morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2003-06-12
From: Antlers Campsite

To: Monson, ME.
Miles today: 4.0
Weather: light rain

Today TJ & i hiked out of Antlers Campsite & south to a logging road 4 miles away. We took it slow and enjoyed ourselves, taking pictures of the lady-slippers along the way, and looking for fly-swallowing plants in the bogs. At the car, TJ & i were happily suprised to find hearts drawn in the dirt & a raven feather put upon his car (by J'aimee & Nick---who've been leaving happy trail signs for hikers in any muddy or dirt part of the trail they hiked through). It's just so wonderful to feel support and kind wishes after feeling scared & somewhat alone. So TJ & I decided that we would leave notes & trail drawings in the dirt for them further south along the trail (we drove to the next logging road that the trail crosses) for them. I always like meeting adults who are sporatic & fun. Then it was a long drive to Monson, ME. (1 1/2 hours) to a hostel where i could stay & call my parents. We saw 2 moose along the back roads & had a great time learning about each others histories & families. He's someone I'll never forget. Thank you, TJ!!! I'll pass the great trail karma along when i next get on the trail!
Date: 2003-06-16
From: Monson, ME.

To: home for the time being
Miles today: 0.0

For an update, I stayed at Shaw's Boarding House that night in Monson, ME. and met some nice kids, around my age, who had just hiked out of the wilderness. They too offered for me to join them the following day, and I let them know that i'd think about it. However, i instead called my parents, and decided that I'd rather spend the weekend with my dad, uncle, & cousin who were driving up to Eustice, ME. for a fishing trip. That sounded like a better temporary plan--and it turned out that i had a good time with them all, although i didn't catch one fish!Now I'm back home, typing in my past journal entries, and figuring out how i can get back on the trail to join up with J'aimee & Nick in Caratunk, ME---or meet up with them somewhere further south than that by next monday or tuesday. (It's hard to coordinate times of departure from Massachusetts, when both parents work, and you need a ride from them.) It's also a bit tricky to contact hikers, but I'll be doing my best this week. Luckily, my parents are both really supportive of me continuing this hike, and they're willing to make another 6-7 hour drive to Maine for me. Yea for awesome parents!!!If the trail doesn't work out this way, I'm not exactly sure what I'll be doing next, although spending the summer leading backpacking & canoeing trips for OMNI Camp could be an option--and a fun one at that!
Date: 2003-06-22
From: home

To: Caratunk
Miles today: 0.0

Yeah, today my parents drove me to Caratunk! Correction, they drove me to Wallingford the day before ¢ and then from there to Caratunk the next day ¢ ahem ¢ today. Wow, is this confusing or what? Anyway HUGE thanks to them¢¦ than you for supporting me and helping me get back on the trail!As soon as we rolled into the Caratunk House B+B, we saw J¢Amiee and Nick in the driveway. Perfect! They met my folks and we took J¢Amiee out to lunch before mom and dad left to go back home. The Caratunk House was such a great stay. I¢ve heard that they make the best veffi-burgers ever ¢ although I can¢t attest to that because I ate the leftovers of my lunch that Night. But I sure wish I had room in my tummy for a veggie burger made with some of their fresh veggies from their garden. Geeze ¢ do I sound hungry right now? I ate dinner already tonight. But I also hiked my longest day today ¢ so I could see how that could happen. But wait ¢ I¢m getting ahead of myself Paul and Jensen were really swell people, swell cooks, and swell massage therapists (Jensen). Thanks guys. Although I don¢t have too much background to go on ¢ I thought my stay at their hostel was above and beyond my expectations. Three cheers for you both.
Date: 2003-06-23
From: Caratunk

To: West Carry Pond Leanto
Miles today: 14.0

Okay ¢ so now I¢m onto today. I¢ve already written that I've had dinner tonight. I¢ve also had 14 miles between this morning and now ¢ so I¢m a wee bit tired. But I did not want ¢ woa ¢ I mean I wanted to write about the lake we¢re on tonight at West Carry Pond. It¢s beautiful ¢ the sun was going down ¢ a bright orange ball and reflecting on the water. Then the rain begain to fall and small circles widened and overlapped on the waters surface. The orange reflection lengthened and waved toward me from the turbulence. It was so amazing and simple that I didn¢t mind the rain. I ate my spaghetti on a rock and watched it all. Other big moment today ¢ I saw lots of frogs and toads ¢ and a snowshoe hare not 5 feet from me. Yeah for forest animals, I enjoy your company! A good day has now ended I¢m going to bed ¢ amongst 13 boy scouts ¢ all around 11 years old (and having trouble being quiet.) I don¢t mind it though. It reminds me of OMNI and trips with the kids. I may min it at eleven PM though. We¢ll see!
Date: 2003-06-24
From: West Carry Pond Leanto

To: Safford Notch Campsite
Miles today: 12.2
Weather: clear sky

I want to nap right now. I really don¢t want to write. It was a hard day for me today. While lesser miles than yesterday the terrain made all the difference in the world. Our ambitious goal was for a 15 mile day up to Avery Memorial Shelter atop Mt. Bigelow. However, we (J¢Amiee, Nick and I ) stopped short-everyone was hurting. Too bad, because I enjoyed ¢Mode¢ + ¢Coop¢s¢ company last night¢¦ and ¢Grahmbler¢¢¦ but I think they all made it ¢ I really don¢t know how ¢ but my thought right now is that my pack is too heavy and my food isn¢t all that it was cracked up to be. So instead of journaling about every aspect of today¢s hike, I¢m going to make a list of things I want to change about my hike:1. replace tent with tarp (it should be in the mail already.)2. throw out used pages from thru-hikers hadbook. 3. throw out trash4. tell mom no more tabouli or black beans, veggies, and rice mix (it wasn¢t pre-cooked and weighs a ton ¢ plus takes 24 hours to hydrate pre-stove time!)5. have mom send me out new shorts (these ones have excellent pockets, but dry slowly and have a waistband that digs into me under my pack belt.)6. request small packet of wipes.7. share the idea that one type of lunch (aka; pb and crackers) for a week is not only heavy but a bad plan for the palate. 8. eat more food. (2 days after I started ¢ and my food bag weighs the same. Either the portions are too big ¢ or my tummy hasn¢t adjusted yet ¢ but, I know one thing ¢ its heavy.)9. request JP shakes for breakfast (w/occasional granola) and JP thins.10. look into an esbit stove a bit more. 11. keep bug jacket and send back head net. 12. that¢s it so far. Seep time now.
Date: 2003-06-25
From: Safford Notch Campsite

To: Cranberry Streams Campsite
Miles today: 9.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Great day. I ate dirt with my macaroni and cheese dinner due to a fire log no longer withstanding the weight of my dinner pot, opps. I¢m so happy to be hiking with J¢Aimee and Nick. Both are great people and we¢re all approximately the same pace hikers too. I have realized today that my food drop itinerary will be changing very soon. But all is well, as I have a mom (willing (I hope) to send food soon!) and cell phone reception. No worries here. On our way down to camp tonight, I had a strange feeling like I had been here before. I also had a strange memory of ¢yelling¢ at people to get away from the spring and myself as I pumped water ¢ this memory came to me when I was pumping water at Horns Pond lean-tos. It wasn¢t until I got down and off of the Bigelows that I realized Leif and I had been here with the campers just last summer. Wow ¢ what a horrible memory I have ¢ and yet upon recall I could remember some very distinguished moments of that trip. Hmm, Happy thoughts. Goodnight!
Date: 2003-06-26
From: Cranberry Streams Campsite

To: Sugarloaf Summit House
Miles today: 12.5

Well I think there¢s always one point in every day where I think to myself ¢this sucks ¢ I want out!¢ Today that thought came to me wh8ile climbing up sugarloaf Mt. Yesterday it was the Bigelows¢¦ its really anytime my feet hit something steep I suppose. But on the brighter side, I spent the rest of my climb up Sugarloaf growling and telling the mountain that I was stronger than it. In my mind it kind of becomes a battle between the rocks and I. If I made it to the top, I won¢¦ if I took off my pack and sat down ¢ I lost. Today I won and the end of the hike was simply magnificent. We all slept on the deck of a warming hut on the summit under a starry sky ¢ which was preceded by and awesome sunset. In the morning I woke around 4:30 and saw that sunrise again while doing stretches on the rocks. It was just so cool. :)
Date: 2003-06-27
From: Sugarloaf Summit House

To: Poplar Ridge Lean-to
Miles today: 10.9
Weather: clear sky

Today¢s hike wasn¢t as grueling as the day before ¢ although the trail habit of taking hikers all the way to the bottom of a mountain before bringing them back up 3000 feet, hasn¢t changed. Once more reason to look forward to New Hampshire, eh? The thunderstorm, lightning and hail put our schedule a bit on delay ¢ J¢Aimee and I kept dry under Nick¢s quick and created shelter. When it appeared that the storm had passed, we got out and into our raingear only to meet 2 northbounders up the trail in no rain clothes and just t-shirts and shorts ¢ totally drenched but smiling. I couldn¢t believe it ¢ the rain felt cold enough to have been coming out of a spring ¢ and these folks hiked not only through that ¢ but the hail and the lightning too! I wonder if I¢ll toughen up like that by the end of this. I apologize to anyone who¢s reading this. By the end of the day I¢m usually too exhausted to write much and I realize later that I should have mentioned something - I even think about what I¢ll write about while hiking, but when I set up camp ¢ pretty much the only thing I want to do is eat, hang my food bag and sleep. Writing is a luxury that takes energy and I may not keep up with it all that well in the future ¢ just for forewarning.
Date: 2003-06-28
From: Poplar Ridge Lean-to

To: Piazza Rock Lean-to
Miles today: 8.8
Weather: overcast clouds

Wow, J¢Aimee, Nick (who we now call Toe) and I are in the campsite at 2pm! That¢s insane. After I set up my tent (which I had to dry out from tenting last night as well) and made lunch I was like ¢geeze, what do I do now with all this time on my hands?¢ This isn¢t usual luckily this campsite is located next to some pretty cool caves that we all climbed and scrambled through and a huge ledge rock over-looking a waterfall small, but still cool) After doing those things, the schedule fell back into place of dinnertime and sleep time. The climb today up Saddleback Mtn. was so cool, 3 peaks ¢ mostly above treeline on a sunny windy day. Absolutely perfect climbing weather. The humidity was gone thankfully and for once I wasn¢t sweating buckets. At camp now, I¢m finding that I¢m quite sunburnt ¢ but on the whole not looking too badly ¢ if you can get past the cuts, bruises, bug bits, and messy hair! My shoulders have blistered up something awful under the pack straps. As I recall, it happened to me 6 years ago too with Outward Bound. Once the skin hardens, I¢ll have 2 scar / scabs there for a while and that will protect me better. Right now they kill though. Well, today was beautiful. I couldn¢t have asked for a better day. I¢m loving being out here ¢ but also looking to a day in town in Andover in 4 days.
Date: 2003-06-29
From: Piazza Rock Lean-to

To: Sabbath Day Lean-to
Miles today: 11.2

Flat, short. That describes today. Very nice and enjoyable. I took a swim about 3 tenths of a mile south of our shelter, it was great. The sun was out to dry me off. At the shelter tonight it¢s J¢Aimee and Nick, Mode, OD, Grambler, and Matt. Overall a great bunch of people ¢ Matt¢s from Australia and reminds me of some folks from OMNI last year. He¢s great. J¢Aimee¢s got the best sense of humor ¢ she makes me laugh non-stop. Mode¢s about my age and his friends have left too¢¦ he¢s super nice. Grambler went to school out in Oregon and is my ¢out west¢ buddy. Nick is J¢Aimee¢s and my hero and OD is just kinda there ¢ easy to ignore, which I do¢¦ but seemingly harmless within a group. He¢s Mr. Yucky¢. Anyways though these are the hikers I¢ve met so far¢¦ well almost, there¢s more, but I¢m too tired to mention them all now. I¢d love to see more friends or family come out and hike with me for a bit though, or meet me in town with treats! Hint hint! Just kidding. Love to all. Thank you and goodnight ¢ Snail.
Date: 2003-06-30
From: Sabbath Day Lean-to

To: Bemis Mountain Lean-to
Miles today: 9.0
Weather: light rain

To tell you the truth, I don¢t really remember much of this day. I crossed route 17, which I had driven on many time when bringing OMNI campers to the mountains for 2 day hikes. That was pretty cool. I thought about green grapes, huckleberries, carrots, cucumbers and watermelon a lot that day in anticipation for coming into town. And I got a bit better pacing my up hills. They don¢t wind me so much now and I¢m hiking faster. Nick and J¢Aimee say that when I start really ¢cooking¢ up these mountains they¢ll rename me escargot! That could be soon. I feel great on these low mile days and I can see my muscles start to pop out.
Date: 2003-07-01
From: Bemis Mountain Lean-to

To: Andover
Miles today: 9.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Today I hiked with Mode. He¢s a quick hiker ¢ so I was feeling good that I was able to keep up with him. His mom works at a girls camp and takes girls out into the woods for 7 week long hiking trips in which they hike the whole Maine portion of the AT. He said that she¢s always looking for female trip leaders ¢ so maybe there¢s a job opp for me the summer after the trail. Sounds like fun ¢ provided that by then I¢m not sick of hiking ;) We got to the road into town by 12:30 and waited for our ride ¢ while learning that the owner of another hostel in Andover had just passed away the night before. How sad! Peg-Leg ¢who owns the Andover House. The hostel is still being kept open by his wife and our 2 friends 3-ounce and Coop were helping her shuttle hikers to their hostel that day. We (Nick, J¢Aimee, Mode and I) went to ¢the Cabin¢ a hostel in East Andover, that caters to vegetarians and is a little more remote. I rate this hostel right up there with Paul and Jensen¢s in Caratunk. Just Awesome! Jaimie, the caretaker, took J¢Aimee and I out to grocery shop ¢ which we did ¢ to the max and are now gorging ourselves on fresh veggies pizza and ice-cream. Such a filling dinner, mmm. Plus a good shower and clean clothes provided for us courtesy of ¢the cabin¢. It was like shopping so fun!
Date: 2003-07-02
From: Andover

To: Andover
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: broken clouds

Last night I slept out in a teepee on the lawn in front of the cabin. It was a great experience and I enjoyed Jaime¢s company and learning about plants and mushrooms from him. He¢s a medicinal mycologist ¢ very interesting. Now I¢m just resting ¢ ate some great carob, blueberry, strawberry, and banana pancakes this morning and am recouping after that. Some days I feel so incredibly hungry and then other days my eyes completely fool my stomach. Not worrying about calorie intake is pretty fun though. I¢ve lost 5 lbs. So far and Nick has lost a considerable amount of weight during the past 3 weeks. We don¢t look as fit as the few Northbounders that we¢re starting to pass on the trail ¢ but we have nor worries we will be really fit soon. Later today we¢re going to have a b.b.q. with ¢the boys¢ who are all staying in town. Should be fun! And thank you family and friends for calling me here. I feel loved! Today was the best day ever. Jaimie (the caretaker) took Mode and I to these falls and pools of water 6 miles from the cabin. We went ¢muddin¢ before we got there and although there weren¢t many puddles in the road we were bouncing all over the place. It was so fun! When we got to the pools, we were scrambling over rocks, checking out the plants, mushrooms and mosses, and then we went swimming. It was great and cold and so much fun, I couldn¢t stop smiling. Thank you Jaime ¢ I¢ll never forget that zero day. It may be my first zero day, but I think it¢ll be the best one too! I¢ve never been anyplace more beautiful or perfect. That night we hosted a bbq for the 9 southbounders that were there: (Snail, Mode, Coop, J¢Aimee, Nick, OD, Matt, 3 ounce, and Tex). That was good fun. Tomorrow, we hike again. Love, snail.
Date: 2003-07-03
From: Andover

To: Surplus Pond Campsite
Miles today: 8.0
Weather: scattered clouds

Off to a late start today after some pancakes at the cabin. J¢Aimee has been an awesome cook the past two days! Mode left early this morning to hike a 15 mile day so that he can later get off the trail in a few days to see family. He¢s such a great guy, I can¢t wait until he catches up with us again. By 11:30 am we were on the trail. The 4 miles to the shelter weren¢t exhausting enough for me today so I pushed on and caught up with Matt, 3oz, and OD for the night. Tomorrow night J¢Aimee and Nick will meet up with us again, but today the shelter was looking mighty nice to them. I¢m under my new tarp, traded in for my tent and so far so good. It cut off a few pounds from my pack, which has helped some, although with 8 days of food and 3 liters of water, I¢m still carrying around 50 lbs. Tonight is very hot and humid. I¢m down to my undies and my bug jacket with my sleeping bag being used as a blanket vs. a bag and I¢m still hot! Yuk. It¢s time to ask for the 40 degree bag with the emergency bivy. I¢m just roasting tonight and one hour away from being royally bug bitten due to my necessary vulnerability. Another plus to trading sleeping bags is that it¢ll be less weight too! Plus some of the guys out here are carrying their 40 degree bags and saying that they¢re perfectly warm enough. After the presidential I shouldn¢t need the extra warmth.
Date: 2003-07-04
From: Surplus Pond Campsite

To: Baldplate Lean-to
Miles today: 10.0

Today was a great day. We took a nice rest at Frye Notch for lunch ¢ I nearly fell asleep. The last 3.5 miles from there were a bit taxing on the calves as we hiked over 2 peaks on Baldplate Mt. And yet, I really enjoyed them. Hiking seems to do that to me, just takes away the worries and stresses and leaves me really content and happy. Even in times when I would expect myself to be sad, or mad my emotions are just really balanced. It¢s great! J¢Aimee says her goal is to make me ¢mean¢ during this trip, cause I¢m just too damn nice. I guess that¢s a compliment Ha! Today I¢m really enjoying the company of Matt, now renamed ¢Vent¢ due to the huge rip in the back of his shorts, 3oz, J¢Aimee, Nick and ¢Best¢ a gal I just met today. Lots of laughs, lots of fun, just great times. Happy 4th of July! I celebrated by adding vegan boulion cubes to my couscous, a rare and tasty treasure and eating a ¢lolly¢ (Australian term for candy) from Vent. Food = happiness out here. Hope everyone else is having a great 4th too! Really looking forward to the NH/ME border and the upcoming ridge walk along the presidential. Oh yeah ¢ last comment of the day ¢ I¢ve become an expert in deciphering what to dole out extra energy upon. Wiping away spider webs is not important (or helpful¢¦ you¢ll soon walk through another), wiping sweat away from my eyelids is important, but no bothering about it from any other area, it just flows. Swatting bugs away from you before they bit is not important. Once they land, twitch¢¦ and if that doesn¢t work, then swat. Yup, I got it down. All other energy is reserved for the hike.
Date: 2003-07-05
From: Baldplate Lean-to

To: Full Goose Shelter
Miles today: 12.0
Weather: light rain

Wow, what a day today. First, we came down off of Baldplate Mtn. To the parking lot where I had 2 notes from Leif and OMNI Campers. That was nice, thanks guys! Then we hiked up on hell of a mountain called Old Spekc, but on the plus side we got to the top (lean-to) at 10:45 am after 7 miles of hiking. Did I forget to mention we got up at 4:30am today? Yeah, that may have had something to do with our early arrival, but I must admit I really enjoyed knowing I had the whole rest of the day to hike. At Speck Pond, 3oz and I took a refreshing swim. Then it was a steep descent down the Mahoosic Arm to my favorite place, the Mahoosic Notch. Nick¢s knee was really bothering him today, so he and J¢Aimee stopped at the campsite just North of the Notch with Best and Vent, while 3oz and I decided to push on. The Notch was tons of fun scrambling under around and over boulders. It¢s a mile long, but it took us nearly 2 hours to complete. We took pictures, had snacks, and made a good time of it. After that it was a somewhat steep climb up to Full Goose Shelter. At first we enjoyed them. Thought we¢d have to make dinner here and hike on with our headlights because the shelter and surrounding campsites were all filled. But over dinner one of the campers alerted us to 2 very small flat areas on the edge of the Mtn. where we could set up tarps. Coop and Tex are only 4 miles away at the next shelter, but we voted to stay here and sleep. Hope I don¢t roll off the mountain.
Date: 2003-07-06
From: Full Goose Shelter

To: Trident Col Tentsite
Miles today: 14.5

Most of the day was rolling hills and yet by the end of it I was about as exhausted as I would have been if we had hiked Old Speck again! The weather today was so awesome. We hiked through clouds on East Peak Goose Eye Mtn. and when we had passes that and onto the next¢¦ Mt. Success, it was sunny and bright. Awesome views of the presidential mountains to come! And, best thing about the day was that we passed the ME/NH border today. Yahoo! One state down and 13 more to go! But man, by the end of the day, I set up my tarp, made food, sat down and could not get up. I was beat! Oh well¢¦ tomorrow I¢ll be bright and new again. Amazing how the body works! Hope J¢Aimee, Nick, Vent, and Best catch up with us soon!
Date: 2003-07-07
From: Trident Col Tentsite

To: Gorham, NH
Miles today: 7.0
Weather: broken clouds

Yea! short day today. 3oz and I decided that instead of passing through Gorham that we should stop in for lunch. And then once we got here for lunch, we decided that we¢d better see the guys (Tex, OD, and Coop) at the hostel. And then once we got to the hostel we though, well, why not call it a day and sleep here. Its kinda like ¢If you give a mouse a cookie, he¢s gonna want a¢¦¢ but we¢re happy and clean and our clothes have been washed and I got a new filter (mine was quite dirty and hard to pump) and I sent my stove home from here (I¢m getting a new one in 2 days and sharing until then) and things are just dandy right now. Tomorrow we¢ll start the ¢real¢ mountains of New Hampshire. Yea! Some people may stay here another day, but that¢s actually good because we need to split the group up a bit to go through the presidentials if anyone wants to try a ¢work for stay¢ at the huts. Otherwise we¢d all be paying $70.00 a night! And that¢s just insane. People call it the Appalachian Money Club here!