morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2004-07-03
From: Poplar Ridge LT

To: Gull Pond Lodge
Miles today: 11.3

Nice hiking today! Started off a little late considering the peaks I had to do (8:30) but that's ok. Saw my first porcupine just 10 mins after leaving the camp. He was up an embankment on the trail and we were eye level facing each other going opposite directions on the trail. I stopped and looked back, and seeing as how he didn't back off...I did We stared for a bit and then he went on his way. Cool critter - as big as a large dog, with a funny face and plenty of quills. Climbed the Saddleback Range in the morning and afternoon. Clouds came and went, but the nearly 3 miles of above treeline walking was stupendous. Loved the views and thankful the rain held off. Lots and lots of day hikers out today b/c of the holiday weekend - prolly saw over 20 of them. Hiked down into Piazza Rock Camp. Saw that Tasha had left a note in the reg. for Jill and I ( although a long time ago) Pretty easy hitch into Rangely. Got a ride w/ a nice family from Mass. Lots of folks in town!! Called home. Resupplied and gawked at the food at the IGA (biggest grocery since I left Fla). Met Music Man and Dr. Jones down town and got a ride out to the hostel w/ Bob, the owner. Cool hostel! He has boats that you can take out on the lake for free. I paddled around for a bit in a kayak - nice to try moving w/o using your legs for a change. He took us into town later and we ate at the Red Onion. Great pizza! I ate an entire large, along with a coke, beer, and some hot chicken fingers. Hungry Hungry Hiker. Watched the fireworks later out on the lake down town. Very cool display! One of the best I've ever seen, just b/c we were SOO close. Not at all like a Tom Brown Park Sweatfest.
Date: 2004-07-04
From: Gull Pond Lodge

To: Bemis Mtn. LT
Miles today: 18.0
Weather: overcast clouds

Woohoo! Longest day yet!!! Boy did it take a toll though. Started the day with a good breakfast at the Lodge and a nice early (7:30) ride back to the trailhead. Reasonably flat trail until the BIG climb at the end of the day up and over Bemis Mtn. Made good time - Enjoyed an amazing view out over the Rangeley lakes area at a highway crossing. Finally met Green Splinter and Canary Lung. Two hikers who's Register Entries have been baffling me for weeks now. Crazy guys, but nice. Both from NJ. Shared the LT w/ MusicMan, Dr. Jones, Jon and his dog, Flako and I-Ching. All good folks. Ate a triple dinner tonight and still hungry after all that hiking.
Date: 2004-07-05
From: Bemis Mtn. LT

To: The Cabin
Miles today: 8.4
Weather: overcast clouds

Well it's been a rainy day. Hoped to make it further but opted for the quick hitch into Andover today to stay at the Cabin. There are two roads that you can take into town - I was hoping to push further and go into town tomorrow...but well...hiking in the rain sucks and I was cold. So in to town I go. Hitched into town w/ Canary Lung and later met Green Splinter at the Cabin. Andover was a VERY small town, but was able to use the payphone at the gas station to call the Cabin for a ride. The owner, Bear, picked us up. He and his wife, Honey, run the hostel out of their home along with their helper DirtyBird (a girl who thru hiked last year). They run the nicest hostel we've seen so far. And according to NOBO's, the best along the entire trail! Great food! Plenty of it! I ate so much at dinner that I was actually sick. But within a few mins. I was back to eating . They have a closet of clothes that you can use, so that you can wash all of your clothes at once (genius!). Boy was it nice to get clean and warm after walking soaking wet and cold all day. Stayed the night there w/ Numskull, a NOBO who came in later on. Great place. Nice people. Top notch. Oh yeah - I weighed myself on their fancy scale....still 16lbs down from what I started at. Grr...I was hoping that the large pizza would help...but no luck.
Date: 2004-07-06
From: The Cabin

To: Hall Mtn LT
Miles today: 4.0

OK - So I sucked at hiking today. ;-) I swear I ate 3lbs of bacon before I left the breakfast table and after 4 miles....well I was done. Thought about pushing on, but decided to do some loafing at the shelter and let my gear dry from yesterday. Stayed there w/ C-Lung, G Splinter, Curious (a cool NOBO), some weird section hiker guy who only talked about food additives and Sara and Jen. Finally met those last two after reading about them in the registers for days. Nice girls - moving slowly so I prolly won't see them again though. We gave them trailnames of "IDontCare" and "Whatever". Who knows if they'll stick, but they seemed like appropriate names. The front moved through today and by evening time the skies were clearing up. Sweet.
Date: 2004-07-07
From: Hall Mtn LT

To: Bald Pate LT
Miles today: 14.0

Good day! Got out of camp early and on the trail by 7:30. I like moving early in the morning when it's still cool and ya still feel fresh. Easy hike until East B Hill road - then a long uphill climb. Passed Numskull, who took a zero yesterday. Swapped howdies w/ him and moved on. Took a long late lunch at Frye Notch LT - according to the weather, showers are supposed to move in tonight and tomorow, so I want to push on as far as I can go today. Got up and over a very steep rock face that was Bald Pate Mtn. Sometimes hard to believe that climbs soo steep are part of the AT. Outstanding views up on top! Met an Outward Bound crew from Conn. and their two advisors on the ridge. Tough downhill hike to the LT. Just about killed my knees. Lots of mud, rocks and roots. Nic LT - shared it w/ Foggybottom (great NOBO who gave me lots of tips on the Whites), 2 Kiwis w/ great accents, a boy's camp group, the OB crew and GS and C Lung. Full house. The camp group shared some of their chicken and rice (mmmmm ) Nice to be in the shelter, as it's supposed to start raining tonight.
Date: 2004-07-08
From: Bald Pate LT

To: Speck Pond
Miles today: 6.9
Weather: light rain

Dadgum rain. Rained all morning....kept me hiding in my sleeping bag until almost 10 hoping it would stop. No such luck. The boys camp folks shared a little bacon and hashbrowns cooked in bacon fat, which stuck nicely to my tummy. The hike today was short, but not so easy. Coming up and over Speck Mtn. out of Grafton Notch seemed to take forever. Rain was nearly constant. Met a whole bunch of NOBOS today - including the Lost Boys, and Valentine (a trail hottie!!). The Lost Boys were all from Alabama and said a fella from Tallahassee was somewhere behind them. On my way up Old Speck, met a friendly family of French Canadians out for a few days "very little english" and a nice fella named Sunshine. Who happened to be from....TALLAHASSEE!!! How cool! He knew some folks who graduated a year before me from Florida High and even himself graduated from Lincoln several years before me. Too cool. Small world. Hiked the blue blaze .3 mile to the summit of Old Speck to marvel at the completely clouded in whiteout view. :-P Oh well. Steep decent down to the Speck Pond Shelter (not LT, as we are now in AMC territory). The primary caretaker was gone for a meeting and I didn't have to pay the usual $8 fee. Sweet! Shared the shelter w/ CLung, GSplinter, BoneDancer and a section hiker kid we named Roswell. Talked with Bone Dancer a good bit. Great guy from North Carolina. I swear, NC people are some of the nicest folks I've ever met. Turned out he worked at Philmont the same year I did. We even had a mutual friend, Jason Kemp, that we both knew through Scouting. Small world! He hikes w/ a banjo and played some old Philmont tunes before we all turned in for the night.
Date: 2004-07-09
From: Speck Pond

To: Carlo Col Shelter
Miles today: 9.0
Weather: moderate rain

Tough day today. Woke up to...yep...more rain. Did the "toughest" mile of the AT today, the Mahoosuc Notch. Climbed down the Mahoosuc Arm, a steep steep rock arm that dips down into the notch. I waited until almost 10:30 to leave camp, hoping that the rains would stop, but no luck. The trail down the Arm was a RIVER. Parts were pushing on the verge of a torrent - complete with waterfalls and foam. Crazyness. Hard on the knees and slow slow going. Met several NOBO's who were going up. Met C-Lung in the entrance to the Notch who was waiting for G Splinter to show up. By then we were both soaking wet and cold. We waited for awhile, until he decided to go back and find GS (he was getting too cold, just waiting)and I said I would just go on into the Notch. 10 mins later, CLung passed me in the Notch saying that he'd found GS. The Notch wasn't as hard, as it was just SLOW. The boulders are very large, with deep gaps between them. Covered in moss and wet from the rain, made moving among them very slow going. The biggest thing I noticed, was the temperature differences. Down in some of the holes were huge chunks of ice that dropped the temp a good 20 deg. But w/in mins you were out of the hole and sweating again. I had to take my pack off two or three times and drag it behind me to get thru some of the little "caves" in the rock. Over all, it took about 2 hours to get through. Stopped at Full Goose shelter for a late lunch scarf fest and pushed on the 4 miles to Carlo Col Campsite. Shared it w/ GS, CL, Mousetrap (cool NOBO from 'Bama) and Skooter (SOBO). Great shelter!
Date: 2004-07-10
From: Carlo Col Shelter

To: Gentian Pond
Miles today: 5.2
Weather: mist

Dadgum freaking rain. The rain killed my radio yesterday... But before it died, the forecasts were calling for a sunny weekend. Well...it's saturday...and I havn't seen any sun. Oh well Short, wet, wet hike today. Crossed my first state line though! GOODBYE MAINE!!! HELLO NEW HAMPSHIRE! Took some squishy pictures and moved on...Success Mtn. was pretty miserable up on top...the wind blew the rain until it hurt as it hit you in the face. Lovely weather ol' chap. :-PStayed at the GREAT shelter w/ Leapfrog (a great math professor from California who's doing the AT in two giant sections), the maintainer (who we called "Santa Jerry" due to his likeness to both Jerry Garcia and St. Nic.), Jeff and Justina (two hikers out for a few days who shared with everyone their wine and whiskey) and CL and GS. Full house. Crazy bunch. CL had maybe one too many whiskeys...
Date: 2004-07-11
From: Gentian Pond

To: Hikers Paradise, Gorham NH
Miles today: 11.8
Weather: clear sky

Easy hike into town today! A super fast 12 miles with some beautiful trail towards the end. Toughest hitch though - I ended up walking 1/3 of the way into town when a section hiker from KY stopped and gave me a ride. Real nice guy! He even knew where Winchester and Irving, KY were. Turned out he was staying at the same motel and was going to start a section tomorrow. Nice hostel - $15 for a nite incl. shower and kitchen. Called home. Rented a bike from the hostel for a dollar and rode down to Pizza Hut to try to fill my belly. Mind you, I've been craving Pizza Hut since the 100 Mile Wilderness... Well - the Big New Yorker was no match for this skinny dude. The waitress was pretty surprised. Spent the evening with some other SOBOs and section hikers and enjoyed TV and ice cream. Got plenty of stuff to keep me busy in town, so I'm not sure if I'll be out of here tomorrow or the next day. We'll see.
Date: 2004-07-13
From: Hikers Paradise, Gorham NH

To: Imp Shelter
Miles today: 8.0
Weather: fog

Lots of running around town this morning before heading to the trail. Did I mention that Gorham has been my least favorite trail town so far? Well - it is. The Hikers Paradise hostel was wierd - I was woken up this morning by the Polish family owners arguing with their teenage son and him squeeking the tires of the car as he sped out of the parkinglot. (Oh what a beautiful morning....) Also - Walmart sucks. I made the mistake of going in there yesterday for supplies. I can't stand it.Somehow...the smaller the town...the more convenient it seems to be. In Gorham, stores and the PO don't open until 8:30 or 9:00 in the morning. In Monson, pop 300, the general store opened at 6:30 or 7:00 in the mornin. That's the way to do it. Stupid Gorham.Anyways...The hike this morning was great!! It was soo nice to get back on the trail as I always feel a little bit guilty for taking a zero day. It's like I'm slackin on the job. I picked up a new radio in Gorham and it's a joy to be hiking along with tunes again. I met my 3rd Outward Bound crew today. Met Molly, the Imp shelter caretaker working on the trail just down from the shelter. She offered to let me do work-for-stay if I could help her move some rocks around for about an hour. Sweet! I got to help her repair a section of the AT - and saved myself the $8 the AMC charges to stay in the shelter. Later that night, I met Mary, the leader of an AMC Youth Outting Group, who was camping with her crew at the shelter. We both recognized each other from working at Philmont in 2002 and the same WFR Course we both took at the beginning of the summer. Small world!! We chatted and watched an amazing sunset from the ledge just below the shelter. Great day!
Date: 2004-07-14
From: Imp Shelter

To: Carter Notch Hut
Miles today: 7.0
Weather: fog

Yeah...I know...7 miles?? It is the Whites though...and it rained all day long. Not a bad hike - but really squishy and kinda cold. Thankful I only had to do seven miles and very thankful for the warm, dry hut at the end of the journey. Last night I woke up around 11:00 pm - sick. *barf* I think I prolly ate too many Oreos with dinner. Oh well, felt better this morning. Passed 12 NOBOS on my way over the Carter Ridge this morning, including Mouth, Heiku, RainbowBrite and the Divas. Talked to the Divas for awhile - really cool girls. Too bad they arn't headed SOBO ;-) Also got offered pot for the 2nd time this hike from a couple section hikers. It's too bad there's so much of that stuff out here. Oh well. Met the caretaker of Carter Hut, Neal, out hiking about a mile from the hut. He said I could setup in one of the bunkhouses free of charge! A bed!!!! The decent down to Carter Hut was KILLER!! My knees were hurtin' me somethin awful. Broke the tip off of my treking pole on the way down. Grrr. Once I got to the hut and setup, I took a nice nap. Later used the kitchen to cook some dinner and chatted w/ Neal. Really cool guy! He worked at the Mt. Washington observatory all winter. Later met NOBO Tarzan who told me about getting lunch at Pinkham Notch. Good day - Great Hut.
Date: 2004-07-15
From: Carter Notch Hut

To: Osgood Tentsite
Miles today: 11.0
Weather: fog

Good hike today. Kind of a rough haul this morning, in the rain, up and over the Wildcat Ridge. The decent down the ridge into Pinkham Notch was really hard on my knees. Left the hut by 7 AM with hopes of getting to the Notch in time for their lunch. The hike took me past the very bizzare contraption that is the Wildcat shuttle / tramway. Not something you expect to see in the middle of a climb...felt like I was at Disney for a sec. Pinkham Notch was great...enjoyed their $6.50 AYCE lunch buffet. I think I ate four sandwiches, a bowl of soup, bread, desert and countless cups of coffee and juice. Well worth the early morning push! Used the pay phones and skooted on down the trail to the campsite. Easy trail between the Notch and Osgood. Got to Osgood around 4:00...thought about pushing on up to Madison but the skies were iffy at that point so I decided to rest and go up in the morning.
Date: 2004-07-16
From: Osgood Tentsite

To: Lake of the Clouds Hut
Miles today: 10.6
Weather: fog

Great day! I forgot to mention, yesterday on my decent down off of Wildcat Ridge I met some great folks. First, I met two guys section hiking, from Jersey, one of which has a son-in-law who graduated from FSU. Cool! Second, I met the Singing Sisters! And yep...they sang!! It was the most surprising thing I've had happen on the trail. They sang me something about hiking in the rain and staying happy. Great hike up and across the Presidentials to Mt. Washington. Mostly ridgeline hiking once you climb Madison - the views were amazing for most of the day. A real blessing! The crew at Madison Hut said it was the first time they'ed seen the the sun in over a week. Loaded up on pancakes, bread and coffee at Madison Hut - total cost...$1! Wow. Hiking above treeline is one of my favorite things to do. It reminded me of climbing out west. Met Dead Lung, Moon Pie and their hiking companion. All NOBOS, they were great folks to chat with. Didn't get to moon the cog train (a thruhiker tradition) on the way up Washington, as it was too cloudy. Vis. was about 20 yds. The summit of Washington was crazy! Clouded in, cold, and FULL of tourists. Ugh. Tourons. Like Disney. Too bad. Poor Mountain...they should have left the road to the top dirt. Called home and mailed some postcards before scooting down to Lakes of the Clouds, by that time, in the rain. Did work-for-stay at Lakes. Just had to help them set the tables and clean up the dining room. Ate a great dinner with several other thrus - including NOBO Monk, SOBO WhizKid and two section hikers. Great day!
Date: 2004-07-17
From: Lake of the Clouds Hut

To: Ethan Pond Shelter
Miles today: 14.1
Weather: fog

Long Day! Started out raining, wet and generally fogged in and nasty at Lake of the "Crowds" hut. The hut was a busy place this morning - with over 90 people spending the night last night. Ate some breakfast leftovers (eggs, oatmeal and coffee cake!) Had too many cups of coffee and felt yucky for the rest of the morning. Geared up in hat, jacket, raingear and fleece and around 9:30am headed out into the crud. Wet hike this morning with NO views at all across windy ridges. Met NOBOS Patience and SlowMotion who are doing the trail in two big sections. Both of them are over 70 yrs old! Really sweet folks and nice to talk with. Ate a lunch and snack at Mizpah Hut along with 3 other NOBOS. Between the four of us we ate ALL of their bread, brownies and pumpkin treats. Heheh...Moved on - saw several NOBOS and stopped for a nice break on top of Webster Cliffs with some amazing views of the Crawford Notch below. Could see the Bretton Woods Hotel off in the distance (home to the Bretton Woods conference following WWII where major world economic decisions were made that are in effect today). Kinda neat. Big decent down into the Notch. By that time the clouds and rain had parted and the day turned out pretty nice. Crossed Hwy 302 and pushed 3 more miles up hill to the Ethan Pond shelter. Late 7:30 arrival and dinner there with several overnight hikers from Boston. They were all very well off economically and looked nice in their crisp REI shirts and TNF pants. It's interesting how your perspective on hikers changes once your home becomes the trail. They were friendly folks though. Also met the caretaker of the shelter - "BallBahk" who, in his Boston tongue, pronounces his name as it's spelled. Paid the AMC fee of $8 to stay at the site, because I was too tired to do work-for-stay.
Date: 2004-07-18
From: Ethan Pond Shelter

To: Galehead Hut
Miles today: 11.8
Weather: light rain

Good hike today! Slept in this morning until 9:15...Yesterdays hike down from 'Lakes just plain wore me out. My feet and joints all took a hard beating. Great, easy 5 mile hike into Zealand Falls hut. The trail through there was once an old logging railroad and was flat and straight. Took me two hours to go 5 miles...nice! Got pancakes, water and carrotcake for lunch at the hut. Loaded up on pancakes! Pushed on up over Zealand Mtn. and Mt. Guyot. Rained for a bit....as usual. Lightning and thunder in the distance threatened but never close enough for real danger. Got to Galehead hut around 5:30 and asked for work-for-stay. They said I could sweep the hut out in the morning - sweet! Really nice cabin and crew. They shared their dinner and loaned me a foamy mattress to sleep on in the dinning room. Talking with them that night - they asked me if I wanted to go with them to a big AMC Hut "Croo" party the following day. Apparently, "Mad Fest", as it's called, is the biggest event of the summer for the Croos and is held at Madison Hut (4,000ft). How could I say no? \
Date: 2004-07-19
From: Galehead Hut

To: Madison Hut
Miles today: 0.0

Ok - so today was NOT a zero day...but none of the was on the AT...so for the calculation purposes it doesn't count. This morning after breakfast, and sweeping, I hiked down the Gale River Trail with some of the hut crew (4.5 miles) to their cars. From there we drove to the Madison Hut parking area to meet and greet the other crews who were going up to MadFest. Everyone split up some of the load to be packed up including food and equipment from the band. I then went into Gorham with the Galehead kids for pizza lunch and a quick run into Walmart. Back to the trailhead and on up the Valleyway Trail. And I do mean - UP! 4 miles straight up. A long - hot haul. Got up to the hut around 5:00pm and the party had already begun. Good times were held by all. Several thruhikers attended - some who just happened to be hiking through. The band was pretty good too. By the end of the night things got pretty crazy and it was a night to remember for all who attended. The AMC croos rock.
Date: 2004-07-20
From: Madison Hut

To: Galehead Hut
Miles today: 0.0
Weather: light rain

Once again - not a real zero but not hiking on the AT. Woke up at Madison Hut this morning and everyone worked frantically to clean up the huge mess! Within a few hours the hut was transformed! Again - the AMC Croos rock! Hiked back down to the Madison Parkinglot and rode with Galehead Hutmaster Kyle to the Waterwheel Restaurant. A local favorite with the Croos, almost everyone gathered there for a big, late (noon) breakfast. It was good food! The pancakes were huge. Drove back to the GRT Trailhead w/ Kyle and Justin from Galehead Hut and hiked back up to the hut. NOT a zero day for sure - but not AT miles. Got to the hut around 5:00 pm and figured there was not point in hiking out for the day as I would only make it a few miles before having to stop. So I spent another night at Galehead, having at this point, gotten to become pretty good friends with Kyle, Justin and Heidi (part of the croo). Later that night - 14 thru hikers showed up - FOURTEEN!! It was like a soup kitchen. The croo was really nice and allowed them to stay on the porch and in the kitchen. Awesome - I'll hike tomorrow - I promise.
Date: 2004-07-21
From: Galehead Hut

To: Lonesome Lake Hut
Miles today: 15.9

Oh yeah baby. I hiked. 16 MILES!!! OVER FRANCONIA RIDGE! AND IT WAS AMAZING!!! Great hike today - beautiful sunny skies and warm temps. Hung around Galehead until 9:00 am eating breakfest and finally saying a reluctant goodbye to my friends there. GOOD PEOPLE! I almost feel like I could have stayed there all summer working with them - and I'm sure they would have kept me on as long as I wanted. Sad to say goodbye... The hike over Garfield, Lincoln and Lafeyette was absolutely beautiful. The scenery was breathtaking. Got to Lonesome Lake Hut around 7:30 pm and scored some work-for-stay. Even get my own bunk tonight! The crew cheered when I got there - as they all remembered me from Madfest. Lucas, Beth, Solo and Neal - you guys are great! Lucas showed us all a grand pyrotechnic display by burning coffee creamer. Ate well - filling up on leftover pasta, bread and brownies.