morvasaaty/AppalachianTrail-LD-Hikers-Blogs-and-Weather-20-years huggingface dataset:
Date: 2023-08-17
From: AntlerÃÂÃÂ¢ÃÂÃÂÃÂÃÂs Campsite at 2146.7

To: Wadleigh Stream Lean-to 2160.2
Miles today: 13.5

Hiking Day 146, ending elevation 680 FeetAntler¢s Campsite at 2146.7 to Wadleigh Stream Lean-to 2160.2= 13.5A relatively short day today. The rain is coming and we thought it wise to stop in a shelter so we could at least get up dry. Also, we¢re looking for better weather to summit Katahdin which means we may have to delay a day or two. Right now, Sunday and Monday look like the best days, with rain all day tomorrow (Friday) and some improvement Saturday. The walk today, though relatively flat was tough, riddled with roots, we had to pay attention all the time and it was tiring. Tex, one of Mr. Friendly¢s young cohorts said the same thing.A ton of mushrooms again, in every size, shape and color imaginable and we saw more yellow and red leaves on the ground so even though the forest is very green, it¢s not hard to imagine that fall is coming. We passed more enormous ponds but we only saw a few people on the short sandy beaches. Even though these ponds are popular, I think they are very remote and not so easy to get to.I haven¢t mentioned the little flies and mosquitoes that take great pleasure flying into my eyes, It¢s very painful and nasty and if they catch me mid step, they can upset my balance and send me tumbling. At least Kerry doesn¢t have this problem because he wears glasses. His problem is seeing through them when they fog up due to high humidity.Felix has been chasing squirrels up trees and I¢m afraid it¢s made him more feral and protective. We are having to reign him in around new people again, just when I thought he was getting better. He has even growled when Kerry approaches after walking off to get water etc. We feel very sleepy again today, so maybe we¢ll use the early stop to rest up. At this point, we just like a little sunshine to end on. Truthfully, we¢d settle for dry, but the weather doest n¢t negotiate and in the end we just have to deal with it.In the shelter with us:Major, Blues Clues and husband DrifterMr. Friendly and friends are near by
Date: 2023-08-18
From: Wadleigh Stream Lean-to 2160.2

To: Hurd Brook Lean-to 2179.8
Miles today: 19.6

Hiking Day 147, ending elevation 701 FeetIt didn¢t rain last night so we could have walked farther yesterday. On the other hand, we had 11 1/2 hours of lying down time, most of it asleep and we both woke up with lots of energy which is why we made the mistake of walking into the heavy rain.The rain started at about 6 a.m¢¦..a drizzle at first, in fact the drizzle kept going most of the day, but it was light enough that it wasn¢t uncomfortable to walk in.We met a photographer called CW, he hiked the AT a few years ago. We also saw Chance, the FEMA guy who is riding his bike and driving his truck in approximately 300 mile sections to self support his hike. We¢ve crossed paths with him as many as a half a dozen times since we first met him at Woods Hole Hostel in Virginia (?). Today we exchanged contact information in case he comes to California to hike the PCT.Early in the day, Major, Husband and Blues Clues passed us, as did Steel and a group of four young people we¢ve been seeing the last couple of days. Everyone passed us today and consequently when we reached the shelter there was no room for us, which we sort of planned on. What we didn¢t plan on was the rain getting heavy around 3 o¢clock so by the time we arrived at the shelter, sodden and tired, we found the ground sodden too. We found a small patch that looked to be draining o.k., put the tent up, threw our wet clothes in a plastic bag and dived into the tent as fast as we could. Poor Felix has to sleep outside, soaked as he is.We have 18.5 miles to go to the summit of Katahdin. Tomorrow, if we are not too wet and uncomfortable, we¢ll keep going. If the rain continues we¢ll probably try to get to Millinocket, 18 miles away, to see if we can get a little decent weather for our final climb. If you detect some discouragement here, we do feel a little so, so close to the end of our journey. It just feels like such a slog on days like today.We walked by some beautiful lakes shrouded in fog and several signs pointing to views of Katahdin, which was nowhere to be seen. The big highlight of the day was this morning as we were walking down the trail when Felix let out a low growl and Kerry thinking it was an approaching hiker turned around to see a huge moose with a full rack standing in the trail not 25 feet away. Felix tried to take off after him, but leashed to me just managed to pull me over on my left arm, exactly where I fell 2 days ago. Felix has grown stronger, or I¢m weaker, or a combination of the two. He didn¢t used to be strong enough to pull me over. We managed to get a few photos¢¦the moose was a truly majestic looking animal.Meanwhile, it¢s dark now and the rain seems to be getting stronger and once again we¢re getting water inside the tent. Still not sure why. I am tired, it was a long day and I¢m just hoping we don¢t awaken in a puddle again.
Date: 2023-08-19
From: Hurd Brook Lean-to 2179.8

To: Abol Pines Campground 2163.4
Miles today: 3.6

Hiking Day 148+, ending elevation 572 FeetAlmost a Nero today. We arrived at the ranger station at about 8:30 a.m. only to find every available campsite on the mountain taken. After we got over our disappointment at delaying our ascent a whole day, we rented space in the Abol Pines Bunkhouse and settled in for the day.Last night, it rained off and on into the night but we managed to stay reasonably dry. This morning, Kerry put his (wringing) wet clothes back on, something I couldn¢t bear to do. So I braved the mosquitoes and put on my Walmart shorts (complete with butterflies) and the New York Marathon shirt given to me by Charlotte Grove back in New York, I must have looked quite a sight! After all the rain, the sun was shining brightly this morning and we had blue skies until about noon, when again the clouds came in. It¢s hard to predict what the weather is going to do from looking at it here, and the actual weather forecast is only a little more accurate some of the time. We¢ve been so hammered by the rain, mud, rocks and roots that I haven¢t thought to comment on how great the scenery would be under more ideal circumstances. For example, today, the forest has a lovely green mossy floor under evergreen trees spaced far enough apart to let the light in. In fact, it¢s been mostly like that since we went over White Cap. If it weren¢t for the mud, roots and rocks it would be an ideal walk¢¦not so mmuch uphill as to be onerous etc.Here at Abol Pines Campground, we have spent quite a lot of money buying food at the general store; happy to help the local economy. We both had nice hot showers and have washed clothes, unexpected pleasures we thought we wouldn¢t have until the end of the hike. Due to lack of internet, we have been unable to reach Time and a Half and No Complaints to take them up on their kind offer to allow us to stay at their group campsite tomorrow night. We¢ll keep trying.It started raining at about 3 p.m. and continued off and on until 6 p.m. we were concerned that we might have a repeat of yesterday but fortunately it wasn¢t. The rain slacked off but we were happy to be inside our cabin, with our gear dried out and ready for our final night on the trail tomorrow.A lot of people we have met plan to summit on Monday; besides Time and a Half and No Complaints, McDuck, the Okie and JFK walked in to Abol Pines this evening,,kk so it will be quite the crowd!It¢s dark now, lots of things going through my head that I can¢t quite put my finger on. It¢s odd after all these months to think about this particular adventure coming to an end. I¢m ready to go home and yet I think it will be jarring after all this time. Oh well, I will know soon enough!
Date: 2023-08-20
From: Abol Pines Campground 2163.4

To: Birches Campground 2193.1
Miles today: 9.7

Hiking Day 149, ending elevation 1146 FeetI woke up 5 a.m. and I couldn¢t go back to sleep. Kerry decided not to hot foot it down to the ranger¢s kiosk to get a reservation for the Birches AT hiker designated campground. He thought we could find Time and a Half and No Complaints at their group site at Katahdin Stream. I saw McDuck and friends go by at about 5:30 a.m. and asked McDuck if he would take our cards. This turned out to be an exercise in futility since the ranger requires one to be present to reserve a spot at the Birches campsite. Consequently, when I found this out at 7:15 a.m. Kerry and I walked the half mile to the kiosk and secured places 8 and 9 of 12. As it turned out, we never did find Time and a Half and No Complaints so it¢s a good job we had the reservation at the Birches. The walk from Abol Pines was very easy, through the woods, mostly beside a lovely river that was alternately wide and calm and crashing down water slides. The sunlight filtered through the trees creating lovely puddles of light on the rich green moss that covered the ground under the trees. It must be very wet here even when it¢s not rainy.It was early afternoon when we arrived at the ranger station to register. He was not in so we walked on to the campground where predictably all the shelter spaces had been taken. Fortunately, there was a tent platform so we didn¢t have to set up in the mud.Clare and James were there, we haven¢t seen them, I think, since Pinkham Notch. Blues Clues and Major, who passed us earlier were also there and McDuck and friends and his son, Nathan from Carlsbad, California. Hot Lips and Caveman came by before moving on. They claimed to have hiked 160 miles in 5 days, pretty amazing but especially so since they are probably not a lot younger than us!We managed to while away our final afternoon just visiting people before ranger Pete came by to give us our completion cards and some final instructions about respecting the trail and the people on it. He was very nice and after he left he turned around and came back to give Felix a completion card too. I don¢t think I realized what it was until he did that and I liked him all the more for doing it. He said, ¢he walked the trail too.¢Well, tomorrow is a big day for us: a more than 4,000 foot climb (some of it a class 3 rock climb, according to ranger Pete) mostly in a 3 mile stretch and once we reach the top, we have to descend 5 miles down.This part of our lives journey will soon be over¢¦it¢s a very odd feeling¢¦..
Date: 2024-03-07
To: View Entry
Miles today: 0.0

A year ago today we began our trek on the Appalachian Trail. We had retired two years previously in the middle of the pandemic, which was more than a little strange for us. It felt like we ended our careers without comment¢¦we just disappeared without a chance to celebrate or say our goodbyes. For the past 15 years we had section hiked both the Pacific Crest Trail and the Continental Divide Trail¢¦we did this using our vacation time. After we retired, we decided to see if we would enjoy a longer hike and we walked the 800 mile Arizona Trail with our dog, Felix in 2022. Then, having spent no time on the East Coast, last year, we decided to try the Appalachian Trail. We had no plan or expectations, unlike our prior long hikes which required a lot of planning, we purchased our plane tickets to Atlanta and on this morning last year, we took our first steps from Amicalola Falls on the Appalachian Trail. Our thinking was that we would resupply along the way, and keep walking north until we had had enough. We met so many interesting people, saw so many interesting places and learned so many interesting things.For me, looking back, I realize that the trail gave me a reason to get up in the morning. I didn¢t have to think about it, it¢s what we did. Every day had its challenges and most every day was different. Now, off the trail for 6 1/2 months, I have things to do but nothing that I have to do and I am struggling a bit with that. Still contemplating what comes next¢¦..