones died in a most unpleasant way mid morning. They started randomly quitting and starting. And fast forwarding.  That was the worst part. So I put my phone on speaker in my fanny pack and listened to tunes that way. My apologies to any woodland creatures who don't like Nat King Cole. Or the Lumineers.
Date: 2017-07-20
From: Gentian Pond Shelter

To: Full Goose Shelter
Miles today: 9.6
Weather: few clouds

7/20Full Goose Shelter9.6 milesThis is not fun. Over twelve hours of hiking to cover 9.6 difficult, dangerous miles. No time to rest. The views in no way make up for this. We're exhausted and beat up. Nobody is enjoying it in our group. The consensus today was that if there had been a way to get off the trail in the middle of the day, we would have. But there wasn't and there won't be for a couple of days. Tomorrow is Mahoosuc Notch and the Arm. The day after we pass Grafton Notch. I've been told it gets better after that. I seriously miss the sort of trail that is just tiring. Not continuously life threatening. We've been facing increasingly difficult trail since Moosilauke. I don't know how long ago that was. It feels like a year. I know it can't go on forever, because I know that the trail north of Oquossoc is not awful. Hard, yes, but not awful. In addition to my negative feelings about the day, I got sucked into a bog up to my crotchety today. It was difficult crawling out. My pants are filthy and smell awful. Additionally, the seam in the seat gave way in the last mile. I didn't even care. I apologized to Old Man Jameson behind me for what he might see, and I kept walking. I didn't even change out of them when I got to camp. I just did camp chores. And a group of scouts showed up. In fact an hour later they're still cooking in front of the shelter. I did at least go behind the shelter to change into my pajamas, but boys kept walking by so whatever. Goddess offered to sew my pants up tomorrow. I took her up on it. She's undoubtedly better at it than I am. I'm pretty sure I want to wear intact pants through the Notch.
Date: 2017-07-21
From: Full Goose Shelter

To: Speck Pond
Miles today: 5.1
Weather: broken clouds

7/21Speck Pond tentsite5.1 milesWe woke up late this morning, on purpose. We were all SO tired and some of us were dispirited. So a late, slow morning was called for. I had an incipient migraine so I took meds for it. They helped, but they also leach my energy, which is not ideal. I awoke to find that the kids had put their dirty dishes in the bear box, coating everything in slime. Also one of the little fsckers had put couscous in the bag of mulch in the privy. WTF? The leader slept in the shelter, and when he awoke picked up a novel and started reading it while the kids were unsupervised. Unbelievable. Anyway, the four of us left and walked together over the first mountain and through Mahoosuc Notch. It took about three hours. It would have been far more enjoyable without packs, based on the times I took mine off to fit through a tight space. As it was, it was a lot of work. At the end we sat down to have a snack, and Lucky offered a celebratory sip of Jack Daniels, which was fabulous. When I got up to water a tree, I found that my pants seam now sported a 4" tear. I don't think these pants are going all the way to Katahdin. Fortunately I spent the afternoon without anybody walking behind me. We headed up the Arm. In my head it was a mile and a half of tilted slab, but it was more giant bouldery than that. It suited me well. There is a particular sort of hill that makes you go up slowly enough that legs and lungs never get overly stressed. This was that sort of hill. Best part of my day, really. Finally at the shelter, I set up on a group tent platform with the others. I spent some time sewing the pants. I want to put a patch over the seam but I got tired so if the seam hasn't blown out again by tomorrow evening, maybe I'll do it then. Tomorrow we get to Grafton Notch. I sure hope it gets easier after that, as it is rumored to.
Date: 2017-07-22
From: Speck Pond

To: Grafton Notch
Miles today: 4.6
Weather: clear sky

7/22Grafton Notch4.6 milesThat Thermarest is not my favorite thing. It cost over $100, it doesn't actually self inflate, and I keep waking up with my bottom arm fallen asleep. I will be thrilled when my Klymit pad reaches me. It isn't insulated but I definitely don't lose the feeling in any extremities when I sleep on it. Anywho. I woke up, shrugged into my hiking clothes, and packed up. My dental floss seam repair seemed all right. I then hiked back to New Hampshire for water. It's annoying to go so far for water, especially on rocky terrain. But at least it was available. The others got started hiking as I went about my morning chores of filtering water, brushing my teeth, stretching, and using the privy. So when I headed up the mountain, it was alone. I was unsurprised to find more slab requiring crawling on hands and feet, climbing up root systems, and in one case inchworming my way onto the rock. Surprisingly Old Speck was more forgiving on the north side. The hike down was pleasant. At Grafton Notch I found Hydro giving out trail magic. I got an icy cold Pepsi and some Hostess cakes. We sat at a picnic table and Safari suggested slackpacking the next four days. I don't think the words were all the way out of her mouth before I agreed. Plus it meant stopping for the day at noon today! I feel and move like I'm ninety at the moment, so an afternoon off sounded like heaven. We drove to Andover and got a room with five twin beds in it, which was perfect. Or at least functional. My standards may be lower than others. Pine Ellis, for $25, provides a bed, shower, and laundry. That's a pretty great deal. We walked over to the Little Red Hen for burgers that we've been thinking about for days. Then across the street for ice cream cones and some snacks for slackpacking. That pretty much exhausts the possibilities of Andover. I sewed the patch onto my pants seat. Tomorrow I'll find out if it's comfortable to hike in. If so I'll skip getting new pants sent. No point letting Maine eat another pair.
Date: 2017-07-23
From: Grafton Notch

To: East B Hill Rd
Miles today: 10.3

7/23East B Hill Rd10.3 milesI'm so in love with Baldpate Mountain! It's gorgeous. It has a dip in the middle that lets you clearly see hikers from the other peak, which is fun. But given how much of it is steeply slanting rock, I sure wouldn't want to do it in the rain. Fortunately, the weather today was perfect. Blue skies and puffy white clouds perfect. Comfy hiking temperature perfect. We woke up at our usual early time in the hostel. Safari got coffee for us to caffeinate while we were still in our room. We were packed and out before six. At 5:58 we were sitting in front of the general store, waiting for it to open at 6. We trooped in for breakfast. Unfortunately one person had to handle the entire store so we didn't get food until 6:40. But it was damn good food. I can't even describe to you the omelet that I had. I will remember it fondly. Le Chef dropped us off a bit late as a consequence. My lower back was in spasm so the others quickly disappeared into the distance as my left leg ached and I walked slowly. The muscles in my back slowly warmed up. By the time I got to Baldpate Lean-to, it had relaxed enough to try adjusting it. I got it to crack in two spots, and the feeling of pressure on my leg immediately decreased. Score!As soon as I reached the treeline on Baldpate I was overcome with joy. It was so pretty! I nearly had that gorgeous mountain to myself, too. It was a wonderful moment. On the north side it got a little steep. I didn't fall but my pace fell off as I carefully stepped down the mountain. I felt that I was challenging the traction level of my shoes. It took a long time to get far enough down that I felt I could take normal steps safely. At Frye Notch Lean-to, Safari was just finishing a break when I got there. Lucky was also sitting on the shelter edge. I got some water from the brook. They left as I was filtering and eating snacks. Coming down the next hill, I found Lucky just after a fall. We walked together and chatted for the next four miles. She is a really nice and interesting woman. She also seems to be keeping our pace so I hope to see her some more. We stopped to gawp at Dunn Falls, then continued up the trail. I had misread the book and thought my day ended downhill so the up was an unpleasant surprise. But at long last I hove up to the truck where everybody else was waiting. I hate being the slowest! Not much I can do about it, though. Le Chef had bought spaghetti makings. I requested a brief stop at the store to pick up breakfast and some wine to go with the spaghetti. I was also able to contribute some Parmesan cheese from my food bag. It was quite the pleasant dinner. We're set up in a campground near Andover. It's a little sketchy and full of mosquitoes, but it's affordable and conveniently located, so there's that. Tomorrow we plan to try to get hiking early so we can get to the post office before it closes. My hiking speed is definitely the weakest link here. I can't hurry too much or I start falling. Wish me luck that the terrain is compatible with good hiking speed.
Date: 2017-07-24
From: East B Hill Rd

To: South Arm Rd
Miles today: 10.1
Weather: broken clouds

7/24South Arm Road10.1 milesI heard Goddess start rustling around at 4:30. I desperately wanted more sleep, but I knew I had to get up so we could get on the trail early. At least I didn't have to pack the tent. And it wasn't raining yet. I turned on the phone to check the weather and saw that it might not rain until noon. Score!I ate my cinnamon roll from the Andover general store. It was delicious. After brushing my teeth I was ready to go. We all hopped into the truck. I think we got to the trail at 6:10. Not bad!The miles passed by very quickly. For one thing, the terrain was far more gentle than it was a few days ago. For another, I remembered an audiobook that I had in my Kindle App. I put it on and let it carry me away to a world where magic is real and women are sassy. I arrived at the Hall Mountain Lean-to and realized I needed to use the privy. The sign indicated it was just down the trail, but it was more than a little distance. I declined to hike back to the shelter, so after my visit I kept going. I found a nice sitting rock on the trail half an hour later and stopped there instead. I was oddly unhungry today. Safari suggests that the lower calorie requirements of slackpacking may be the cause. I had lots of snacks left over, at any rate. When I summited the last mountain I texted Le Chef to let him know I thought I'd be at the road at 3. I really go there at 2:30, which was nifty except it meant a half hour wait in the rain. I zipped everything up as well as I could and sat down to wait. Pogo showed up similarly half an hour early for his shuttle. We chatted until his ride from Pine Ellis showed up. Le Chef arrived right at three and I was grateful to see him. We went back to the campground where I took a hot shower. I realized that I left my crocs in the tent so I showered barefoot. I expect athletes foot any minute now. Immediately afterward, Safari, Le Chef and I went to the general store in Andover to eat dinner. It was tasty but I couldn't finish it. I'll have leftovers for breakfast. Back in my tent I had to spend several minutes killing mosquitoes before I could take off my protective gear. This location really is exceptionally buggy. It's the worst I've experienced on the trail. Every time I open the tent mesh, a few get in. It's raining this evening. It's cozy in my tent, despite the mosquito corpses. I want to get as much sleep as I can to make up for last night's deficit.  In a few minutes I'll shut off the phone and see if I can drift off into stinky hiker dreamland.
Date: 2017-07-25
From: South Arm Rd

To: Oquossoc 
Miles today: 13.2

7/25Oquossoc 13.2 milesI finished the Appalachian Trail today. I mean, not in the "I'm done! Time to resume my life!" sense. In the "I've hiked all of the trail at least once" sense. There will be no new miles. I woke this morning a little on the tired side. I packed up my tent and then ate leftover pizza, leaving one more piece for lunch. It had rained vigorously overnight, so Safari kindly put out a dry towel for me to sit on at our picnic table. I hoisted my borrowed daypack and set out on the trail after Le Chef dropped us off. After the other three passed me, I didn't see them again today. It was pleasant to hike along, listening to an audiobook and walking at my own pace. The trail was slippery after yesterday's rain. I stepped carefully, slipping a few times but not falling. A German sobo passed me and spoke of trail magic ahead if I hurried. With no desire to sprint, I assumed they would be gone when I got there. And they were - but there was trail magic left behind with my name on it! Snowman left me a note and a paper plate with two bananas, a powdered donut, and a hot dog. And an icy cold coke. The hot dog was still hot! They left minutes before I got there. My friends were responsible, of course. I sat and ate and drank and was thankful. Pogo arrived as I was finishing the coke. I gave him the remaining banana. He was distraught at missing the full trail magic, having run down the mountain to get there. He ate half the banana, saving the other half for Frog, who arrived moments later. Telling people about trail magic ahead tends to lead to crushing disappointment when they get there too late. After I arrived at the road I texted the others. Le Chef drove up moments later and whisked me back to the campsite at the Rangeley State Park. I set up my tent, then fetched my box to sort through it. I broke the news that I wasn't slackpacking tomorrow. My plan is to go into town for a day off, while the others proceed north. I wish them well, but I don't want to follow their schedule. They have reasons to get to Katahdin faster than me. They're almost at the end, an exciting time. I'm approaching the middle. They'll rest after they're done. That's months away for me. It was weird to sit together for perhaps the last time. I shared that I had completed the trail today, and we toasted. I'll miss these people. We've shared so much laughter and so much difficult trail. It forms a strong bond. I expect the first few days to be a little glum until I get used to being solo again.
Date: 2017-07-26
From: Oquossoc 

To: Rangeley 
Miles today: 13.2
Weather: broken clouds

7/26Rangeley 13.2 milesToday was a little sad. I said goodbye to everybody at our drop off point. I got a little teary. I know I'll see them again but it feels different, not making our plans together. My pack weighed a million pounds. You lose strength quickly if you don't keep doing exercise that demands it. Just three days of slackpacking and putting the pack back on was so hard! Of course, there was extra load as I am carrying some items that I'll mail in Rangeley. I had forgotten some of the trickier parts of today's hike. Just as well I guess. In my head it was an easy stroll from Rangeley to Oquossoc. But there were several boulder jumbles to navigate, ledge to climb, and lots and lots of mud and roots. Typical Maine. But fairly easy trail for all that. I did in one day what I did in three in 2014. I ran into Pogo at Sabbath Day Pond Shelter. We seem to be keeping similar schedules. Of course, I'm taking tomorrow off so I may never see him again. At the road I walked .3 up to the Hiker Hut to get my packages. For another $5 they agreed to shuttle me to town. While I was waiting, Pogo asked me if I knew G Hippie. I was so confused. Could there be two G Hippies in the world? Why would he be asking about a hiker from seven years ago? Turns out G Hippie was doing trail magic!  I missed him at the trailhead, but caught up with him at the Hiker Hut. It was good to see his face. Another hiker told me where I might be able to find a sleeping pad in town. I checked into the Rangeley Inn, showered, then made a beeline for that outfitter. NeoAir in hand, I next found a restaurant. I tried the Asian fusion place but they said they were backed up, running out of things, and not taking more orders. Instead I went to the Forks in the Air Bistro. Everything on the menu looked good. With difficulty I decided on a Fat Tire, carrot ginger cream soup, and baked mussels with bacon and almonds and all sorts of good stuff. It was all excellent. After eating so much hiker food, this high falutin' fare fed both my stomach and my soul. There was an ice cream shop on the way back to the Inn so I stopped on for a soft serve cone. A minute after I started licking it, my ice cream fell out of the cone. I caught it in my hand, shrugged, and jammed it back into the cone. Luckily I had brought napkins, but it was still a bit messy. It tasted delicious.My bed is clean and comfortable, and it's utterly silent here. No need for earplugs. I'm looking forward to sleeping a long, long time.
Date: 2017-07-29
From: Redington Campsite 

To: Spaulding Mountain Lean-to
Miles today: 10.7
Weather: moderate rain

7/29Spaulding Mountain Lean-to10.7 milesMy traitorous brain remembered the existence of coffee and made me get up. The hike up Saddleback Junior was pretty. It was still early morning when I reached its summit. The view wasn't as pretty as from the main peak, but it was still pretty good. The day passed uneventfully. Orbeton stream was the one I remembered. I thought fondly of Sarge, Weaver, and Gardener as I hiked. We shared this trail in 2011. I glanced at the logging road where we camped. It's completely grown over now. There was some unexpectedly easy trail today, interspersed with more Maine-ish hiking. I grew tired in the afternoon, which was worrying until I realized that ten hours of hiking would be enough to tire most people. Even slow hiking like I do. I felt a bit lonely at the shelter, but I talked to other hikers and they dispelled the loneliness. We talked about grad school, woodchucks, red meat allergy, and other things. Somebody made a fire. I enjoyed the waves of heat rolling off it. For the most part I live in a non-temperature-controlled environment these days. Heat on a chilly evening sure is nice. I'm one of few who didn't camp tonight. Not sure why, as the shelter is nice enough and there are no bugs. Tomorrow remains a mystery. 6 miles to Crocker Cirque or 13 miles to town. Neither seems ideal. I need to do laundry in town. I mean, I'd really like to. I would need to stay in town late the morning after I got there after a 13 mile day. I guess I'll just see how tomorrow goes. I think I'd rather hike a short day into town. But sometimes my legs keep going, despite me.
Date: 2017-07-30
From: Spaulding Mountain Lean-to

To: North Crocker stealth site
Miles today: 10.1
Weather: clear sky

7/30Stealth camped at mile 1998.210.1 milesI sort of miss being dehydrated. In southern Maine the terrain was so hard that I sweated constantly. Despite drinking a lot I remained in a fairly constant state of dehydration. I barely peed at all. No getting up at night. No particular urgency in the morning. It was nice, if unhealthy. Now I'm in much easier terrain. My body knows what to do with it. And I'm back to getting up during the night, dangit. Last night I nearly took a fall trying to navigate away from the shelter using the stupid red light on my headlamp. It's almost worse than useless. I have no depth perception with it. I can barely see the ground at all, let alone get over rocks safely. I longed to be camped alone so I wouldn't need to be careful with my headlamp or go so far away from camp. I like company, mostly, and the feeling of safety in numbers. And I like having a water source and a privy and all that jazz. But sometimes a girl just wants to be by herself. Tonight I'm camped alone. All I hear is the wind in the trees and the chirping of birds. It's rather pleasant. Although dinner didn't agree with me. At least if I have to holler New York later, I'll do it without an audience. I found out today that what I remembered as Orbeton Stream was really the Carrabasset River. Embarrassing! The whole time I've been thinking that Inchworm disappeared in the wrong place. I got to Crocker Cirque around one and was nowhere near ready to stop for the day. I didn't think I would make it to Stratton tonight, nor did I really want to. It's supposed to rain tomorrow so I didn't want to head into the Bigelows. But I didn't want to stay two nights in town. This way I can spend most of the rainy day getting chores done, then walk out in the morning. Btw the camouflage pattern of my tent works against me with mosquitoes. The only way I can tell they're in here is when they move.
Date: 2017-07-31
From: North Crocker stealth site

To: Stratton 
Miles today: 2.7
Weather: clear sky

7/31Stratton - White Wolf Inn2.7 milesI slept so well last night! I was surprised to wake up at 7:20. That's very late for me, lately. I didn't even do anything. I just lay there enjoying. The air felt warm and moist. I was snug in my sleeping bag. I could hear birds singing. The sun was streaming down. Eventually I got my food bag, ate my last honeybun, and packed up. My pack felt delightfully light, with virtually no food and only a liter of water. I started walking down the mountain to the road. Soon I found a lovely "2000" on the ground made out of birch branches with bright green leaves filling the zeroes. And soon after that I found a blaze with 2000 scratched into it. Another hiker was gluing heart shaped sorrel leaves to the blaze when I got there. At the road I immediately started walking west. There isn't much traffic on the road to Stratton on a Monday morning, and most of it was heavy trucks. About a mile in, a man pulled over on the other side of the road to ask if I wanted a ride. It was Willie Nelson. The trailname, sadly, not the actual singer. He asked if I had met his friend Oneismus, and I was happy to report that I had. Soon he dropped me off in Stratton. The White Wolf wasn't open yet so I went to Fotter's for groceries. I bought too much food to eat in town. Soon I had a room, a shower, and a burger in my belly. As I was leaving the restaurant, the owner shouted "Have a nice nap!" "Wow" I said. "You really know hikers."But first I walked down to the laundromat to wash my stinky clothes. THEN I took a nap. I have food, fuel, clean clothes, and a full belly. I'm ready to tackle the Bigelows.