morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2004-08-10
From: Hanover, NH

To: Moose Mountain Shelter
Miles today: 11.0
Weather: broken clouds

I had breakfast then split the food I had bought up and mailed it to Glencliff, North Woodstock and Gorham.After that I needed to go to the EMS outdoor store in West Lebanon. To save time I ended up taking a taxi. It took half an hour to get there from the inn, so rather than get another one at the store after I was done I had him wait for me. That meant shopping in a rush. So I only got a new fuel cannister and a pair of lightweight Teva flipflops to wear when fording rivers in Maine. The whole trip took less than an hour, less than the bus ride one way.In between forays out of my room on those errands I put three coats of waterproofing on my boots, being careful to wet them thoroughly with water before each coat. Hopefully that will fix the leaking I noticed after I did them in Manchester Center.I had time for one last shower before packing up and checking out at 1130. On the way to the Trail I stopped off at the Co-Op for one last food buying spree. They had not restocked the Bear Mountain bars so I settled for more Cliff bars. I also got more iron pills and bananas, Fritos and chocolate milk for lunch, which I ate at the picnic tables outdside the store.I got back onto the Trail at 1230 and had ten miles to the shelter. My packweight was heavier yet the hike went a bit faster than I expected. Up Velvet Rocks I found my first New Hampshire blueberry and there were raspberries scattered along. Up Moose Mountain there was a patch thick enough to pick by the handful.I went to the old Moose Mountain Shelter, which guidebooks say was to be torn down last fall. There is a new shelter but it is farther away from the water source and seemed more crowded judging by how many people came from it past the old one to get water.
Date: 2004-08-11
From: Moose Mountain Shelter

To: Hexacuba Shelter
Miles today: 17.7
Weather: light rain

It started raining around 3am and was still drizzling at 530. Since yesterday's hiking went so fast I hoped to get to the Hexacuba Shelter, which was known for it's unique shape and accompanying Pentaprivy. So I made an early start rather than letting things dry out.There were raspberries then blueberries higher up then raspberries again. Enough for both by the handful with plenty left for others. Yummy!Much of the hiking was good but much was hard too. There were two mountains to go over. The second one had a steep climb then a ridgewalk over exposed outcrops like back in Massachusets then an even steeper climb near the top. I was so worn out by the time I reached the top I nearly decided to stop at the shelter on the summit after just 12 miles. But it was full of noisy boyscouts and it was only 2pm. So I decided to press on and hope Hexacuba was more quiet.The Trail followed a ridgeline down in a two hour descent. Warned that the water source at Hexacuba was not the best, I stopped at the stream at the bottom to refill with water before going on to the shelter. As I finished and started eating a Balance Bar, Two Cents caught up. Just then I heard the rumble of thunder in the distance.The shelter was only 1.3 miles away and I was off the high ground so I was not too worried. And the first part was a fairly steep 500 foot climb so it was hard to hurry. Up at the top I could see the sky darkening and the wind coming straight from there toward me. There were some plump blueberries too and it was hard not to get a nice helping but the rumble was getting closer so I curtailed my berry eating and headed on.A little later the first drops fell and long before the shelter the downpour began. I got a good drenching and for good measure the lightning was getting closer. My glasses were covered with water and between that and the dark of the storm it was hard to find my way. Finally I sloshed my way up to the shelter. It was the first solid drenching I had had in well over a month.To my surprise there was no one there yet. I got out dry clothes and took advantage of the privacy to strip and dry off. Naturally Two Cents appeared right then but fortunately his glasses were as rain-blurred as mine had been. Otherwise he would have seen more than I wanted!Over the next hours four southbounders appeared along with Crash and William Wallace, with whom I had talked back in Damascus. They were not the only visitors. Another thunderstorm arrived at 6 and yet another came around 7pm.I was surprised by the shelter design. From the name Hexacuba I expected some exotic complex shape. But the "cuba" part seems to refer to Mount Cube whose flank the shelter is on. The shelter is just a nicely made six-sided log structure reminding me of pictures of old frontier blockhouses but with two sides open to make a porch overhang. It was a dry and cozy retreat from the bad weather.I expect this will my last high milage day for a long time. It is 15 miles to Glencliff and then I will be in the White Mountains with the rugged part of Maine after that.
Date: 2004-08-12
From: Hexacuba Shelter

To: Glencliff, NH
Miles today: 14.7

The morning was foggy and damp. I got my clothes from the line no drier than when I had hung them last night and put on the wet shorts. I could not bear to put on the cold clammy t-short, so left that ordeal for later and kept on my longsleeve Capeline top instead. Then I cautiously made my way up the slippery rock slabs and slopes to the summit of Mount Cube. Blueberries were everywhere and I nibbled contentedly. What does a hard climb matter as long as there are lots of blueberries at the top! Near the top the the wind picked up and the trail was marked along the slabs with rock cairns. The summit was a high barren slab.The way down looked worse on the profile but was dirt slope and much easier to negitiate than the slick rock. At the bottom I folded the wet t-shirt into a narrow band, put it across my tummy and buckled the pack waistbelt over it to hold it in place. That warmed it up so I only had to put on a warm wet shirt instead of a cold wet one. Along the way the blueberries switched to raspberries and I snatched them to eat as I went.It started raining again before noon and kept up all the way to Glencliff. By then I was getting raw spots on the tops of my right toes from hiking so far in wet boots and socks. It was also boggy from all the rain and there were lots of aggressive bloodsucking bugs of different sorts.I checked into the Hikers Welcome Hostel across from the Post Office. There I learned a tropical storm was moving up the coast. No wonder it was so wet! There was another tropical storm on the way and the wet weather might keep up into next week. Well, I will take at least tomorrow off to dry out, do laundry, let my foot heal and sift through my gear to decide what not to carry over the White Mountains.My cold weather gear had arrived from home and I sorted through it and mailed the summer sleeping bag and the bivy sack back home. Any other items I don't need in the Whites I will mail to Gorham. Then a load of us went by van to nearby Warren to order take-out supper at the restaurant and stop at the grocery store. Back at the hostel again, I ate my way through a half pound cheeseburger, large salad and a half gallon of milk while we watched the movie "Hidalgo" on DVD before going upstairs to sleep on mattresses laid out on the floor.
Date: 2004-08-13
From: Glencliff, NH

To: Glencliff, NH
Miles today: 0.0

There was lightning in the sky when I went to bed and it poured around midnight. The forecast is for heavy rain and flooding today and tonightbecause of the remains of Hurricane Bonnie but only partly cloudy tomorrow. If it clears I might be back on the Trail then.Pilot and Polar arrived in the afternoon and so did Pilot and Vaportrail. So the two women named Pilot finally got to meet!The real rain started around four and let up around suppertime. Okie had his pickup here and took a load of us in to Warren to eat at the other restaurant. There we ran into Boonie, Tree Frog and Palm Tree, whose wife had picked them up one road short of Glencliff to go to a motel last night.Several of us are planning to slackpack from Kinsman Notch tomorrow. That will let us climb the difficult north face of Mt Mooselauke with a light load instead of descending it with a heavy load and also gives the option of staying here Sunday when Hurricane Charles is expected.
Date: 2004-08-15
From: Kinsman Notch

To: Eliza Brook Shelter
Miles today: 7.5
Weather: overcast clouds

Hurricane Charley went elsewhere and this morning's forecast was for a good day with some showers and clearing. So I decided to head out. I was the only one going to Kinsman Notch today so I would have to pay the whole $25 shuttle fee but still it would cost less than another night at the hostel and going with Lonesome Dove the next day.Before leaving I made a final trimming of my pack, putting items in an envelope to mail ahead to Gorham. I sent off one pair of socks, my water filter bottle, Teva flipflops, nylon windbreaker and heavy balaclava. I kept three pairs of socks, lightweight Capeline top and bottom, midweight Capeline top, Polartec top, Gortex rain suit, thin gloves and thin balaclava. I also kept my Platypus hydration bladder. I will use a new pack of AquaMira for purification and will keep what is left of the old pack as a reserve in case something happens to the new pack. My reasoning is that that will be lighter than the filter bottle, pure water is available at the huts and I don't expect as much freezing weather as I saw early in the hike, when the filter bottle was easier to protect from freezing.I got to the Trail at 10am and got my raspberries first thing, then started up and over Wolf Mountain. The trail had a lot of slanted rock slabs, ledges and even boggy spots with and without stepping stones or marsh boards. I can understand marsh in low spots, but marsh high up a tall mountain strikes me as a bit unfair! Between the bad ground and steepness it took longer than usual to cover the eight miles to the shelter.Then there was the Wolf Mountain Mosquito Air Force, valiantly giving their lives to attack intruding thruhikers like me. They must have tiny little oxygen masks to operate up at high altitude! Between their biting and my slapping there was blood spilled on both sides, most of it mine. I found myself longing for cold weather to put them out of action.In the shelter I found a group of six women out for a three day backpacking trip along with Polar and Pilot in their tents. I set up my tent too, for the mosquitoes.It was the largest all-woman group we had seen on the Trail. The nine of us talked for hours. The six women were a circle of roommates and former roommates who got together every year for a backpacking trip in the White Mountains. They were full of questions for the three of us about the experience of women thruhiking. But we also talked about everything under the sun, like whether to use a regression formula or a factorial formula to determine the potential number of unique cabbage patch dolls possible assuming a given set of variables! Ahh, nothing like a nice big dose of "girl-talk".
Date: 2004-08-17
From: Franconia Notch

To: Garfield Ridge Campsite
Miles today: 10.3
Weather: scattered clouds

Today I got to see what the Whites are all about!I had trouble getting a ride. Then a police car parked pointedly near me so I started walking rather than tempt fate. I got nearly 2 miles before a nice older woman who on her way to work at a local motel stopped and picked me up. I did not get to the Trail until nearly 10am. I nearly stopped for the day at Liberty Tentsite, fearing it was too late in the day to make it to Garfield. But with a perfect forecast and an assurance from the Liberty caretaker that it should only take five hours I decided not to waste a day of clear weather.Climbing up through the tree to timberline, I was surprised that the weight of my pack did not bother me. I found that I could climb even steep slopes at a steady pace without getting out of breath! I guess that by adding my winter gear gradually, then going over the mountains leading up to the Whites I had built the stanima to carry my winter gear and six days of food with no trouble. Lucky me, I had dreaded the weight increase.I was glad I went ahead. Except for some haze and high clouds the visibility above the treeline was great. Words could not capture the incredible view and even photographs can't do justice to the panorama I found spread before me. You almost have to be there to really grasp the scope of it. The view of the Trail snaking along Franconia Ridge like the Great Wall of China, the line of cairns marking it, the valleys nearly a mile in altitude below, the cliff below where the NH state emblem, a rock formation called The Old Man Of The Mountain, used to be until it fell last year and smashed to rubble, Mount Washington off in the distance. It was stupendous! I even found what seemed to be blueberries on tiny dwarfed bushes, getting my daily berry fix.Up above treeline, going up Little Haystack and across to Mount Lincoln and Mount Lafayette the Trail was well made. But coming down in the trees it seemed rugged to the point of recklessness, several places were just accidents waiting to happen. Then going up and over steep Mount Garfield was even worse, the trail little more than a rockslide marked with white blazes. Yikes!It took six and a half hours to get to camp instead of four or five. It was nearly 7pm when I paid the $8 fee and got a spot in the shelter. But it was worth it! It might be the clearest day I see in the Whites so I was glad to be on the high ridge to enjoy it.At the shelter I ran into Palm Tree, Boonie and Tree Frog. They had caught up with me by making a grueling slack pack from Kinsman Notch to Franconia Notch in one day. Ponderer was there as well but Pilot and Polar stayed back in North Woodstock to take a zero day.
Date: 2004-08-21
From: Lakes of the Clouds Hut

To: Lakes of the Clouds Hut (Cont'd)
Miles today: 0.0

This morning at breakfast the Croo read the weather forecast. Rain was predicted and they advised anyone hiking today to consult them about safer routes. But Lonesome Dove held to her plan to hike over Mount Washington all the way to Pinkham Notch, where she was to meet someone in the evening. No one else seemed too deterred by the bad weather and within two hours the hut was nearly deserted.Then around noon soaking wet hikers started drifting in, trying to dry off as best they could and warming up with hot chocolate or soup. Polar and Pilot came, as did Andrew, now trailnamed Megabyte, whom I had not seen in months. By evening the place was packed again.This was despite the fact it was raining with dense fog and according to the digital weather instrument readout by late afternoon the wind was around 25mph in the sheltered hollow the hut was nestled in and hikers related that up on the heights the gusts were strong enough to blow them right off their feet. It seemed odd to have so many hikers out when this seemed just the sort of weather that guidebooks warned about.This was an unusual evening, as the Hurricane Ridge Hiking Club had booked the entire hut and had brought in a band for a party. Because of the bad weather I managed to get a cancelled bunk for the night, a real bunk this time instead of a table. This was fortunate, since the party would run to midnight and no one sleeping on tables could go to bed until after it was over.The best moment of the day came during supper when the sun peeked through the murk for the first time all day. The whole dining room burst into applause and cheered!
Date: 2004-08-23
From: Osgood Tent Site

To: Pinkham Notch
Miles today: 4.8
Weather: scattered clouds

My knees were not happy this morning when I started the descent into Pinkham Notch. Everyone who had stayed at Osgood passed me by the time I got to the Notch. On the good side, I did find some nice raspberries.I decided to rest the rest of the day and go over Wildcat Ridge tomorrow. Especially after we read the AMC guidebook in the giftshop and it gave a rather grim description of the trail to Carter Gap. I got a bunk, then joined everyone else at the AYCE lunch. Megabyte kidded me, asking how I liked my BED and saying I should eat at another table because I was a traitor to thruhikerdom. After lunch we sat around until nearly 2pm before everyone started drifting up the Trail to Carter Notch. I went and got the key to my room and rested the rest of the day, reading things I found in the Lodge's library. (We librarians love libraries!)
Date: 2004-08-26
From: Gorham, NH

To: Gorham, NH
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

I spent the day doing laundry and going between store and post office.I got my bounce box and the food and excess gear that I had mailed here. I got everything from the bounce box that I might need: maps, guidebook pages, topped up toothpaste and hand sanitizer and a month's supply of vitamins, iron and calcium. Then I put in the gear I won't need: filter bottle, windbreaker, extra socks and t-shirt and so on. The bounce box will go home.Then I prepared shipments forward. I am taking 4 days food with me on the next leg to Andover. I am sending a few Bear Valley bars and leftover food odds and ends to Andover for the next leg. I sent enough Bear Valley and Cliff bars for the first 70 miles of the 100 Mile Wilderness to Momson. I also sent 3 days food, a disposable camera, my Goretex pants and midweight top to White House Landing to get me through the last third of the Wilderness and to keep me warm on Katahdin if the weather turns cold.Today was spent mostly on such chores. Tomorrow I will take one more zero day mostly just relaxing as sort of a reward for getting past the Whites and to get over the wear and tear I experienced there. Then I should be more ready to tackle the Mahoosuc Mountains coming up.
Date: 2004-08-27
From: Gorham, NH

To: Gorham, NH
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: mist

Today that devoted helper, my bounce box, got its reward. It is going home. Battered and worn, with a thick bulge of address labels taped one over another, it has preceeded me in big jumps up the Trail to bring me maps, guidebook pages and anything else I did not want to carry. Why, it even had my stove and cooking things for more miles than I did. Now its job is finished. This morning I bade it farewell at the post office. It showed little response, but I am sure it was as moved as I was.The weather here in Gorham is rather hot and uncomfortable. I can't wait to get back to the cool mountain forest. I spent most of the day watching television in the air conditioning of my room.
Date: 2004-08-28
From: Gorham, NH

To: Gentian Pond Shelter
Miles today: 11.8
Weather: light rain

Today the Trail was more normal Trail-like. It had its ups and downs but not nearly as steep as the Whites. I made about 45 minutes to the mile, average for rough terrain, and got to the shelter well before 4pm. It was a nice day for berries as well. The higher places had lots of blueberries and the low spots had big ripe honey-sweet blackberries, the best I have seen. So I nibbled my way along and could have gorged on them had I known the trail was so easy that there turned out to be plenty of time to reach the shelter before evening. Still, I was just as glad to leave plenty of berries for everyone else.It was hot and sticky much of the day except high up when the clouds drifted finally over and blocked out the sun. I was drenched in sweat climbing up from the road even though it was before 8am! I hope the rain forecast cools things down.Checking the register I found Palm Tree, Pilot and all their assorted hangers-on were here two nights ago. Over half a dozen twenty-something NOBO thruhikers caught up with me at the shelter, then hurried on to get in the five miles or so to Maine today. I was sore despite two zero days and was happy to stop, especially since tonight will be rainy. I expect to stop at Full Goose Shelter next, then a 5 mile day through Mahoosuc Notch and up Mahoosuc Arm to Speck Pond Shelter. If it is pouring tomorrow morning I might either spend all day here or do a short day to Carlo Col Shelter just beyond the border. That would let the weather dry a bit before I hit the Notch and Arm.Cooking supper, I discovered my hat makes a good pot-cozy. I have usually wrapped a bandana around the pot and laid its stuffsack on top to hold the heat in and let pasta finish cooking without having use fuel to simmer it. But adding the hat over the arrangement seemed to work even better and my tortelini was nice and tender tonight instead of half-cooked as usual. I only used a third of a pack each of tortelini and pea soup instead of half and a handful of TVP with extra water to make it seem more filling in order to stretch my food an extra day.
Date: 2004-09-02
From: Frye Notch Lean-to

To: East B Hill Road
Miles today: 4.5

I had been warm in shorts and longsleeved top when I went to bed but by 3am it was so cold I added long pants and balaclava and burrowed into my sleeping bag. In the morning it was in the upper 40s. I guess those warm nights are a thing of the past.After a steep 500 foot flight of steps up Surplus Mountain the rest of the way was easy downhill. NOW the trail gets good, when I have to get off for supplies so can't get in a long day of hiking. Oh well.Going down, I saw the first blueberry bushes and started looking for berries. I found two small ones, then a bigger juicy one. I savered it slowly with a contented "Mmmmmm, blueberry....." Before I found more I had gone from the blueberry zone into raspberry territory. I picked one and ate it, this time with a slow contented "Mmmmmm, raspberry...."Because it was only 4.5 miles to the road I took the time to go on a sidetrail and see the waterfalls in Dunn Notch. Just after that was the road, where I was lucky and got picked up by the second car.In Andover I got the food I had mailed to myself, bought more at the General Store as well as a pint of Ben and Jerry's, and called the Cabin hostel run by Margary and Earle Towne also known as Honey and Bear. Bear picked me up and by 11am I was comfortably ensconced.Up and Down were there already and before the day was out a few men and five more women had arrived, including the Hobbit Twins, whom I had not seen since Damascus. What is more, they told me Crash Bang was still on the Trail and he was staying at the Andover Guest House nearby.In addition to the usual nondescript loaner clothing to wear while washing all one's clothes, the Cabin had a whole closet of dresses. All of we women had fun picking out our choice to wear that evening. I got a solid green ankle-length long-sleeved one in thick cotten, frumpy enough for a librarian. Our outfits made for lots of fun and picture-taking that evening.The Cabin is a great place to stay. Bear and Honey kept us stuffed to the gills with homecooked food with three AYCE meals a day. 256 Miles to go!